<strong>Written By:</strong> jensonj
<strong>Date:</strong> 2006-12-18 12:47:06
<a href="/article/74706278-think-of-those-who-serve-us">Article Link</a>

It matters not a whit whether or not you agree with our deployment in Afghanistan, Canadians are over there, period. So, for the next week or so, and longer if you’d please, stop trying to discredit their purpose, devalue their presence and diminish their spirit. Remember these are the sons and daughters, brothers and sisters and husbands and wives of this country. They are ridiculously far from home doing the most dangerous, God-awful work imaginable and politics aside, almost every one of them takes pride in their mission.

The concept, you see, is a good one. Our deployment in Afghanistan wasn’t the result of some hawkish, neocon witch hunt, the country truly needed help. Terrorists had the run of the place and crazy people were making the rules.

In order for even the most basic improvements to take place, the totalitarian rule of the Taliban had to end and the country needed to rebuild. Our previous Liberal government knew this and committed Canadian troops to the cause; our current Conservative government knows this and remains committed to the cause.

What you see ongoing in Afghanistan is the practical application and end result of every lofty democratic principle ever espoused. We are seeing it is possible, just possible that the whole notion of establishing order in a lawless land might allow for great things to happen. Basic human rights for starters could conceivably take hold if murderous madmen can be held at bay. Simple things like the right for girls to go to school, freedom of expression and freedom of religion can exist in a land where hope is slowly replacing fear.

<a href="http://www.winnipegsun.com/News/Columnists/MacFarlane_Gord/2006/12/18/pf-2858339.html">http://www.winnipegsun.com/News/Columnists/MacFarlane_Gord/2006/12/18/pf-2858339.html</a>







[Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on December 21, 2006]

   

Terrorists had the run of the place and crazy people were making the rules.


We may assume the author is not refering to the Americans. May we also assume the aid given to the Afghani is based on western rules and culture. Should Canadians be proud to provide aid only to those who accept our values and if so, is this the sense of "serving our country?" Has our country become the icon of all things good and any who apposed must be destroyed. Is this our standard and those willing to enforce our rules are "those who serve our country". Are we to be proud when closing the door to those that are different and to those that don't know us?

I think there should be a better way to serve our country and make us proud. Tanks giving aid just dosen't seem to do it.


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Expect little from life and get more from it.

   

I don't remember when I've read a more disgustingly sacrine piece of writing.

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When the government’s boot is on your throat, whether it is a left boot or a right boot is of no consequence.

-Gary Lloyd

   

and why do we ignore Zimbabwe, Somalia, Sudan, and any other non-elected governed country. Let`s go!

why did we forget Rwanda or the Congo? only a few millions died in that area.

why are we in Afghanistan? we put back in the northern alliance which was corrupt and could not control the country! why did we choose sides on that one? which side is the one that is intolerant to women`s liberation? i have heard it is pretty bad right now too.

let's remember the insurgents who get killed fighting to have canadians et al. leave. it seems much more dangerous on their side. they have families or maybe they lost them so they join the rebellion... it seems that those killed of our foes is much higher than our own side. there never seem to be any wounded. the news only states how many are killed. what happened to the wounded or are they executed?

i just wonder about theses things. yes, let us remember our soldiers out there doing only as they are commanded to do. let us remember those who fight against us for what they believe in too. the war must be stopped. yes, i probably am naive and i am sad.

   

McFarlane says: "It matters not a whit whether or not you agree with our deployment in Afghanistan, Canadians are over there, period. So, for the next week or so, and longer if you’d please, stop trying to discredit their purpose, devalue their presence and diminish their spirit."

McFarlane this is the best time of the year, if we're to believe that "most" Winnipegers will be clebrating Jesus's birthday, to push for bringing our military home and to support pro-peace rather than stay the ridiculous course.

What a sap, trying to use this once-upon-a-holy-time-of- year to shut people up.

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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

   

Claptrap and drivel. Why do these guys use religion (the time of year) at every opportunity and promote that it is okay to use force and violence to make changes in a society? Nobody's modern interpretation of their religion accepts that.

I would not like to see the will and system of a foreign power pushed on Canadian society by force and violence. It would piss me off big time even if it was "correct". All we are really underscoring is the concept that might is right.

