Victory In War on Islamism...?
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, just re-affirmed in his executive political role by Canadian voters finally granting him his wished-for majority government, has been a busy man. He has acquitted himself so very well in so many areas both domestic and international. Those Canadians who voted for him and his party feel confident in his ability to continue to steer this country in the right direction.
But hey, did he really declare victory in the war on "Islamist terror", while visiting Canadian troops in Kandahar, preparatory to pulling Canada's military mission out and retaining only a training mission under the auspices of NATO? Victory in the war on Islamist terror? It's a done deal? No further real concerns; Islamism and violent jihad is on the wane, on the way out, beaten?
Could've fooled a whole lot of people with that one. It seems like bravado, not fact. Most unlike our sober-minded, practical, honest and dependable prime minister. Perhaps that was not meant for attribution, merely a casual tip of the hat in true appreciation to Canada's armed forces and most particularly to those military men in his presence at that very time.
On the week-end, a suicide bomber managed to inveigle himself into a secure, seemingly peaceful part of Afghanistan and accomplished much. A provincial police chief, two Afghan policemen, two German NATO soldiers and the most powerful man in north Afghanistan, General Daoud Daoud, was killed on Saturday. His loss was a real blow to the country and to NATO.
The attacker was in police uniform. Previous attacks on NATO members themselves have been conducted by jihadists wearing Afghan military uniforms. Prime Minister Harper was quoted as having said that "Islamist terror" originating in Afghanistan "no longer represents a geo-strategic threat to the world - it is no longer a source of global terrorism."
Did he mean, that good man, that it in and of itself no longer presents as a threat, as opposed to the continuing al-Qaeda terror threat growing in Somalia, Yemen, Libya, Syria, Egypt (through the Muslim Brotherhood)? On the other hand, Taliban mujahadeen set loose a series of suicide attacks in Herat, five weeks before the Afghan security forces are set to take charge.
The Taliban, in fact, have launched a series of bloody assaults on a number of regional provincial capitals in Afghanistan. The suicide attacks are taking place in conspicuously government areas, at places felt to be secure where Provincial Reconstruction Teams are hard at work to restore confidence among the people.
Prime Minister Harper spoke movingly of the 156 Canadian soldiers and three civilians who "gave all they had" in Afghanistan. He praised the perseverance of federal ministry public servants dedicated to helping make life approximate the 20th Century in a backward country beset with horrendous poverty and continuous conflict.
A needful, affirmative visit, but a trifle heavy on the optimism.
But hey, did he really declare victory in the war on "Islamist terror", while visiting Canadian troops in Kandahar, preparatory to pulling Canada's military mission out and retaining only a training mission under the auspices of NATO? Victory in the war on Islamist terror? It's a done deal? No further real concerns; Islamism and violent jihad is on the wane, on the way out, beaten?
Could've fooled a whole lot of people with that one. It seems like bravado, not fact. Most unlike our sober-minded, practical, honest and dependable prime minister. Perhaps that was not meant for attribution, merely a casual tip of the hat in true appreciation to Canada's armed forces and most particularly to those military men in his presence at that very time.
On the week-end, a suicide bomber managed to inveigle himself into a secure, seemingly peaceful part of Afghanistan and accomplished much. A provincial police chief, two Afghan policemen, two German NATO soldiers and the most powerful man in north Afghanistan, General Daoud Daoud, was killed on Saturday. His loss was a real blow to the country and to NATO.
The attacker was in police uniform. Previous attacks on NATO members themselves have been conducted by jihadists wearing Afghan military uniforms. Prime Minister Harper was quoted as having said that "Islamist terror" originating in Afghanistan "no longer represents a geo-strategic threat to the world - it is no longer a source of global terrorism."
Did he mean, that good man, that it in and of itself no longer presents as a threat, as opposed to the continuing al-Qaeda terror threat growing in Somalia, Yemen, Libya, Syria, Egypt (through the Muslim Brotherhood)? On the other hand, Taliban mujahadeen set loose a series of suicide attacks in Herat, five weeks before the Afghan security forces are set to take charge.
The Taliban, in fact, have launched a series of bloody assaults on a number of regional provincial capitals in Afghanistan. The suicide attacks are taking place in conspicuously government areas, at places felt to be secure where Provincial Reconstruction Teams are hard at work to restore confidence among the people.
Prime Minister Harper spoke movingly of the 156 Canadian soldiers and three civilians who "gave all they had" in Afghanistan. He praised the perseverance of federal ministry public servants dedicated to helping make life approximate the 20th Century in a backward country beset with horrendous poverty and continuous conflict.
A needful, affirmative visit, but a trifle heavy on the optimism.
Labels: Afghanistan, Canada, Conflict, Crisis Politics, NATO
posted by Pieface | 6:51 PM
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