The Afghanistan fiasco drags on and Canadianscontinue to die there. Apparently so doinnocent Afghans at the hands of our troopswho shot a passenger in a taxi recently. Morewill die if we stay there, and you can’t blamethe troops — we have put them in an impossiblesituation. In a world of suicide bombers andexploding vehicles what is a trooper to do?

Sofar we haven’t gone as low as the Americans whoare currently investigating charges that one oftheir units executed civilians during anincident in Iraq, nor have we yet been accusedof torture. However, if we continue to playthe obedient servant to the Americans in theirforeign follies it is probable that the timewill come when we will be.

Our Prime Minister is still refusing to allowdemocracy to function by denying debate on ourinvolvement in the American war. Aping Mr.Bush he has said that we will not cut and run.In essence, he is saying that even if we arewrong to be there we will stay. Even if itundoes decades of good works performed byCanada and all of the goodwill that we haveearned in the world, we will stay.

Canadiansdeserve better than this. Our troops deservebetter than this.

Just recently thePalestinians grabbed a hostage in Gaza. Theythought they had an American. When theydiscovered that he was a Canadian they told himthat they love Canadians and let him go. Thatpeople all over the world like Canadians, thata Canadian passport is truly a prized documentwhich brings respect, these are precious to allof us.

How long does one think that it willremain so once we have been tagged with thereputation of being proxies for theinternationally reviled and despised Americans?

What do we have to gain in Afghanistan besidesgrief? We are plunging into a civil war in acountry that has been the graveyard of foreignarmies for generations, and in support of acountry led by a fruitcake who has embarked ona military mission to subdue the world.

Doesanyone think that killing Canadian soldiers andputting them in situations where the killing ofnon-combatants is a choice that must be madefor self-defense is a good idea? Is it a goodprice to pay for making George Bush and hiscronies happy? Is it worth it to make StephenHarper look tough, or provide an outlet forGeneral Hillier to get his jollies off?

It was noted in a story in the Victoria Times Colonistlast Monday that our troops in Afghanistan arehaving to buy a lot of their own gear becausethe stuff we are issuing them is inadequate todo the job. Perhaps Parliament should bemaking inquiries into why we are sending troopsinto battle with sub-standard equipment?

Ofcourse, from experience, I know that this isnothing new. Forty-some years ago in adifferent army in a different war we had thesame problem. We came up with the same answers,too. Many of us went outside the system foreverything from personal weapons to bedding andcleaning gear. Yet, one still must ask, whyaren’t we providing the best for people weexpect to risk their lives in our service?

A brief article put out by the Canadian Presson Sunday quoted military officials as sayingthat the war in Afghanistan is bringing in morerecruits for the forces. No doubt we will soonsee the propaganda artists spinning this as areason to support the war. This is alsonothing new; young men and now women willalways be enticed by the prospect of adventure.Pick a war and usually you will find a swellingof volunteers at the beginning, be theyCanadian, American, German or whatever.

Thatpeople are willing to fight is no reason at allto do so. That they are willing to quit oncethe truth hits them is another story. Afteralmost five years into the U.S. war we see manytroops refusing to re-enlist and recruitingnumbers often below goals. We see a countrydestroying its military in a needless war itmay well not be able to win. Parliament needsto debate whether or not that is what we wantfor our military too.

Our Prime Minister would be well advised tostudy carefully what is going on in the U.S.They started a war against the advice of manyof their senior military officers, officerswho opposed them on practical grounds, nevermind all of the lies and deceit that went intojustifying the war. The current mess is muchlike that which was predicted by those inopposition.

Mr. Harper might avoid the samefate for Canada by listening more carefully tothe arguments of those who counsel a wiser andmore cautious approach to international affairs,including Canadian officers who have spoken outagainst this involvement.

Canada wisely stayed out of the Iraq phase ofthe war. Mr. Harper and Canadians should becareful not to separate the conflict inAfghanistan from the one in Iraq. They are twofronts in the same war. By fighting inAfghanistan we are prolonging the war in Iraq.We should be debating why we would now supportthat conquest by bailing the Americans out ofthe mess they have made in Afghanistan.

Thereis so much Parliament needs to discuss. Mr.Harper should let democracy function.