Canadian troops

[madmax]

No, We do not have any reason to kiss Americas ass, ….we may be doing even more than they are in fact, as we are currently in the most deadly region of Afghanistan well the United States is in Iraq and currently what few troops they do have in Afghanistan are only patrolling already contested regions of Afghanistan. .

I believe that is the point I was making.

I just get a kick out of Brits commenting on Canadians giving Americans Bullets.

US ally, discovers Cole Moreton

Published: 01 October 2006

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_brit...icle1777840.ece

The troops are exhausted. They need reinforcements. Tanks are broken and there is not enough money to repair them. Fighting is fierce, morale low.

These sound like the complaints of British soldiers in Afghanistan - only last week an officer there declared he was quitting in disgust after his men were forced to The war has stretched the Army to the limit. But it need not envy its borrow bullets from the Canadians during a battle. His own gun had started falling apart in the heat. But this weekend the loudest complaints are not from the British.

It is the US army that is in revolt. General Peter Schoomaker, its leader, is refusing to submit a budget to the Pentagon because he says his troops need billions of extra dollars to go on doing what is expected of them. The news has shocked British squaddies who are used to seeing the Americans as better equipped, better supported and better paid.

Never heard about this, can I have a reference?

Ok.

11/07/2006

NDP Celebrates Victory For Veterans

NDP Veterans First Motion PASSES in the House of Commons

The NDP is the only party that took action to ensure that Veterans, their families and Canadian Forces personnel are taken care of not just during their service days, but throughout their lives.

The Liberals ignored calls from the MILITARY OMBUDSMAN to address unfair deductions and restrictions on the pensions of Veterans and their spouses. The Conservatives promised to fix these problems, but by voting against the motion, broke that promise.

Supporting our troops is more than just a slogan. Veterans and their spouses deserve, dignity, respect and a decent standard of living in their old age.

Here is the information on the VETERANS FIRST motion with regards to injuries…

Eliminates the unfair reduction of SISIP (Service Income Security Insurance Plan) Long Term Disability Benefits from the Medically Released Members of the Canadian Forces so that Veterans are Fairly Compensated for injuries suffered in the line of duty.

Eliminates the Deduction from Annuity from retired and disabled Canadian Force members-once again ensuring that veterans are fairly compensated for their injuries.

Back to you

The killing will not stop until we have killed, turned, or captured every last Taliban fighter or terrorist supporter in the world. No one said this would be easy; I could be 60 before we ever finish this war.

I have a shirt with a red beret that I traded for back in the day. “Kill them all Let God Sort em out”

That is an interesting strategy. 60 years may not be enough time to kill all these Taliban Supporters..

"As the Afghan war goes increasingly badly for the WesternPresident Hamid Karzai keeps blaming President Parvez Musharraf for allowing Taliban to operate inside Pakistan and launch cross-border attacks on Afghanistan. Musharraf fired back that Karzai was a figurehead who had no control of his country. Both accusations are true", says Eric Margolis In Toronto Sun.

"Tribal politics lie at the heart of their dispute. The 30 million Pashtuns (or Pathans), the world’s largest tribal society, are divided between Afghanistan and Pakistan by an artificial border, the Durand Line, drawn by divide-and-conquer British imperialists.

"Pashtuns account for 50-60% of Afghanistan’s 30 million people. The Taliban is an organic part of the Pashtun people. The Western powers and Karzai are not just fighting “Taliban terrorists,” but a coalition of Pashtun tribes and other allied nationalist movements. In effect, most of the Pashtun people.

"The other half of the divided Pashtuns live just across the Durand Line in Pakistan, comprising 15-20% of its population. Pashtuns occupy many senior posts in Pakistan’s military and intelligence services. Pashtuns, including anti-Western resistance fighters, never accepted and simply ignore the artificial border bifurcating their tribal homeland

[madmax]

Also, there is no shortage of disinformation and misinformation on the internet. Source checking is an important part of doing research.

I absolutely agree. It is not an easy task to sort out this information. And sometimes it is just wrong by bias, or by mistake. Don't just rely on a few sources.

[madmax]

I agree with the part about getting the mission right, but I reject the anti-American tinge to your post.

If you denote an anti-American tinge, then perhaps you don’t have skin thick enough to talk about combat, war and global foreign policy which is heavily influenced by US actions. I point out the facts from decades of articles and books on military strategy and foreign policy particularly with regards to Afghanistan, Iraq and Radical Islam. If you disagree with such facts, go ahead, make my day. I am game. I learn like anyone else.

