Prime Minister Stephen Harper says military heroism in Afghanistan has been eclipsed by squabbling in the Commons over the handling of prisoners.
Never mind Harper's whining, as though the issue of torture is a nuisance. What is particularly frustrating, Harper argues as though others are too blame for the focus on torture. When this story first broke, it wasn't a given that it would balloon into pre-occupation. How the detainee issue evolved into a national talking point, was directly the result of the Conservatives complete incompetence.
It is pretty rich of Harper to wrap himself in the "heroism" flag, when the responsibility for all the negative coverage is a self-inflicted wound. Did the opposition drop the ball, offer forever contradictory statements and ever changing stories? Was it the opposition that stonewalled attempts to get information, and failed to review its detainee policy, when departments were aware of potential problems?
I am so sick and tired of the Conservatives acting as though only they really care about the troops, only they understand the sacrifice. In our parliamentary system, they don't call it the "opposition" for nothing. The role of the opposition is to scrutinize and question government actions, hold them accountable and bring to light problems. If the opposition didn't pursue the government over its mis-handling of the entire situation, then I view that as dereliction of duty. Surely, Stephen Harper, then Leader of the Opposition, would have agreed.
The more Harper talks of distraction, and taking away from the merit of the mission, the more he essentially points the finger at himself. The only place to put blame is at the feet of bungling Ministers and a directionless, "nobody minding the store" response. Had the government acted competently, then the detainee issue was a two-day story. The reason if became a national talking point, was the way in which it was handled. Keep criticizing Mr. Harper, you only highlight you own failings.
7 comments:
As often is the case (so far) Harper does his best to divide Canadians, this time by equating criticism of the way his government is handling the situation in Afghanistan (the torture issue included) with NOT supporting the troops. One little minute here, I have nothing against the troops and can appreciate that a tour in Afghanistan is, to put in mildly, not a good time by any stretch of the imagination. Yes, my heart really does to out to those families who have lost loved ones, (54 plus causalities) AND I do not support the Harper government’s handling of what it frequently refers to as “The War in Afghanistan”.
I notice that in the article in Macleans (thanks for your link Steve) states that “The prime minister says the mission in Afghanistan is helping rebuild and revive the country”. If this is the case, either figure out a way to be true to the mission or get out.
Harper’s verbose shenanigans are an insult to the intelligence and basic decency of all Canadians.
agreed steve. my post today follows the same line.
Whooee! You don't support troops by sendin' 'em on a fool's mission. You also don't support 'em by puttin' a know-nuthin', numbnuts, lobbyist in charge. You also don't support 'em by enactin' policies which require troops to violate International Law. You don't support 'em by holdin' a sham 2-hour "debate" before committing 'em to two more years in a poorly defined and dangerous mission.
We got in there to do humanitarian democracy building. Up until very recently, the argument that we're wanted and that we can't perform our original mission without killing Afghanis held a little water. Now that the Afghan parliament sez we oughta leave off with the search and kill tactics, that whole argument goes out the window. The Afghan parliament is also calling for direct talks with the Taliban.
Who are we fighting and dying for?
The Afghanis?
If so, we'd better listen to what they're saying. They just might know more about war and their own country than we do.
NATO?
If so, we'd better start gettin' more cooperation from the other NATO countries.
The Merkans?
If so, we can just stay the course. We're doin' fine.
It ain't just the detainee issue that should be forcin' a long, hard look at the campaign. Now, we got an issue where the government on whose behalf we are sending our kids to die is saying we're on the wrong track.
What to do?
The Merkans can just declare war on Karzai. He's turnin' out to be Taliban Hamid, after all. With Karzai an' the Taliban both on the enemy list, the Merkans and a Coalition of Sycophants can kill the whole bunch of 'em. No more innocent civilians. Label the whole population "enemy combatants" an' treat 'em accordingly.
JB
Everytime Harper does his patriotic routine and uses the support our troops dance, he's insulting every Canadian who has had family members in the services (I had family members in WWWI, WWII and Korea) who have (rightfully) questions.
Maybe a petition should be taken up for signature requesting that Harper quit insulting taxpayers and citizens who have every right to question and who have had family members in the services "serving our country".
I can't take it any more.
yes, doesn't he know that the correct way to divide Canadians is east/west, then further by language and ethnicity?
where the hell was he between 1993 and 2005?
probably cosying up to the Bushes.
Good Post, F&W!
I agree with Anon @1:19
Harper isn't fit to clean the boots of our troops, let alone stand up in front of Canadians and insult their rightful regard for our troops AND human rights.
Stephen Harper is lower than a slug. He could easily be a turd but I felt I had to endow him with some sort of sentience. And who wants to stomp out a turd? Harper is a slug, and he will get stomped, or salted. Stomped is quick, salted takes longer and hurts. Which he gets, only his hairdresser knows for sure.
Stephen Harper has some serious ju-ju heading his way.
Perhaps if Harper had answered questions honestly and stopped trying to hide things, the issue would go away.
I see he was wearing a "Liberal red" jacket today. How nice.
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