Army Guy

It is easy to blame our active particapation in Afghanistan for the rise in Home Grown terrorism , but this has been a problem for decades well before Afghanistan was even on the radar. It is a recruiting tactic that terrorist use for various reasons. A western recruit is a coup for any terrorist cell, they get a lot more media attention when caught or killed, compared to Local members. Look at Khadr and how much media he received. Western recruits can travel a lot easier, often have their own resources such as cash, etc to travel purchase wpns, training, etc… Ray Boisvert spoke about the case again on Tuesday and told CBC News Canadians shouldn't think the case is atypical, reiterating what he told CBC chief correspondent Peter Mansbridge on Monday. "It's really a story that may affect our identity as Canadians," he cautioned in his interview with Mansbridge. Xristos Katsiroubas, left, and Ali Medlej have been identified as the young Canadian militants involved in the attack at the Algerian gas plant. (CBC) "Sometimes Canadians see these sort of religious-political motivations as being something that affects others, or just a small part of the community," he told CBC News on Tuesday via Skype. "But that's not the case. This is not about Canadians or a particular group. It's about vulnerable youth, falling prey to a nasty subset of religious ideology driven through al-Qaeda narrative, being driven by a sense of adventure, a sense of purpose, a sense of meaning in their life, or perhaps following someone of influence in their life that will them to a path of violence." When asked whether the story about young men in Canada being radicalized is typical, Boisvert said it is. "It's quite typical. I have seen several cases over the years, affecting young people in small communities, or young people in large cities. It can be done over the internet, but the process is an individualized one." Boisvert said these "influencers" in somebody's family life will try to "hide in the shadows." Thses are not the only Canadians to have been radicalized, like CSIS has said there are thousands. and they are not all traveling to Afghan but world wide. You make some big leaps in announcing the Taliban victory parade, Do you really think the people of Afghan are going to let them back in to rule your sadily mistaken. As for the mistake that Canada made, nothing but opinion, nothing more, everyone has one....you may change your mind if you could first hand see the differences we have made in that country....In fact I'm proud of what we did, standing up for the little guy may not be a big deal to you, but for me it is what Canadians do, and has been doing for years.

It is not a simple question, but rather a misguided one, it's a question that would be asked by someone that refuses to educate themselfs on this conflict....and regardless of what answer is given you will not change your mind or stance. If was worth forfeiting thousands of your fellow citizens lives So, Why not ask those that served there , I mean each and everyone of them were volunteers, no one was forced to go , even though we were trained, and knew somewhat , what we were going to face we still went, we left our families, friends and love ones behind because we thought it was worth the cost....For a majority of those that served in Afghanistan they did it multiude of times, the average being 3 the most being 8 tours of duty...that has got to speak volumes as to was it worth it...And while it did not compare to storming the beaches of Normandy, it was by far a picnic....And i for one would say it was worth it, and in speaking for fallen comrads , those that i knew and served with they thought so as well.... Some things just can not be analysis for cost, things like your childs life, cost of freedoms, or little things like going to school ,it is the little things that will change everything..... not just for girls and women, but boys and men as well. It is hard to convince someone that education can change everything, it produces the leaders that will lead them out of this dark hole, it will produce the the knowledge that will improve their infra structure through engineering, through medical training and research and so on and so on....Education is what will change their culture allowing the mid evil beliefs fade into the sun set.... The Maiming of others is unfortunite and until man puts away the toys of war this is going to be a fact of life, it is war it's ugly and it is here to stay a while. Canada as a nation went to assist Afghan rebuild it self, not only after all the damaged caused by Nato or the US coalition but the entire mess pf well over 30 years of war which for the most part destroyed the nation completely...And during our stay Canadians built Dams for Hydro electricity, Paved Hyways to move cusumer goods, thousands of wells for drinking water, irigation ditchs for crops, hospitals, police stations, fire stations, we also trained hundrds of thousands of soldiers, cops, medical staff, fire fighters, EMS techs, the list gos on, I also want to piont out that Canadian soldiers also purchased out of their own pockets Ambulances, fire trucks etc..... Nobody has said that Afghanistan is perfect, the media will not allow us to forget that, but our nation is not either....And it will take generations to slowly perfect it.....then and only then can we sit back and say Afghanistan is a sucess or not..... SO what is your life worth, what would you pay for the freedoms you have today....because huindrds of thousands have already paid for those with their lifes.... Afganistan on average cost each taxpayer 20 dollars a year, or for 12 years, 240 Canadian dollars was this to much for you, was it to much to give alittle bit of that to someone that had nothing.....I mean our military did all the hard stuff for you...plus they paid their 20 bucks a year as well.

