Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Weepy Pete's Big Day

Defence Minister Peter MacKay is unharmed after being successfully bundled away from a Taliban rocket attack near Kandahar. CTV reports,

"His security detail very quickly jumped into action, grabbed all their gear, rushed to a light-armoured vehicle and basically scuttled Mr. MacKay away to safety," Bill Graveland, a reporter for The Canadian Press, told CTV Newsnet from Kandahar on Tuesday."

The Taliban were apparently fooled into thinking that increased helicopter activity in the area meant the presence of someone important. It was only Peter MacKay. It is unclear if a neighbour's dog will be airlifted into the area for photo opportunistic pictures and solace. Having replaced the tainted and ineffectual Gordon O'Connor as Minister of the Defence Lobby, weepy MacKay was making his first trip to the region. After successfully retreating back to the Kandahar Air Field, MacKay delivered the following analysis of events to the press,

"There was an explosion. It was a loud bang," said MacKay. "When it happened, we heard the explosion, we heard the whistle overhead, we were told to get down and we did."

Clearly, Peter MacKay's expertise is equal to the task. Undaunted by the event, MacKay will stay on in the embattled area to perpetuate the misinformation he was sent to spread. Aiding in that task was Colonel Stephane Lafaut,

"...Lafaut, commander of the Canadian Operational Mentor Liaison Team, said the attack shows how desperate the Taliban have become since coalition forces have limited their movement in the region."

Yes, the Taliban have been reduced to rocket attacks that injured four Canadian soldiers and sent a cabinet minister scuttling for safety. Surely a sign of progress and another corner turned in that troubled land. MacKay will continue his mission, such as it is,

"MacKay is supposed to be using the trip to trumpet successes in Afghanistan, including an economy that has tripled in size and improvements in access to health care and education."

Isn't it amazing what heroin and the arms trade can do for an economy?

3 comments:

Adam C said...

The closer something is to zero, the easier it is to triple. Why, why do they think we're so stupid?

Ti-Guy said...

The only reason MacKay is there is his resemblance to an Afghan dog.

Red Tory said...

Pete must be using the same dictionary to define "success" that's used to define SDA as "best".