Sounds Like

A collection of sound bites on Afghanistan....then and now.


"What will happen if we withdraw now…"

Soviets in 1980s

"Recently one can often hear …that we 'betrayed' [our] Afghan friends [by withdrawing from Afghanistan] and that, after the withdrawal of Soviet troops, we are not interested anymore in the fate of Afghanistan." (Sovetskaya Rossiaya, 14 April 1990)

"Continuation, and even escalation, of fighting after the withdrawal of Soviet troops …" (Minister of Defence of Afghanistan general Sh. Tanai, Izvestiya, 8 September 1989)


Canadians now

"…pulling troops out of Kandahar would simply open the door to another Taliban takeover. There is also a real danger that the return of the Taliban would lead to civil war..." "unwillingness to grapple with the consequences of withdrawing troops seems common, if not endemic, among those opposing the war…. In the face of the Taliban's history of cruelty, MacDonald argued that withdrawing troops would be a betrayal. …But before raising the call to withdraw troops, we might consider those whose lives have unquestionably improved because of the security provided by international forces. " (This Magazine (Canada), March/April 2007)

Insurgency was/is called…

Soviets in 1980s

"hardened murderers" (Pravda, 13 December 1985)

"… scumbags" (Soviet soldiers and a nurse quoted in Izvestiya, 23 May 1988)

Canadians now

"detestable murderers and scumbags"
(Chief of Defence Staff General Rick Hillier, Globe and Mail, 13 April 2007. Also see "Helping Afghanistan will protect Canada, says top soldier", CBC News, 15 July 2005)



"There is no comparison"

Soviets in 1980s

"If one agrees with people who…are ready to declare Soviet people to be 'occupants' and compare their [i.e. Soviet people's] actions to what Americans were doing in Vietnam, or to what British colonizers were doing in the same Afghanistan, then one has to admit that those 'occupants' were behaving in a very strange ways. They were delivering food and fuel, clothing, agricultural machinery and industrial equipment to the [Afghan] population; they were treating the sick [Afghans], teaching in the educational institutions, building residential houses, supporting work of the vital industrial plants, electric stations and irrigation structures…" (Zhitnuhin & Likoshin, 1990, p.169).

"I would not draw any analogies between our actions in Afghanistan and the American actions in Vietnam. There was no similarity in objectives or methods, nor were the results similar" (Soviet general Varennikov, CNN interview)

Canadians now

"We are not an 'occupation force' as some even here in Canada have stated, but backers of the legitimate Afghanistan government, which was voted in by a huge majority of Afghans who wanted their first democracy in 25 years. (column by Sgt. Russell Strong, CBC News Viewpoint, CBCNEWS, 13 September 2006)

"…comparison of current international efforts [in Afghanistan] and the Soviet invasion in 1979 is totally without merit… To compare today's mission [of Canadian forces in Afghanistan] to the invasion of a totalitarian [Soviet] regime is beyond comprehension" (op-ed "Unfair comparison" by Col. (ret.) M. Capstick, Globe and Mail, 2 December 2006)

On "fighting evil"

Soviets in 1980s

"…we heard shots. Run towards the village. Found three dead on the road: man, woman and a child. They we probably on the way home. This is the evil. That's why we are here - not to allow such [things] to happen." (from the journal of the Soviet soldier in Afghanistan, quoted in Komsomolskaya Pravda, 26 July 1986)

Canadians now

"We believe that we are engaged in a war on terrorism, a war on evil people, just as we were during the First and Second World Wars. We believe that these people have to be brought to justice," (Jay Hill quoted in Toronto Star, 20 April 2007)


On "our troops in Afghanistan"

Soviets 1980s

"We are giving our young years and our lives for peace"(from the journal of the Soviet soldier in Afghanistan, private Yuri Pahomov, published in Komsomolskaya Pravda, 15 December 1989)

"…my son …died a hero" (mother of the Soviet soldier killed in Afghanistan quoted in Krasnaya Zvezda, 17 March 1988)

"[he] died a hero …shielding his comrades from death" (Komsomolskaya Pravda, 25 April 1987)

"…sincere belief in the high meaning of their [Afghanistan] mission." (book "Star over Kabul-city", 1990, Moscow, p.171).

