madmax

Has anyone else heard that the guy who jumped out of the plane has numerous wives and has been seen in Brazil? If this were true, he has staged his death and is doing just as well as Felderhoff, who if I understand properly, didn't even bother to attend his trial.

Difficult to choose between schemes used by the Federal and Provincial Liberals. Why do they appear so similar in nature?

What a bloody mess, it sure feels like stealing to me. The accountability is so lacking, I have no idea how this party gets off so lightly.

Sorry, but these actions were totally unacceptable. The Liberals were caught engaging in activities similar to their larger Federal Cousins. Essentially using tax payer moneys to prop up people and organizations who would in turn prop up the Liberals. They were caught, and I don't think the resignation is enough.

I am not surprised to hear it. You didn't vote Conservative Federally, because you didn't vote. I expect you will do the same Provincially. Quoting the CBC ????

Geoffrey, you would be wise to get off the Conrad Black fan club. Good business sense..... ...... cut your losses.

You didn't vote for harper. You didn't even vote.

I knew it!

The economy is going to be revisted with a rude awakening coming to many middle class families. This will not have anything to do with global warming or the global warming movement. Arguments can be made for and against these issues and the activists who press them. There is a huge threat to the Canadian economy, and I think that is obvious.

Yeah, it's got me worried too I have to reread this thread..... I am reserving my judgement but will follow the rest of the comments in this thread, but at this point I am leaning in a similar direction. I am certain something will spoil this rare occurence. Something immigrant maybe ? or perhaps a more thorough argument. But I did have one of those moments.

A response: Another: WTF?????????? I'M *LIVID* RIGHT NOW! LINK? Where did you get this? I can feel the puffery.

Are they more ungrateful then the Conservatives in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia? I haven't seen them removing the Canadian flag.

There are lots of cowards and lots of people in the basement using their parents computers. I have no reason to believe you are not one of them. I can find cowards in any political forum and in any bar. I can find cowards in any political party. Many cowards hide behind Conservative Bravado. I brought that forth because you seem to believe that there are a finite amount of cowards and they are all in one party. One of the biggest cowards in my recollection is named Adolph Hitler. He not only joined the military, he fought in WW1. He is still a coward and is a measure of weakness in mankind, when driven by fear. I believe there are cowards on these forums. They are often accusatory, blaming, and weak in content when it comes to discussion. I have noticed that some people here will apologize for unthoughtful comments. I consider this a position of strength, not cowardice, and these people as far as I can tell, belong to all politicial persuasions.

What's your point? That you are spinning.

Peter F You could use some manners, and a lesson in respect. I don't support the combat mission in Afghanistan. I disagreed with it from the get go, and I don't believe it will achieve its goals. The fact that after 6 years the attacks on our forces have increased with the support for the Taliban, demonstrates that something is wrong between the actions and the results. The hearts and minds have not been won, and Canadian Forces cannot and do not trust the Afghan forces. What does exists are large brothels in Kabul, and lots of gung ho mercenaries running around making a good buck, while our guys try to do something good, believe in a mission, that is not going to make the impact that must occur to achieve security in the country. There is no endgame, nor can there be. There is no reason to believe that Afghans cannot defend their values and beliefs against the Taliban, yet we believe that we must be the ones to get this done. Now there is alot of movement towards getting the forces out of this mess. It is not better then 2001 after the invasion and it is a downhill slide. We have had our politicians visit Pakistan with little to show. Ask yourself a question. What would occur with a withdrawl in Afghanistan? Would the Taliban overwhelm the country side? Would women that are beaten or raped by Afghan Men, be treated differently by Taliban Pashtuns? Would mercenaries pick up the slack, and get out of Kabul? What ever good the Canadian Forces do, after having seen some of these Mercenaries, I have to wonder how much influence they leave in the minds of Afghans. And then there are the spin doctors here..... some bold talkers who are old enough to enlist and support the troops but are too unwilling to do so, but are very effective in blaming the "left" for 6 years of trouble in Afghanistan and no significant results showing that the Karzai government has a military force that can stand on it's own. Fact is, Pakistan backed the Taliban, a bunch of orphaned kids of the USSR war and managed to overun and secure the country in a year. There are people here who would like us to fight forever, without military objective. I understand Weaponeers and some of the other guys frustrations, who wear their thoughts on their sleeves. They back up what they say and mean what they believe in. I don't have a problem with them slamming any politician, be it Layton, Dion or Harper. They are the ones putting it on the line, and they have to live with the decisions that are made by politicians. , it was some bad political choices to put our troops out there running around doing search and destroy missions, with no timelines or objectives. Nothing will be gained staying in Afghanistan trying to kill all the Taliban or Pashtuns who move back and forth across the Pakistani Frontier.

