So stick another ribbon on your H-o-C...

WTF?

General Rick Hillier : " 'the least our soldiers could expect' in Afghanistan is that after the pending vote on extending the mission to 2011 is completed, all MPs in Parliament give unanimous support to a motion backing Canadian troops."

Or Tinkerbell will die.

You don't want Tinkerbell to die, do you?

Well then.

"Support Our Right-Wing Agenda" ribbon pillaged from Cräbgrass.

Hillier's ten years

The Star Oct 25 : 10 more years for Afghan security, says Hillier

Huge stink. Why? Because here in Canada we choose to forget this is an American war.

CBS News Oct 7 : "Six years after the first U.S. bombs began falling on Afghanistan's Taliban government and its al Qaeda guests, America is planning for a long stay. Originally envisioned as a temporary home for invading U.S. forces, the sprawling American base at Bagram, a former Soviet outpost in the shadow of the towering Hindu Kush mountains, is growing in size by nearly a third."
U.S. Army Col. Jonathan Ives : "Our commitment to them is really saying we will be here until you have the security and stability that allows you to be a developing country on your own, and if that's 10 years then it's 10 years."

So there you have it : Hillier's ten years.

Steve and Sandra - I am so the boss of you

Steve says 2011 in the throne speech.

Hillier says :"Afghanistan's army could need 10 years before it's in a position to fend for itself."

Dave says : "If anyone knows what it takes to train an army, it's Sandra Buckler."

In his non-retraction retraction, Hillier says : "I'm very clear on where the direction comes from. … We're on exactly the same page and I believe actually we see things exactly the same way."

He doesn't scale back to 2011; instead he implies that Harper also knows it will take another decade.

So either the war on Afghanistan is a bad idea and the sooner we get out the better, or the reconstruction is a good idea and we should stay till it's done. Picking the date 2011 merely fulfills our duty to NATO and has fuck all to do with what's good for Afghanistan.

Don't mention the war

I mentioned it once but I think I got away with it all right...

Globe&Mail : The office of General Rick Hillier, Canada's top soldier, has halted the release of any documents relating to detainees captured in Afghanistan under the federal Access to Information Act, claiming that disclosure of any such information could endanger Canadian troops.

"The release of this information may be very prejudicial to the safety of CF [Canadian Forces] and allied personnel."

"In the process, we are learning that some of the information that may have been previously released in response to an Access to Information Request can be used against CF personnel ..."

His office goes on to repeat this eight different ways without ever using the phrases "war crimes", or "national disgrace", or even his trademark "scumbags".

UPDATE : LOL! From Jennifer at Runesmith :
"Oh, but you left out the funny part:

"Asked if there was any evidence that soldiers' safety had been compromised because of earlier disclosure of detainee information, DND spokesman Marc Raider responded that "the information cannot be provided for operational security reasons."

We really are living in a George Orwell novel, aren't we? "