For example, Scott Ritter was one of the most accurate voices on everything that has unfolded in Iraq before the war even started, and he's American.

I have 2 books signed by Scott.

Regardless of what people think of his political views, Dennis Kucinich was against it from the begining and wants the troops out of Iraq ASAP.

Tsk tsk, and you question my support for Jack Layton with regards to our current Military Missions. You bring in Kucinich as the good American. Don’t forget that Dean Scream either.

Stephen Harper, was for the Iraq War too. I disagreed with his opinion then, luckily he didn’t have power at that time or we’d be asking what are we doing dying there for a pack of lies.

George Bush made the call to attack Iraq, and ultimately undermined the war against terror and security in Afghanistan.

I hope for the sake of Iraqi civilians and the soldiers serving there that they can find a way to bring some stability to the country.

I am neither that naïve or heartless. I too hope that there can be stability in Iraq. So now you are saying the same thing, that the war in Iraq was poor foreign policy by the Neo Cons, you just want it said nicer. That people have change their minds.

Yes, the rats are leaving the ship

As for Afghanistan, the Americans still have about 11,000 troops there, which is far more than any other country.

And Canada has a force there fighting a brand of Radical Islamic Fundamentalism that the US Encouraged in the 80s. That wasn’t us that created the training camps.

When you are the one to help nuture a brand of Islam that is destructive, radical, and violent with the goal of undermining the USSR. Then you should have more troops there than any other country, when the blowback of your efforts come back to bite you in the nuts. You should also make certain that the other culprits that aided in the creation of this monster, are not only held accountable, but “actually” do something to help strangle off the terrorists, support, money, and intelligence gathering.

Rather than wagging a finger at the US and telling them what to do or not to do all the time, it would be better for other countries to step up by properly funding their armed forces so that they aren't so reliant on the US. In this regard, Canada's doorstep isn't clean; therefore, Canadians should think about that before talking about Americans.

Oh BS! I have no problem with properly funding our army. Just remember who’s army it is. If that is the only problem we have, it isn’t bad because it is fixable. It has always been fixable, it has only required political will.

And quite frankly, the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld doctrine were the ones whom held a go it alone mentality, and then thought themselves smarter then their own Generals. Sorry, these incompetent boobs aren’t going to receive any kind words from me, with regards to military prowess and foreign policy.

I respect the people in the Canadian military and they do their jobs well, but the problems with budget cuts are well known. I would argue that the excellent reputation that the Canadian armed forces have is despite the government not because of it.

I agree fully with you in that regards. It was like that when I signed up.

Here is a good article on our forces.

interview with Capt. Ryan Carey in Panjwaii

"We still think everyone approaching us wants to kill us. We have no choice but to plan for a fight right till we leave."

But Carey, 35, like the rest of Charlie Company's newly ascended leadership, doesn't see more troops as the answer. Not more foreign troops, in any event.

"More Canadians? Is that not just like giving candy to the Taliban? I think what we need is more ANA soldiers. At the end of the day it is the Afghans, with lots of backing for reconstruction, who are going to turn this thing. Not the people who point the weapons."

Any Politicians echoing that quote?

By the way, there is going to be a recruiting drive. They have asked my sons to join up.

How About You.?

[Curtis Smith]

I believe that is the point I was making.

I just get a kick out of Brits commenting on Canadians giving Americans Bullets.

No, my friend, if you read my point, clearly you would have noticed that you said we were posturing to the United States with this mission and I said we were not, we were doing the exact opposite, we are taking the load of this mission, in order to stabilize Afghanistan and to secure our freedom.

Ok.

11/07/2006

NDP Celebrates Victory For Veterans

NDP Veterans First Motion PASSES in the House of Commons

The NDP is the only party that took action to ensure that Veterans, their families and Canadian Forces personnel are taken care of not just during their service days, but throughout their lives.

The Liberals ignored calls from the MILITARY OMBUDSMAN to address unfair deductions and restrictions on the pensions of Veterans and their spouses. The Conservatives promised to fix these problems, but by voting against the motion, broke that promise.

Supporting our troops is more than just a slogan. Veterans and their spouses deserve, dignity, respect and a decent standard of living in their old age.

