Afghanistan
Father calls for Canada to finish mission
May 15th
Just two days away from returning safely home, Pvt. Kevin McKay was on patrol in Afghanistan on Thursday. In an instant his life ended. Instead of returning home to a party, he will be returned to his family for a funeral. He is the 144th Canadian to die on this mission.
The father of this brave young Canadian has looked past his own grief to call on our government to stay the course in Afghanistan. He’s calling on the government not to set an end date but to set obtainable objectives and stay until they’re finished. He’s calling for the objective to be the training of the Afghan army and police.
Pvt McKay’s father is a deputy fire chief in Toronto. Firefighters in Toronto and along the Highway Of Heroes all understand the cost of this war, they have been a strong presence on every overpass between Trenton and Toronto every time Canadian soldiers are repatriated. I understand the cost of this war. I weep privately for our fallen and then join the firefighters on the bridges. More >
Tags: Afghanistan, canadian soldiers, highway of heroes, kandahar province, parliament, returning home, young canadiansAnti-Project Hero Profs Offside
Mar 29th
Sixteen professors at the University of Regina have written a letter protesting their institutions involvement in Project Hero. This scholarship program provides children of fallen Canadian soldiers with free tuition for their post-secondary education. Several post-secondary institutions across the country are taking part in the program.
The 16 profs in question believe the University of Regina should withdraw from the program. They denounce the program as “a glorification of Canadian imperialism in Afghanistan and elsewhere.” and “support for Project Hero represents a dangerous cultural turn. It associates heroism with the act of military intervention. It erases the space for critical discussion of military policy and practices“.
Are these people so far up on their ivory towers they don’t know how to find their way to a simple dictionary? I managed to find one and discovered that one of the meanings of ‘imperialism’ is: the policy of extending the rule or authority of an empire or nation over foreign countries, or of acquiring and holding colonies and dependencies.
More >
This Canadian Cares About Detainee Issue
Dec 21st
I’ve been reading and listening to the reporting about the detainee issue over the last several weeks. The Opposition parties in Parliament have been after trying to get to the bottom of finding out just who knew and when about detainees being turned over to the Afghans from Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan. As much as the government has tried to characterize those who continue to push these questions as either Taliban supporters or not supporting our troops, nothing could be further from the truth.
Over the weekend, I was listening to a podcast of TVOs “The Agenda”. The podcast was talking about the failure of the Conservatives to show up at the parliamentary committee hearings trying to investigate this mess. The Cons failure to show up effectively killed the committee meeting over the Christmas break as the lack of Cons in attendance ensures there is no quorum to allow the meetings to take place.
Laurie Hawn, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defense claims that ordinary Canadians are not interested in this ‘so called issue’, that only the Opposition parties are interested in playing political games. Lowell Green, supposedly a highly respected Canadian radio personality, was also heard on the podcast claiming that the only Canadians who care about this issue are the ‘lefties, who read the Toronto Star, are opposed to the mission in Afghanistan and want the troops brought home immediately’. That no other Canadian cares about this matter. More >
No tags for this post.Just Who Is Standing Behind the Troops
Dec 1st
Okay Harper, you opened the door on the weekend by taking a partisan shot at the Opposition and accusing them of maligning Canadian soldiers over the handling of detainees. You just can’t resist taking your grossly inaccurate potshots at the Opposition no matter where you are in the world can you?
I’ve been watching this furor over the handling of detainees. This isn’t the first time this issue has come up since we sent our troops into action in Southern Afghanistan. Neither time has anyone tried to even imply our troops did not treat detainees properly. They did what they had to do and turned them over to Afghan officials as the government, first the Liberal government and now the Harper Conservatives government, had negotiated with the government of Afghanistan. The Conservatives have now been in power for four years, they own this issue and should have been taking steps to solve it.
