Today's Focus: Canadians in Afghanistan

Yep, I did know about the rally in Calgary. The CPC sent out emails about it at least a week in advance. It's irritating to me that it got so little coverage. 10 people protesting against Israel will get a mention on the national news, but 300 supporting our troops? I didn't see a peep about it in the news. Thoroughly frustrating.

Taliban Jack is going to Afghanistan!! That just made my week.

I think Taliban Jack Bin Layton will find out in short order just how little he speaks for the troops.

I had friends in the oil patch that took jobs in saudi and UAE and if they were caught with a beer they would be fined or imprisoned and then deported.

Yeah, I had a "mirth moment" thinking about the toxic hypocrisy of a culture that would punish you for having a brewski yet it justifies heroine poppy and hashish production as its main contributor to GDP.

I had friends in the oil patch that took jobs in saudi and UAE and if they were caught with a beer they would be fined or imprisoned and then deported.

The country of Afghanistan capitalizes on the human misery of addictive drugs but has contempt for our guys having a cold beer after a hard day busting hump keeping them safe to sell their poppy crops.

I really gotta wonder what kind of saints these guys are to stake their lives on giving such a depraved culture a chance at free democracy.

The troops in England booed PM King when he visited them in the 40s . . .

Be lovely to see Jacko bin Taliban Laydown bin Bendover get the full treatment from the current group of Canadian soldiers deployed oversees.

http://hallsofmacadamia.blogspot.com/2006/10/only-at-cbc.html

I wonder if the CBC will be beaming "Little Mosque on the Prairie" to the troops in Af'stan?

mr moonbat heading to afghani eh???let's put him in an iltis jeep, throw in a few libs, give them a bunch of olive branches, and point him in the direction of the nearest taliban hole....if he emerges, shaking a document, yelling "peace in our time", than i will vote ndp 4ever...but we all know what the outcome of that "peace process" would be

btw......GO ARMY

“I had friends in the oil patch that took jobs in saudi and UAE and if they were caught with a beer they would be fined or imprisoned and then deported.”

That doesn’t sound like the UAE to me, unless your friends were Muslims. Booze is widely available in hotels clubs and even private liquor stores.

The first President of the UAE, Sheik Zayed, was very tolerant of letting Christians follow their own rules. He also donated land for churches to be built on.

Before the 1970’s the UAE had not developed its great oil wealth and was very poor. A Canadian Catholic nurse was working in the Emirate and started a maternity clinic for the local women. I think seeing this Christian woman helping his desperately poor people influenced his attitudes towards the West.
I hope that his sons continue to honour his ways.

Re Moosehead
Within the compound it is only the Canadians who are "dry" the other NATO forces are allowed [I think one a day?]

If Taliban Jack goes to Af'stan, watch how nobody goes within 60 feet of him... for fear they'll catch a frag.

I think we should suit up new immigrants and send them over since they are so fortunate to be here and have the pick of corporate and government jobs.

With all of the negative media and nonsense that spews from the left what would you expect the average Canadian to think. Unless a person has some motivation to seek the truth they are constantly fed anti military, anti mission propaganda.

"Lollipop Jack plans a trip to Afghanistan; maybe. Considering the troops hate him, he’d be insulting them by putting his socialist little ass in theater."

The cheap and boring partisanship here is not surprising. What is surprising is the suggestion that the troops would and should react murderously, with a fragmentation device. Only a dishonest coward would make such a suggestion.

I for one hope Layton does visit Afganistan and reviews our troops and the work they are doing. As Jack has said, the best way to support our soldiers is to take them out of this theatre for which our forces are not equiped and for which this country has no direct responsibility.

At the NDP convention in Quebec City delegates heard from Afgan deputy Milalai Joya, who warned against supporting the aggressive and untrustworthy Northern Alliance warlords. These thugs, who the Americans are aligned with, have threatened to murder Joya (http://www.malalaijoya.com).

note to budd...the last time canadians fought to protect canadian soil was....never...well, the war of 1812...should we not have fought in ww2???we had no direct responsibility there...and the only reason our troops do not have the proper equipment is because of moonbats pressuring the libs for their precious 'peace dividend'...so, as layton wants, do we have the proper equipment to go to darfur????

Note to Budd:

1.Check out "Most Annoying Canadian"
2.The Taliban have threatened pretty much everyone including Milalai
3.Nobody here cares what irrelevant 4th party policies were created in Quebec City. Not many people in the real world either heard or care what went on there.

Enough troll feeding.

Bill Frist, GOP house leader, has just said winning the war militarialy is impossible, and that we need to get the Taliban into the government. WTF???