Why has the public grown so interested in military purchases, why has the government given the public a voice, that seems to influence such decisions....Why is this voice not interested in any other purchases made by the government.....it seems to concentrate only military purchases....what experience does the public bring to these talks.... One of the main stumbling blocks of these purchases is that they are far to policticalized, instead of concentrating on purchasing what would be the best for our military, we concentrate on what is the cheapest, it needs to have a majority of Canadian componets, or the Nation must have something in return....it needs to be acceptable to Canadians, not to offensive in nature, not to war like, it needs to be just right ..... Canadians only concern is HOW MUCH DOES IT COST.....everything else well that is not taken into account by the public....and i get it it is tax payers dollars that are used.....But DND already has a cap on their budget, which includes new purchases.....So that control is already set by government The F-35 is a prime example....the Airforce experts have already chosen this aircraft because it is the best on the market....they have already sold their argument to the government, ......and yet the public would seem to know more about this process and what is best for our countries defense have made their voice heard they don't like the price.....and to screw that up....they changed the rules to inflate it so more of the public would get sticker shock and add their voice to the debate.... So why is it that we are just interested in military spending , and not the spending of other depts....and why is it that the lifes of our military members don't even factor in any of the public debates...

Not sure where you going with this, are you suggesting we enter into this conflict....either way we are going to be subjected to blow back as you say....I'm with derek let them solve this issue on there own , in fact all the western nations should pull out and let syrians kill each other....to many players involved this thing is only going to get bigger....

Just wondering if the Americans manged to work out all the problems IE tailrotars etc.

In your mind only, if it was murder then feel free to pursue that in a court of law, you've failed to prove your piont to the other readers , but then again it's not a piont but your opinion........And one day you to will have an epiphany and come to the conclusion that War is an ugly thing, and both sides have blood on their hands.... I've learned to live with my ghosts long ago....And still willing to answer the call of this nation. which will proably mean making more ghosts...

No the terrorist targets the 5 year old intentionally, the 5 year old is the mission. it is his intention to make a statement through this kiling..... Military targets.... military targets only, collateral damage is the result of a strike gone wrong....their was no intention to kill innocent civilians. I've ask you before to provide a source that backs up your statement, and you've failed...it's murder in your mind only..... Time to stop stepping up for these scumbags time to choose sides.....

I think your misreading your quote....Drone strike are authorized at the very top of the food chain....do you see obama signing off on a strike that they don't even know the targets name, no there is a full brief before auth is given.........CIA are the operators of the drones, they don't need to know who the targets name ....just a picture to id the target , and some intel like where they'll be etc etc...then pull the trigger....Nobody is just hosing the area down and hoping they kill a terrorist....

Tell that to the victims of these crazy bastards....

Terrorist attacked that plane to make a political piont.....thats what they do.... US drone strikes had a military target on hand, the 5 year old was colateral damage.... Again you fail to grasp the piont here, one that is clearly spelled out in all the laws, genva conventions, etc......colateral damage is the word invented to discribe innocent civilians killed in a conflict.....they were not intentional targeted but a spill over from the attack.... it's been part of the conflict since man picked up his first club....

