Harpers War Body Count Reaches 100

3 Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan, death toll now at 100 and he insists on staying till 2011 three more years of wasted human lives and taxpayers money. To date since Stephen Harper decided to aggresively pursue the use of CanadianArmed Forces as counter insurgency forces in Kandahar 90 Canadian Armed Forces personnel have died.

Canada's role in the invasion of Afghanistan, as an active combatant in operations against the Taliban and other insurgents in southern Afghanistan, has produced the largest number of fatal casualties for any single Canadian military mission since the 25th Canadian Brigade served in the Korean War from 1950 to 1953.

This does not include non-combatant Canadian civilians who have died in Afghanistan because of Harpers War.

2 Canadian aid workers killed in roadside ambush in Afghanistan

And while lists of Canadians killed in Afghanistan usually include all of the miliatry personnel killed the two aid workers are not always listed as causulties and the first non-government non-military civiilan killed in Afghanistan in July 2006, is always forgotten as a victim of Harpers War....

Afghanistan's ambassador to Canada says millions will remember Mike Frastacky, a Vancouver carpenter who returned to their country year after year to build a school for young children, only to be shot.

Remember we are fighting for schools and children especially girls in Afghanistan, but the guy who built them and got killed for it gets forgotten.

Oh the Harpocrsy of it all.

SEE:
Mayor Of Kabul Says Get Out

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War Monger

Best left wing attack on Harper. Duceppe . On the election announcement night when he called:

Mr. Dithers Accidental War

In a damning indictment of why the Liberals are still dithering over Canada's combat mission in Kandahar, ex-PM Jean Chretien in his new autobiography lays the blame at the feet of Mr. Dithers.

As for Afghanistan, Chretien suggests that Martin is partly to blame for casualties because he "took too long to make up his mind" about Canada's role, and troops ended up being sent "to the killing fields around Kandahar."

Which I have pointed out here and here and here and here.

Martin's Liberal government got us into combat in Kandahar because they were so busy with maintaining their minority government which was about to fall. As Chretien points out our peacekeeping mission in Kabul was over and all that was left for us was IASF support in the 'killing fields of Kandahar" as he called it.

Martin was so focused on his Kelowna legacy, and Dion on his Environmental meeting in Montreal that gosh shucks the troops in Afghanistan were an after thought. Too late we were in an election, and so by dint of dithering our troops were stationed in Kandahar.

However Harper made much of Dithers error and made the war his own. Which is why this accidental combat mission became his cause celebre to create his image as a strong right wing leader.


SEE:

Afghanistan




Job Protection for

Canadian Reservists

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Harpers War II

Over the past year I have been called on the rug by pro war commentators on my blog posts claiming that Canada's 'new' military operations, by the 'new' Canadian Government, in Afghanistan since the 2006 election, are Harpers War. They like to claim this was merely a continuation of previous Liberal Government policy. Yeah Right.

This is not a quote from a left wing peacenik.....If the shoe fits....

After remaining silent about Afghanistan throughout the 2005-2006 election campaign, Harper made his feelings known on the day after the election. “We will continue to help defend our values and democratic ideals around the world – as so courageously demonstrated by those young Canadian soldiers who are serving and who have sacrificed in Afghanistan.”

The attention on Afghanistan by the new Harper government was intensified with his surprise visit in March 2006. The destination for a new prime minister’s first international visit is important. It highlights the key priority for Canada’s foreign policy. Most prime ministers select New York and Washington to show the importance of Canada-US bilateral relations. However, Harper went to Afghanistan. The symbolic values of this trip cannot be overstated.

In the midst of the heavy fighting, Harper both extended and expanded Canada’s mandate in Afghanistan. In the process, he made it clear that he was taking ownership of the operation. On May 17, 2006, Harper pushed a motion through the House of Commons to extend Canada’s participation in ISAF, which was due to expire in February 2007, until 2009.

Stephen Harper had very little international experience, or even interest, before becoming prime minister. In his previous political jobs within the Reform Party, National Citizens Coalition, and Canadian Alliance, his focus was on reforming Canadian federalism, reducing the size of government, cutting taxes, and eliminating the government’s deficit and debt.

The party platforms of the Reform Party, Canadian Alliance, and the merged Conservative Party, were weak on foreign policy. Nevertheless, starting with the formation of the Reform Party in 1987, its members were clear on two key foreign policy principles: better relations with the United States and a stronger Canadian military. These two themes cropped up over and over again in their attacks on the Liberals. An example of the intertwining of these two issues was a major speech delivered soon after Harper became leader of the Canadian Alliance. Harper argued that “for nine years the government has systematically neglected the Canadian forces and undermined our ability to contribute to peace enforcement and even peacekeeping operations, including recently our premature withdrawal from Afghanistan

Harper’s foreign policy ideas started to crystallize during the debate about Canadian participation in the US-Iraq War. Many of his comments on Iraq would foreshadow his actions in Afghanistan.

In his speeches on Iraq, Harper touched on a number of themes that would become important with respect to Afghanistan. First, Canada should support its allies. Canada went to Afghanistan in support of the United States, the United Nations, and NATO – its most important bilateral partner and its most important multilateral alliances.

And of course Harper was backed up in his war mongering by the DND and Chief of Defense Staff Hillier, another Republican in Conservative clothing.

In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, there was a debate over the precise military role of the Canadian Forces. While there were elements in DFAIT that wanted Canada to play a “traditional” peacekeeping role, the CF wanted “to get into the fight.”Eventually, the CF, in combination with the civilians in the DND, got what they wanted when the Chrétien government deployed the 3 PPCLI to Afghanistan in October 2001. That initial deployment did much for the morale of the CF. The Commander of Canadian ground troops in Afghanistan would later brag that Canadian participation in the war “established our credibility in the coalition. Canada had been tainted with an image of being blue-hatted peacekeepers, and I think…the aggressiveness and tenacity that the troops showed…dispelled the myth…we were like a pack of rabid pit bulls in satisfying the coalition’s end state.” Since then, the CF, especially under Chief of Defence Staff Rick Hillier, has consistently lobbied for greater combat responsibilities in Afghanistan. Kirton has identified a wing of the Canadian military that had trained with the Americans and wanted “to do some real war fighting.”They were led by Hillier who had served as the first Canadian Deputy Commanding General of III Corps, US Army in Fort Hood, Texas from 1998-2000.

I rest my case.

Conclusion
This paper has argued that the operation in Afghanistan has become Mr. Harper’s war. In part this was due to timing. Harper took over as prime minister at the same moment that Canada was taking on much more demanding tasks that would involve greater combat responsibilities. When ISAF launched Operation Medusa, its spring 2006 offensive against Taliban forces, Canadians naturally associated the fighting with the government of the day. However, Harper, through his rhetoric and his actions, made sure that there was no mistake; ownership of the mission was with him. He wanted Canadians to hold him responsible.

Unfortunately due to recent deaths of Quebec soldiers War Monger Harper was less than effusive about his war in a recent speech in La Belle Province. Le silence est d'or



See:

Harpers Body Count

Harpers Constituency

Harpers War

Heil Hillier, Maintiens le droit

Joined At The Hip

Harper War Monger

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