Canadians now

"He died a hero" (friend of Canadian Soldier killed in Afghanistan quoted in thestar.com, Apr 19, 2007)

"[he]… died a hero, he died protecting his fellow comrades" ( message by Jason Carey on the death of Pte. Costall, 3/30/2006, DND website)

"…unwavering belief in the Afghanistan mission" (Toronto Star, 17 December 2006)

SEE:

Kandahar

Afghanistan

War





Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
NDP, liberals, Afghanistan, PB, BT, Canada, Progressivebloggers, bloggingtories, blogs, blogging, bringthetroopshome, Layton,NDP, Layton, TroopsOut, Afghanistan, War, Harper, Conservatives, Liberals, Canada, politics, military, NATO, peacekeeping, Karzai, NDP, liberals, Afghanistan, PB, BT, Canada, Progressivebloggers, bloggingtories, blogs, blogging, bringthetroopshome, Layton,NDP, Layton, TroopsOut, Afghanistan, War, Harper, Conservatives, Liberals, Canada, politics, military, NATO, peacekeeping, Karzai, Liberals, Canada, Soldiers, Death, Injury, Afghanistan, Government, Politics, values,


Tags
Canada
USA
War
Friendly Fire
Canadian Troops
Afghanistan
Kandahar
NATO

Save Our Troops....Jobs

Forget Red Fridays.
Forget the Yellow Ribbons.

If you really want to support our troops
sign this petition.

Canadian reservists frequently volunteer to serve our country in extended overseas missions. Unfortunately our country--with the exception of the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia--does not recognize their sacrifice and some reservists return home only to face the unemployment line.

This situation is simply not fair to the men and women who put their lives on the line for their fellow Canadians.

Therefore we believe it's long overdue for the Canadian government to enact federal legislation that will protect the jobs of reservists who volunteer to serve in extended overseas missions.

While politicians in Toronto and Calgary get into a kerfuffle over posting yellow ribbons on municipal vehicles, they overlook the little fact that there is no Job Protection for Reservists in their provinces. Nor across Canada.

The Canadian reservist, unlike his American counterpart or a pregnant mother, has almost no protection for his job, so that he will usually be taking a big risk employment-wise when he serves his country.

Certain Officers and NCMs of The Royal Montreal Regiment

You can lose your life or body parts in Kandahar, Darfur, or Haiti, or where-ever Canadian Armed Forces are deployed, even at air shows. And to add insult to injury, if you survive, you can also end up losing your job on your return from active duty.

Shame! Shame! Shame! as they say in the House.

Of course prior to Harpers War most reservists and recruits viewed the Canadian Armed Forces as a job, either part time or full time, a career as it was pushed then; there was no life like it. But Harper changed all that. Now they can sign up and fight and if they don't get killed can return to the unemployment line.

Of course labour standards are a provincial responsibility and should be amended, as should Federal legislation. But the fact remains that we should not have to regulate business in the capitalist market place according to the right wing. But once again that fallacy falls flat. Like their much vaunted 'Family Values'.

Major Noseworthy joined our reserve forces in good faith, seeking to do his bit for Canada as a part-time soldier. He answered the call dutifully when asked to go to Afghanistan and fight for peace in that country. But his employer did not have the same sense of duty to Major Noseworthy or Canada for than matter.

In addition to being an army reservist, Major Noseworthy was also the manager at Humber Motors Ford in Stephenville, Newfoundland. That was until he went to Afghanistan and Humber Ford — a firm that claims to be family friendly — refused him a leave of absence to serve his country. Major Noseworthy was dismissed, leaving him to return from his tour of duty and join the line up for Employment Insurance.

