I'm so very happy our soldiers are dying in Afghanistan to uphold their rights

...fighting them over there, so we don't have to here....

blah, blah, blah...

yeah but apparently the people we are "helping" are just as freakin bad as the people we are fighting.

either moral, and bankrupt, or morally bankrupt....which to choose?

well I think both before and after there is no difference they both have a set of morals and ethics we should not be defending.

Every time I open my mouth to proclaim Afghanistan a mistake, I get shouted down. For one reason or another (anti-patriotic for questioning the mission, troop hater for questioning the mission...blah blah blah)

So be it.

Let's let the chips fall where they may, and sort it out after the fact. I'm tired of pissing up a rope or into the wind.

There...I've been silenced. And many others like me with the same opinion.

Oh well. Was nice to give a s*it once upon a time.

You can't let them shout you down. I'm dead against our presence in Afghanistan as well. That does not mean I don't support the troops. Quite the contrary.

I support the troops 100%. I support their every action. I deplore that we are losing brave Canadian men and women.

i would rather waste money idolizeing the dead jews at the forks.

For heavens sake - let the let the slaughtered Jews rest in peace.

When I ask people if they support the war/Canadian's in Afghanistan they often say YES. Then I ask them why they are there. Nobody has ever had an answer. They don't know why we're there. Some guess that it has something to do with stopping terrorism. Get them home - now.

I missed the last 3 weeks- Tick, what happened at the Forks to the Jews?

I say we should bring our troops home.

I can understand the international importance of being over there ( strategic location and the gazillion dollars of untapped minerals found there... poppy seeds notwithstanding ), but at some point, we need to let the region hash out its own cultural differences for the next 4-500 years and let them catch up with the rest of the world on its own.

Pushing our beliefs is just going to embolden and entrench the extremists even more, and these extremists are on both sides of the war, so its like we're just spinning our tires over there. Lots of noise and smoke, but no real results.

Jondo wrote:
When I ask people if they support the war/Canadian's in Afghanistan they often say YES. Then I ask them why they are there. Nobody has ever had an answer. They don't know why we're there. Some guess that it has something to do with stopping terrorism. Get them home - now.

I do believe that this is more of a reflection on the people that you are questioning than on anything else.

Perhaps they should stop watching Jersey Shores and watch a newscast once in a while. Of course reading a newspaper would be out of the question I'd reckon.

Why are Canadian soldiers dieing in Afghanistan jtf?

If you need an explanation after all these years, you should be still and not draw attention to such a void.

I think there were a couple possible responses to my question. One was to actually answer it. The other was to take a shot and make it personal.

I was hoping someone would explain our presence there as I don't believe most Canadians understand. Since you implied you knew I thought I'd ask.

JTF wrote:Perhaps they should stop watching Jersey Shores and watch a newscast once in a while. Of course reading a newspaper would be out of the question I'd reckon.

Or they could read the Winnipeg Sun!

Northlands wrote:I say we should bring our troops home.

I can understand the international importance of being over there ( strategic location and the gazillion dollars of untapped minerals found there... poppy seeds notwithstanding ), but at some point, we need to let the region hash out its own cultural differences for the next 4-500 years and let them catch up with the rest of the world on its own.

Pushing our beliefs is just going to embolden and entrench the extremists even more, and these extremists are on both sides of the war, so its like we're just spinning our tires over there. Lots of noise and smoke, but no real results.

I agree...that being there is not helping things...but the REASON troops are there, is because that region did not keep their problems in their own back yard. They pushed it onto the western world with 9/11. They issued a declaration of war on anyone who does not share THEIR beliefs.

There will ALWAYS be extremists, no matter how "good" the world may become, there will be those who want to tear things down, create chaos, and challenge the "powers that be".

The goal in having troops on the ground is to give those who are willing to accept change, to promote a democratic society by CHOOSING their leaders rather than cower to the warlords, a chance to breathe and build. A simple chance for them to regroup and be released from the oppression they have felt for the past 500 years in the hopes that they can become stronger than those who will oppress them.

UNFORTUNATELY, this war is not like those we've read in our history books. It does not have definitive "sides". It does not have a clear oppressor (ie. "The Nazis", "The Japanese", etc.) This war is being fought in homes, with families fighting each other. It's being fought in workplaces, with people not knowing if they can trust their coworker. And it's being fought without the "rules of war" applying to ONE side...as they are slaughtering women & children (both as weapons and fodder) to draw as much attention to their "cause" as they can.

