The two-year paralysis that so utterly enfeebled Canada in the matter of this country’s post-2011 re-dedication to Afghanistan is now officially over. Ottawa has come out of its coma, and now rejoins the company of the grown-ups in the 43-member International Security Assistance Force. With Tuesday’s announcement, we take our place once again as a leader in the international cause of a sovereign and democratic Afghan republic.
Welcome back, Mr. Harper:
Meanwhile Jack and Libby are organizing a platoon of trannies to send to Afganistan for athletic support of the troops, Jacks just gotta do his part.
And Prentice is goooone and so is the Envirowacko Global Warming bill to castrate our economy.
Three good things from Prime Minister Steve.
Been awhile.
Keep up the good work, and I might attend our next election.
Thank goodness that Canada’s doing the right thing. We’re building schools there. Protecting girls from acid throwers. Building roads & infrastructure. Diminishing the Taliban. Encouraging peace, love, & prosperity, while diminishing the cancer that is Islam in Afghanistan. The west has a moral obligation to improve the lives of the barbaric world, which is reproducing much faster than the civilized world. If you won’t stand behind our troops, then get in front of ’em.
With Tuesday’s announcement, we take our place once again as a leader in the international cause of a sovereign and democratic Afghan republic.
Democratic Afghan republic?
How about calling it what it really is: The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.
What?
Does that sound too much like the Islamic Republic of Iran?
And lets not mention the scandal of the “irregularities” that have surrounded the elections in this sovereign “democracy”.
The outcome was never really in doubt. In military circles it’s been taken as granted that we’d be staying past the “deadline”, although we knew the role would change. It’s a bit disappointing that the numbers are being reduced, and we’re being relegated to non-combat positions, but at least it’s an opportunity to continue our support of the Afghan people.
Democratic Afghanistan? You gotta be kidding.
That’s the country which jails the christians for thought crimes and convicts apostates to death.
Those folks don’t want and don’t need any of your values. You are foreigners to them. All they need while you are there is handouts – free diesel fuel, fertilizer and matches. Once you are gone, behind your back things will be back to 7th century.
Generation after generation the West (and East) is incapable of comprehending the simple truth that the Afghans don’t need the foreign invaders in any shape and form. But you keep approaching them with your ideas under the barrel of the gun.
NATO forces will be ground down and thrown out just like Alexander the Great, colonial British army and Soviets before you. Nuke them or leave them alone.
Once again Canadian military will be transformed into a “peace corps”, staying away from anywhere bullets may fly or soldiers might have to be a soldier. A lieberal government threw our troops into this forsaken goat f*ck dressed in forest green and little else. Then a minority Tory government was forced into a withdrawal timetable by the opposition, only to have the same opposition parties demanding Canada stay when the return date got close. Lets make up some minds here. Our troops are not some backdrop for a political photo-op or talking point.
Roger…that opium really got into you. Peace, love and prosperity in what is the official name Islamic Republic of Afghanistan?
The mission is neither peacekeeping nor combat, objectives are real mess. The rhetoric is absurd: the troops not liberating Belgium from the Nazi, they stepped into internal conflict with zero possibility of resolution and any local support they have is the matter of convenience. On top of everything the U.S. army is run by bureaucrats in uniforms looking only to advance their career through “office politics”.
How abot building some roads in Canada first? How about infrastructure in Canadian cities? How about first protecting Canadian citizens from being killed in North End in Winnipeg, before taking on Kandahar?
If you want to chase terrorist over the World , you have to move to Yemen, Somalia, Sudan; how about Saudi Arabia? How about bankrupting your country in the name of delusion of safety and noble goals nobody cares about in Afghanistan?
Roger: We were doing the right thing all along in Afghanistan and Canada did an A-1 job.
I agree, and I think it was rather defeatist when Harper announced a couple years ago that “we can’t win the war in Afghanistan”, i.e. hence we are leaving.
Harper was stating the obvious in the sense that the “war on terror” is not a winnable war in the classic sense — these are non-State actors and can never be “defeated”. But he failed to mention that terrorists certainly can be contained and controlled (much like the “war on drugs”). And above all the Afghanistan Nation can at least function as something better than a terrorist training centre, or hosts of a despotic foreign ideology represented by the Taliban.
And before the Pakistani Taliban filled the void left by the Soviets, there was at least some level of tolerance for other religions in homegrown Afghan tradition. It would be lovely to see that rebuild.
The “right thing” to have done in Afghanistan would have been to nuke them till they glowed, then shoot’em in the dark.
Put so much fear into Muslims that the mere mention of “Death to America” in a Mosk anywhere by one of those Jihadi Imams would have the other Muslims dragging him out into the street and stoning him to death in fear of the possibility that the same fate would befall them.
Then we wouldn’t be having debates about whether TSA or some other government entity was violating our persons at airports.
People who think our military is supposed to be engaged in some massive social experiment in a Sharia Law based Islamic Republic are A-1 Tools.
the Afghanistan Nation can at least function as something better than a terrorist training centre, or hosts of a despotic foreign ideology represented by the Taliban.
Afghanistan is an Islamic Republic.
That means that when the Taliban, which are homegrown Afghans, can simply run for office as soon as they lay down their arms and turn the place back into what it was before NATO invaded.
There is nothing about the structure of the government or it’s constitution that they will find unpalatable.
Get a clue.
> terrorists certainly can be contained and controlled
The Western Judeo-Christian civilization has utterly failed to contain and control the terrorism threat after successfully doing so for 14 centuries.
It was successful for as long as it used cannons to contain it. Now it switched to implanting the terrorists into the bodies of the Western countries and stiffing the rights of their own citizens.