And why is there no federal legislation to protect these soldiers?

Jump back to November. That’s when Lt.

-Gen. Andrew Leslie told the House of Commons defense committee that to complete the mission in Afghanistan the Canadian military would have to draw on more of the country’s 18,000 reservists.

At the time Leslie said the military was trying to persuade about 1,500 of them to sign on for two to three years of military duty.

How many of those reservists have, or will have, to quit their jobs to help the country complete its mission?

The federal government was quick to put reserve soldiers in danger by sending them to Afghanistan; the least they can do is ensure they have a job to come home to. Is that too much to ask?

As for employers who require reservists to quit before heading overseas, it’s time to do the right thing. Don’t simply give lip service to supporting the troops, actually do it. If you have a reservist working for you, at the very least grant them a leave of absence if they are willing to put their life on the line for this country.

The only value the working class has in creating capitalism is either as wage slaves or canon fodder.

The Canadian Forces Liaison Council, a group of business people who volunteer to support Canada’s reservists, say this country’s voluntary approach to job protections has worked well.

So the council’s volunteers must have cringed at news earlier this month that a reservist in Newfoundland came back from six long months in Afghanistan to unemployment.

Newfoundland, like Alberta, is among the majority of provinces which extend no job protections to reservists. Meanwhile, reservists are in high demand to fulfil Canada’s commitment in Afghanistan.

But even with service an option for reservists, it’s clear job protections should also be legislated.

That even a single soldier who has served the nation on a potentially deadly mission wind up on the unemployment line for his/her efforts is a national shame.

Surely a call for political action on this front should command more attention than the push for politicians to put ribbon decals on publicly funded bumpers.

Here! Here! As they say in the House.

H/T to Another Point of View for drawing my attention to My Blahg's latest efforts.



SEE:

Kandahar

Afghanistan

War





Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
NDP, liberals, Afghanistan, PB, BT, Canada, Progressivebloggers, bloggingtories, blogs, blogging, bringthetroopshome, Layton,NDP, Layton, TroopsOut, Afghanistan, War, Harper, Conservatives, Liberals, Canada, politics, military, NATO, peacekeeping, Karzai, NDP, liberals, Afghanistan, PB, BT, Canada, Progressivebloggers, bloggingtories, blogs, blogging, bringthetroopshome, Layton,NDP, Layton, TroopsOut, Afghanistan, War, Harper, Conservatives, Liberals, Canada, politics, military, NATO, peacekeeping, Karzai, Liberals, Canada, Soldiers, Death, Injury, Afghanistan, Government, Politics, values,

Rent A Crowd

Once again another Red Friday brought to you by the PMO and Department of Defense.

This is called taking advantage of a captive audience. Interesting to note in this article that there are NO numbers given for this 'large crowd". It's because it wasn't that large. Not really a sea, more like a puddle in the midst of the CNE.

The grounds of the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto turned into a sea of red on Friday afternoon thanks to a large crowd that turned out for a rally in support of Canada's troops in Afghanistan.

Hundreds of people do not make it a massive rally as Stephen Harper pointed out the other day.

Gen. Rick Hillier was speaking at a massive rally at the Canadian National Exhibition fairgrounds, where hundreds of people turned out in red shirts to show support for the soldiers stationed overseas.

A thousand people is what they got out at the last Red Friday, and that is about average for these pro-war rallies put on by DND and the Government of Canada.

It really was a coming out party for Peter MacKay as the new Minister of Defense.

The question is how many were there for Don Cherry's autograph.

Perhaps Don Cherry – hockey personality and ardent supporter of Canada's military – said it best.

“You guys wanted red; you got red,” the broadcaster, himself sporting a maroon velvet suit, told an estimated 1,000 people who dressed up for yesterday's Red Friday Rally at the CNE as a show of support for Canada's soldiers.

