I just got back from the Grey Cup which is Canada's Football Championship, the equivalent of the Super Bowl. If we numbered it in Roman Numerals it would have XCIX. There I witnessed more falling down drunkenness and random vomiting than I have since University. I also saw an okay football game.
Even though I am a pacifist I have nothing against the men and women in our military. They have to deal with a moronic command structure dating back to the 1700s, have to do all kinds of ridiculous things in the name of discipline and, when our Prime Minister feels insecure about the size of his penis , have to go to places where other people try to kill them. There has recently become more of a presence of the military at sporting events in Canada. We were never as bad as the US in this respect but are rapidly catching up.
At the recent Grey Cup we were treated to a huge Canadian flag and about 50 members of various branches of the military in their dress uniforms down on the field. There were also two generals and the Minister of Defense (who of course personally leads our troops into battle ;Q). As I mentioned I support our troops especially when they are in Canada and so I thought nothing of it. That was until I learned the reason for this expensive display of testosterone.
Apparently our military recently defeated Libya. Yes we beat Libya! After our NATO allies destroyed the antiaircraft guns and most of their air force defected, our "Royal" Canadian Air Force burned a lot of jet fuel over Libya, and didn't fire a shot. Meanwhile our Navy ships bobbed around in the Mediterranean in support of our planes. I am not sure what our "Royal" army did but I am sure they played a huge role. I have never been so proud to be a Canadian. We are getting our butts kicked in Afghanistan but we beat the crap out of Libya.
I am not a big fan of Gaddafi and I am certainly glad to see him gone. I wonder how long he would have lasted if we hadn't been so willing to do business with him all these years. I hope the Libyan people end up with a liberal democracy in the Western model. I also hope that the Easter Bunny will come this year.
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While it's fine to oppose operations like this you could at least try to be accurate. The Canadian air force in Libya definitely did fire shots. By the end of August they had been involved in a disproportionate number of the air strikes (over 700) and the Navy had been involved in at least two battles with Libyan ships. I believe it was the first time since the Korean war Canadian warships actually fought.
And while Canada's mission in Afghanistan was not an unmitigated success Canadian troops definitely did not get their butts kicked. They held the most dangerous province of Afghanistan for over five years.
If you support Canadian troops at least acknowledge what they have accomplished.
Personally I'm ambivalent about our participation in the Libyan intervention as I agree with you that things might not have been this bad if the west hadn't cozied up to Gaddafi for the last few years. On the other hand I also see it as the U.N. doing what it was actually designed to do: provide a mechanism for nations to deal with state's like Libya.
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