Two Things

First, take a look at the picture attached to this article. It portrays Bob Rae as he is, a constipated member of the ruling class. I have never seen such an accurate portrait. Way to go Bob, you have finally made it.

Second, "bi-partisanship" in Canada, just as it does in the U.S., means "giving in to the military industrial complex". This kind of cooperation is approved of and encouraged by the corporate press. "Coalitions", on the other hand, are interpreted as somehow against elite consensus (or at least out of their control) and are therefore discouraged and vilified by the corporate press. So note the use of bi-partisanship in the case of the blue Liberal establishment's backroom deal with the Harperites on Afghanistan. Our owners are pleased with this outcome, praise God.

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Seeking The Truth?

Dear Christie Blatchford and Tim Powers,

If you wanted to know whether or not Richard Colvin is a liar, all you needed to do is urge the government to release the unredacted documents. That neither of you did that tells me you are not interested in the truth, but only in smearing Colvin on behalf of the government. Thank you and have a pleasant Sunday.

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When High School Goes To War

This may be one of the most offensive things I have ever read in a newspaper. It was written by an editor at the Globe:

Because of its willingness to bleed and lead, Canada has gained power, influence and stature. All that could disappear

In one sentence, the writer has managed to trivialize our sojourn in Afghanistan. He has turned our sacrifice into a contest for the attention and affection of the "cool kids". That is the justification for a lot of stupid behavior among 16 year olds, but should not be the basis of foreign policy decision-making. This is not a high school and we should not base our decisions on whether it's "what everybody else is doing" and fearing that any step away from the herd will diminish our chance of getting laid by the cheerleaders.

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Four Canadians Are Dead

And Fox News thinks it is a good time to air this. Bring the boys and girls home now.

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Another "Because We Say It Is" Success In Afghanistan

This sums up our current government's approach to everything. A military operation no one knew existed, has been deemed a complete success (although the military people on the ground at least are honest enough to admit it was ultimately a futile exercise).

One other thing. Globe reporter Katherine O'Neill does such a good job describing the battle, one would almost think she had observed it with her own eyes. She never does claim to have been there, but one can infer she was from her detailed descriptions of the action. So, was she present during the battle, or not? Is Ms. O'Neill the Ernie Pyle of her generation, or is the Globe publishing military press releases as first person accounts?

Update: If she did observe the battle, she took time away from it to watch a hockey game, on Thursday.

Upperdate: Ms. O'Neill was there. She has courage.

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Is Rosie DiManno Stupid?

Or does she have an agenda or her own? Read the following and you decide:

If Liberals are trying to spare Canadian lives – by venturing passively, ducking into calmer territory and promoting reconstruction in the absence of a secure environment – an anti-combat insistence is utterly without merit.

But it might get Canadian troops killed. An enemy that knows troops won't fight back, can't fight back because of political handcuffs slapped on half a world away, is an enemy given a blood-embossed invitation to attack at will.

Now I am no Liberal supporter, but this is such a gross misstatement of the Liberal position that even I have to gag on it. Did the Liberals ever say that our soldiers would have to stand in the middle of Afghanistan, without weapons, and allow themselves to be murdered by the Taliban? Show me a quote from any Liberal to that effect and I will publicly apologize.

There seems to be a lot of deliberate obtuseness going on in our press corps. They are pretending to be "confused" by a Liberal position (and you can say the same about the NDP position as well) which is quite easy to understand. All the Liberals are proposing is an end to active counter insurgency campaigns by Canadian troops. They are calling on the forces to be redeployed as security for development projects. Really, it is that simple. The press corps, would rather pretend to be "confused", because it fits into their own agreed upon narrative. Dimanno is just a particularly extreme example of this "confusion".

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Honest Debate?

I was going to write about this, but Kady has done such a great job, go read her. After you read Kady, go read Robopundit. I suspect he is one of those "pundits" to whom Kady is referring (though to be fair, he isn't totally gung ho). It is becoming conventional wisdom among the MSM chatteratti that Manley's report is the only "serious" option among "serious"people.

In fact, I believe I heard Newman say, in tones that were just short of ecstatic, that "It was like finally, the adults were in charge". Well, that might be so, but the "adults" seem to be suggesting that if we only had a 1000 more troops, we could beat the Taliban on the battlefield. Does anyone really believe a 1000 troops stand between us and total victory? Dion, I think sees this fallacy , but he is being boxed in by the Ignatieff wing of the party and the "serious" people of the MSM. If he doesn't go along with the "let's do more of the same, but more so" crowd, he is going to get fried by those same "serious" pundits.

Update: Radwanski is most definitely, a "serious" fellow.

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The Sounds Of Silence

Thanks to the Galloping Beaver, I was directed to this article. The first two paragraphs tell the story:

There is no military solution to the struggle against Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan, according to Britain's most senior armed forces leader.

Air Chief Marshall Sir Jock Stirrup said: "There is a common misperception that the issues in Afghanistan, and indeed elsewhere around the world, can be dealt with by military means. That's a false perception."

That sounds familiar. I wonder, as does the Galloping Beaver, why our media is ignoring what our allies are saying about the prospects for a military solution.

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