The Martin government also assumed Canada would contribute to the combat mission for a limited time only. But Hillier changed his tune shortly after Stephen Harper was elected: "From NATO's perspective, they look at this as a 10-year mission, right? Minimum. There's going to be a huge demand for Canada to contribute over the longer period of time."
Hillier promised Martin that the combat mission would not preclude Canadian participation in UN peacekeeping missions elsewhere. He's since broken that promise, ruling out troops for Lebanon and Darfur on the basis that Canada is fully committed in Afghanistan.
We're experiencing a serious case of "mission creep."
Under Hillier's leadership, Canada's role in Kandahar has morphed from a "provincial reconstruction team" made up of soldiers, diplomats and development personnel, into a "battle group" supported by Leopard tanks.
Hillier has also used language that may have placed ordinary Canadians at greater risk. Foiled terrorist plots in Toronto and London were reportedly motivated, at least in part, by anger at the presence of Western troops in Afghanistan.
Characterizing the enemy as "detestable murderers and scumbags" can only exacerbate the situation. It also makes the jobs of diplomats and politicians more difficult, as they search for the inevitable, negotiated peace.
Hillier has even compromised this country's commitment to international law.
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/article/183409
Note: http://www.thestar.com/...
Is Hillier Out Of Line?
Posted on Thursday, February 22 at 13:13 by 4CanadaContributed By
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Expect little from life and get more from it.
In the old days, real leaders actually led, nowadays they puff their chests and make lots of noise while other people die.
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"I think it's important to always carry enough technology to restart civilization, should it be necessary." Mark Tilden
That is quite a statement. Considering it's followed by "Since becoming Canada's top soldier two years ago," and he was only commanding the NATO mission in A-stan for 6 months.
So, blame the whole 4 year deployment on the man? That's like blaming the state of disrepair of the military as a whole on the Conservatives.
" Hillier, the professional upon whose expertise the politicians relied, should have explained the real risks to them."
Why? Are they children? Do Liberals not know soldiers kill, and soldiers die?
And that's about as far as I could read this article.
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"I think it's important to always carry enough technology to restart civilization, should it be necessary." Mark Tilden
Yes, and I'd love to see him pack up his gear and fight. When what's left of him comes back in a cheap pine box full of medals, we'll be left with one less war monger to worry about.
What's going on is the same thing where we see all of those polluting politicians suddenly becoming "green" and bribing us with left over money that they stole from us in prep for the next bogus election.
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“The war is not meant to be won, it is meant to be continuous, the essential act of warfare is the destruction of the produce of human labour”
The brass in the military are from paper pushers. Canada was not at war when Hillier was a private (or at least that I'm aware of) but certainly Hillier knew who to say yes to. Canada use to have an Admiral on the west coast, who as a weapons-surface officer sent a dumby rocket into a school yard in Washington State. Being a high ranking officer in the military dosen't necessarily mean the person was once a grunt.
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Expect little from life and get more from it.
Hillier IS the one using the words. It's the words we have to contemplate. Hillier may be leading an unpopular decision but he is not disputing it, he's condoning it and infact applying preasure to insure that the situation remains the same. If Hillier was attempting to ratify what most Canadians consider despicable, he would not be looked down at in disdain.
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Expect little from life and get more from it.
That's the problem with chickenhawk neo-con types like Harper and Bush. They'll gladly send others into harms way, but when it's their turn to go to the front, they'll move mountains in order to preserve their own worthless hides.
Oh well, maybe one of these days the aforementioned chickenhawks will be at a secret meeting at a location that is tragically doomed to be struck by an asteroid at precisely the same time the meeting is to begin.
At least we can hope...
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"and the knowledge they fear is a weapon to be used against them"
"The Weapon" - Rush
We are all individually responsible for our actions no matter who is trying to order us around.
And besides, the entire military are taking orders from people that are not listening to the people they work for.
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"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music." Friedrich Nietzsche