"The Taliban have figured things out really quick; a bomb here, a suicide killer there, and the construction stops."

Well, the antidote to this is to push the perimeters of their "home turf" further away from the reconstruction areas and shut down the supply lines. Sugaring the locals in that region is also important to enlist their help. There is nothing new here, it is classic anti-guerilla warfare.

The best way to sugar the locals is to buy the opium from them, even though we burn it. Make sure the money goes directly to the farmers, in goods rather than US dolalras, then it van't be harvested by the bad guys. This would be the cost of "doing businmess" or the "cost of the war" until two condtions are met:

1) Children can go to school.
2) The Taliban is shunned by locals

....oh, there is a third:

Taliban Jack Layton negotiates a "peace" pipe of opium with his namesakes.

My grandmother celebrated her 93rd birthday on Saturday so we had a bit of a celebration on Sunday. During dinner, I sat across from my uncle and his wife. They had spent about a month in Europe and told me about their trip. They went from Rome to Ortona to Lucerne, Switzerland to Belgium to Holland. I was curious as to why they went to Ortona. I had never heard of the place and wondered what the attraction was. My uncle told me that it was the site of a very important battle during WWII. He also told me that my grandmother’s brother, Ernie, had been killed during the battle. He and my aunt had visited the cemetery where over 1,300 Canadian casualties were buried along with his uncle Ernie. I guess Ernie would be my great uncle. I was a bit embarrassed because I did not know that I had a great uncle Ernie nor did I know that he had been killed in the war. The conversation moved on and I heard about the rest of his trip.

Later that evening I googled Ortona, Italy to find out what I could about the battle and possibly how Ernie had died. Turns out that Ortona is a seaport on the Adriatic and was considered to be very important to the Germans. The battle began on December 5th, 1943 with a night crossing of the Moro River by the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI) who took the village of Villa Rogatti. The PPCLI and the Seaforth Highlanders secured San Leonardo and were to proceed to Ortona. Over the next 23 days the Canadian forces engaged in ferocious fighting but secured the town of Ortona. In the course of these battles, the Canadians suffered total casualties of 2,339 brave soldiers; more than 100 each and every day of the battle. In order to liberate a town I had never heard of in a country far, far away. All of this to help Italians be free of the fascists who were punishing them and their country. I could not determine how or exactly when my great uncle Ernie had died. I suppose I will find out the next time I talk to my grandmother. I am pretty sure that he died believing in our freedoms and the things that I take for granted. I am sad that he died but I have a sense of pride in what he did for other people; the ultimate sacrifice to provide future generations freedom.

I could not help but wonder what Jack Layton would say about my great uncle. I wonder if he would have demanded that the troops come home and leave the people of Ortona and Italy in the hands of the German fascists. I wonder if he appreciates the sacrifice that our women and men in our armed forces are prepared to make to preserve his freedoms. I am proud of all of the 2.339 brave soldiers and will not forget their sacrifice. I will always be proud of my great uncle Ernie and what he gave to me and every other Canadian.

Hey, Moosehead will now be the Wimpy drink.

Thank you, Canard, for your fine story. My dad and grandfathers fought in WWs I and II. Thankfully, they came back. A great uncle of mine--RCAF--was killed. So was my mom's fiance, also a pilot.

Could it be that "Loose Lips" Layton has no family members who paid, or were willing to pay, the ultimate price? That's hard for me to believe, which lowers my opinion of this cretin even more.

Kyrie eleison.

The problem is Canard that to the likes of Taliban Jack and other leftists the sacrifices then and now don't mean a rats rear end to them. It's about the politics and how to undermine your opposition. This is how morally bankrupt the left is and only one example of it. Military and war are one of many pet causes they need to keep their youth and other useful idiots on board. The phoney patriotism and support the troops and not the mission is the biggest bunch of leftist hooey. The liberal school system has conveniently left out the history that would have taught you about these battles like Ortona. They have achieved their goal. It's far easier to manipulate people when they have no sense of our past. We now reap what we've sown in this country.

Now the right has their Taliban Bill Frist. lmao.

And the brits are making deals with the Taliban:

British troops in secret truce with the Taliban...

http://tinyurl.com/pxahr

Coin toss as to whether Taliban Jack gets fraged by our guys for being a Quisling or by the Taliban for being himself. I give him 2 seconds with the Taliban if he starts up with them about SSM. Lifes hard; it's even harder when you're an idiot.

Good lord.. the Canadian public has been so brainwashed to believe that small amounts of casualties = defeat by the left, that at any sign of trouble ,they want to pull out.

Now the left wants us to go into Darfur,where we would most likely have to battle our way in.If we go and start taking casualties there in higher numbers than Afghanistan, who will they blame then?