Here is the information on the VETERANS FIRST motion with regards to injuries…

Eliminates the unfair reduction of SISIP (Service Income Security Insurance Plan) Long Term Disability Benefits from the Medically Released Members of the Canadian Forces so that Veterans are Fairly Compensated for injuries suffered in the line of duty.

Eliminates the Deduction from Annuity from retired and disabled Canadian Force members-once again ensuring that veterans are fairly compensated for their injuries.

Back to you

Thank you, but my point still remains, that we are in Afghanistan now, no matter how contradictory Harper’s policy was before that.

I have a shirt with a red beret that I traded for back in the day. “Kill them all Let God Sort em out”

That is an interesting strategy. 60 years may not be enough time to kill all these Taliban Supporters..

Well how else do you figure we do it? The Liberal way?(Pay for rehabilitation)

60 years is long indeed, but you kill one terrorist and ten more are trained and ready for battle, so we have to battle it out until we have blown up every last training camp, shoot every last Taliban fighter and blow to hell any country that supports them in the process, IE, Pakistan, Iran, hell if we can do it we should take out Kim while he is watching a movie at his home theatre!

What we need to do to win this war, is to simply be ahead of the game, we need a way to be able to tell that a mile away one of those rats has place an IED on the road, that way we can take out the IED and sniff our the rat and strangle him, easy as that, but unfortunately it is not. So we have to fight like hell, and that unfortunately has a terrible consequence and army guy has most likely had first hand experience with that terrible consequence. War is war and just like world war two it needs to be done in order to keep the world secure and free.

[Einar the Dagger]

Canada's mission in Afghanistan is listed on the Canadian forces website:

to prevent Afghanistan from relapsing into a failed state that provides a safe haven for terrorists and terrorist organizations. Canada remains committed to the campaign against terrorism and, with our allies, will make a major contribution to the stabilization and reconstruction of Afghanistan. Canada aims to help Afghanistan become the following:

* A stable nation that is no longer a haven for terrorism;

* A country that meets the needs of its people; and

* A fully integrated part of the international community.

This quote clearly states the canadian view on the war in Afghanistan. It also explains why Canadian/NATO forces can not withdraw from Afghanistan. Should they choose to pursue a course of action involved in pulling out of Afghaistan, the mission will be a failure for terrorist groups will be able to flurish agian and send the country spirling back into the chaotic state it was in before the U.S. Invasion.

There is a reason our forces are in Afghanistan. To provide aid, rebuild the government and destroy the Taliban.

Einar the Dagger

[Curtis Smith]

Canada's mission in Afghanistan is listed on the Canadian forces website:

to prevent Afghanistan from relapsing into a failed state that provides a safe haven for terrorists and terrorist organizations. Canada remains committed to the campaign against terrorism and, with our allies, will make a major contribution to the stabilization and reconstruction of Afghanistan. Canada aims to help Afghanistan become the following:

* A stable nation that is no longer a haven for terrorism;

* A country that meets the needs of its people; and

* A fully integrated part of the international community.

This quote clearly states the canadian view on the war in Afghanistan. It also explains why Canadian/NATO forces can not withdraw from Afghanistan. Should they choose to pursue a course of action involved in pulling out of Afghaistan, the mission will be a failure for terrorist groups will be able to flurish agian and send the country spirling back into the chaotic state it was in before the U.S. Invasion.

There is a reason our forces are in Afghanistan. To provide aid, rebuild the government and destroy the Taliban.

Einar the Dagger

Well said my friend, well said.

I tried going to the Armed Forces website to get that information as well, but it does not work, even though I have typed in the correct URL Address, but that said I also can't get on to the Government of Canada's website www.gc.ca, it is weird.

[Nazia]

I didn't bother reading all 30 posts...so I'm just going to type out my opinion.

Canada's intentions were good in the begining with Afghanistan. But Steven harper is just another one of Bush's dogs. Which is basically giving Bush the chance to take over Canada's intentions. Which in my opinion they should all leave Afghanistan alone. Bush's intentions are not to help AFghansitan...nor is it becoming Canada's anymore!!

[White Doors]

The UN mandated the Afghanistan mission. Harper didn't change the mission, the liberals did.

Obviously you don't take the time to 'bother' very often at all.

[Black Dog]

No, my friend, if you read my point, clearly you would have noticed that you said we were posturing to the United States with this mission and I said we were not, we were doing the exact opposite, we are taking the load of this mission, in order to stabilize Afghanistan and to secure our freedom.

Is it the new "cool" thing to start tacking "to secure our freedom" on to every statement, regardless of whether its relevant to what precedes it?