It's especially astounding in the case of Spain. They used that excuse to withdraw from the war in Iraq, yet that didn't seem to help the spanish tourists in Yemen this week at all. The Yemen government is battling Al Qaeda terrorists in Yemen, not Iraq.

Your comments have no bearing on the posting or the title put forth by scribblet. There is nothing common between the Norman Victory over the English in 1066 and the current confrontation in Afghanistan.

Declassified Intelligence? This is quite a story. I believe you can get the original dictated by OBL and Ayman clearly stating that Canada's participation in Afghanistan will make us a target for Al Qaeda. How a target can be"Legitimate" when being executed by those trying to create terrorism doesn't make any sense. Since this targeting of Canada was common knowledge back in 2001 I have to wonder how this is breaking news.

Conrad Black is ready to sue anyone who has "slandered" him during these proceedings. So, will he be able to sue, or will he be convicted?

Hi Mike, where yah been lately. Got a job as a cab driver? I was wondering when you might show up and put forth a controversial racist bigoted post. I know you are just getting warmed up. Perhaps you would like to comment on your political voting intentions this time around? I can't see this being a positive endeavor for someone of your stature.

We participated in the ousting of the Taliban from Afghanistan in 2001. An opportunity was frittered away with the foreign policy George Bush adopted. This is nothing to brag about. It is now 2007 and what could have been a very effective reconstruction effort has turned into the rebirth for an undesired religious and ethnic entity. Karzai should have been able to secure the support of Pashtun tribes with the help of the US, in a similar fashion that the US switched sides to support the Northern Alliance. Karzai could not and didn't achieve a stable Afghanistan because of this oversight and the apathetic nature of US foreign policy towards Afghanistan after the route of the taliban. The common theme of Iraq and Afghanistan, has been the incompetent planning after dominating the battle field. When are you going to signup? You have on a number of occasions mentioned your bravery over the internet. There is plenty of opportunity to enlist, ask to go over and engage the enemy to ensure a NATO victory. You make it sound so whip snap, so easy, but you aren't doing the heavy lifting.

You level this comment against many people in these forums. Particularly anyone who takes issue with any of your unsupported statements. You want your opinion and your analogies to be considered as truth. It would appear to me that you do not want a discussion. You want people to believe you.

Losing because of .... A) Public Opinion MSM C) Troops D) Situation on the Ground Correct answers are A) NO NO C) NO D) YES I disagree with your assessment FascistLibertarian, While I do not believe that the media has done a thorough job following the soldiers perspective. The facts are, that any reporting suggesting winning on the ground cannnot declare victory/success unless the facts on the ground support that situation.

I don't think it is covered well enough at all.

Welcome to the forum. It is comments like yours that worry me with regards to the mission. I haven't heard of the Afghans usings kids since the USSR days. I do believe that this young boy was co opted to become a suicide bomber. I don't know how one can participate in Afghanistan and ignore their cultural ways. Using bribes, tribal systems, and elders are the means to get things done. Gender equality has taken a back seat after the 60's and 70s. The society is not ready to bring women ot the forefront after nearly 30 years of conflict, and barbaric occupation, barbaric rule of warlords, and oppressive rule of the Taliban. Only the women of Afghanistan can do this, and this is a task that will take decades. It is a huge task, that is undermined by every commenter who claims they are free of their burkas, when in reality, the women are not treated as anything other than a possession. New laws are invoked that support child brides, and women will be beaten and killed by their husbands behind closed doors. I believe that the combat mission intent could be derived to have two goals. By time to stabilize the rest of the country. Locate and Target higher Al Qaida Leaders. I am not certain that this mission has proven successful to date. I think that Martin was both ignorant and naive when signing on to this mission. I do believe that Harper is dealing with the situation as best as he can, and is realizing that the troops cannot be used for political rah rah purposes. I certainly hope so, as he is starting to give way to the realities the mission faces. The troops seem affected by what is happening here, although that doesn't mean they are immune to criticise some of the problems they face while in Afghanistan. I don't believe Afghanistan is hopeless. I don't believe that Canadian troops in Afghanistan are American Patsies. But I do believe that they can gain the support of the Canadian Public, by exiting the combat mission, and leaving the intelligence and targeting to the likes of JTF2 and other special forces of the NATO countries. It is difficult to assess the stability of Afghanistan since the Talibans overthrow in 2001. However, as it is 2007, I have could reason to believe that we are nowhere near where we should have been by this time. These are just my opinions and another way to continue the discussion here. As many in this forum are aware, I have not been keen on the counter insurgency mission from the get go.