I am an ex soldier in the Canadian military.
It is never easy to hear about comrades who have fallen or are injured. It is certainly never easy for the families that lose their love ones. I say that as totally truth that we all know and can understand.
Now here comes the rub... soldiers die. That is their job, not literally but their job is such that death is always there. Soldiers accept this and I doubt you will find too many soldiers that think what we are doing in Afghanistan is wrong or not worth it. Canada has had, and I'm very proud of it, a history of peace making. Our role in the UN is unprecedented and our ability to find common ground and deliver a safer life for the "locals" is something I am very proud of.
Our role right now is mainly combat but it is also reconstruction and, for lack of a better word, public relations. I honestly don't think any other nation currently with troops in Afghanistan has a better chance of securing a better life for the Afghan people. A people who have been dealing with war and destruction for almost 50 years. They deserve so much better than that.
The only people who don't need/want us there are the extremists and that is because they know we will succeed. The regular Afghan people, for the most part, are starting to see the other things we are doing. Building schools, improving sanitation and water availability, and keeping them a safe as possible is making a difference. More and more Afghans are seeing that they could actually have some semblance of a peaceful life.
AutralianChainsaw wrote:
Remember when the soviets tried to do the same things over there.. They left after losing a bunch of soldiers..
The same will happen with us..
our presence there is the main motivation of the crazy islamists..
Untrue and kinda out of context. The "Godless" Russians invaded Afghanistan, the Mujahadean were freedom fighters and did a very good job (thanks to US arms help) at repelling the Russian invasion... after ten years.
Our situation is very very different. The Afghan government WANTS us there. So much so they are begging that we do not leave before the work is done, before the nation is secure and standing on its own feet. And our presence doesn't motivate the extremists... they are motivated by power and greed like most warlords, the regular Al-Qeada soldier likely thinks it is totally about the jihad but that is also a lie told by the power hungry to herd the sweep their way.
Make no mistake, this has nothing to do with religion. These fucks use Islam, a wonderful peaceful religion, and twist it to suit their needs... they do not act for anything higher than their own ambitions.