We do lots wrong around here but forcing change by violence is not appropriate here (I hope)...so why is it okay for us to do it there?

Lets not use this time of year even for thinking about ways to undo this terrible trap we have put the soldiers in. Stop the killing and find another way to invite change. Lets keep religion way the hell away from it if possible.

And by the way, the argument that war in Afghanistan and Iraq are so different, really makes me wonder. The only real differences I see are the spin of the rationalizations. How terrible the regime was, how happy the liberated, how brave or horrible the killers (depending on who you refer to), how neverending the ugly cycle....

Peace on Earth....

   

Soldiers very seldom serve "us", in other words, the real people of their home countries.

They serve governments, who may, or may not represent the people.

Wars are not fought between countries, of peoples, but between rulers and governments. Armies and religions are the only forms of occupations, where the employers, managers and foremen can send people to die.

If your sergeant, or lieutenant doesn't like you, you can count your days.

Ed Deak.

   

I'm with you on that... :\

   

Armed forces serve a country.That is true. But what
country do ours serve? Ours have been sent because we have
to cowtow to that whacko in the south due to a lack of
spine by our"leaders" in the north.

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A little peice of heaven is found in good deeds.

   

"why did we choose sides on that one? which side is the one that is intolerant to women`s liberation? i have heard it is pretty bad right now too."<br />
<br />
<a href="http://tinyurl.com/yfdbza">http://tinyurl.com/yfdbza</a><br />
<br />
"PANJWAII DISTRICT, Afghanistan -- As many as 26 local Afghan men were executed by the Taliban yesterday and their headless bodies put on public display around a local village, in a morbid attempt to dissuade other civilians here from assisting NATO and Afghan national security forces operating in the area, coalition sources have told CanWest News Service.<br />
<br />
"They put letters on the bodies that said if anybody tries to bury the bodies, the Taliban will kill them, too."<br />
<br />
"The letters also stated that the Taliban would behead and hang any local civilian who tries to assist coalition forces in their attempt to liberate the area, and will kill those who assist with the distribution of humanitarian aid."<br />
<br />
I thought somebody, anybody would get the inherent message in this article - syrypy writing and Afghanistan aside. Young men and women who are serving onboard ship, in Gaza, in South America, who cannot make it home for the holidays.<br />
<br />
Think about everyone in harms way who cannot be with family and friends on the holidays.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://tinyurl.com/yfdmrm">http://tinyurl.com/yfdmrm</a><p>---<br>"I think it's important to always carry enough technology to restart civilization, should it be necessary." Mark Tilden<br />

   

sounds more like the crap the Cocaine Importing Company was famous for in the jungles of Asia


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When the government’s boot is on your throat, whether it is a left boot or a right boot is of no consequence.

-Gary Lloyd

   

Do the Google<br />
<a href="http://www.google.com/search?client=opera&rls=en&q=the+Taliban+were+financed+by+the+CIA&sourceid=opera&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8">http://www.google.com/search?client=opera&rls=en&q=the+Taliban+were+financed+by+the+CIA&sourceid=opera&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8</a> <br />
<br />
<a href="http://pandagon.net/2006/10/02/dont-tell-them-that-the-cia-trained-bin-laden/">http://pandagon.net/2006/10/02/dont-tell-them-that-the-cia-trained-bin-laden/</a> <br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.socialismtoday.org/59/taliban.html">http://www.socialismtoday.org/59/taliban.html</a> <br />
&#8220;Drugs, arms and the CIA<br />
<br />
AFTER THE TALIBAN took control of Kandahar, the area&#8217;s renowned fruit cultivation was replaced by opium. Eighty percent of all heroin in Europe and 50% of the world&#8217;s supply originated from Afghanistan. This production was developed under the protection of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The production of opium increased by 35% in 1997. The big winners were the distributors and pushers in Europe and North America who get more than 90% of the profits.&#8221;<br />
<br />
<br />
Lots more where that came from.<br />
<br />
people gotzta stop hacking at the branches. <br />
Strike the root!<br />
<br />
<p>---<br>When the government’s boot is on your throat, whether it is a left boot or a right boot is of no consequence.<br />
<br />
-Gary Lloyd

   

Amen To that Brother C


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When the government’s boot is on your throat, whether it is a left boot or a right boot is of no consequence.

-Gary Lloyd