Hundreds of people signed a “support our troops” banner and cheered loudly as a photo of the crowd was taken to be sent to the soldiers on Canada's military mission to Afghanistan.

And a thousand people at the CNE is a drop in the bucket in a crowd of 70,000. Heck more folks line up for those mini donuts and elephant ears.

All around people munched from yellow tubs of Poppa Corn and toted stuffed animals. A giant ferris wheel spun in the distance, while crowds gathered around military displays. The crowd, meanwhile, spread out to enjoy the event and check out what other entertainment the CNE had to offer.

And of course the cynical might suspect that this was all part of the Canadian Armed Forces new recruitment drive.

Operation Connection is underway at the CNE.

This year the military has expanded its endeavours at the fair. After more than 650,000 people visited the Canadian Forces' exhibit at the CNE last year, military officials asked organizers for another 743 square metres of real estate. That's almost half again as much as last year's 1,765 square metres.

Canadian Forces ask retired vets to re-enlist

Facing a shortage of experienced military personnel, the Canadian Forces has put out a call to retired veterans to sign up again -- not to battle, but to help train a new generation of soldiers.

While the military is exceeding its new recruit targets, the Afghanistan mission is draining the resources needed to get them into the system -- causing problems for the military's ambitious plans to boost its numbers.

SEE:

Harpers Body Count

Heil Hillier, Maintiens le droit

Harpers Fascism

Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
Toronto, Afghanistan, Hillier, Harper, Ottawa, Rally, Troops, Canadian Armed Forces, Canada, Red Friday, military,

Dog Bites Man

Wow like you couldn't see this coming a mile away.

Extend Afghan tour, Canada urged
BBC News - 1 hour ago
Nato Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has urged Canada to keep its military mission in Afghanistan beyond the planned 2009 pullout date.

No wonder the Conservatives were in a hurry to end parliament early.


SEE:

Harpers Constituency

Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
NDP, Layton, TroopsOut, Afghanistan, War, Harper, Conservatives, Liberals, Canada, politics, military, NATO, peacekeeping, Karzai,, Graham, Liberals, Canada, Soldiers, Death, Injury, Afghanistan, Government, Politics, values,
Injury, Government,Canada, parliament,

Military Senility

The Harpocrite government likes to tout the long years of military experience of the Minister of Defense. Long in the tooth is more like it and suffering from a case of advanced senility. Time for him to go.

Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor said yesterday his department has paid the entire burial costs for troops killed in Afghanistan, contradicting his own officials and the families of at least two slain soldiers.

"Since I've been in office, I've directed the department to pay the full funeral cost of fallen soldiers," O'Connor said in the House of Commons.

"And I also directed the department to review the previous Treasury Board policy set by the Liberals to come to a proper resolution and to line it up with current realities. We have been doing that since I've been in office. Any family that had to bury their loved ones is entitled to the full recompense for the funeral."

A spokesman for the Canadian Forces said late last week the military recently discovered that a family had to pay part of the cost of burying their son, who was killed in combat last year.

Opposition parties quickly pointed to the discrepancy, saying they were outraged by the conflicting accounts.

If O'Connor ordered a review of the funeral stipend in the winter of 2006, NDP Jack Layton said, why is the federal Treasury Board going to consider the matter on Thursday.

"This minister's incompetence has been seen before and it appears we're looking at it again in a particularly tragic context," Layton said following question period.

See

O'Connor

Afghanistan






Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
Canada, Pakistan, Taliban, Balochistan, Harper, Bush, Afghanistan, NDP, liberals, Afghanistan, PB, BT, Canada, Progressivebloggers, bloggingtories, blogs, blogging, bringthetroopshome, Layton, TroopsOut, Afghanistan, War, Harper, Conservatives, Liberals, Canada, politics, military, NATO, peacekeeping, Karzai, Liberals, Canada, Soldiers, Death, Injury, Afghanistan, Government, Politics, values, Liberals,

No Time Lines For Afghanistan Exit

Stephen Harper tells Canadian troops that there is no time line for their mission in
Afghanistan. No early exit for Canadian forces, Harper says Where have we heard that before?

