PM Wants To See More Missions Like Afghanistan

What a total, absolute stinker is this Harper!!

He sent 2,100 of our Canadian soldiers -- ONE contingent -- into
the Kandahar death trap abandoned by the U.S. Army -- into a
situation designed (by Americans) for THREE contingents.

Our soldiers are under U.S. command, on a U.S. mission. They
have no assurance that any support groups are coming to relieve
them.

And SHarper goes over there for a photo op, for heaven sake!!
And then he races off to Edmonton, for another photo op!! Sheer
propaganda, sheer self-aggrandizement. He saw that making war
on Iraq kept George W. Bush in power; he's doing a bad imitation
for his own ambitions. No wonder. His longterm advisor, Tom
Flanagan, is an American who could've written the book on raw
political ambitions.

Has there been anything more distressing than this, done to our
armed forces??

And what a co-incidence, the photo ops and speeches and
courtroom scenes coming from Washington DC: Peter MacKay
googling Condi Rice (barfff!!), anguished voices from the flight 93
recorder while the Bush Administration works itself up for another
butt-saving war (Iran, this time), the aura of WAR being invoked ...
but ... be calm. Be reassured: our Minister of Public Safety,
Stockwell Day, is going to Washington next!!!

Did Canada really vote for all this??

It is to be expected of harper

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Real education must ultimately be limited to men who insist on knowing, the rest is mere sheep-herding.
Ezra Pound
The only good is knowledge...

On thinking more about this, I don't believe Canada did vote for
this business of Harper trying to dress himself up as a wartime
leader.

Just like the U.S.A. didn't vote for another Viet Nam (Iraq). The U.S.
was chugging along pretty well, under Bill Clinton, with the
economy in decent shape; they just wanted a change from all the
Washington squabbling; they voted for George W. Bush, not war.

We were chugging along under Paul Martin, but we thought Paul
had dragged the Liberals down, down into dubious actions and we
wanted him gone, not war.

And what did we get? Little despots so entranced by the power of
WAR, they're trying to outdo Margaret Thatcher who saved her
miserable Prime Minister of Britain job by picking a war over the
bloody Falkland Islands.

SHarper has about as much authority in military matters as does
George W. Bush, i.e., none. They need to be reined in, not
encouraged.

How do we get out of this?

"What I would like to see done with our military that's a little different than the past is rather than placing a handful of soldiers here and there, really concentrate our efforts in places in ways that we can show leadership and take a substantial load and take a very visible role ..." So in other words, Harper would like to pull Canadian troops out of areas where they are currently performing important peacekeeping duties and put them into areas where they would take a more combative roll, or he wants to substantially increase the size of the Canadian Forces. We can't do both at this point in history.

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"The more you read and learn, the less your adversary will know." --Sun Tzu

Harper's posturing reminds me of one or two Gore Vidal interviews where he's ridiculed Bush by chanting in a childish voice "I'm, a wartime president. I'm a wartime president."

With regard to Mr. Harper telling the graduating students that they are entering the "highest calling of citizenship." I can only say it's sad that some consider the profession of arms to be somehow honourable.

I recently heard that after his eldest son was killed in WW I Kipling wrote "If any question why we died/ Tell them, because our fathers lied".

Of course we didn't vote for this. Cozying up to warmongers was not listed as a campaign promise. In future, let's not vote for anyone who won't promise to cease cooperation with 'war crimes are us'.

We were uder US Command in Bosnia, Somalia, Kosovo. So whats the bitch now?

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27 in the military, 9 tours.

This kind of attitude is what concerns me about our military altogether. When you can't understand our concerns about out military being under a foreign countries agenda, not just their command, you're really saying that Canada's military personnel are not going into our military to defend Canada. Militaries are only there to be militaries or mercenaries where needed. Canada's defence be damned. Harper will use our military for political gain pure and simple. He got his "biggest" media boost by visiting Afghanistan and will repeat that as often as he can obviously to keep up the momentum and distract from his other dictatorial behaviour.

I will admit that I am one Canadian that had no clue who and what our army was doing and currently wish that was still the case because I am most distressed over finding out what they really are up to and how they are agreeing to be USED!

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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

I'm really warning up to him. Were it not for his interst in my personal life (read: pot) I'd really be over-the-top impressed.

"our concerns about out military being under a foreign countries agenda,.."

Then why has the Canadian public not given a rats arse about what it's military has been doing since Cyprus? Many young men and women have died under a US commanded (Or French, or Indian . .) missions since then.

No one even knew about us. It's like they are surprised when Canadian soldiers must kill others or die themselves in the course of their duties. Why the concern what they do now?

I'm glad that people are starting to get involved in what the troops are doing, but 30 years of inattention and the about face now by the public will only be met with skepticizm. The soldiers know that once Afghanistan is finished, the public will lose interest again.

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"I think it's important to always carry enough technology to restart civilization, should it be necessary." Mark Tilden

After reading that, I just had to write the following:

We see it each evening
Live on our tv
The fighting and dying
so we can be "free"

So why's it the poor
Who get sent off to die
While the young monied Master
is home eating pie?

