Harper: Mideast policy won't change
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2006/08/04/1719425-cp.html
Prime Minister Stephen Harper responds to reporters' questions following a three-day meeting of his Conservative caucus in Cornwall, Ontario Friday Aug 4, 2006.(CP PHOTO/Tom Hanson)
Protesters call for Mideast ceasefire
CORNWALL, Ont. (CP) - Prime Minister Harper says his hardline policy on the Middle East won't change because of polls and protests.
Speaking in Cornwall after a party caucus meeting, the prime minister said any ceasefire in Lebanon must be permanent and lasting.
Harper said Canadians are not neutral on terrorist groups and they want the government to work with the international community to develop a strong position that can lead to a durable and lasting peace.
He said conditions have to be in place to make a ceasefire possible and stable.
And that isn't going to happen as long as there is a terrorist organization that's initiating violence and won't cease its attacks.
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Remember why they serve
回应加军人在阿富汗最血腥的一天，渥太华SUN报社论：军人为什么呆在阿富汗
http://www.ottawasun.com/Comment/Editorial/2006/08/04/1718308.html
Yesterday was the single worst day yet for Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan, with four killed and at least seven wounded. These latest casualties came even as funeral services were held for two earlier ones. And sadly, they won't be the last.
This is the stark reality of what many still naively call "peacekeeping" in the post-9/11 world -- and it's exactly what Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier warned about a year ago, when he said our forces in Kandahar would have to kill "murderers and scumbags" who "are trying to blow up men and women in Afghanistan and ... provide a base for al-Qaida."
A reminder of those words is in order today -- not for the troops, but for all other Canadians.
By all accounts, the soldiers -- a new group of whom are departing for Afghanistan from Trenton today -- are crystal clear on the dangers of this mission and their commitment to it.
They understand that this is what the "war on terrorism" really is -- not just rhetoric, but combat. Against a shadowy enemy that hides among civilians and uses ambushes and bombs to wreak terror and fear among the population, there and here.
At the same time, our troops are tasked with winning the trust of ordinary Afghans to help them feel safe and secure. All in the name of bringing stability to the country so democracy can grow. It is an enormously challenging, terrifying job. And they are doing it brilliantly. As Brig. Gen. David Fraser said yesterday, "The cost (of yesterday's operation) was significant. The cost against the Taliban was even more significant."
Canada has now lost 23 soldiers in Afghanistan since 2002; 15 in the past six months alone. Every one of them understood the sacrifice required of them and why it was necessary.
To honour them, all Canadians need to understand that too.
"What the men and women in harm's way want and need to know at moments like this is that the government and Canadians stand behind their mission," PM Stephen Harper said yesterday. Just so. What they do not want or need is for their deaths to make us second-guess our commitment, or worse, for their work to be hysterically dismissed as part of "George Bush's war" in Iraq, or some other partisan nonsense.
Like every other Canadian soldier killed serving this country since Confederation, they understood their duty, and they deserve the same honour and remembrance. Lest we forget.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2006/08/04/1719425-cp.html
Prime Minister Stephen Harper responds to reporters' questions following a three-day meeting of his Conservative caucus in Cornwall, Ontario Friday Aug 4, 2006.(CP PHOTO/Tom Hanson)
Protesters call for Mideast ceasefire
CORNWALL, Ont. (CP) - Prime Minister Harper says his hardline policy on the Middle East won't change because of polls and protests.
Speaking in Cornwall after a party caucus meeting, the prime minister said any ceasefire in Lebanon must be permanent and lasting.
Harper said Canadians are not neutral on terrorist groups and they want the government to work with the international community to develop a strong position that can lead to a durable and lasting peace.
He said conditions have to be in place to make a ceasefire possible and stable.
And that isn't going to happen as long as there is a terrorist organization that's initiating violence and won't cease its attacks.
================================================
Remember why they serve
回应加军人在阿富汗最血腥的一天，渥太华SUN报社论：军人为什么呆在阿富汗
http://www.ottawasun.com/Comment/Editorial/2006/08/04/1718308.html
Yesterday was the single worst day yet for Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan, with four killed and at least seven wounded. These latest casualties came even as funeral services were held for two earlier ones. And sadly, they won't be the last.
This is the stark reality of what many still naively call "peacekeeping" in the post-9/11 world -- and it's exactly what Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier warned about a year ago, when he said our forces in Kandahar would have to kill "murderers and scumbags" who "are trying to blow up men and women in Afghanistan and ... provide a base for al-Qaida."
A reminder of those words is in order today -- not for the troops, but for all other Canadians.
By all accounts, the soldiers -- a new group of whom are departing for Afghanistan from Trenton today -- are crystal clear on the dangers of this mission and their commitment to it.
They understand that this is what the "war on terrorism" really is -- not just rhetoric, but combat. Against a shadowy enemy that hides among civilians and uses ambushes and bombs to wreak terror and fear among the population, there and here.
At the same time, our troops are tasked with winning the trust of ordinary Afghans to help them feel safe and secure. All in the name of bringing stability to the country so democracy can grow. It is an enormously challenging, terrifying job. And they are doing it brilliantly. As Brig. Gen. David Fraser said yesterday, "The cost (of yesterday's operation) was significant. The cost against the Taliban was even more significant."
Canada has now lost 23 soldiers in Afghanistan since 2002; 15 in the past six months alone. Every one of them understood the sacrifice required of them and why it was necessary.
To honour them, all Canadians need to understand that too.
"What the men and women in harm's way want and need to know at moments like this is that the government and Canadians stand behind their mission," PM Stephen Harper said yesterday. Just so. What they do not want or need is for their deaths to make us second-guess our commitment, or worse, for their work to be hysterically dismissed as part of "George Bush's war" in Iraq, or some other partisan nonsense.
Like every other Canadian soldier killed serving this country since Confederation, they understood their duty, and they deserve the same honour and remembrance. Lest we forget.
