NOT VERY MERRY!!!!!

Merry Christmas to all, but I'm not in a very merry mood as another one of our brave men and women in Afghanistan has paid the ultimate price! And for what? I feel sorry for the relatives and friends of the fallen, for they will always bear the hurt and anguish of having lost a loved one in this unwinable, drain-hole called Afghanistan. The British tried twice and the Soviets tried recently and all have failed to control this country. What makes us think that we will do any better??? One needs to really understand the situation in Afghanistan to understand why we will never be able to bring peace there and, bringing democracy is even more of a fantasy. The Afghans, a tribal society, have been fighting between themselves for centuries, the only time they have united is to face a common enemy, like a foreign power trying to control them. When the foreigners finally give up, after many years of guerilla fighting, soldiers dying and needless, wasteful expenditures, the Afghani's go back to their tribal warfare. There is no law other than the law of each tribal chief and the gun. Bribery and corruption is a way of life. Survival of the fittest and the most powerful is how society operates there. For westerners to think that we will make any lasting change is the epitomy of colonializationist thinking. We are seen as colonizers, as people who do not belong, and they are just waiting us out. In the meantime, our sons and daughters will continue to die, and a conservative 18 Billion dollars have been wasted. When Canada pulls out, and pressure is mounting to remain, what will the final costs be in comparison to what has been accomplished? Close to 200 Canadians killed; 30 Billion spent; a corrupt government in Kabul teettering in power; less than half of the country supposedly under control; the Afgani army and police untested,unreliable and addicted to drugs, and the Taliban rising in power and influence in Afghanistan and the tribal areas of Pakistan. What a mess!! What a folly!! Get out as soon as possible. A military solution is not possible, therefore our military should get out! NOW!

Quote of the Day

The use of force is but temporary. It may subdue for a moment; but it does not remove the necessity of subduing again: a nation is not governed which is perpetually to be conquered.

Edmund Burke (1775)