Canadians in Afghanistan
I was quite surprised to see someone comment on my first post within 15 minutes of posting it, even if it was a snarky comment. That's okay, I left myself open. But I realize I have to put up or shut up, so here goes...
Adrian and I conceived of this blog as a place where we could organize our thoughts on subjects we usually talk about when we are hammered. Politics, environment, corporate synergy, anthropology, quantum physics, music industry, and of course Canada's role in the world. Some of the stuff posted here will be common knowledge, but hopefully there will be a tidbit or two that is small enough to escape mainstream media, but is probably worth knowing about and passing on. Will this blog stay focused on these subjects? Probably. Lately I've found myself getting more opinionated, which also means I'm more likely to share that opinion with everybody, whether they care or not. Which brings me to today's subject...
Earlier this week, a national poll suggested that Canadians no longer wanted to be involved in Afghanistan, mere days before our troops were handed the reins over there. Here's the link:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060224.wxpoll0224/BNStory/National/
Only 27% of us still want to be involved. 73% of us want parliament to vote on it. Voting sounds good to me. We are still a democracy, right?
The next day, John Gormley appeared on Global News with his "Reality Check" segment, and he proceeded to rip apart Canadians who don't support troop involvement. His basic argument was that poor support would lower the moral of our troops and would give the terrorists confidence. We are demoralizing our own side in this "War on Terror."
What Gormley doesn't realize is that people who object to the "War on Terror" don't even believe that it exists. It is a war with an American (and corporate) agenda. Yes, we were all for invading Afghanistan in the first place, but the transparent American hegemony has soured us of the deal. We should try to stop terrorism by looking into the sociocultural reasons for it, and attempt to fix those problems. People like Gormley are forgetting that terrorism has existed in its current form for a good 40 years. Things didn't start with 9/11. We have to try to fix things instead of blowing shit up. All the "War on Terror" has accomplished is to freak the crap out of the general public.
I've listened to Gormley's radio show before, based out of Regina. The guy is smart and has good things to say. I just think he's fallen for the propoganda.
Adrian and I conceived of this blog as a place where we could organize our thoughts on subjects we usually talk about when we are hammered. Politics, environment, corporate synergy, anthropology, quantum physics, music industry, and of course Canada's role in the world. Some of the stuff posted here will be common knowledge, but hopefully there will be a tidbit or two that is small enough to escape mainstream media, but is probably worth knowing about and passing on. Will this blog stay focused on these subjects? Probably. Lately I've found myself getting more opinionated, which also means I'm more likely to share that opinion with everybody, whether they care or not. Which brings me to today's subject...
Earlier this week, a national poll suggested that Canadians no longer wanted to be involved in Afghanistan, mere days before our troops were handed the reins over there. Here's the link:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060224.wxpoll0224/BNStory/National/
Only 27% of us still want to be involved. 73% of us want parliament to vote on it. Voting sounds good to me. We are still a democracy, right?
The next day, John Gormley appeared on Global News with his "Reality Check" segment, and he proceeded to rip apart Canadians who don't support troop involvement. His basic argument was that poor support would lower the moral of our troops and would give the terrorists confidence. We are demoralizing our own side in this "War on Terror."
What Gormley doesn't realize is that people who object to the "War on Terror" don't even believe that it exists. It is a war with an American (and corporate) agenda. Yes, we were all for invading Afghanistan in the first place, but the transparent American hegemony has soured us of the deal. We should try to stop terrorism by looking into the sociocultural reasons for it, and attempt to fix those problems. People like Gormley are forgetting that terrorism has existed in its current form for a good 40 years. Things didn't start with 9/11. We have to try to fix things instead of blowing shit up. All the "War on Terror" has accomplished is to freak the crap out of the general public.
I've listened to Gormley's radio show before, based out of Regina. The guy is smart and has good things to say. I just think he's fallen for the propoganda.
posted by Kris at 12:53 AM
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