"I am going to the copy room to run this off. And then I'm going to head to Starbucks for a latte and to secure our freedom."

And so forth.

Well how else do you figure we do it? The Liberal way?(Pay for rehabilitation)

60 years is long indeed, but you kill one terrorist and ten more are trained and ready for battle, so we have to battle it out until we have blown up every last training camp, shoot every last Taliban fighter and blow to hell any country that supports them in the process, IE, Pakistan, Iran, hell if we can do it we should take out Kim while he is watching a movie at his home theatre!

Um...if everytime you kill one terrorist, ten more pop up, then the more terrorists you kill the more you will create and so on and so on until the ending of the earth, amen. Perhaps a new strategy is in order?

What we need to do to win this war, is to simply be ahead of the game, we need a way to be able to tell that a mile away one of those rats has place an IED on the road, that way we can take out the IED and sniff our the rat and strangle him, easy as that, but unfortunately it is not. So we have to fight like hell, and that unfortunately has a terrible consequence and army guy has most likely had first hand experience with that terrible consequence. War is war and just like world war two it needs to be done in order to keep the world secure and free.

So many words to express so very little. Allow me to propose the far more economical phrase "Fight! Fight! Fight!" for your future usage.

[Curtis Smith]

Black Dog

Is it the new "cool" thing to start tacking "to secure our freedom" on to every statement, regardless of whether its relevant to what precedes it?

You seem like you know what your talking about, What do you call it than?

Your post took little to no thought at all, other than to prove your own arrogance, your post also proved you have no knowledge of what I have said, or that is really going on in Afghanistan, we are fighting to (I will use a different word now, because secure seems to piss you off.) stabilize and keep tabs on the Taliban.

For a heads up, I only keep saying the same thing over and over again, is because, people like you come a long trying to contradict the actual facts of Afghanistan, so I have to keep saying over and over again until, people like you get the point, and stop trying to slip some "made up fact" about Afghanistan in to this thread.

Done?

[geoffrey]

Um...if everytime you kill one terrorist, ten more pop up, then the more terrorists you kill the more you will create and so on and so on until the ending of the earth, amen. Perhaps a new strategy is in order?

What do you do with the ones that are already ideologically and mentally twisted? We don't have the mental hospital capacity for tens of millions.

[Black Dog]

You seem like you know what your talking about, What do you call it than?

Your post took little to no thought at all, other than to prove your own arrogance, your post also proved you have no knowledge of what I have said, or that is really going on in Afghanistan, we are fighting to (I will use a different word now, because secure seems to piss you off.) stabilize and keep tabs on the Taliban.

For a heads up, I only keep saying the same thing over and over again, is because, people like you come a long trying to contradict the actual facts of Afghanistan, so I have to keep saying over and over again until, people like you get the point, and stop trying to slip some "made up fact" about Afghanistan in to this thread.

Done?

Huh? My main point was and remains that "securing our freedom" and "staying a head of tha game" are empty phrases, very reminiscint of a pro athlete's exhortations on "giving 110%" and "sticking to our game plan". Which would be mildly amusing if we weren't talking about a serious issue wherin lives are at stake, as oppossed to a hockey game.

Your words are not perscriptions or solutions. They do not constitute a strategy. If you want to give a locker room pep talk, fine. But don't try to pass it off as a coherent policy. As Mr. T would say: no more jibba-jabba.

What do you do with the ones that are already ideologically and mentally twisted? We don't have the mental hospital capacity for tens of millions.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: our mission in Afghanistan is doomed to fail because we are trying to impose a cultural change on a society that has resisted cultural change, even from within, for centuries. In that context, then, we're not talking about people who are "ideologically and mentally twisted," but are products of their time and place and culture. That culture may be abhorrant to uis and may stand in oppossition to what we believe in, but that's the simple reality. Rubbing their faces in our culture (by sanctioning such abominations as allowing girls to attend school or walk around unveiled) is not a recipe for change.

[Fortunata]

Rubbing their faces in our culture (by sanctioning such abominations as allowing girls to attend school or walk around unveiled) is not a recipe for change.

Don't you think, though, that every girl that is allowed to attend school (by parents and by their surrounding environment) and every female that feels free enough to not walk around with a veil is a good start? Changing people's perspectives is not an overnight thing. Empowering women (I mean really empowering, not just some media's soundbites of one unveiled woman walking around her private compound) is huge in a place like Afghanistan. And maybe, just maybe, we plant an idea and it will grow regardless of whether we are there to force it or not. I know this sounds idealistic but everyone needs to come into the present century someday, why not Afghanistan?