The bastards and whores
Say that it needs to be so
It's your duty to country
That's why you must go

Say goodbye to your parents
Your children, your wife
And the freedom you had
In your non-uniform life

They'll shave you you and train you
To shoot or be shot
To obey orders blindly
Be they crazy or not

The thing they don't tell you
About foreign wars
Is that you're fighting in his home
While abandoning yours

So while fearless Leader
was home sleeping in bed
You were out on patrol
And got shot in the head

So now you're back home
And the casket is closed
Your family's all present
You all have been hosed

You dad sits there wondering
Why you had to die
You mom and your wife
Can do nothing but cry

Your kids will grow up
All missing their dad
Never knowing the life
They should have had

And meanwhile on TV
The talking heads drone
Fearless Leader just smiles
And chats on the phone

Tomorrow he's on TV
Discussing the war
Why it has to be done
And lying some more

And somewhere out there
In that faraway land
A newbie hits dirt
And swallows some sand

So what did you die for?
Nothing at all
A citation from Leader?
A plaque on the wall?

With a start you awaken
It was all just a dream
You haven't enlisted
Your wife's eyes still gleam

You were going to enlist
But then you changed your mind
A disappointed recruiter
Was left cursing behind

Your life still ahead
Another new day
Time for you and your children
To go out and play

And later that night
In your bed with your wife
You reflect on what's good
And true in your life

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"and the knowledge they fear is a weapon to be used against them"

"The Weapon" - Rush

I had promised my grandfather and my father that I would keep the faith and remember those that had died in not only the recent wars but those of all wars. For life is the ultimate sacrifice that a human being can give to anything that he or she believes in. In death we give up all that we have and all that we will ever have or be in life. We give up our future as well as our family’s future. Our family and friend’s hopes, aspirations and desires for us in life. The ultimate sacrifice when all is considered. It should never be taken lightly by anyone.

I have been to remembrance services in my 48 years of life where there has been only my family and myself to, since 9/11, hundreds at these services.

I know of no businesses in Canada that fully support there employees as members of the Canadian Forces Reserves without leaving one thinking it is a burden that is being forced on them or they are doing something of great sacrifice. They lobby to keep the military small so that taxes will not go up.

At the same time Canadian Businesses are first in line to get military contracts and reap the benefits that come from Canada's involvement in these conflicts. You would think that since most Canadian Businesses are American owned there executives would have a different opinion or attitude; then again we are not Americans so there are not the same loyalties or investments. One would think if a country truly cares about one’s people’s sacrifice in war that the country could make it a national holiday of remembrance since most provinces won’t.

The United States of America along with support from a small portion of the Canadian population, the Business Elite of Canada - whose national loyalty is at best questionable at the best of times and the Canada Government want Canada's Military involved in every conflict, policing, UN operation and war that the US deems necessary that in their opinion Canada should be involved.

The problem is that Canada does not have a military a size or well equipped in anyway shape or form to participate in and fulfill US wants in these operations let alone defend Canada's borders and sovereignty.

So tell me one thing. Why does the United States of America want Canada involved in any of these operations when Canadian forces have to borrow, beg or almost steal most of their equipment to accomplish these assignments?

Or is that the point, dependency not self dependent.

If S. Harper is really for Canada and its Military then let’s see him past legislation that will guarantee in stone that Canada will have a fully equipped Canadian Military land, sea and air of a size that can defend itself, Canadian borders and sovereignty without being dependent on the US or any other nation in this world.


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Perception is two thirds of what we perceive reality to be.

Difficult decisions are a privilege of rank.

No one even knew about us. It's like they are surprised when Canadian soldiers must kill others or die themselves in the course of their duties<<

Duties? Duty to whom? In my time, there was no pretense of "saving Canada". Terrorists are nothing new. Only now that the US felt the brunt of terrorists actions, is Canada waving the American banner proclaiming an end to terrorism. Little thought is given to stopping the biggest terrorist group in the world. Those terrorist who not only have WMD but the only one's to have used them and threatening to use them again. The terrorist who has Harper as a puppet on a string. Is it Harper's "duty" to do the bidding of this terrorist group run by Bush?

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Expect little from life and get more from it.

If S. Harper is really for Canada and its Military then let’s see him past legislation that will guarantee in stone that Canada will have a fully equipped Canadian Military land, sea and air of a size that can defend itself, Canadian borders and sovereignty without being dependent on the US or any other nation in this world.<<

If Harper has any decency, he will insure Canada has no need to compete in a military junket. He should realize that the American might is a catch 22. They need their military to defend against those they appose. With their might, the Americans have created more enemies than any other nation in the world. Harper should never believe Canada has to take pride in how many this country has killed. November 11th is to celebrate those who died and lived ending the war to end all wars. Perhaps Canadians don't see it anymore. When my dad ( a vetern of that war) died, he couldn't see it anymore either. War is war and the military, the tools for war. Canada don't need the tools, Canada is not at war. The US is at war only because they say they are. They are invaders trying to protect themselves in and from the countries they invaded.


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Expect little from life and get more from it.