Letter to the UWO Gazette

Printed Nov 1, 2006

In his letter of last week, Jan Kool claims that UWO research on Stryker vehicles saves the lives of Canadian soldiers serving in Afghanistan. In response to this, we at CounterStryker make three observations.

First, the overwhelming majority of 2,131 Strykers produced by General Dynamics are for the US Army, deployed in four brigades serving in Iraq. Only 66 (less than 5% of the total) are for Canada. Contrary to what Mr. Kool asserts, the Stryker is a different vehicle from the LAV more widely used by Canada. The claim that Stryker research saves Canadian lives is thus largely a cover for supplying the Pentagon with a major weapons system used in a catastrophic war of occupation launched on the basis of mis- and dis-information, without justification in international law.

Second, Canadian soldiers are dying in Afghanistan because of this American war. Opinions may differ about the advisedness of Canada’s initial involvement in Afghanistan. Almost all observers, however, recognize that the recent escalation of fighting has occurred because the US, diverting resources to its invasion of Iraq, failed to deliver the promised reconstruction of Afghanistan. Canada is thus paying the costs of a bungled American policy. This deep integration of Canada’s military with an incompetent and interventionist US foreign policy is the underlying source of danger to our service men and women. Such integration is only heightened by tying Canada’s economic and military policy to the fortunes of giant US military-industrial corporations such as General Dynamics. Far from protecting Canadian soldiers, Stryker research increases the long term likelihood they will serve as Pentagon cannon fodder.

Third: contrary to what Mr. Kool suggests, we do not believe that either Canadian or US troops “deserve to die” in Afghanistan or Iraq. Even less so, however, do the tens, and probably hundreds of thousands, of Afghani and Iraqi civilians who are the main and most innocent victims of these wars. Strykers are amongst the weapons systems bringing death and destruction to these people, and UWO’s Stryker research makes this university complicit in the carnage.

CounterStruker’s foundational position and task is to end the integration of military and corporate research within a publicly funded university. That our university participates in the design of these vehicles implicates us all in their future use – including each and every death their use inflicts. At CounterStyker we are working towards making the university population aware of the relationships that already exist between the university and weapons manufacturers, as well as other corporate integration so that such projects do not set a precedent for the future of our university. We all have a responsibility to become critically engaged in the discussion.