tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20358187.post115715191260113108..comments2023-10-22T09:18:16.885-04:00Comments on Far and Wide: Rubber Meet RoadSteve Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04871113039374739208noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20358187.post-1157227978919118672006-09-02T16:12:00.000-04:002006-09-02T16:12:00.000-04:00Steve V said:" Conservatives don't seem to under t...Steve V said:<BR/><BR/>" Conservatives don't seem to under the nuance of pragmatism.<BR/><BR/>2:25 PM"<BR/><BR/>My guess is to understand pragmatism one must first be willing/able to face reality in the face and accept it when it shows you something you would prefer not to be seeing. This is the problem with the value of truthiness that the NA conservative movement seems to embraced, especially in foreign affairs/security issues/policies. If all one is able to comprehend is an ideological/partisan perspective and only able to accept information that fits within those ideological/partisan blinders/parameters then of course one is going to suck royally at being pragmatic. Which given the inherent pragmatic streak that runs throughout Canadian political history would be one explanation for why ideologically rigid parties do not tend to do well here while more pragmatic (or as CPCers like calling them morally adrift/lacking) parties like the Libs tend to form governments for lengthy periods of our history.Scotianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06284856315992405261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20358187.post-1157221552604697942006-09-02T14:25:00.000-04:002006-09-02T14:25:00.000-04:00"This is what our CPC government tells us we have ..."This is what our CPC government tells us we have to be so supportive of without question, and while I supported this mission from the outset I have to say the last year or so has left me in a position forcing reconsideration. Especially after that nonsense Harper pulled in the HoC with the show debate/vote on the extension last Session."<BR/><BR/>I supported the mission too, but there is no question conditions have changed and our leadership operates with the same blind logic as the Americans. Conservatives don't seem to under the nuance of pragmatism.Steve Vhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04871113039374739208noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20358187.post-1157220683419969042006-09-02T14:11:00.000-04:002006-09-02T14:11:00.000-04:00You know, a while back I made the observation that...You know, a while back I made the observation that it would be far better to buy the poppy crop from these farmers than it would be to destroy them. After all the poppies can be used to make morphine, and by doing so we bring the farmers onto our side instead of driving them into the hands of insurgents and Taliban. People tend to forget that one of the main reasons the poppy crops keep appearing in Afghanistan is that the soil is lousy for food crops and this crop is by far and away the most profitable.<BR/><BR/><BR/>Time and time again we are seeing mistakes being made at basic levels regarding getting the locals on our side, be those mistakes from incompetence, over-optimism, or ideology. We see the Afghan government resurrecting things like the Ministry of Morals and virtues which had a very unsavoury history regarding the treatment of women during the Taliban days. We keep being told that the freedom of women is one of the good things we have brought to Afghanistan yet in the actual media reporting from there we find that this freedom has been repeatedly restricted in the country by the government we in the west are supporting. So remind me again what exactly we are doing there these days that is going to have any hope of reconstructing Afghanistan as a stable society let alone a free one?!?<BR/><BR/>I weep for this result, especially since it was all but inevitable once America went from being focused on Afghanistan to starting to eye Iraq. They cut back massively on resources for the reconstruction of Afghanistan after pledging months earlier to do no such thing. It was always clear that it would take significant international reconstruction efforts and funding including a major commitment from America to make this have a chance at really working, which was one of the reasons so many of us were aghast at the decision to leave this job half done to fight a war with Iraq that was clearly unnecessary and exactly what Osama bin Laden had hoped to cause with his attacks on America.<BR/><BR/>This is what our CPC government tells us we have to be so supportive of without question, and while I supported this mission from the outset I have to say the last year or so has left me in a position forcing reconsideration. Especially after that nonsense Harper pulled in the HoC with the show debate/vote on the extension last Session.Scotianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06284856315992405261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20358187.post-1157203730484085432006-09-02T09:28:00.000-04:002006-09-02T09:28:00.000-04:00Hey Rebecca, thanks for dropping in :)Hey Rebecca, thanks for dropping in :)Steve Vhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04871113039374739208noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20358187.post-1157174588865039922006-09-02T01:23:00.000-04:002006-09-02T01:23:00.000-04:00Good points all, Steve. Thanks for the important ...Good points all, Steve. Thanks for the important links from the Afghan minister (I hadn't seen that). Best wishes, GDK/H&OGodammitkittyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07159395006041347058noreply@blogger.com