Terroroist are defined by their actions....once you comit a terrorist act then your a terrorist for life....What i was infering to was not all attacks carried out by the taliban were terrorist in nature , that is those carried out on the military....

You are responsable to follow the rules of law govnerning war, deliberate targeting of civilians is again'st those laws, however, if they are mixed then all measures should be taken to limit civilian cas....Take a look at D Day, towns and villages in France that housed enemy units were bombed and shelled did it kill innocent french civilians hell ya by the hundrds....was it illigal no.....War and peace time are different and should not be compared....also military and police rules of engagement are very different.... is not what i'm saying genva convention state that all measures should be taken to limit civilian cas.....it does not state that it is illigal, but rather limit..... And yes it applies to terrorist as well if they are going after military targets.....but that type of attack does not get the same attention, or have the same policitical message as blowing up a market full of strickly civilians....which is the key difference here....Terrorist are just targeting civilians ....NATO is attacking a military target , that has civilians around it.....I did not right the law .....that was done by our governments....

Are you kidding me.....Cops are held responsable for every life they take, but so is the hostage taker. But then again they are not at war are they....

It is not the goal but the side effect, asking someone to legally kill another human being, changes a man or women inside to the piont they are not the same person. It is this side effect that we as a nation are trying to deal with now. But has no impact in the decission about going to war. The Invasion of Afghanistan was planned in detailed, and when you invade another country, that is what happens it creates a human wave of refugees and people die....And while it did create a alot of refugees it was by far the largest ever seen by man.....sorry history says over wise. The numbers don't have to make sense, it is the result of Osama's actions....like i said before there is no score board, just objectives to be achieved, one of those objectives was to capture Osama destroy his merry band of thugs, and remove the taliban from power....regardless of cost... Of course if you looked at it they way you do, Osama intention was to draw US military into a fight in afghanistan was flawed when it came down to mathimatics did it not....But he must of also known that this act would claim the lives of his little force and many innocent civilians.....It is in my opinion that he did not care what it cost Afghanistan or his muslim brothers, he wanted to become famous as the ONE that struck back at the US.....He got his wish....and everything he built has been destroyed his body dumped at sea.....and the only virgins he's got are swimming with the fishes..... As for the orgins of the taliban , like i said before they were already est, well before the ISI got ahold of them. http://middleeast.about.com/od/afghanistan/ss/me080914a_3.htm

The decision to use a drone attack is done at the highest level of Government....Is that what you want a few tears....they appoligize, they offer compinsation, but really what can you do for these people once they've killed a family member , what can you say or do to make that pain go away....nothing ........and yet the war goes on......as cold as it may sound it is what happens in war, inocent people make up the bulk of the deaths in war....

Sure it was i mean Bin Ladin was pissed at the US, for interference into middle eastern problems, but what had the US done to Bin Ladin to warrent such an attack....It was a terrorist attack plain and simple.....but by that logic i can round up a bunch of lunatics and launch attacks again'st muslims if i wanted to ......just because ... would that be right....would someone on some forum be defending my cause...come on....thats the best you got....

Gost the CIA operated the aircraft, they may have not known the target for security reasons, but i can assure you this the drone operators can read the tag on your underwear, in a over cast day.....they can deliver a hell fire missle onto a lonnie size target....

Can you Show me one drone strike that was intentional launched to kill inocent civilians.....I have hundrds of examples of attacks that extremist directly attacked their own people to make a policitcal statement.....

