I don’t want to get into a debate about Canada’s peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan but I think most people don’t realize what “support our troops” and “bring our troops home” really mean. This past Remembrance Day made me realize something very important that I think most of us forgot.
It’s too easy for Canadians today to simply believe war is bad therefore Canada should not be in Afghanistan and our soldiers should come back home immediately. They don’t realize the repercussions.
Although, in theory it makes sense. We don’t want anybody to die and Canada is a peaceful nation. But with the significant progress our military has made that the media barely reports, if we bring them home now, their sacrifices would have been in vain and freedom won’t come to the Afghan people.
I’ve always been opposed to war. and I’ve always been a pacifist.
This past Remembrance Day made me realize, war and peace is not black and white. The televised ceremonies kept repeating how this year it’s close to home because of the terrible casualties of our soldiers in Afghanistan.
“Do you support our troops?”
I absolutely do, 100%.
“Do you support the war?”
This is a very difficult question for me because I never joined the military. How can I say ‘yes, they should go while I stay here in Canada safely drawing Spud’.
Do I support the war? Yes, because there are children who want to go to school to become doctors to help the elders in their village. No, because I don’t want anyone to die. Does that make sense?
I don’t think so.
The harsh reality is freedom and peace always come with a terrible price because wars are caused by people who can’t handle power.
The people don’t hate each other. The Afghan people appreciate the Canadians. War and hatred is caused by the governments. It’s the warlords. It’s whoever’s got the power.
Let me explain in another way
If our soldiers hadn’t fought in World War 1 and 2, would we have peace today?
My background is Italian. Our soldiers fought fierce battles in fascist Italy so my parents could migrate here and eventually here I am writing my own thoughts on my blog.
Replace Italy, France, Holland, Poland, or Britain with Afghanistan. Replace Nazis with Taleban.
“But our soldiers are dying. The war is ‘futile’.”
Unfortunately, our media is revenue-driven. They only report bad stuff. Never the good stuff. The amazing progress our soldiers have made.
I wondered if soldiers blog. I actually did a Google search for Canadian milblogs. Would they have Internet access? Perhaps by satellite. Would they be censored?
If corporate employees could be trusted with blogging, surely soldiers wouldn’t jeopardize their own lives by posting confidential stuff. After all, the Internet was originally created for communicating during war. Ok, not all corporations trust their employees.
I’m in la-la land, I know, but the point I’m trying to make is, I’d rather hear about the war directly from our soldiers rather than a reporter. Or worse, an editor.
I have an enormous amount of respect and admiration towards our soldiers and the work they do. I would hate to see it all come to an abrupt halt due to an election campaign which promises our soldiers coming back in 2009.
Or is the mission actually planned out to be completed by then?
Despite our incompetent government, our soldiers in missions around the world have made me more proud to be Canadian.