"Still you know that the work is not complete. You know that we cannot just put down our arms and hope for peace," he said, strongly hinting that Canadian troops might remain in Afghanistan beyond the current February 2009 commitment approved by Parliament last year

SEE:

Harpers Constituency

Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
NDP, Layton, TroopsOut, Afghanistan, War, Harper, Conservatives, Liberals, Canada, politics, military, NATO, peacekeeping, Karzai,, Graham, Liberals, Canada, Soldiers, Death, Injury, Afghanistan, Government, Politics, values,
Injury, Government,Canada, parliament,

Tory Boondoggle

Shades of the Liberal Gun Registry....

Cost of new tanks $1.3 billion, double initial estimate

O'Connor Lowballed War Costs

Just one more reason for the senile Minister of Defense to resign.


Hillier

" I can get you one tank for the price of 2"

O'Connor

"Can I buy a tank a year?"

Hillier;

"Sure, we have a great twenty year payment plan with options"










Also See:

Tanks For The Memories

Kandahar

Afghanistan

O'Connor





Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
NDP, Layton, TroopsOut, Afghanistan, War, Harper, Conservatives, Liberals, Canada, politics, military, NATO, peacekeeping, Karzai,, Graham, Liberals, Canada, Soldiers, Death, Injury, Afghanistan, Government, Politics, values,
Injury, Government,Canada, parliament,

Hillier's War

Before it was Harpers War, Afghanistan was Hillier's War. And as such it was one that was created by him to change Canada's Armed Forces from Peace keepers to warriors. And as we know warriors take no prisoners.

Harper stands by Hillier

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is staunchly defending his Defence Chief amid claims the General did not consult with Foreign Affairs before signing a detainee transfer agreement in 2005 that left no provision to verify prisoner safety.

Hillier pushed flawed detainee plan

The Department of Foreign Affairs was pushed to the sidelines when Canada struck its detainee-transfer deal in Afghanistan, two senior government sources have told The Globe and Mail.

“We were not consulted,” said one, adding that Foreign Affairs was shunted aside by the Department of National Defence and Canada's top soldier, Rick Hillier, when he signed the accord in 2005. The deal has become mired in controversy because it includes no follow-up role for Canada on the fate of detainees in Afghanistan's notoriously brutal prison system.

Another senior foreign-service officer gave a longer explanation: “Hillier went to Kabul thinking of them [the detainees] as ‘scumbags' and made the deal. Hillier wanted to sign it; he insisted on signing it,” he said. “Defence took the file and messed it up.”

The comment played off a remark General Hillier, Chief of the Defence Staff, made in July, 2005, when he set off a national debate by referring to the Taliban as “detestable murderers and scumbags.”

See:

Afghanistan

Heil Hillier, Maintiens le droit

Joined At The Hip

Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
Harper, Afghanistan, Kandahar, Karzai, Kabul, criminal, Taliban
Canada,soldiers, NATO, war,Canadian-Forces, army

Gallipoli And Vimy

While we had Vimy Celebrations this weekend coinciding with Easter, and ending today, the Australians and New Zealanders will celebrate the WWI battle of Gallipoli with Anzac Day at the end of the month.

A disaster on the scale of the battle of the Somme in WWI and Dunkirk and Dieppe.in WWII. As 'colonial' nations under the tutelage and control of the British Imperialists farmers and workers became cannon fodder in their Great War with Germany.

Tactically speaking, the plan is for British artillery to pound the Turkish position until precisely 4:30 when the ANZAC forces would attack from their trenches. In what may be an indicative blunder that no one in the military would care to admit to, the respective commanders fail to synchronize their watches. The ANZAC commander, Major Barton, realizes that the bombardment has inexplicably ceased seven minutes too soon. The Turks have had time to return to their trenches. Amazingly, the English Colonel Robinson (John Morris) orders the attack to go forward.