[Black Dog]

Don't you think, though, that every girl that is allowed to attend school (by parents and by their surrounding environment) and every female that feels free enough to not walk around with a veil is a good start?

It doesn't really matter what I think. To a lot of Afghans, the sight of a perfectly good, marriable woman going to school when she should be learning her proper place as a domestic servant is an abomination.

Changing people's perspectives is not an overnight thing. Empowering women (I mean really empowering, not just some media's soundbites of one unveiled woman walking around her private compound) is huge in a place like Afghanistan. And maybe, just maybe, we plant an idea and it will grow regardless of whether we are there to force it or not. I know this sounds idealistic but everyone needs to come into the present century someday, why not Afghanistan?

Idealistic? Yean. And unrealistic. if I was going to pick a place to start changing local attitudes towards, for example, women, a primitive, partirachal tribal society like Afghanistan is the last place on earth I'd look to.

Now, I don't disagree that you have to start somewhere. But when that change is being brought from infidel outsiders in tanks, the chances of it taking root and leading to a better society somewhere down the road is even slimmer. Even if it were, by some miracle, possible to succeed there, how long do we want to give it? 60 years? 100?

[JerrySeinfeld]

Idealistic? Yean. And unrealistic. if I was going to pick a place to start changing local attitudes towards, for example, women, a primitive, partirachal tribal society like Afghanistan is the last place on earth I'd look to.

Well you need to go to the root of the problem. These are the people who have exported their hardcore interpretation of Islam to places like Chechnya, Somalia and the rest of the world.

Talk about globalization!!!

Now, I don't disagree that you have to start somewhere. But when that change is being brought from infidel outsiders in tanks, the chances of it taking root and leading to a better society somewhere down the road is even slimmer.

ummmm - maybe if you're the Taliban .

But the infidels in tanks are probably looking pretty good to the women whose hair and teeth hav fallen out from lack of sunshine on their faces.

60-100 years is a short period of time in history.

That's the difference between short-sighted people like you and the zombie media you follow. For you, 3 years at war is too long and not worth the struggle.

But for the taliban and the pan-Islamists, 60 years is a short period of time.

That's why GW Bush is smart - he understands the natur of the long term struggle. You understand 30-minute Jon Stewart bits.

[Fortunata]

That's why GW Bush is smart

Oh my. You had me up until this. In my not very humble opinion Dubya doesn't care about people; it wasn't for the people's freedoms that he went into Afghanistan, and certainly not why he went into Iraq. Afghanistan was a must do but he foresook (is that a word? Don't want Argus to discount my very enlightened opinions because of a mis-steak) the Afghani's (that not so incidentally he promised them he wouldn't do) to shine his light of democracy and freedom (i.e. doing what Daddy didn't, getting revenge for Daddy, geo-political positioning, oil..... oh so much there) on Iraq. Bush did what Bush did for Bush and no one will ever convince me that he did it for "the good of the people."

[Black Dog]

Well you need to go to the root of the problem. These are the people who have exported their hardcore interpretation of Islam to places like Chechnya, Somalia and the rest of the world.

Talk about globalization!!!

Rubbish. Afghanistan was a backasswards, primitive, patriarchal tribal society long before the Wahhabists came along in the 80's.

ummmm - maybe if you're the Taliban .

The Taliban are Pushtun. The craziest Taliban beliefs are merely longstanding Pushtun tribal practices with the veneer of Islam. And the Pushtun just hapen to be the largest majority in the country (nor are they the sole purveyors of backwards ideas and practices).

But the infidels in tanks are probably looking pretty good to the women whose hair and teeth hav fallen out from lack of sunshine on their faces.

Doesn't matter. The point is the infidels in tanks are unlikely to drive cultural change.

60-100 years is a short period of time in history.

But it's an eternity in politics. Do you honestly want your children's children having this debate and sheling out their tax dollars trying to drag the Afghans kicking and screaming into the 22nd century?

That's the difference between short-sighted people like you and the zombie media you follow. For you, 3 years at war is too long and not worth the struggle.

But for the taliban and the pan-Islamists, 60 years is a short period of time.

Uh no. Three year sis too long for a mission that has no chance of succeeding.

