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. Read the rest of this entry »

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. Read the rest of this entry »

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. Read the rest of this entry »

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. Read the rest of this entry »

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. Read the rest of this entry »

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. Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday a piece was circulated by The Canadian Press reporting Canadian journalists in Kandahar had restrictions placed on them which virtually made it impossible for them to move freely around either the base or the city in preparing their reports. The report claimed the restrictions mirrored the US approach to journalists in Iraq.

The report mentioned these restrictions didn’t apply to American journalists as that would violate the US Constitution. Hello? When did the Canadian constitution allow these restrictions on Canadian journalists?

Today The Canadian Press reports Defence Minister Peter McKay would be looking into the restrictions which have been temporarily suspended. The matter was raised in Parliament and the usual critics weighed in; Liberal Denis Coderre and Jack Layton who said, “This should be a no-brainer. The Canadian government should be saying it is important for the freedom of the press and for the truth to come to Canadians.” He should know being the Hill’s resident no-brainer. Read the rest of this entry »

Earlier this month, the Pakistani government inked a deal with the Taliban allowing them to impose their extreme form of Islam in the Swat valley. The Swat area is in the largely lawless Northwest regions along the Pakistan/Afghanistan border. The Taliban being who they are barely allowed the ink to dry before moving their forces into the neighbouring Buner district.

They have since pulled some of their forces out but reportedly still have about 450 militants still in the area. That’s definitely enough to be terrorising the population. Control of Buner would place the Taliban within about 60km of Islamabad, the seat of government in Pakistan. Read the rest of this entry »