Last night’s coverage by CTV’s Robert Fife kept this up in spades. In his despicable piece Fife aired video clips of Amir Attaran (notorious for detainee abuse accusations), Taliban Jack Layton and dopey Dion to background his own negative spin that the Harper government was attempting to keep French-Canadian troops out of harm’s way.
Never mind that what Fife said is a new shift towards training Afghan troops has actually been an integral part of the mission all along. From a post by blogger Flit via The Torch:
I simply don't have the time to refute every untruth in the Canadian media about Afghanistan these days, but the CTV's irresponsible Bob Fife piece tonight was really a new low point.
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I really do urge anyone and everyone .... to read the actual NATO-UN-Afghan Government mandate, as laid out in the Afghanistan Compact.
[...]
As for Fife and the rest of the CTV team behind that piece, who, if they were ever pointed to this document, apparently failed to keep their lips moving past the third page, I fear they're beyond redemption. It seems almost all public disapproval of this mission in the Canadian context is an argument from ignorance, fuelled by ignorant media.
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The primary fight at home is not against timidity; it's against ignorance.
The Torch's Damian Brooks adds some of his own interpretation of what’s going on. Eg:
Both the Flit and The Torch pieces deserve a full read.But I wonder if there isn't more to the public opinion polls than simple ignorance. I wonder if there's a subconscious tendency to avoid information that would require Canadians to step out of our comfortable lives...
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In light of our unwillingness to delve beyond the predictable soundbites and headlines of our established media organizations - whose only purpose is to sell more advertising by telling us what they think we want to hear - I wonder if there's any set of circumstances that would have Canadians rearing up on our hind legs and charging into a fray.
4 comments:
Fife (along with most of our moronic media) seems to have missed this CTV story from over two months ago:
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070515/afghan_soldiers_070515/20070515?hub=TopStories
"Canadians to train Afghan troops with exit in mind
Canadian military personnel have officially taken over the training of Afghan National Army soldiers -- a task that will eventually become a key component of any exit strategy...
The Afghan soldiers, operating in Kandahar and Uruzgan provinces, were previously being trained by the United States.
The official transfer to Canadian forces took place Tuesday morning in a ceremony at Kandahar airfield, where a formation of soldiers from the 1st Brigade of the Afghan National Army's 205 Corps saluted as they were flanked by Canadian and American counterparts.
About 100 Canadian senior military professionals will act as mentors, teaching Afghan soldiers discipline, how to engage in combat, and how to operate as a large-sized army..."
And this is what Minister of National Defence O'Connor said over three months ago:
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=c16c4155-379b-45a0-88d9-a8f40be21aac&k=25172
'Troops may leave by 2010
Defence Minister says Afghan Mission is not open-ended; Exit timing depends on when nation is secure
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"We don't want to be there forever. Our exit strategy is to try to get Afghan governance, development and security to such a level that they can look after themselves," he said in an interview with the National Post. "We will probably have to provide aid there for many, many years but that doesn't necessarily mean we have to keep large security forces there. If the Afghan army and police can get to some reasonable level -- in their value system, not ours -- that will allow NATO to withdraw."
Under the Afghanistan Compact, signed between the Afghan government and the international community in London last year, targets were set at 70,000 for the Afghan army (roughly double current numbers) and 62,000 for the police force.
Asked whether the Afghan army is on course to reach its target size, and whether this would constitute a "reasonable level," Mr. O'Connor, said: "Yeah, I think so," pointing out that the United States has recently committed around US$8-billion to purchase equipment for the army.'
A post at "The Torch":
"Winning in Afghanistan"
http://toyoufromfailinghands.blogspot.com/2007/07/winning-in-afghanistan.html
Mark
Ottawa
I agree , CTV and CBC are in a demoralize our leadership , and troop mode . These people have no shame. Only one thing matters. The Liberal Party at all costs including our Military personel , our freedom , our allies.
Timothy Coderre
The left and the lying scum in the media are traitors to Canada - period. There is a line between legitimate dissent and undermining our troops and our war effort. That line has been crossed, repeatedly, to the point where the enemy is deliberately targeting our troops to further undermine our war effort at home. Congratulations to all those who fall for that tactic. You are all despicable creeps with the intelligence of a two year old
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