$100-million per month of Canadian Taxpayers Money...

Press Release

"Internationally, Canada is the 13th highest military spender in the
world this year, up from 16th. Within the 26-member NATO alliance, Canada has
moved from 7th to 6th highest military spender, dollar for
dollar".

 

What is the cost of the war in
Afghanistan?

$100 million every month.

"The war in Afghanistan has cost Canada dearly in
lives and money.

The deaths of 71 soldiers and a diplomat are,
sadly, well known. The financial costs are less well known. On Monday a report
which Bill Robinson and I co-authored showed that the "full cost" of the war
will be $7.2 billion by March 2008.

That means that we are spending more than $100
million every month on the war in Afghanistan!

Moreover, military spending is skyrocketing in
Canada - we have moved from 16th to 13th highest in the world this year (6th
highest in NATO), and our $18 billion defence budget is 27 per cent higher than
the budget before September 11, 2001. In fact, when you adjust for inflation, we
are now spending more on the military than at any time during the Cold
War.

That's why our report, published by the Canadian
Centre for Policy Alternatives, was titled "More Than the Cold War: Canada's military spending
2007-08."

But someone in the government is not happy about
our report. Yesterday I received a phone call from a researcher at the Library
of Parliament who was asked by a Member of Parliament to investigate the Rideau
Institute's sources of funding.

I felt that this was not a friendly request, and
the researcher refused to reveal the name of the Member of Parliament who was
snooping around our funding sources. I told him proudly that he can report back
to whatever Member of Parliament was looking for this information that we have
more than 1,000 people who support this work through Ceasefire.ca!

... the government is prolonging Afghanistan's
suffering by clinging to our combat role and refusing to support a negotiated
end to the war.

The recent poll last week showed that Afghans want
the fighting to end, and they support negotiations. The very last sentence of
the Globe and Mail 's article was the most important:

"Despite the enmity toward the Taliban, 74 per cent
[of Afghans] said they supported negotiations between the Karzai government and
Taliban representatives as a way of reducing conflict. In Kandahar, support for
talks jumped to 85 per cent."

A parliamentary vote on whether to extend the war
is coming soon. We need to get ready so that Prime Minister Harper is not
allowed to drag us through another two years of war to 2011, as he wants to
do.

I hope that you will take a moment to send your letter to Stephen Harper at
Ceasefire.ca, if you have already done so.
Please encourage your contacts to make their voices heard in Ottawa as
well".

Source: October 24, 2007. Stephen
Staples at Ceasefire