In what seems a counterintuitive tactic, the soldiers are ordered to empty their rifles of all ammunition and charge with "bayonets only." The first wave is cut down by heavy machine gun fire. Most of the men don’t make it but a few yards. A second wave meets an identical fate.

However for Canada, Australia and New Zealand , it was our recognition of the need for transparent autonomous military operations, that created our national identity on the battlefields of Gallipoli and Vimy.

How Hill 145 and Vimy changed everything

It was then that things changed. Instead of headquarters officers planning the operation in secrecy and isolation they did something unique. They planned the assault and then included every soldier in the plan. Maps, details and objectives were made a part of the daily training for six weeks. Model layouts of the ridge and Hill 145 were studied, not just by commanders, but by every soldier. Exercises were run in the weeks before the assault on a field laid out to simulate Hill 145 and the ridge. Units learned terrain, timing and cover. Where, up to that time, the taking of a position had been the objective of a platoon commander; it was now the objective of the whole platoon, and every soldier in that platoon knew the objective, the plan to take it and what adjacent units were doing.

The battles at Vimy and Gallipoli mark our true day of 'national' independence which would lead to real independence later from the British Empire. It is the military which creates the modern Canadian/Australian/New Zealand state's of the 20th Century from the rubble of the British Commonwealth.

Our countries national identities were formed because we fought Britain's wars, and in doing so we were blooded, and survived to challenge their ability and authority over 'our' state. Our view of ourselves as Canadians, Australians, or New Zealanders, as citizens of a nation was created in the trenches of France. Such was not the case for the State which would not come until after the Charter of Westminster and WWII. And indeed in Canada's case not until we had our own Charter in 1982.

"April 25, 1915, is a date etched in Australia's history. To many this is Australia's most important national day. Commemorative services are held at dawn, the time of the original landing."

“New Zealand’s experience at Gallipoli fostered an emerging national identity, and it’s important we create an environment that allows those traveling to Gallipoli to respectfully connect with their past and understand the massive sacrifice made by their forbearers,” said Rick Barker.

"Every nation has a creation story to tell; the First World War and the Battle of Vimy Ridge are central to the story of our country," Prime Minister Stephen Harper told those gathered, including Canadian veterans and high school students.

And it is a central event in Turkey's modern nationhood. Showing that nationalism in the 20th Century was the result of the fragmentation and destruction of the old Imperialist polities of the 19th Century.

Even though they were in the opposing ends of the battlefield, the Battle of Gallipoli left huge marks in the psyches of both Australia and New Zealand on the one side, and Turkey on the other. Even to this day, ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) Day is celebrated in both those countries, and it is considered that the battle marked the birth of the collective national identities of both those nations, replacing that of the collective identity of the British Empire. In Turkey, the battle is seen as one of the finest and bravest moments in the history of the Turkish people - a final surge in the defense of the motherland as the centuries-old Ottoman Empire was crumbling; which laid the grounds for the Turkish War of Independence and the foundation of the new Turkish Republic eight years later, led by Atatürk, a commander in Gallipoli himself.

See:

The Working Class Dies For Harper

Royal Newfoundlanders Died For the Seal Hunt

Draft Dodgers in Dukhbour Country

Stanway's Sombre Reflection on Somme

WWI Xmas Mutiny

Christmas in the Trenches

The Vimy Myth

The Best Laid Plans

Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
WWI, ANZAC, Lest we forget, Rememberance-day, Rememberance, war, veterans, history, modernism, veterans-day, 20thCentury, Vimy Ridge, Australia, New Zealand, WWI, Gallipoli, Canada, War, military,
WWI, Somme, Battles, Newfoundland, Royal-Newfoundland-Regiment, War, History, France
Somme, Newfoundland, WWI, Stanway, EdmontonSun, Canada,
military, military-engineers, Royal-Canadian-Engineers, WWII, WWI, sappers