Are our soldiers only fit to die for causes the left finds suitable?

I can only hope the soldiers refuse to shake hands with Jack! Layton if the man is stupid enough to go to Afghanistan..that or turn their backs to him.

"As Jack has said, the best way to support our soldiers is to take them out of this theatre for which our forces are not equiped and for which this country has no direct responsibility."

Canada supported a war to remove their government from power and you claim that Canada has no direct responsibility for the country? Attitudes like this illustrate clearly why the NDP should never be allowed to form a government. And Jack is wrong (Surprise!). The best way to support our troops is to give them the equipment they need to complete their mission of installing a democratically elected government in Afghanistan that is capable of exerting its own sovereignty.

Canada supported a war to remove their government from power and you claim that Canada has no direct responsibility for the country? Attitudes like this illustrate clearly why the NDP should never be allowed to form a government. And Jack is wrong (Surprise!). The best way to support our troops is to give them the equipment they need to complete their mission of installing a democratically elected government in Afghanistan that is capable of exerting its own sovereignty.

Posted by: Alex at October 3, 2006

Alex, I don't know what kind of armchair General, fiscal dream world you chose to inhabit, nor do I want to know. It will take at least a decade of increased expenditures, both capital and current, to make up for a decade or more of Fin Min's Paul Martin's "economies", which were taken in the service of deficit reduction, and of other atrophy that was longer term.

It appears that Harper and the Conservatives figure that the best way to build public support for increased defence spending is to throw the troops into a hot one, let the casualties mount big-time, and then say, see, we need these extra dollars.

Coin toss as to whether Taliban Jack gets fraged by our guys for being a Quisling or by the Taliban for being himself. I give him 2 seconds with the Taliban if he starts up with them about SSM. Lifes hard; it's even harder when you're an idiot.

Posted by: Boomer at October 2, 2006 11:07 PM

Another utterly dishonourable and totally disreputable poster calling for cowardly acts of assassination. A real Canadian Conservative, alright.

Well Budd..sometimes in real hot issues, where people can see that actions are important, and words can affect said actions..people tend to become hot under the collar.Especially when the words and actions of a man like Jack! Layton can actually cause someone to get killed.And if those "someones" happen to be Canadian soldiers,of whom most here care very much about,watch the sparks fly against a man most here would consider a political cancer.

From Malkin's Hot Air:

"If we’re going to do this, just pull everyone out. Don’t lend an imprimatur of legitimacy to it by shepherding these medieval savages into a U.S.-backed government. Pull out, admit defeat, and let the Taliban take back the country through force. Then we can really and truly be back to September 10, 2001. Minus a skyscraper or two."

The right...cutting and running so soon?

http://tinyurl.com/lm6ff

"calling for cowardly acts of assassination"

Budd: I think you need to go back to grammar school... I haven't seen a single person call for Lollipop Jack's assassination, not on this thread nor on others. You'd make a good journalist though.

Iraq has had a civil war. The South, North and the Kurds will be forming three separate states.
Canadians are only in the South because there is no hope left - we're there to fight until the North is sufficiently stabilized and until the Southern states (there are 9) form a unified representative group of some sort. It's WWII again - we're being sent to die on the beaches, again.

So, yeah, let's have rallies supporting our poor military personnel who are being sent in to die. Support them the way we supported our WWI and WWII troops when they were sent on equally pointless missions. Join the Legion. Make big donations. Wave the flag.

Got a good laugh yesterday listening to the radio, where an "expert" said "cut and run" was a "right wing cliche" (what's his point), in other words rightie jingoism, then without missing a breath, said "we need to support the troops by bringing them home." No cliche there eh! Here's some other ways we can support people

- support drivers by banning cars
- support the middle class by taxing the crap out of them
- support our military by decimating it
- support the people of Afghanistan by, egad, cutting and running, so the Taliban can regain control
- support terrorism by electing Taliban Jack

"Another utterly dishonourable and totally disreputable poster..."

Imagine this mentally dead leftoid having the audacity to use these remarks against another. This supporter of one of the most horrible human beings to ever sit in parliament. This person who has proven over and over that he's bereft of reason and common sense. This person who in attempting to form an argument, constantly proves that facts and truth are his enemy.

Exactly who are you playing to with your insults Budd? Must be your imaginary friends, given that you're not on kos or rabble.

Or, had you not noticed?

Budd: An example of a diseased mind, now malignant. Though, it might not be so offensive if it weren't for the accompaning rotten stench.

