Deadly Afghanistan campaign going terribly wrong

By GERRY WARNER
Cranbrook Daily Townsman
Sept. 5/08
What do you get when you add 96 and four? You're right, 100. One hundred is not normally thought of as a tragic number, but it soon will be in Canada because it's now numbingly obvious that the number of Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan will soon meet that momentous number.
On Wednesday, three more Canadian soldiers, all in their 20's were killed and another is in critical condition as the Taliban insurgency grows ever stronger in that war-torn, religiously-dysfunctional, anarchy-driven country that we think we're going to "save." How foolish can we be! Ninety-six Canadians - for some reason I can't explain, I prefer to call them Canadians instead of soldiers -- have come home in body bags from that foreign field where, sad to say, we are the occupiers and we are the invaders.
Put politics aside and think about that for a moment. What if a foreign force suddenly landed in Canada, telling us that we have it all wrong? Our politics are wrong. Our religion is wrong. Our culture is wrong and we need someone to make it all right. We will have no say in the matter and this foreign force, dripping with weaponry, makes it very clear that they're prepared to kill any of us that have the temerity to disagree with them. Many of us, after one glance at these militaristic zombies with Black Hawk helicopters hovering overhead, body-armour and automatic weapons dangling from their belts, would probably decide there's little point in resistance and throw up our hands in despair.
Many, but not all of us.
Some of us wouldn't turtle. We are Canadians, after all. From Vimy to Passchendaele to Dieppe, we are renowned for our bravery, courage and grace under fire, as Hemingway would say. Some of us would take to the hills with whatever weapons we had. We'd become guerilla-fighters, and probably damn good ones. Others of a more cunning bent might use their electronic talents to improvise deadly explosive devices that they'd plant on the roadsides for the hated invaders to drive over and blow themselves to smithereens. And still more would probably rue the "collateral damage" that war inevitably brings like the 93 civilians killed by American forces in Afghanistan last week.
I think you see where I'm headed with this.
Let's be honest, something politicians seldom do when it comes to war or anything else for that matter. The main reason we're in Afghanistan is that we're not in Iraq. Say what you want about Jean Chretien, but when the historians write the official histories, the "Little Guy from Shawinigan" is going to go down as one of the better prime ministers of the era. Something that won't be said about Paul Martin or Stephen Harper. And when the historians sing Chretien's praises, they will highlight his decision not to blindly follow George Bush and the neo-cons into Iraq. If we did, we'd be talking about hundreds of dead Canadians, not the 100 figure we're approaching now. And for what? Iraq today is a seething cauldron of warring factions where the only law -- if it can be called that - comes out of the barrel of the nearest M-16 held by an American marine who would rather be back in the bunker of the relatively safe Green Zone. Afghanistan is rapidly becoming the same way except there's no Green Zone.
Ironically we have two federal elections coming up. In one of these, we have a candidate - to use her own words - that could be best described as a "Pit Bull with lipstick." In her younger days, she was known as a "Barracuda" and she's a proud member of the National Rifle Association. And this candidate, if the Republicans win, will only be a heartbeat away from the presidency. May God, in his/her Infinite Wisdom, save us from Sarah Palin!
Than we have the contest to take Ottawa, a real snore compared to the dynamic, and at times, downright hysterical, American campaign. I don't need to tell you where Steve Harper stands on the war in Afghanistan -- right beside his buddy George Bush -- who, despite the carnage in Afghanistan and Iraq, sleeps like a baby every night because in his heart-of-hearts he knows he has God on his side.
Just like the Taliban.
Don't you think it's time we ended this deadly foolishness and stropped using war, the ultimate obscenity, to solve the world's problems? Or as Albert Einstein put it: "Nothing will end war unless the people themselves refuse to go to war."
Think about that in the upcoming elections.

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