If you watch the news (and I don't mean a CTV blurb), there are thousands of residents there who thank the troops for coming. For providing that sense of relief. And there are those who admonish them for being there...who believe that more horror has come because the troops came in.

And the war is not winnable. Because terrorists and warlords will ALWAYS exist.

But those troops are not there to fight a war. They are there to try and protect some people who are being tortured and oppressed. It is a police action, and nothing more at this point.

And while any death is regretful, the casualty count of this battle should not be misunderstood. The casualty count is LOW as wars go.

Here's a breakdown of Canadian and American casualties for wars since WWI.

Canadian Troops

Global War on Terror
As of December 18, 2010, 154 Canadian soldiers had been killed in the Afghanistan mission

Gulf War
Canada suffered no casualties during the conflict, but since its end, many veterans have complained of suffering from Gulf War Syndrome.

Vietnam Conflict
One-hundred ten (110) Canadians died in Vietnam, and seven remain listed as Missing in Action.

Korean Conflict
Canada sent 26,791 troops to fight in Korea. There were 1,558 Canadian casualties, including 516 dead.

WWII
11.5 million, 1.1 million Canadians served in the armed forces in the Second World War. Of these, an officially recorded total of 42,042 members of the armed forces gave their lives, and another 55,000 were wounded

WWI
First World War, and of these 66,655 were killed and another 172,950 were wounded.

For more Canadian casualty information, check here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Forces_casualties_in_Afghanistan

US Troops

Global War on Terror
Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom
As of May 16, 2009 4,967 Total deaths, 34,128 Total Wounded In Action


Persian Gulf War
1990-1991 382 Total deaths

Vietnam Conflict
1964-1973 58,209 Total deaths


Korean War
1950-1953 36,574 Total deaths


World War II
1941-1946 405,399 Total deaths


World War I
1917-1918 116,516 Total deaths


Now none of us (I hope) wants war...but an estimated 5000 soldiers (between the US & Canada) have died in the gulf...but how many other lives HAVE been saved so far? How many families over there (whether they know it or not) have been saved and protected?

And here's some interesting numbers for Canada...apparently the injuries and deaths would still be happening, even if there wasn't a war going on...obviously the numbers aren't as high...but their JOB is to put themselves at risk for the protection of others.


The table above lists the annual number of soldiers injured, wounded and
killed from the beginning of the Canadian military deployment to
Afghanistan in April 2002 to December 31, 2009.

"
If you watch the news (and I don't mean a CTV blurb), there are
thousands of residents there who thank the troops for coming. For
providing that sense of relief."

and then promptly turn around and applaud their governement for killing someone who converted religions.

Deank wrote:"If you watch the news (and I don't mean a CTV blurb), there are thousands of residents there who thank the troops for coming. For providing that sense of relief."

and then promptly turn around and applaud their governement for killing someone who converted religions.

no...that's abhorrent as well...and the US or Canada should be stepping in immediately to stop it.

AGEsAces wrote:

Deank wrote:"If you watch the news (and I don't mean a CTV blurb), there are thousands of residents there who thank the troops for coming. For providing that sense of relief."

and then promptly turn around and applaud their governement for killing someone who converted religions.

no...that's abhorrent as well...and the US or Canada should be stepping in immediately to stop it.

EXACTLY!

But we are not. Just like any Taliban controlled town we invade to ensure the citizens are released we should "invade" their jail, free the people jailed for stuff like that.

They need to be shown that without a doubt we are there to protect the rights and freedom of every single citizen and nothing short of close adherence to the UN Declaration of Human rights will be accepted.

Our soldiers believe they are there for good reasons. When asked, every single one (that isn't a deserter) says they believe in being there.

How can people say that they support our soldiers but then say they are against the reasons the soldiers are there? Makes no sense to me.

JTF, you support asoldiers because they have to take orders. Thats part of their training and committment.

I support soldiers and insist they get the best equipment and training. For too long , they were getiing massacred in shity vehicles. Finally they have Force Protection vehicles which cost a good chunk of change. I support that.

I don't support the war becasue it is based on a lie and our soldiers have no direction.

I don't take the issue with the soldiers but i take the issue with those that send them into combat.

No cut and run.

Remember that phrase? It was pretty popular in the US, with supporters of George W. Bush.

i would like to use the feds museum budget $20 million per annum to bringhome ninetynine aphgan vets to work that museum and buy them homes every four blocks throughout the nasty hoods.
armed army vets going to and from work at all hours of the day and knight.
i am presumeing a rights museum will be wewll armed.