Well Budd..sometimes in real hot issues, where people can see that actions are important, and words can affect said actions..people tend to become hot under the collar.Especially when the words and actions of a man like Jack! Layton can actually cause someone to get killed.And if those "someones" happen to be Canadian soldiers,of whom most here care very much about,watch the sparks fly against a man most here would consider a political cancer.

Posted by: kursk at October 3, 2006

Kursk, do you think you're fooling anyone with this sophistry? You're suggestion that Layton's statement will put our troops at increased risk is a complete fabrication as you well know. It's the same drivel that was trotted out forty five years ago in the case of Vietnam. And your statement that the posters here care about our soldiers is false and offensive. They care about conservative politics, Republican and Conservative Party politics with a decidely prejudicial flavour, and about nothing else. Their "support the troops" rhetoric is just theatrics for them.

"... This supporter of one of the most horrible human beings to ever sit in parliament."

As you know Daisy, I have never supported either Joe Volpe or Rob Anders.

Budd: Open council by elected reps to capitulate, encourages the enemy in their belief that long term persistant conflict wins over the west everytime. In this sense, Lollipop Jack brings comfort to Islamists; he gives them every reason to go on targeting not just people... but Canadians in particular, because every Canadian death they cause will stir you and Jack to greater moanings.

Jack is the enemy as much as any Taliban and the vast majority of troops see it that way. They would never consider harming him... but they loath him and fluff like you.

In a not that long ago past he would've been in jail for giving support to our enemy. And, he is doing what he's doing purely to lock down his base of neo-Marxists, Unionists, and hard-left utopians.

You nor Jack give one ounce of care about Afghans or Canadian troops... your only position is to oppose the right... all else means nothing. Jack cares only for his position as leader of Canada's smallerst party and cementing the hold he has on it.

The troops hate him... specifically because they know how his careless boasts and slogans encourage the Taliban to keep up the fight... Jack encourages the enemy to keep targeting Canadians... as do you and every other disingenuous phony.

I will never accept your opinion on the troops unless you are first willing to consider what they have to say. Anyone who disregards the opinions of those doing the fighting, yet claims to support them is the biggest of liars... which you are because nothing in your discourse here suggests an ounce of respect for them. But then, with examples like Lollipop... who can blame you.

[1] Budd: Open council by elected reps to capitulate, encourages the enemy in their belief that long term persistant conflict wins over the west everytime. ...

[2]Jack is the enemy as much as any Taliban and the vast majority of troops see it that way....

[3]In a not that long ago past he would've been in jail for giving support to our enemy. ...

[4]You nor Jack give one ounce of care about Afghans or Canadian troops...

[5]The troops hate him... specifically because they know how his careless boasts and slogans encourage the Taliban to keep up the fight... Jack encourages the enemy to keep targeting Canadians... as do you and every other disingenuous phony.

[6]...Anyone who disregards the opinions of those doing the fighting, yet claims to support them is the biggest of liars...

Posted by: Debris Trail at October 3, 2006

I have taken six items from your post.

[1], [2] and [5] contain totally unsubstantiated claims.

[1], [2] and [3] all amount to a vehement denial of democracy at home in our own parliament. You're saying that no parliamentarian can question an operation once it's underway. That's a totally irresponsible and abusive position for any party in power to take and you know it. You must be getting advice from the Liberals.

[4] is false, as you well know, and the exact opposite of the truth, as you also well know. It's Tories who regard our soldiers as expendable, willing to put them into a full-on war-fighting situation after more than a decade of atrophy. The Conservatives apparently think the resulting high casualties will help to harden public opinion in favour of expenditure increases at DND.

[6] is kind of funny in that it applies directly to you!

Keep Blowing Budd: You are a phony who cares for nothing but opposing the right, at any cost, at any time.

You and Lollipop are following the typical disingenuous path of socialist utopians who abuse their freedom within the democratic context... your opposition to the Afghan conflict has nothing to do with the facts as they are on the ground because you give no consideration to those doing the fighting; Period.

You present no solid intellectual basis for what you spout. The likes of you have been part of democracies and will continue to be so, but you will, as always, be swept aside when the need arises for better, stronger, and more visionary people to do the hard work of maintaining our freedoms. Unfortunately, as in the past, the likes of you and Jack will literally force appeasement until only massive horrific and total confrontation is required with the enemy.

Freedom of expression within a democracy should come with responsibility, but the absolute fact that you and Lollipop, so carelessly toss out what amounts to no more than 1960's slogans, without any care for the consequences to our troops and the mission which we have signed onto... is beneath my contempt. In fact, it is incrediblty un-Canadian, and incredibly dangerous when done in such a glib manner.