That's why GW Bush is smart - he understands the natur of the long term struggle. You understand 30-minute Jon Stewart bits

Ah huhhuh ah huhhuh. Huh.

[jdobbin]

60-100 years is a short period of time in history.

That's the difference between short-sighted people like you and the zombie media you follow. For you, 3 years at war is too long and not worth the struggle.

But for the taliban and the pan-Islamists, 60 years is a short period of time.

That's why GW Bush is smart - he understands the natur of the long term struggle. You understand 30-minute Jon Stewart bits.

Afghanistan has 50,000 years of battles fought over its land. I'm glad George Bush can see long term. It might take 50,000 years to pacify the tribalism.

[mikedavid00]

I didn't bother reading all 30 posts...so I'm just going to type out my opinion.

Canada's intentions were good in the begining with Afghanistan. But Steven harper is just another one of Bush's dogs. Which is basically giving Bush the chance to take over Canada's intentions. Which in my opinion they should all leave Afghanistan alone. Bush's intentions are not to help AFghansitan...nor is it becoming Canada's anymore!!

You sound exactly like my old muslim co-workers. You don't understand the issue, you just put labels on everything that sound good.

Of course, you're not a muslim right?

[Einar the Dagger]

Canadian forces continue Operation Archer in southern Afghanistan with the goal to clear the region of the remaining Taliban forces. This is the latest and most agressive Operation for the Canadian Forces since Canada joined the NATO collition.

As NATO forces continue to operate in Afghanistan change is occuring. Talliban remnants are still at large but are no longer as powerful as they once were in the country. Continued involvment in this country will only make it better. Security in Afghanistan is improving as our forces operate and it is in the forcible future that an independant and self managing nation can be created.

Einar the Dagger

[jdobbin]

Canadian forces continue Operation Archer in southern Afghanistan with the goal to clear the region of the remaining Taliban forces. This is the latest and most agressive Operation for the Canadian Forces since Canada joined the NATO collition.

As NATO forces continue to operate in Afghanistan change is occuring. Talliban remnants are still at large but are no longer as powerful as they once were in the country. Continued involvment in this country will only make it better. Security in Afghanistan is improving as our forces operate and it is in the forcible future that an independant and self managing nation can be created.

We'll see what happens in the spring again. Taliban forces for the most part are wintering in Pakistan.

[Fortunata]

...As NATO forces continue to operate in Afghanistan change is occuring. Talliban remnants are still at large but are no longer as powerful as they once were in the country. Continued involvment in this country will only make it better. Security in Afghanistan is improving as our forces operate and it is in the forcible future that an independant and self managing nation can be created.

Einar the Dagger

Didn't Rumsfeld and Cheney say about a year or so ago that insurgency was on it's last gasp in Iraq, or words to that effect? Just look at the mess now.

I believe the same might be true today in Afghanistan. It seems there is a never ending source of insurgents, some fighting because they are Taliban, some fighting because it's bread and butter they can't get otherwise, some fighting just because we are seen as occupiers, some fighting to keep War Lords and their poppy fields happy.

I think it is simplistic of the fighting forces spokespeople and the media to just refer to those who fight against us as Taliban.

[Einar the Dagger]

After five years as Afghanistan's leader, President Hamid Karzai still has only marginal control over large swaths of his country, which is rife with warlords, militants, and drug smugglers. The Taliban now funds its insurgency through the drug trade, and in 2006 Afghanistan's opium harvest reached record levels, increasing by 50% and representing 92% of the world's opium supply. Taliban info

Why we fight. The country is in the final phases of clearing Talliban millitants back to the Packistan/Afghanistan Border. As we continue to fund and train an Afghanistan army hopefuly Taliban funding can be cut as Afghan police/army as well as NATO forces deal with the economic and drug problems present.

Einar the Dagger

[jdobbin]

Why we fight. The country is in the final phases of clearing Talliban millitants back to the Packistan/Afghanistan Border. As we continue to fund and train an Afghanistan army hopefuly Taliban funding can be cut as Afghan police/army as well as NATO forces deal with the economic and drug problems present.

Every time I hear the word that Taliban have been cleared out, I cringe. NATO has had to return repeatedly to the same area because it isn't pacified.

The border is a huge area to patrol and the mini-Taliban state in Pakistan will continue to be a threat so long as they have safe refuge.

[geoffrey]

We'll see what happens in the spring again. Taliban forces for the most part are wintering in Pakistan.

Are the canucks really that much more acclimatised to the cold?