Author: EMG

“My Overall Impressions Of Afghanistan”

Uncategorized 8 Comments

Excerpts from Adrian MacNair’s first post upon his return:

…
For now, my foggy impression of Afghanistan is that it’s a country we’ll have to spend a generation and tens of billions of dollars [if not hundreds] to keep from becoming a failed state again.
On the military side it would be inaccurate to say we are winning. Not that NATO was ever losing any war against the nebulous, shadowy insurgency that continues to wreak havoc against the people of Afghanistan…
adrianyoungafghans.jpg
Young and confident Afghans in Kabul make up a demographic of modernized, literate, and progressive men and women like these two journalists working at Tolo TV [more here and esp. here in the New Yorker]. Oct.5, 2010.
Flying over the craggy brown mountains of southern Afghanistan’s sand heading for Kabul, the sporadic oases of greenery can be seen in the valleys of the inhospitable landscape below. One can’t help but think that the Taliban will never be extricated from the thousands of tiny nooks and crannies in a land that seems impenetrable to change.
Yet one is also left with the metaphorical impression that the lush valleys snaking through the mountains are symbolic of the resilience of an ancient people. The hardships of the past 30 years are but a footnote in the history of a people who still bear the genetic mark of Alexander the Great. Though Afghanistan is referred to as the graveyard of empires, it is a mistake to think that it has repelled all outside influences.
There is sincerity both in the work ethic of the soldiers who believe in a mission they are willing to die for, as well as the anecdotes of Afghans who seem to have more patience and optimism than the Canadian public. The latter, after all, have a much larger stake in this struggle than we do.”..

“Fighting And Dying In Afghanistan. For What?”

Frankly, My Dear 37 Comments

A lot of readers did not like this post of mine yesterday:

How has the Canadian government’s Afghan policy come to this? “All hat, no helmet. And no skillet neither.”

What think you of this one by Damian Brooks (founder of now-defunct The Torch) at The Propagandist? Its conclusion:

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In fact, the Afghan mission should have represented the perfect opportunity to meld the compassionate idealism of the political left with the hard-nosed practicality of the security-conscious political right and stand firm in our commitment – to our own national interests, and to the people of Afghanistan. This should have been the one mission we could all agree upon. That support for such a potentially bi-partisan effort has been allowed to slowly decompose to such embarrassingly meagre levels is an indictment of Canadian leadership across the political spectrum.
With this in mind, perhaps my friend’s question should be rephrased one more time: “If Canadian soldiers are going to continue to bleed and die in the dust of Afghanistan for the betterment of both countries, shouldn’t Canadian politicians be willing to invest a fraction of the commitment that our soldiers so willingly give?”

Be afraid. Be very (?) afraid.

Terrorism 24 Comments

Right:

Terrorism: Useless goverment “action”
Anne Applebaum of the Washington Post puts what I have been thinking very clearly:

Terror warnings: Be specific or be quiet…

Meanwhile, try finding this at our government’s Foreign Affairs’ website:

The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade is closely monitoring the security situation in Europe…

Maybe they think the warning is useless too.

Now Is The Time At SDA When We Juxtapose!

Juxtapose! 27 Comments

How our major media work:
1) Erstwhile Canadian Alliance candidate:

Former ambassador lends support to new anti-immigration group
…
Others backing the new group include…Salim Mansur, a University of Western Ontario political scientist, columnist, former federal candidate for the Canadian Alliance party under Stockwell Day’s leadership, and author of Islam’s Predicament: Perspectives of a Dissident Muslim…

2) Erstwhile NDP candidate:

Was seizing the flotilla legal?
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Israel justifies the boarding of the ships in international waters basically as an act of self defence. It is Israel’s argument that the naval blockade of Gaza is needed to prevent Hamas in Gaza from attacking Israel.
However, notes Michael Byers, Canada Research Chair in Global Politics and International law at UBC, the test in international for constituting legal self defence is whether the action taken was “necessary and proportionate.” On the facts, “the action does not appear to have been necessary in that the threat was not imminent,” Prof. Byers said.
“To say that this blockade would be jeopardized by the flotilla and that sometime down the road weapons might come into Gaza as a result, and thereby pose a threat to Israel, is to stretch the definition of self defence way further than anyone ever countenanced.”..

Something missing in 2) I’d say. Lots more here:

One of our greatest and goodest wants immigration limited/Media sliming/Byers Update thought

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