The liberals’ Vancouver Sun and one if its several liberal-left or at best “moderate liberal” columnists waxes sympathetic over the you’ve got to be kidding party and its pathetic stand on the Afghanistan war. Actually “stand” is exactly the wrong word. Their tribe have no stomach for “standing” up to or for anything unless it’s some esoteric “rights”, full-on socialism, or the national, full, mandatory acceptance of homosexuality.
Like the pantywaists of the left and far left in this country, Barbara Yaffe assumes the now typical and oh-so ingenious liberal-left war strategy best described as “well if we’re losin’ the war, we better leave—and we shouldn’t have gone there in the first place” posture made popular by abject failures the world over.
She recounts an NDP anti-war document which lists the ways in which we’re failing (this is itself typical of the gloom and doom anti-war left) and she seemingly sees each as authenticated reasons to quit the mission, and to reach what she portrays as an inevitable conclusion, to wit: By God they’re right! To be precise, she concludes, “The NDP’s blunt conclusion is one that is mighty hard to refute.”
Well no it’s not. It’s only hard if you’re totally on side with them and you seek only to convince Canadians those fools are right—or you’re too mentally lazy—or sorry but perhaps inept—to conclude they’re actually losers trying to convince Canadians that they are losers too. And that’s unacceptable to me as a Canadian, actually, but hey! Go team!… thanks for the cheery thought! The troops fighting for your butt thank you too!
Here, in sort of point form, is the list she creates from her reading of the NDP’s position on the matter, which she uses as the basis upon which to come to her so hard to refute and scientifically inevitable conclusion. She sees each NDP caterwauling point as the far-left always does, as reasons to run away like little girls. Not surprisingly, I see each of them as the opposite: as reasons to fight on—to redouble our efforts. To win.
The insurgency in Afghanistan, the NDP points out, is not receding but rather growing in the face of the armed forces’ efforts. According to United Nations and U.S. statistics, violent incidents more than doubled between January of 2006 and 2007. While 27 suicide attacks took place in 2005, by 2006 the number was up to 139.
Well with position papers and sock puppets like you fighting on “our side”, who could be surprised they’re emboldened? And anyway, on the basis that attacks are up, we should ipso facto ditch the mission? Not persist, no matter what? War is hard, and therefore we should give it up? Wow. That’s a “Canadian value” that only a post-modern “progressive” traitor could love. (And they’re homicide attacks—not suicide attacks.)
More than 1,000 of those killed in 2006, mainly as a result of air attacks, were civilians. Lately, President Hamid Karzai has been condemning military forces for such slaughters. Civilian deaths—no surprise—are fuelling discontent among Afghans and boosting support for the insurgents.
So rather than re-aim, we should leave, see. And that’s hard to refute? Not for me. And personally, I think people like Barbara Yaffe and the you’ve got to be kidding party are the ones who are “boosting support for the insurgents.” Not our attacks against them.
Meanwhile, development aid is a drop in the bucket compared to what’s being spent on the military side.
Gee. Hard to figure that, Yaffe. I mean what with it being a war against barbaric savage terrorists fighting a foe (us) that they hate with all their lives and have dedicated themselves to fight to the end no matter what. Of course if you’re a member of what I’ve called ”the tea and bun set”, like General Jack (“squat”) Layton, that’s funky math. More should be spent on buns than guns.
After six years of fighting, “Afghanistan remains one of the world’s poorest countries. Under these circumstances, the salaries offered by Taliban forces are drawing many young Afghan males into the insurgency.”
Six years, and we STILL haven’t turned the clock back on six centuries of this stone-age civilization’s economics?! What the hell is wrong with us?! And therefore once again, we should leave! They’re getting paid more to fight us than they could earn in bakeries! And let’s not ask where on earth are they getting that cash from! Who cares! Peace now!
Further, poppy eradication undertaken by the military is adding to prevailing woes because Afghans growing the crop for illegal heroin production have no other way to earn money to feed their families.
I’m confused: Are you suggesting we stand down and watch them grow it? Or if not, leave? And here there’s a war at home in Canada for you liberals to continue to fight no matter how hard: for the legalization of pot for our growing numbers of pot-smoking kids. And we know how outraged you are about that not being enacted yet because you never cut and run from that battle.
Another counterproductive factor cited by the NDP: Pakistan appears to be offering a safe haven for the Taliban. Indeed, in Defence Minister Gordon O’Connor’s words last week: “There’s a steady stream of insurgents coming across the border.”
Once again then: leave. They’re coming after us, so leave. It’s the new Canadian way. In actual fact, this is an argument for a doubling of troops, not a reason to cut and run. And you’ll notice they didn’t quote Defence Minister Gordon O’Connor following that up with “so let’s leave”.
The NDP report notes that many other NATO countries have expressed a reluctance to partake militarily.
France is a NATO country. Hello!
Without any clear objectives being debated and a consensus emerging as to what is to be achieved, “Canada has wandered into an international conflict in the middle of Central Asia with little control over the direction of the mission, or with much influence on its strategy.”
So you’d prefer Canada lead the mission or increase its stature? I really doubt that. That would require more troops and guns. And leadership. Liberals are against that.
And there was more. And again: she concludes from that that “The NDP’s blunt conclusion is one that is mighty hard to refute.”
PTBC was founded by Mr. Johannesen in 2000.
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