Like i said before it's easy for others to judge when they sit in their homes in a nation like ours , were we have everything a man could want....living by our morals and values....everything is perfect....But when you are submerged in combat you become that monster, or you don't survive....you do what it takes to get back to your loved ones, we train constantly to become soldiers, on paper targets, electronic sensors that tell you if you scored a hit....but live combat is different and it changes everyone exposed to it....you can call it arrogance all you want, but until you've experienced it you will never understand it regardless of how many books you've read.... Your right i'm not the first soldier, or the last to experience war up close and personal, but it was me that decided to answer the call of our Nation. It was Canadian soldiers that answered our government request to carry out what needed to be done which was to bring the taliban and terrorists regimes to it's knees, remove them from power....WHY did we do that ....well over 3000 inocent lives were lost that day in 9/11 during a terrorist attack....That sir is an act of war, and had to be answered for.... The taliban did not hand over Bin Ladin or dismantle his organization that planed and carried out this attack did they ? ....and why would they, shit Bin Ladin's merry band was incorporated into their military system.....still busy fighting the northern alliance..... ISI did not invent the taliban, it came to be just after the russian departure under Ahmed Shah Massoud, the taliban was well establish before the ISI began its funding, and training....Google is a wonderful thing.... When the US lead coalition landed that day to start military operations they did not go in with the mandate to kill just 3000 to even the score they went in to Capture bin Ladin destroy his terrorist organization, and as a bonus ,remove the taliban and the rest of the terrorist organizations within that country. And in doing so Yes Refugees became a problem, but you also forgot to mention the great effort that the Coalition went to to feed them, house them provide medical support.....and yes tens of thousands have died....80 % of those by the taliban and terrorists orgs own hands... You see you forget there is two sides to every story...not just those poor terrorists......Out gunned, out manned...but lets not forget who they are and what they stand for.... Russia did not build anything up in Afghanistan.....they wanted it to have more influence in the region to counter US influence in Pakistan.....and when they could not get there way they took the country by force and exicuted those in power in a military coup, and installing a new regime.... http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/asia/july-dec06/soviet_10-10.html. US coalition went in to destroy the regimes responaable for 9/11, and in doing so they new they had to assist in rebuilding a nation that would be a responsable one....and not sponsor every terrorist organization in the world.... Here we go again, why is it that Afghan has it's own form of democracy....not even close to what we in the west have....can you explain that one....

Yes we have learned alot from the taliban, you learn it to counter their tactics, or adopt them for you own use, it's done on both sides of the war in order to survive....I've tried to give you some insite on what it is like over there, but until you understand what war is , eperienced it's sights, smells, noises, it even has it's own taste, and feel....then you will never really understand.....Nothing ever good comes of war in the short term....and the price both sides pay is horrorific....That being said i'm not going to sit here and let some arm chair critic make judgements on me or my comrads....on something that is not a crime .....you have not earned that right....If you or anyone else can prove that war crimes did in fact happen by all means case that down...but you sir, are declaring something that is well BULLSHIT..... Holding those responsable for 9/11 is what the US government did....that is what good government does, protect it's citizens, sending a message to the world that if you attack the US, and it's allieds you are going to pay in blood......Lets not forget that over 20 Canadian citizens died that day as well....but that is a lost fact, to which bares nothing to Canadians, now anyways.....But i can remember boarding the plane for the second tour in Afghan, the base streets were lined with Canadians from all over the nation, with banners and signs that read "get some", kill them all, cheering as combat soldiers loaded the aircraft that would carry us off to war......They wanted revenge.....and our government gave it to them..... Russia did not do half of what we did for the afghan people, Russia did the things that would benifit Russia...and they did it at the piont of a gun.....Maybe you should read more on what Russia did for the country... Yes lets blame the US and the CIA for all the problems in Afghan, the fact that many of these groups did not even exist during that time frame is telling....IED's came for other terrorist in the middle east, raising it's ugly head in Israel, Iraq, when blowing shit up was all these guys could do.... not from the CIA....but rather terrorist that were schooled in WAR SAW pact countries, or midle eastern countries under influence from the bear.....Pakistan Intel May have assisted in funding, training etc... but they did not create jack shit when it came down to the taliban....that was all their idea.....more research need there.... The Taliban has been out of power for years. The current warlords which run the country are a bunch of corrupt thieves, and their policies are hardly different You mean like most governments......it is their culture , thier new government, Are they are not evolving as fast as you want them to, is that it...shit ...how long has our democracy been in place corruption free....let me see, never....

