Several days ago Secretary for Defense B. Gates delivered a rather nasty critique of American NATO allies in general and Canadians in particular.  To say that his statements were received like the proverbial cup of cold sick, is an understatement.  However, whatever I think of the man's comments, he is certainly not the only idiot on the block with foot in mouth disease. The other day I read in one of the Edmonton papers that statistics show that more Canadian soldiers, propotionaly,died compared to other allies.  Who makes up this garbage and why are they wasting their time on this when they could be counting sand on the beach or something.  The families of soldiers who died in the line don't give a d- and they come from all over the globe.

This game of who gives the most, who has the hardest job, whose smarter, braver, wiser, best equipped is total rot. 

 

Come on people who do you think your kidding.?  The NATO forces are out there giving their all, just as the American forces are.  The families of the soldiers who have given their lives in the line of duty grieve just as much whether they are American, Canadian, British or Afghan. (Yes, there are Afghan soldiers out there training and fighting for their country and their freedom, do not forget them, they matter just as much as the allies' soldiers. )

When did this war become a school boy contest along the lines of " We're better than you are, nyah, nyah , nyah?  Get over yourselves.  Our soldiers are doing a tough job under even tougher conditions -  all of them. Every single one of them is a volunteer, nobody there has been drafted and, last I heard,we all want the same thing.

War is not a contest between allies.  Heaven knows they are having enough trouble with the contest of those guys over there shooting at them with real guns and blowing them up with real explosives.  I doubt if you asked any soldier there which was the more important contest the answer would not be the same as the politicos' back home.  They have way more important things to think about.  Sure if you asked them if they were the best, they'd probably answer in the affirmative, so what.  Esprit de corps is pretty much based on that notion.

Those of us at home would probably agree.  After all they're our sons and daughters over there.  We want them home safe.  We want that to happen as soon as  humanly possible.  Again, it doesn't matter what country you happen to come from, that's the bottom line.  

If those in power want to play silly games about war, maybe they ought to go over there themselves.  It ought to be an eye-opening experience. So get over yourselves guys.  It's not about you at all.  It's about people far from home doing the best they can with what they have. 

It sure isn't a contest. 

 

Tags: War Afghanistan Soldiers Politics Contest

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