Sixty Joyless De-Britished Uncrowned Commonpoor Years (1949-2009)

Elizabeth II Vice-Regal Saint: Remembering Paul Comtois (1895–1966), Lt.-Governor of Québec
Britannic Inheritance: Britain's proud legacy. What legacy will America leave?
English Debate: Daniel Hannan revels in making mince meat of Gordon Brown
Crazy Canucks: British MP banned from Canada on national security grounds
Happy St. Patrick's: Will Ireland ever return to the Commonwealth?
Voyage Through the Commonwealth: World cruise around the faded bits of pink.
No Queen for the Green: The Green Party of Canada votes to dispense with monarchy.
"Sir Edward Kennedy": The Queen has awarded the senator an honorary Knighthood.
President Obama: Hates Britain, but is keen to meet the Queen?
The Princess Royal: Princess Anne "outstanding" in Australia.
H.M.S. Victory: In 1744, 1000 sailors went down with a cargo of gold.
Queen's Commonwealth: Britain is letting the Commonwealth die.
Justice Kirby: His support for monarchy almost lost him appointment to High Court
Royal Military Academy: Sandhurst abolishes the Apostles' Creed.
Air Marshal Alec Maisner, R.I.P. Half Polish, half German and 100% British.
Cherie Blair: Not a vain, self regarding, shallow thinking viper after all.
Harry Potter: Celebrated rich kid thinks the Royals should not be celebrated
The Royal Jelly: A new king has been coronated, and his subjects are in a merry mood
Victoria Cross: Australian TROOPER MARK DONALDSON awarded the VC
Godless Buses: Royal Navy veteran, Ron Heather, refuses to drive his bus
Labour's Class War: To expunge those with the slightest pretensions to gentility
100 Top English Novels of All Time: The Essential Fictional Library
BIG BEN: Celebrating 150 Years of the Clock Tower

Tuesday 24 March 2009

On Stephen Harper and his Shameful Behavior

A rather long time ago, our Prime Minister here in Canada, the 'Right Honourable' Stephen Harper made a comment about Canada's war in Afghanistan. He said, if my memory holds, that Afghanistan had had an insurgency more or less forever, and that final victory for our forces there was impossible.

Let's turn back the clock to the mid 20th century. 1940, to be precise. France had fallen before the dark tides of Nazi aggression, Russia had a pact of non-aggression with Germany, Japan had yet to awake the sleeping giant at Pearl Harbour. Berlin, Rome and Tokyo now turned their gaze towards Britain and her Commonwealth, the last bastion of liberty and reason in Europe. The Battle of Britain, the turning point of the Second World War, was about to begin. It was, by far, the darkest days of the War. Britain, Canada, Australia, South Africa, India and New Zealand together faced odds far greater than what we face today from the challenge of Islamic Extremism. But then entered Winston Churchill, the last great British lion. Or perhaps bulldog would be the more accurate descriptor, considering his reputation and appearance. An heir, in direct lineage, to Sir John Churchill, the Duke of Marlborough, and the first great hero of the United Kingdom. Churchill, despite all the logic in suing for peace, would not back down, would not talk to the fascists, would not compromise with murderers and madmen. Despite all the tides of evil that rose up to oppress the British Isles and it's Empire, the forces of civilization and reason won through and secured the supremacy of the Rule of Law and Parliaments in Europe. Fascism was overthrown by the alliance of the Russians and the English-speaking peoples of Britain, the Commonwealth and America. Peace was restored. Our freedom was earned. Our civilization was preserved.

And now, the feckless Stephen Harper, a man facing odds far less daunting than Churchill (though our opponents are no less brutal or barbaric), speaks already of defeat. In this post-Vietnam era, the people have forgotten that it takes time, effort and much heartbreak to win a war against a determined enemy. The people of the United States, ever since Vietnam, have had this little irking fear in the back of their minds. A fear that any war that lasts longer than the average flight time of a Tomahawk cruise missile will degenerate into a slogging, shellshocking, Vietnam-esque mess. And this fear has spread across the English-speaking world. All the way into the halls of power, it seems. Our armed forces, our country, we cannot afford to have a PM speak of defeat. At least not in public! Not only does this undermine Mr. Harper's political position, it undermines the morale of our troops currently in Afghanistan. And more importantly, it undermines our war effort as a whole. I've no doubt that the Taliban could, given a little effort, access CBC news broadcasts. And if they hear that leader of the Canadians, one of their most hated group of enemies I'm sure, is talking about how the Canadians can't win... Well what can they do but be elated? Strike with greater boldness, greater confidence, greater audacity.

In my life, i've learned that if you are always saying to yourself "I can't do well at this", whatever 'this' may be, you make a self-fulfilling prophecy for yourself. A student who goes into a test expecting to do badly will usually do badly. If you say you won't win this race, then you probably won't win. What then will happen when the Prime Minister says his country will lose their war? It follows that victory becomes impossible for the country.

And considering the opponent we face, we can't let that happen.


God save our Queen and Heaven bless the Maple Leaf Forever
Gladstone,

4 comments:

Ecgbert said...

Last I heard Afghanistan had no plans to invade and occupy HM Dominion so why the hell should Canadians be sent there to die? No-one has been able to conquer Afghanistan since Alexander the Great.

Gladstone said...

We are there, not for ourselves, but for the well-being of other people. We are there to overthrow a monstrous tyranny, and ensure that said tyranny shall never come to power again. The Taliban are monsters, barbarians. They are people who throw acid on the faces of little girls who commit the 'crime' of going to school. They are people who put bullets in the backs of ladies' heads for not covering themselves enough. Though I have no wish to die or to kill, unless i'm forced to, I do wish that I will be able to join HM Canadian Forces in time to help end these monsters.

Anonymous said...

The vast majority of "Taliban" are Pashtuns who are fighting ISAF and the Pakistani forces because they're on their turf.
The Pashtu tribal areas extend across the border and essentially mean nothing to them, nor does the authority of the governments in Kabul or Islamabad.
Afghanistan was always something of a basket case and I'm sorry to say it probably always will be. In our era of non-state actors and persistant conflict, nation states are never going to militarily win a fight like the one in Afghanistan. A comparison to Hilter's Germany is fatuous. If Al-queda is contained, then to stay longer only risks a protacted fight with an uncertain goal. The long game is going to be won by diplomats and politicians, not soldiers.

Mac

Bolingbroke said...

Let's try not to get too political with this blog.