Finally, he’s got the message. As he bravely told the people of the United States on CNN on Sunday, our Prime Minister does not believe the war in Afghanistan is winnable. See: http://www.dailyheraldtribune.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1458586&auth=
The coup de grace of the statement was:
“Quite frankly, we are not going to ever defeat the insurgency. Afghanistan has probably had – my reading of Afghanistan history (is) it’s probably had an insurgency forever of some kind.”
Indeed it has. And it is a great tragedy that Harper and a few other movers and shakers in the lofty reaches of the Canadian government hadn’t read any Afghanistan history much earlier - like say, before marching our troops off to Kandahar to the mindless jingoism of General Hillier. If these turkeys had done so most of the 111 of our troops who have lost their lives in the conflict would still have their futures ahead of them. Just this morning came the news of the roadside bomb killings of another three of our brave troops in the region.
In case anybody is interested – and we all should be - here is what happened to the 111 brave young Canadians who have perished in Afghanistan. 92 were killed in hostile circumstances – 59 as a result of improvised explosive devices or landmines, 22 from rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire, and 11 from suicide bomb attacks. 19 died from friendly fire, motor vehicle accidents, falls, accidental gunshots, suicide and other causes.
See: http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/03/04/canada-afghanistan.html
See also an expanded list of casualties: http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/afghanistan/casualties/list.html
In addition, more than 300 Canadian soldiers have been wounded in Afghanistan, half of whom had to be transported back to Canada for treatment. Many of those wounded have serious and disabling injuries. There are amputees and seriously brain injured among them.
Our government says that by 2011 the direct cost of this folly to the Canadian taxpayer is estimated to be $11.3 billion. Parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page says that when you add in disability and health care for the troops, the price tag rises to $18.1 billion. See: http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/593858
Yes, if Harper had read even the rudiments of the history of the region, he would have realized that the NATO commitment of even less than 100,000 troops at any one time would have been woefully deficient even to make a dent in changing that godforsaken country for the better.
If he had read the history of the region, he would have realized that the people of Afghanistan had given the boot twice to the British Empire at the height of its power.
If he had read the history of the region Harper would have realized that not yet twenty years ago the Russians, even with a far stronger military presence in the country than NATO now has, had to leave licking their wounds.
And had he had read some history of the region, he would have picked up on why our NATO partners were so loathe to send their troops into tough spots of Afghanistan such as Kandahar. Why indeed? Because our partners had read the history of the region and realized the futility of it all! Unlike Prime Minister Harper, who was too busy apple polishing President Bush and the neocons, in between reading learned treatises from the likes of the Fraser Institute, William Kristol and the National Citizens Coalition.
Yes, had Harper only read some history of the region before it was too late. He didn’t.
This is a very sad story. In his haste to please his American idols and embrace the geo-political views of the now discredited extreme right, history never entered the Prime Minister’s mind. It has only now, and it is too late for at least 111 brave Canadians.
The coup de grace of the statement was:
“Quite frankly, we are not going to ever defeat the insurgency. Afghanistan has probably had – my reading of Afghanistan history (is) it’s probably had an insurgency forever of some kind.”
Indeed it has. And it is a great tragedy that Harper and a few other movers and shakers in the lofty reaches of the Canadian government hadn’t read any Afghanistan history much earlier - like say, before marching our troops off to Kandahar to the mindless jingoism of General Hillier. If these turkeys had done so most of the 111 of our troops who have lost their lives in the conflict would still have their futures ahead of them. Just this morning came the news of the roadside bomb killings of another three of our brave troops in the region.
In case anybody is interested – and we all should be - here is what happened to the 111 brave young Canadians who have perished in Afghanistan. 92 were killed in hostile circumstances – 59 as a result of improvised explosive devices or landmines, 22 from rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire, and 11 from suicide bomb attacks. 19 died from friendly fire, motor vehicle accidents, falls, accidental gunshots, suicide and other causes.
See: http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/03/04/canada-afghanistan.html
See also an expanded list of casualties: http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/afghanistan/casualties/list.html
In addition, more than 300 Canadian soldiers have been wounded in Afghanistan, half of whom had to be transported back to Canada for treatment. Many of those wounded have serious and disabling injuries. There are amputees and seriously brain injured among them.
Our government says that by 2011 the direct cost of this folly to the Canadian taxpayer is estimated to be $11.3 billion. Parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page says that when you add in disability and health care for the troops, the price tag rises to $18.1 billion. See: http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/593858
Yes, if Harper had read even the rudiments of the history of the region, he would have realized that the NATO commitment of even less than 100,000 troops at any one time would have been woefully deficient even to make a dent in changing that godforsaken country for the better.
If he had read the history of the region, he would have realized that the people of Afghanistan had given the boot twice to the British Empire at the height of its power.
If he had read the history of the region Harper would have realized that not yet twenty years ago the Russians, even with a far stronger military presence in the country than NATO now has, had to leave licking their wounds.
And had he had read some history of the region, he would have picked up on why our NATO partners were so loathe to send their troops into tough spots of Afghanistan such as Kandahar. Why indeed? Because our partners had read the history of the region and realized the futility of it all! Unlike Prime Minister Harper, who was too busy apple polishing President Bush and the neocons, in between reading learned treatises from the likes of the Fraser Institute, William Kristol and the National Citizens Coalition.
Yes, had Harper only read some history of the region before it was too late. He didn’t.
This is a very sad story. In his haste to please his American idols and embrace the geo-political views of the now discredited extreme right, history never entered the Prime Minister’s mind. It has only now, and it is too late for at least 111 brave Canadians.