Lets get real here bombing funerals and rescuers isn't assassinating the next Adolph Hitler. That's about the weakest justification possible for war crimes. You continue to spew out it is a war crime......then give us a source show the readers that it is a crime provide a link to the genva convention that prove your claim.....High value targets are targets that the governments have decided that ALLIED lifes would be saved if they were killed or captured.....to attack a HV they do an assement and to determine whether or not the colaterial damge can be limited.....thats right Colaterial damge, thats what they call the accidental deaths of civilians.....you may not like it but then again thats what war is .... Targeting rescuers is something we learned off the Taliban....they would plant an IED on the road to create injured,, then detonate another bigger IED to kill the rescuers....sometimes this would go on 3 or 5 times.....they knew NATO soldiers would not ...leave their wounded to die, and would risk other soldiers to go get them.......So i really don't shed to many tears for dead terrorists.....and like i said before these guys spend most of their lifes running from town to town, so they don't know many inocent people....and even those that do attend know exactly what these guys are Terrorist......they know NATO strikes these events so why risk it.. Yes the media will make you cry and report that inocent were killed, when most of them were terrorist to start with....something like a Mob funeral.....how many inocents hang out with the mob.... The Taliban knew the US was not going to talk for very long, the US made threats of military intervention, and the Taliban said sure we will defend Bin Ladin, how did they make out..... Civilian cas, i already provided a source which states very clearly that the Taliban and other terrorist groups within Afghanistan are responsible for 80 % of those.......So the US forces on the ground were going around killing anyone and everyone reponsable fo a Max of 20% , subtract what Allied forces killed ....what in the Hell were the terrorist doing...... But this is not about the terrorists is it, this is about pionting a finger at US soldiers....Lets disregard every fact out there and blame US soldiers....for the deaths of civilians and there has been some rogue US soldiers and they are in prison or awaiting trial......dismiss the fact that the terrorist killed 400 % more civilians.....but then again cutting off little girls hands, shooting girls in the back of the head, stripping a old mans skinn of his entire body.....this is what you perfer to defend..... Comparing Russia's war in Afghan to the current on is like comparing WWII with Korea.....Russia exteriminated entire villages and towns....just because built airbourne mines to look like toys to kill children, ya these guys were hero's to....but then again that is who you stand behind........try doing some research....and they did not build jack shit unless it was to thier benifit.....Lots of Airbases, large military bases.....How many dams did they build to provide power to Afghan citizens, how many wells did they drill , schools, roads, highways, bridges.....ya the list gets alot longer and that is just Canadians , British and American forces built far more than we did....

that is war it has not changed in many years....if it means that killing of one high value target can save many more lives then yes i do.....what price would the allied paided for Hilter.....once again it is a war crime in your mind only, prove to the rest of the readers here it is a crime .....

Did he really , he attacked his victim from the behind......caught him off guard then hacked him to death......He's a fuking hero this guy.....who will get his in prison.....NATO plays god becuase it has the toys to do so.....Stealth is only good when you have radar....it does not make it invisable to the naked eye.....

Yes you can,...... Taliban had repeatily said they would protect Bin Ladin regardless..... So you talked to one refugee, pretty good at painting one entire group.....I've heard lots of men claim that the moon is pink, but the facts say different..... No they do not like foreign invaders but which one of those invaders pumped trillions of dollars into , trying to create something better..... Civilains being displaced is part of war, always has been.....but it does not mean we can sit by and let a rogue nation target inocents as they see fit....

funerals of top ranking officals will attract other top rank officals.....hey more targets....don't want to get a 500 lb up the ass then stay the hell away....it's as simple as that....let me ask you this question, who normally goes to funerals anyway....these top level targets normally don't have freinds not tied to the taliban because it is to dangerous .....inocents indeed...what law does it say these acts are murder and terrorism.....