It is those agreements and how they, or if, they were enforced that is at question — not the behaviour of our troops. Quit hiding behind them when you need to be showing some leadership Harper. First your ministers try to portray the whistle blower, Richard Colvin, as a Taliban sympathizer for insisting on his unheeded warnings coming to light. When that fails to gain any traction, Pamelin Wallin tries to appeal to Canadians to stop blaming the troops when no one was. Then you give that some treads by using a photo op on a Canadian ship to try the same claim and then you had it repeated in the House of Commons. More >
Tags: afghan government, canadian soldiers, government of afghanistan, nato members, richard colvin, whistle blowerKarzai’s ‘Win’ Leaves Much to Be Desired
Nov 3rd
So, despite widespread fraud, Karzai has won as the President of Afghanistan. I realize this is a country for which democracy is barely starting to take root, clearly those roots are extremely fragile. Old ways are hard to break from but they can be broken from. Just seems to be me, his declarations to the contrary notwithstanding, Karzai has neither the will nor the fortitude to actually start dismantling the culture of corruption which permeates his governance.
He’s not alone on the world stage for leading a country rife with corruption. What draws my attention to his behaviour is that Canadians are fighting and dying in that country in an effort meant to stabilize the country and bring peace to its people.
Anyone who has read this blog knows that I not only support our troops, I support their mission. That being said, I have to admit to some doubts about the effectiveness of Canadian troops continuing to die at a rate higher than most other forces when the man who should be most inclined towards doing everything in his power to make sure it succeeds gives tacit if not direct support to the corruption which impedes the effective governance needed to attain and maintain peace. More >
Tags: canadian parliament, canadians, democracy, fraud, good governance, Kandahar, president of afghanistanHas Obama Taken a Lesson From Canada?
Oct 29th
President Obama appeared at Dover Air Force base last night as the Americans killed in Afghanistan this week were returned home. He took part in what the Americans call a “dignified transfer” which took place around 4am. He also met with the familes of the fallen heroes. So how is that a lession from Canada?
President Obama is the American forces Commander-in-Chief, almost all of our fallen have been met by the forces Commander-in-Chief, our Governor General. Most often also in attendance is the Chief of Defense Staff, the Minister of Defense and at times, the Prime Minister. Bush never appeared for the return of those fallen heroes of the wars he started.
Those young men and women were okay to go and serve their country and fight wars that were not of their making but for some reason, Bush didn’t feel any need to make sure they were returned as the heroes they were. Maybe now, Obama will consider making the honouring of those soldiers a bit more public and stop fearing any political overtones from giving them the honours they deserve. More >
Tags: Afghanistan, American, Canadian, highway of heroes, war deadA View of Two Countries
Jul 16th
July, so far, has been a difficult month for the coalition of forces trying to establish security in Afghanistan. With the death today of Pte Courcy, Canada has lost five soldiers and Great Britain has lost 15. It is interesting to note the reaction of the media and the public in face of these loses.
As the numbers grow in Canada, calls for our troops to be brought home grow along with. Much of the media has a tendency to focus on the negative side of the story and give very little attention to any positive gains. This gives Canadians the sense the war can’t be won, leaving them wondering why our troops are staying there until even 2011. The support for the mission drops in the face of the negativity.
In Great Britain, I can’t speak to how the media responds generally as I don’t spend a lot of time reading their media. I do note polls in the face of their losses shows an increase in support for their troops mission. The media stories seem to focus more on questions about whether the troops have the equipment they need. In the face of eight soldiers dying in a 24 hour period, the headlines asked if the British troops had enough helicopters. More >
No tags for this post.Deal With the Devil Collapses
May 8th
Less than a month after the signing of the regulation giving the Pakistan Taliban control over the Swat Valley and the ability to impose their form of Islam on the people, the deal has collapsed. What a non-surprise. Shortly after the Taliban moved their forces into Bruner and tried to take control there which would have placed their forces some scant 35km from the Pakistani capital Islamabad.
How many times are the Taliban, Pakistani or Afghani, going to have to demonstrate they can’t be trusted before the two governments are going to stand firm against them? It has taken 25 years for that conclusion to be reached in Sri Lanka in their fight against the Tamil Tigers. The Taliban, like the Tigers, will never be fully wiped out, that’s a given. With enough resolve and resources their ability to openly and freely regroup, train and finance their operations can be seriously restrained. That will not happen while the Pakistan government continues to waffle. More >
Tags: Afghanistan, Canada, government, NATO, Pakistan, taliban, USA, war
