Thursday, December 20, 2007

Recognition for others

It's not just the United States which is fighting the forces of depravity and barbarism in Afghanistan, as President Bush recognized when he singled out Canada, Great Britain and the Netherlands for their service in the war-torn country: http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2007/12/20/bush-afghan.html. Notably absent from the President' s thanks were France and Germany (a/k/a France East), both of which have made sure that their troops got to areas which aren't seeing any real combat action.

Canada's commitment to the NATO mission in Afghanistan is scheduled to end in 2009, and the ruling Conservative Party has refused to rule out extending the mission. The opposition Liberals (the party which agreed to send Canadian troops there in the first place), along with the socialist NDP, has demanded that the troops be brought home in 2009, bolstered by a public which views even one Canadian soldier's death as too many. Given that Canadian soldiers have shouldered the toughest role in Afghanistan outside of the American forces, we should do everything we can to persuade the Canadian government and people that this is a mission which must not be abandoned, no matter how long it takes to complete.

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