If you read my posts regarding France and Canada I defend the soldiers and mock the countries.
I defend the soldiers so much that I became a member of the Canadian Airborne Forces Association as an ally paratrooper, to show solidarity when your nation was disbanding the Airborne Regiment, your husband should appreciate that.
I defend the French soldier so much that twice I lived with and trained with their Special Forces.
With my French and Canadian GIs we have all mocked their weak, liberal nations and the disdain that their countries show their few ballsy men that serve in the military, it is kind of a conservative guy thing.
The video WAS insulting our military, and our Country, and it is the video that I was responding to.
It is just as insulting to put down the country for which the soldier stands. It is one thing for a soldier to belittle their own government, but entirely different for someone in another country to do so, for the soldier of said country understands the political/social situation in his/her own country better then someone from another country, and does not judge their entire country as one.
The reason the video is insulting:
The comments in the video are like a kick in the stomach to a country who has paid a high butcher’s bill -in Afghanistan, we have suffered the highest casualties per capita. (four more KIA today) Our population is 10 times smaller than yours. Roughly speaking, 100 of ours =1000 of yours,and we’ve lost 118.
Our soldiers are either in Afghanistan, getting ready to go, or just returned, or training others; most soldiers have 2 or more tours there, the operational pace is extremely high.
Our currently Prime Minister is the only one in my time, to increase the military budget. Our military is still recovering from years of gutting, and yes, it was my fellow Canadians that allowed it to happen—but the tide has turned. Canadians are now appreciating the sacrifices made by their military members and families; it is this that allows me to begin to forgive them for years of neglect.
We cannot turn back the clock, we are in the here and now, and in the here and now, the people in that video have put down our country and our soldiers, who are doing everything they can.They have put down citizens who stand on the highway of heroes to welcome home our fallen as they travel along that highway in hearses. We are, as is the United States, a country who is “at war” and suffering. We hear the fallen soldier’s families make statements telling Canada that their loved one died doing what they believed in, and that they, despite their loss, believe we need to be in Afghanistan. We have fallen soldier’s families pleading with the Prime Minister to carry on with our mission so that their loved one has not died in vain. We, overall, as a people are being quite steadfast.
That is the Canada that those in the video do not see.
Again, I have continually defended our participation in this war, but it is difficult to do so when being kicked in the stomach by the very country we are assisting in this endeavour—and being personally affected by it. We endured years of our fellow Canadians calling their own military “A joke”, even though it was Canadians themselves who allowed the gutting to occur—therefore, to hear someone from another country with little understanding for our sacrifice call our military “a joke” (I know it wasnt you), again, a kick in the gut, and a lack of understanding of the toll that this has taken.
Our current Prime Minister has extended our involvement in Afghanistan, twice. Our commitment was originally intended to end in 2007, the Prime Minister (who has a minority government by the way) fought in parlaiment to have it extended to 2009, then again to 2011.
I think the misunderstanding is this:
I think the commentators understood that we are leaving in 2011 to “take a break”. Not so.
All Leslie was saying is that after leaving in 2011,(as previously scheduled) we need a break, to rest and refit. He was, in fact, in my opinion, warning the government, and future governments not to cut the military budget (remember, we are in an economic downturn as well, as this is usually when governments begin slashing military budgets, also with a minority government, we could face an election at any time which, heaven forbid, may return the Liberals to power), and as I previously stated, not to expect to bring our guys home from Afghanistan and immediately ship them off to some other war torn country.
As an aside: my husband also has American jump wings as well. I don’t know if you still do this there, but they were “blood wings”.