Gen. Rick Hillier steps up to the mike and shares his views on the Manley Report.
Canadian soldiers cannot avoid combat if they are to remain in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar, the chief of defence staff said Friday.
Gen. Rick Hillier ruled out any possibility that troops could remain in the volatile region and perform strictly humanitarian and reconstruction duties. "Certainly if you're in Kandahar you're going to be in combat operations," Hillier told reporters after delivering a speech at an Arctic conference.
"If you're there, you're going to be in the middle of a firefight some way or another."
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has endorsed the recommendations a blue-ribbon panel that looked into Canada's options in Afghanistan.
It recommended Canadians continue in a combat role beyond their scheduled pullout next February if other NATO countries pony up 1,000 reinforcements and the military can acquire combat helicopters and unmanned surveillance aircraft.
Ah yes … the combat helicopters and unmanned surveillance aircraft that are “on order”. If by “on order”, Big Daddy actually means, you know, “we’re still comparison shopping”.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper twice said yesterday that crucial new helicopters and drones for the troops in Afghanistan are "on order."
However, government officials later said the Prime Minister jumped the gun and that they are still trying to find the best way to obtain the equipment quickly.
Ooopsie. Not wanting to be bored with details, Hillier thumps his chest in an appropriately manly fashion and takes time to assure the Canadian public that he and Big Daddy are still bestest friends:
The Manley report will act as a blueprint for all of NATO in Afghanistan, he said, adding the relationship between him and Harper is "solid and good."
"The political leaders in those countries are going to have to make decisions to set NATO up for success for this mission," he said. "Canada is simply the leading edge of the spear."
Hillier said he can accept whatever decision the federal government ultimately makes as long as it honours the sacrifices made by the Canadians killed in Afghanistan.
What the fuck? And just who gets to decide if the government’s actions adequately “honours the sacrifices made …”? The public? Big Daddy? Or how about Hillier himself? I don’t fucking think so, mon general.
6 comments:
I guess someone has to protect the poppy fields.
The sooner Canadian forces are brought home the better. This is not a conflict we should be involved in. This is the US of A's dog, let them suffer the fleas.
I do not read General Rick the way you do, CC. I hear General Rick saying it sure would be nice if all that incoming fire were "on order."
I especially loved the line about being on his "third rum and coke".
Apparently the only way to deal with being Harper's Obfuscator-in-Chief is to start drinking heavily.
Shame on Hillier for pointing out the elephant in the room that is the Liberal parties musing on staying in Kandahar but not participating in combat.
News flash to the uninformed; Most of our casualties have been caused by IED's and ambushes as our troops moved around the province.
Welcome aboard Troy!
You've finally figured out what General Rick is trying to tell Canada's New Government™ about waiting until 2011 for the aircraft the troops needed yesterday.
We've needed the helicopters for a long time; you can thank the political stunt Jean Chretien and the Liberals pulled for that in 1995. Ten more years in office and they couldn't decide what to replace our 1960's helicopters with. They are not the panacea that people make them out to be though. If we stay in Kandahar we will still have to move around the countryside by land. That means ambushes, ied's and most likely a few deaths from accidents
I don't care what position you take on the mission but it is disingenuous in the extreme for Dion et al. to continue to trumpet the line that we can stay in Kandahar and just build roads, schools and feed people. They must have missed the multiple instances where Canadian soldiers were attacked and killed well building a highway. Or maybe they missed the time we lost some guys when they went to check on a school they built. They were attacked by Taliban who later burnt the new building to the ground and strung the teacher up one of the trees as a warning for others not to try and educate themselves.
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