Published: Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Few countries honour their war casualties with more respect than the United States. No doubt most Americans share Canada’s sadness at the mounting Canadian death toll in Afghanistan.

Again the sad vigil of a repatriation ceremony takes place this week at CFB Trenton. Canadian troops were sent to Afghanistan, initially, in response to the terrorist threat emanating from that country following the 9/11 attack on the U.S.

It was with profound disappointment — and outrage — that Canadians learned that U.S. commentators have ridiculed Canada’s sacrifice. Panellists on the Fox News program Red Eye with Greg Gutfeld cited comments from Gen. Andrew Leslie, the Canadian Forces Chief of Land Staff, who said our forces would need a one-year break from operations after the mission concludes there in 2011. Canadian soldiers have been defending the area around Kandahar, the toughest area of fighting, since 2006.

From the comfort of their studio, the Fox commentators (one of whom didn’t even know Canadian troops were in Afghanistan) offered nothing but sneers. They suggested Canadian troops needed time off for “manicures and pedicures.” Gutfeld joked that “the Canadian military wants to take a breather to do some yoga, paint landscapes, run on the beach in gorgeous white capri pants.”

Other statements included: “Isn’t it time to invade this ridiculous country?” and “This is not a smart culture.” They suggested that Canada is “where you go if you don’t want to fight.” Then they broke out a series of clichés about Mounties and the like.

Canadians should grant our southern neighbours the benefit of the doubt and assume that this spectacle was a reflection only on certain Fox News personalities and not on the U.S. as a whole. After all, such indecency, in a time of shared sacrifice, is decidedly un-American.

© The Ottawa Citizen 2009

Globe and Mail Update

March 10, 2009 at 1:26 AM EDT

The war in Afghanistan has always been a contentious issue in Quebec. So last week, following Stephen Harper’s admission during an interview on CNN that “frankly, we are not ever going to defeat the insurgency,” Quebec’s opinion pages were promptly atwitter.

Some pundits welcomed the Prime Minister’s candour. Le Journal de Montreal’s Benoit Aubin assessed that Mr. Harper “had done something that politicians usually have trouble doing when they talk about problems: he told it like it is.” Le Devoir editorialist Bernard Descoteaux called the comments “a return to reason,” while contending that “coming from the leader of a country that has, to date, lost 107 soldiers in its efforts to bring down the insurgency, this is a serious admission.” Pierre Foglia of La Presse, who considers himself among “the many” Quebeckers who have been against the war in Afghanistan since 2001, congratulated Mr. Harper for “recognizing” that “we won’t win this kind of war.”

Mr. Harper’s comments left other Quebec journalists pondering the future of the mission. In an editorial in Le Droit – a Gatineau paper that has published editorials in support of the war in the past – Pierre Jury questioned the value of remaining in Afghanistan until 2011 “now that Mr. Harper no longer believes victory is possible.” He suggested that Mr. Harper’s comments effectively “call into question the entire military component of our presence [in Afghanistan].”

Le Soleil’s Raymond Giroux admitted that Mr. Harper, who had once “wanted to follow his friend Bush into war in Iraq and who used to hurl insanities against anyone who dared to propose a dialogue with the Taliban,” had markedly changed his tune. He was reluctant, however, to conclude that the PM’s words comments signaled an end in sight for the mission. Mr. Harper, he wrote, is still leaving Canadians in the dark about how he might reply to a request from the U.S. to extend Canada’s engagement beyond 2011.

For some, the most significant aspect of Mr. Harper’s comments was where he made them. Le Devoir’s Manon Corneiller wrote that “the real problem with this interview given to CNN is that it offered Americans an evaluation that the Prime Minister had not yet deigned to share with Canadians.”

Similarly, Le Soleil editorialist Brigitte Breton took issue with Mr. Harper’s decision to “deliver this message on an American network” before making it clear to Canadians “where he is going and what role he intends Canada to play in Afghanistan.” It was, she complained, “as if Canadians are expected to continue to sacrifice lives and squander billions of dollars regardless of the results.”

Aug 01, 2008 06:45 AM

THE CANADIAN PRESS

The CBC is reporting that the father of two children shot to death by Canadian troops in Afghanistan says he would “kill the Canadians” if he gets the chance.

Rozi Mohammed, who lives in the town of Chalaghor, southwest of Kandahar City, made the comments Thursday while being interviewed about Sunday’s incident.

His daughter Mulkia, 5, and son Thor Jan, 2, died when Canadian troops opened fire on a car they feared was about to attack their convoy.

The military said the taxi did not slow down and ignored repeated signals to keep a safe distance away.

But Mohammed says the car they were riding in pulled out after the second car of the Canadian convoy had passed and the third vehicle then opened fire.

He says the Canadian government should “avoid shooting innocent people.”