Britney Spears said:Hmm, I think that between Slim and kevinB a lot of men must have died violent deaths due to poorly worded jokes......
Editorial - A soldier's grim job
There is nothing nice about an army. Soldiers are not social workers.
Their job is to kill the other soldiers on the other side. Failing that, their job is to be killed, if it comes to that.
Many Canadians try not to think of this, but it is the grim reality of a military. Canada's chief of defence staff, Gen. Rick Hillier, reminded the nation of that reality in an unusually frank discussion of the armed forces' deployment in Afghanistan. It was a useful reminder because it has been a long time since this country has heard that kind of talk from either its government or its soldiers.
By September, more than 2,000 Canadian soldiers will be in Afghanistan.
They will not be doing the sort of policing that the forces were previously doing in Kabul. They will be stationed in the south of the country where the fighting is. Part of the Canadian contingent will be members of Joint Task Force 2, this country's special forces.
Their job is not policing or peace-keeping. It is fighting and killing the enemy.
Part of what Gen. Hillier was doing with his comments was preparing Canadians for the very real possibility that there will be casualties in Afghanistan in the coming months -- young Canadians may well be coming home in body bags.
More importantly, perhaps, he was reminding the nation that it is at war, whether it realizes it or not. The London bombings should have left little doubt about that, but some Canadians still take comfort in the fiction that because this country did not go to war in Iraq, Canadians are somehow immune to terrorist attack.
Gen. Hillier was blunt and explicit: "The London attack actually tells us once more, we can't let up. These are detestable murderers and scumbags. I'll tell you right up front. They detest our freedoms, they detest our society, they detest our liberties." Canada's enhanced presence in Afghanistan will increase the risk of this country's becoming a target for the kind of Islamic terrorism that London recently suffered, that earlier killed hundreds in Madrid and Bali.
But as Gen. Hillier made clear to all Canadians, we must take the war to them or they will bring it to us. That is why we should be grateful that we have soldiers
If some Canadians were shocked that the head of their military called his enemy "detestable murderers and scumbags," they better get used to it.
Gen. Rick Hillier has never minced words, nor is he likely to start any time soon. His blunt assessment of terrorists in Afghanistan and elsewhere this week has the wholehearted backing of the prime minister.
"The point he is simply making is we are at war with terrorism and we're not going to let them win," Paul Martin said yesterday in Nova Scotia.
The Polaris Institute, a left-leaning think tank based in Ottawa, said yesterday the defence minister needs to "clarify" Hillier's "very alarming" comments.
"His use of epithets such as 'scumbags' and 'killers' is reminiscent of language used by (U.S.) President (George W.) Bush and U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld," said project director Steven Staples.
Defence Minister Bill Graham's office refused yesterday to soften or explain the comments.
No "clarification" will be forthcoming, said spokesman Steven Jurgutis.
SOLDIER'S SOLDIER
Known as a soldier's soldier, Hillier is the most operationally experienced commander to take the top post in many years, breaking the bureaucratic mould that seemed to dictate many appointments since the Cold War.
This week, the general held an informal, on-the-record media luncheon.
Reporters familiar with Hillier's style barely flinched when he said all elements of the Canadian Forces need to be revamped, including the part where "you go out and bayonet somebody."
"We are not the Public Service of Canada," he declared. "We are not just another department. We are the Canadian Forces and our job is to be able to kill people."
It's time for Canada to take a stand, he said, just as it did 66 years ago when it joined the Second World War against the Nazis, whom he described as "those despicable, murderous bastards."
CFL said:"His blunt assessment of terrorists in Afghanistan and elsewhere this week has the wholehearted backing of the prime minister."
"Defence Minister Bill Graham's office refused yesterday to soften or explain the comments.
No "clarification" will be forthcoming, said spokesman Steven Jurgutis"
I hope this becomes the norm and not the exception.
CFL said:TR do you have the name of the author of the Winnipeg article?
CFL said:TR do you have the name of the author of the Winnipeg article?
"Controlled anger, given what's happened, is an appropriate response," NDP Leader Jack Layton said. "We have a very committed, level-headed head of our armed forces, who isn't afraid to express the passion that underlies the mission that front-line personnel are going to be taking on.
"A bit of strong language in the circumstances, I don't find that to be wrong."