And, I do hold you, and the likes of you, in total and complete contempt for one main reason. My son, and thousands like him, are risking their asses to fullfill a mission which is a United Nations Mission; a NATO mission, and a very honorable mission which is motivated by a desire to bring a better life to others.

You, are so greedy and blinded by hate of the right that this fact is beyond your comprehension.

If you want to disagree with the mission, do so in a way that gives our troops a chance at success, not in a way that guarantees that the Islamic Fascists will fight all the harder. And believe me, you are aiding and abbetting the enemy.

You don't realize how damaging you are to the fabric, morale, and survivability of this country. Opposition is one thing, but cras politicing on the backs of our troops, as you and Jack are doing, is beneath my contempt... I stand with our troops in loathing you and your type and your slogans. My son, and those who went before him deserve more for their sacrifice than shallow and glib people like you and Lollipop.

I'll say it again... if you don't consider what the troops have to say in the formation of your belief structure as it pertains to this conflict... then you don't support them and you are a phony.

"You and Lollipop are following the typical disingenuous path of socialist utopians who abuse their freedom within the democratic context... your opposition to the Afghan conflict has nothing to do with the facts as they are on the ground ...

Freedom of expression within a democracy should come with responsibility,

My son, and thousands like him, are risking their asses to fullfill a mission which is a United Nations Mission; a NATO mission, and a very honorable mission which is motivated by a desire to bring a better life to others.

Posted by: Debris Trail at October 3, 2006 05:29 PM

I don't know whether or not I should take seriously anything you say. However, on the off chance that you really are a father with a son in the Forces in Afganistan, I hope for both your sakes that he is safe and well and stays that way.

I agree that freedom of expression comes with responsibility and I hope you will at least try to keep that in mind the next time you're lecturing people about the need for democracy and simultaneously and falsely accusing them of treason because they argue a case different than your's. That's an abusive and gutless line or argument, as you well know.

As for who is being politically motivated here in the partisan electoral sense, it's plainly yourself and other Conservatives who feel an urgent need to stay onside with Pres Bush because of all the technical help the Tory Party gets from the Republicans.

Let me ask you Budd: What do you think of the fact then, that virtually every single soldier serving supports the mission in Afghanistan. Does that mean anything to you? And, what do you think of the fact that most of them feel that Lollipop is making their job much more difficult by offering incentive to the enemy to stick to the fight? Tell me, what do you make of their feelings, which I dare say, are more educated than yours or mine?

By the way Buddy: The two soldiers killed today were doing reconstruction work... exactly as Lollipop wants them to do.

Last year a high school had a project for Nov 11. Each student was to a research project on a person who died in ww11. The results of this was shown on the cbc (once in a while they do have something good) These teenagers used the net, history books, traced families, battles, etc. The results were very emotional for all the students. One traced one person, and discovered he was a relative. Made them all more aware of our history and the importance of the military. I recently discovered that my great grandfather was a POW during the Prussian war. He survived, moved to the USA and for over 60 years he received a military pension of 90 something (about 40.00 us) till he died at age 97. He was the oldest living man in Utah, and was written up in all the papers.
Too bad the taliban jacks of Canada don't research their roots. They might find some heros there, who are twisting in their graves in embarassment.
One of my uncles was the pilot of one plane in the first air-air refuelling. Another was the man in charge of the Amchika Blast in Alaska.
Like the shadow said, who knows what secrets lurk in our past.

There are some who have likened a Canadian withdrawal from Afghanistan to a Canadian withdrawal from WW2. The fact is most of these people who advocate reconstruction and the withdrawal of troops are worse. It wouldn't be like Canadians abandoning the Jews to the Nazis it would be like abandoning the Jews AND building the Nazis a new road from Warsaw to Auschwitz.

Debris et all, it is useless to argue with those like Budd. No matter the consequences, no matter the imminent danger, they are the ones who will stand back at some safe point and sling shit rather than get their hands dirty (much less put themselves in peril) to actually make this planet a little safer.

I knew both Craig and Mitch, they knew the risk, they believed in the mission, but what is more they knew, that this fight is worth the fighting, and yes, even the dying.

These are the people who will change this world, all the Budd's sitting around eating Twinkies and pontificating about the why's and wherefores can't, in an entire lifetime, accomplish as much these two men did in just a month in the sandbox.

Mitch, Craig, RIP
Audax et Celler.

Happy Jack Layton didn't say he hates our soldiers he just says they don't belong in a war. Esp a war started by the most hated country in the world. The USA. The soldiers are following orders. A lot are very young and naieve. We all were at that age. We do not have the money or power to maintain a large fighting force. Everyone in the world knows that but us. Harper is riding on the blood of our dead soldiers. He's as sick as Bush or sicker.