- Reaction score
- 36
- Points
- 560
What more can you say?
http://cjunk.blogspot.com/2006/08/grandchildren-of-ww2-vets-have-what-it.html
http://cjunk.blogspot.com/2006/08/grandchildren-of-ww2-vets-have-what-it.html
Grandchildren of WW2 Vets Have What it Takes
Canadian Socialist utopians continue to hand wring as to whether NATO, and especially Canadian Forces, should be involved in the Afghan slugfest. They moan about days-gone-by, when our troops road around in thin skinned APC’s, wore blue helmets, and pretended to be making a difference in the world. Utopians go all mushy and nostalgic when they recall that our troops road around in, or used, antiquated equipment and suffered through material privations as Canada’s government took ever more out their budgets. Ah yes… the good old days, when military men and women were kept in their place! If the Canadian NDP, flagship of “progressivism” had its way, we’d be back there in a moment. Oddly though, these same progressives give absolutely no notice of the lives that “peace-keeping” cost Canadian Forces. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how utopian you are, Canada’s Forces are shedding the UN peace-keeping role.
The new reality is that Canadian forces are proving their worth in the sharp and often close quarter battles in Afghanistan. They lack essentials, such as close air support and rotary wing lift capability, but they are giving the Jihadist barbarians who once enslaved Afghanistan a kicking. Following the doctrine of most western armies, which is to be push back harder than you get pushed, Canadian forces are going out and confronting the Taliban and drug lords in their own back yard. They are entering battle zones that saw thousands of Russian forces go down in retreat or where desperate Russian commanders resorted to the use of chemical and nerve agents because they just simply couldn’t beat the locals. Our forces are walking the same trails and paths, and are winning. When most people, and many modern armies, run from the sound of guns, our guys head in.
The combat training of Canadian forces was, until Afghanistan, theoretical. In other words, nobody knew how well a Canadian volunteer military which had been saddled with the Peace-Keeping-Only role, would fare against indigenous fanatics which had been at war… forever. As it turns out, the grandchildren of Canada’s World War 2 Vets are proving to be as tenacious and able in combat as Grandpa. But, there is more.
Canada’s troops are trained to a level that was unthinkable by their grandfathers. The combat forces begin in basic training and from their the challenges and work only intensify, with training taking on the physical and mental sweat usually reserved for pro athletes. Canada’s combat arms are in fact, trained to a level higher than any commando forces were in their grandfather’s war. Then, to add complexity to the mix, they are taught not only to be effective killers of the enemy, but to also be preservers of civilian life. It’s a phenomenal challenge when fighting an enemy that gives goats more respect than civilians, but our troopers are rising to the challenge. And, for the first time in decades, these amazing volunteers are giving Canada back her place in the world as not only a voice for stability and peace, but as a country that won’t back away from a fight with barbarians.
The Canadian MSM is pilloried on these and many other blogs for it’s utopian slant. But, guess what? The Canadian MSM has been by and large overcome with admiration for our Canadian troopers. Readers would do themselves a favor to follow European coverage of the Afghan conflict. Virtually every op-ed and news piece is loaded with defeatism, hand-wringing, and NDP-esque moaning. The NATO forces of Europe seldom get the open and honest coverage that the Canadian MSM has been giving our troops and god forbid that a Euro-progressive would ever admire a NATO force. In other words, the Euro-press has taken its utopian attitudes towards America and the Iraq conflict, and is now superimposing them onto it’s own NATO forces, our Allies, in Afghanistan.
Canadians who feel squeamish about the Afghan conflict do have one important role to play, one which will be increasingly vital as the war on Islamo-fascism heats up. They will be needed to articulate the “progressive” side of things, for as much as conservative may despise them, “progressives” serve to keep dangerous nationalism based on military pride from becoming dangerous. Nationalism based on a country’s ability to kick-ass is hazardous, always, and we can be guaranteed that the “progressive” class will be out and about providing a dampening effect. Canadians are intelligent folks though, and they know when a fight is worth it and above all, being carried fought for altruistic and noble reasons. Ask our citizen soldiers in Afghanistan, and so far most seem to agree; Afghanistan is one fight worth being in. Ask the little Afghan girl attending school in the same town where her mother was reduced to animal status, and she’ll tell you our Canadian Heroes are her heroes as well.
Yahoo News has a great piece which describes the battle that claimed 3 Canadians lives: CLICK
With nine soldiers down, three of them dead, they knew they had to get out.
"Are you sure you guys want to do this?" the LAV platoon commander asked his fellow soldiers as they desperately pleaded to move in to save their brothers in arms.
No one who was there will reveal the identity of those who risked their lives by literally driving through a daisy chain of mines to reach their comrades. The actions of one should never overshadow the actions of many, they insist.
"Every one of the soldiers that were there can be proud of the way that they acted, with heroism and bravery and courage," said Tower.
"I don't want to take away from any one of them by trying to identify a specific soldier who outshone the rest," he explained.
"They're all heroes to us, and that's how they'd want to be thought of."
Canadians also need to understand, Tower stressed, that those who lost their lives that day were not unwilling participants. Everyone knew the risks of the six-month tour of duty.
"The soldiers that died weren't victims," he said. "They were fighting. And they were fighting for each other." "People at home should be proud of the quality of soldier that's over here."