Fighting a war in one particular dar al islam country while importing the millions of enemy into our lands is STUPID. How do you spell ‘stupid’, Mr. Haprer?
A-a-r-o-n
Prove it. Did you read the quran, for starters?
Nice one, Alaex!
And did you read the quran?
Just what I thought: two hollow baloons, incapable of anything but personal insults. Can’t even state your own opinion on the matter.
People bring their western mindsets to a country made up of the slaves of Allah. Hubris soaked good intentions have no effect on Muslim minds. You can smile, hand out blankets and bleed forever there. Things will not and cannot change in Afghanistan as long as an old respected Mullah decides it’s time for the 7th century again some Friday afternoon (it is in the “new” Afghan constitution, sharia trumps all the frilly western stuff). I’m sure all of Canadas leaders are blissfully unaware of Islam and its mandates. Unless you have some grounding in the ideology you will be totally incapable of dealing with it. Witness the last nine years.
Such blatant stupidity doesn’t require a serious response, Aaron. When Osama Bin Laden releases a video encouraging his followers to kill all infidels, I don’t bother presenting him with a reasoned refutation either. I refuse to lend legitimacy to xenophobic fanaticism by treating it’s proponents as if they were rational human beings. At best you’ve earned yourself a Nelson-esque “HA HA!”.
Just what I thought. If you have audacity to state your opinions on war with islam, at least go and read the quran.
Mr. Harper
Bring troops home to Caledonia!
It was always a foolish idea to try and bring democracy to a country that is not going to except it, not now, and not in the distant future. The minute the coalition is gone the Taliban with popular support from Pakistan is going to return, but, this time it will be even more violent. Anyone that even smiled at a coalition soldier is going to die.
Time to build our own nukes. Just out of self defense.
wow i kinda agree with both sides but to me the good fight must be faught and i as much as dislike islam i still think we have a duty to stop the acid throwers and the likes in the name of just plain old humanity it is just wrong .
I understand that there will be a push back from islamofascist’s but if the locals are trained they will be able to fight back intellegently and preserve there idea of islam .
I do not accept islam for any reason but if it’s followers demonstrate that they truley do want peace i will alway’s side with them against the islamofascist’s
Just remeber that muslism kill far mor muslims than any other by far .
I think iti s wrong for us to be there but it is also so right and there is no easy way out of this i have herd and i have seen so much progress over there that to me it is now worth staying and let them know we will not leave there side (local peace loving muslims and yes they do exsist)
And you know for everyone in here who say’s ahh well once we leave it will be another blood bath …great so at least we did our damn best to show them what peace and freedom is and what we enjoy over here may not be the same peace and fredom they enjoy over there but atl east they can see we did want to help and we did want to better our relations …
what have they done ? the ones that do reach back and try to make it work with us are slaughtered .
the poor little girls who know nothing but oppression and punishment are just so damn innocent i can’t say this is a bad war or a wrong war .
I wouldl ove to see all of our troops return home for sure but we are capable here we are able to defend our selves intellegently through democratic processes like voting(thank’s to our soldiers) . It really would have been easy to just drop nukes on them all but what about the ones who do love america and the ones who read western books about patriotism and freedom and peace at the risk of being slaughtered to me that is worth fighting for freedom and peace is not just for us privilaged western white christians it is for everyone but in order to have it we must FIGHT it is not like a fruit just picked from a tree …”anything worth having is worth fighting and dying for”
I hate war i hate this craziness but i also hate those who are so selfish that they think only about themselves our soldiers signed on for this no one forced them and i bet many many many of them don’t wantot leave right now i think many many soldiers are seeing the tree’s of there labour blood sweat and tears starting to bear fruit why cut the tree down now …we are there and i hate it just as much as the next guy but i try to put myself in the little boy’s and girls shoes over there who now can see that we are not the great satan and that we care and even if they die at least they can die having expierienced what we take for granted every day.
At least they can die knowing there was someone who truley cared . even if there own parent’s are to F@ked up to care , at least they can die having expierienced a peaceful night knowing our soldiers provided it for them or at least are trying.
Not sure where i am going with this but i love my country and i love what i have and i would not have it if it wasn’t for the soldiers of day’s past who faught for it for me .
1) Acid throwing complies with islam.
2) If it’s illegal under muslim country civil laws, those laws don’t comply with islam.
If the local government implements sharia in the 1st place, acid throwing will happen no matter whether foreigners want it or not. If the local government is rather secular, then resistance of hardline population is a matter for local police and not international armed force.
Read the damn quran and hadith before you form opinions. And remember that there are factions within islam which accept certain hadiths and reject the others as forgeries. It’s really that complicated, not a piece of cake like many otherwise smart and logical people in the West approach to islam.
Another stupid call from Harper, and a typically sophist article from the insufferable Glavin. Our government only has the right to use the army to defend our rights, not to ‘fight the good fight’ AKA nation-building. If you guys want to go over and die and sink money into schools for the savages, go right ahead. Don’t force Canada to foot the bill.
By the way, it’s hilarious reading the same people who are forever ventilating about The Muslim Threat (TM) telling us that we should counter The Muslim Threat (TM) by…giving Muslims a vote.
Paul, I know what you’re saying and, yes, our troops are good and are doing noble work in protecting the weak. The problem comes in this being an Islamic country dominated, like it has, for centuries by devout Muslims. The only way we can protect the women is to occupy a country where the majority don’t want us, and even hate us, and our culture. The big problem started when men who knew nothing about Islam decide it would be a good idea to nation build in the same way that was done in Japan. You would think that they could have just opened their eyes and noticed how many Muslim majority countries were democracies and how many were not. And then wondered….why?