On the war in Afghanistan
Letter to the Editor:
It's three more years in a war that imposes hell on Afghans
(Sept. 16, '08)
Re: True bravery is admitting that the Afghan war is
unwinnable (Sept. 14, '08)
It has not been often over the course of time and the so-called war on
terror where columnist Randall Denley and I might see eye to eye.
Belatedly, on the issue of getting out of the pointless exercise in
Afghanistan, Mr. Denley is right.
Incredibly, Prime Minister Stephen Harper assures Canadians that he
will cease Canada's mission by 2011, trying to sell it like this is a quick
exit. It is three more years of hell imposed on Afghanistan whose
citizens want our troops out. It is a country that as far as I know has
never lost a war against foreign invasion yet.
Our coalition forces sloppily take out village compounds with planes
from above because we do not have enough boots on the ground,
causing untold numbers of civilian casualties and spawning hatred and
resolve among people whom our politicians claim our coalition wants
to help with the reconstruction efforts.
Of course, we never hear about the plans for the TAPI (Turkmenistan,
Afghanistan, Pakistan, India) natural gas pipeline, the Central Asia
Gas Pipeline, Ltd. (CentGas) predecessor, or all the potential oil
deposits in Afghanistan's north. Are fossil fuels the true impetus for our
presence there?
Parents of dead soldiers opine that if Canada gets out, their soldier
sons and daughters died in vain. We had no justification for being
there. We ought not to ask parents now to sacrifice their family
members who serve in the forces, nor sacrifice the lives of more
Afghanis, Pakistanis and Iraqis to pretend otherwise.
Diane V. McLoughlin,
© The Ottawa Citizen 2008
home
Letter to the Editor:
It's three more years in a war that imposes hell on Afghans
(Sept. 16, '08)
Re: True bravery is admitting that the Afghan war is
unwinnable (Sept. 14, '08)
It has not been often over the course of time and the so-called war on
terror where columnist Randall Denley and I might see eye to eye.
Belatedly, on the issue of getting out of the pointless exercise in
Afghanistan, Mr. Denley is right.
Incredibly, Prime Minister Stephen Harper assures Canadians that he
will cease Canada's mission by 2011, trying to sell it like this is a quick
exit. It is three more years of hell imposed on Afghanistan whose
citizens want our troops out. It is a country that as far as I know has
never lost a war against foreign invasion yet.
Our coalition forces sloppily take out village compounds with planes
from above because we do not have enough boots on the ground,
causing untold numbers of civilian casualties and spawning hatred and
resolve among people whom our politicians claim our coalition wants
to help with the reconstruction efforts.
Of course, we never hear about the plans for the TAPI (Turkmenistan,
Afghanistan, Pakistan, India) natural gas pipeline, the Central Asia
Gas Pipeline, Ltd. (CentGas) predecessor, or all the potential oil
deposits in Afghanistan's north. Are fossil fuels the true impetus for our
presence there?
Parents of dead soldiers opine that if Canada gets out, their soldier
sons and daughters died in vain. We had no justification for being
there. We ought not to ask parents now to sacrifice their family
members who serve in the forces, nor sacrifice the lives of more
Afghanis, Pakistanis and Iraqis to pretend otherwise.
Diane V. McLoughlin,
© The Ottawa Citizen 2008
home
