Monthly Archives: April 2006
Afghanistan Debate
| 4/10/2006 | Posted by Patti under Afghanistan |
So the federal government is going to have a debate but not a vote on the Canadian deployment to Afghanistan. What a farce. Fact is any debate should have been had 4 years ago when Canada committed to and took part in the removal of the Taliban from power. The only reason this is coming up now is that we’re incurring casualties. We got off pretty light when the first round of fighting took place.
We’ve taken on operational control of the force in Afghanistan, that also has been part of that commitment and that means our men and women will be in the line of fire. That is why it is called war folks. Canada has never been and I should certainly hope will never be a country which will flinch in the face of danger.
It’s in a way too bad that this debate comes today, one day after Vimy Ridge Day, which pays homage to the thousands of Canadians who took Vimy Ridge during WW1. It was a battle others had tried and failed to achieve their objective. The Canadians achieved that objective and many say Canada came into its own as a nation that day.We chose to stay out of Iraq for the simple reason Bush’s war there didn’t have UN or NATO sanction. We made the right choice in not supporting a bully attacking another bully (Saddam). The war in Afghanistan is different. The Taliban was not only a brutal and repressive regime but it provided cover and support to the training of hundreds if not thousands of Al Queda operatives in the art of terrorism. That had to be stopped and kept that way.
We seem to forget that there is a democratically elected government in Kabul, which was no easy feat in this most dangerous place in the world to be. There is also an army, not well equipped or well trained yet but nonetheless, Afghanis who have volunteered to put their own lives on the line for their country. The coalition forces are supporting them in attaining full control of the country.
Some say that no one has been able to conquer Afghanistan. No invader has ever managed to hold that country because they became the common enemy, the unifying force which the people would agree to come together to oust. The coalition forces are not there to defeat their country, they are there to defeat and keep defeated a repressive regime.
Since their deployment in February, the Canadian forces have forged deeper into the country than any other force. There are some in those areas who are no doubt glad to find that their own army and the forces of the coalition will venture into their area in an effort to route out the Taliban. Others will be enraged that their reign of terror in those areas will be challenged. Such is the effects of war.
This isn’t a war like my grandfather, father, uncles and husband fought. They knew who the enemy soldier was, they knew exactly who they were fighting and there was a nationstate which they were fighting against. These ‘soldiers’ are ascribed to an ideal, loyal to only their ideals and objectives and claim no nation state as theirs except those they can disrupt and weaken like the democracy trying to establish itself in Afghanistan.
The Taliban has already shown they are wringing their hands in glee at the possibility that Canadians will wilt in the face of casualties and demand our troops come home. Our troops are willing to stand tall and take their chances and we as Canadians need to strengthen our resolve to support their presence there.
Canadians who care about the freedom our forefathers fought for need to get angry at those who dare to take the lives of our young men and women, those who create this need to send our young men and women to the most dangerous place on earth, those who created that danger. They are the enemy seen or unseen.
Ignatieff
| 4/8/2006 | Posted by Patti under Canadian Politics |
Orignally, I rejected the idea of Micheal Ignatieff as a potential leader of the federal liberals. I think after reading this interview in Macleans I may need to watch him a little closer. He has a very clear well articulated sense of what he needs to do to reach Canadians and a directness that is rather refreshing.
Slight Change of Course
| 4/1/2006 | Posted by Patti under Site News |
I’m shifting gears a bit with this blog, not a lot but some. This blog will be used primarily for my comments on news stories while Ides of May, a blog site I’ve had for a while without a focus will now become my place to hang out with more personal material. Some of the personal material from here will be carried over there.
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