Heros

As I watched 5 flag-draped coffins loaded onto hearses at CFB Trenton the other day on the news, the voices went through my head again - bring our troops home from Afganistan. As I watched those family members crying and loosing it at the sight of their loved ones returning home I briefly agreed with the cries of home.

Those who disagree with our mission in Afganistan need to understand one thing - we're there and we're damn proud of it. Get over it.

We may not have the most troops in that country, only 2,800, but we've taken our share of the danger. Canada has sent her troops into the most dangerous part of the country - Kandahar Province - to help rebuild the infrastructure and quell the Taliban rising, and yes, we WILL take casualties. That's inevitable. We are there to support a NATO mandate to rebuild the place, who after 30 years of constant warfare kinda deserve a break. These people deserve to live in peace. To those who say that it's not our place to make that happen at the expense of our soldiers and civilians being casualties, understand this - The Taliban doesn't differentiate between Canadians and Americans. They will kill our people regardless.

We are in Kandahar suffering losses, the Americans are virtually everywhere else, suffering losses, other NATO allies are in the more secure northern areas suffering very little losses. There are many allies there that are afraid to move into the more volatile areas because they also see the ramp ceremonies. Boo hoo.

Canada has always been a fighting country. Just because our cold-war role as peacekeepers is engrained in our minds, doesn't make us peacekeepers, that just happens to be the role we played for those years, in the Golan Heights, Cyprus, Sinai, and other places around the world. We spent the cold war keeping warring parties from starting up again. But we were never afraid to shoot back.

In WWI Canada took Vimy Ridge when the British and French couldn't. In WWII we took part in raids and campaigns that others said were suicide and couldn't be done, we were there when the shit hit the fan, and we lost soldiers, who are now immortalized as heros. In Korea, and Kosovo, and now in Afghanistan. We are there because we have a long tradition of helping where it's needed. We also know when to get it done. Hopefully, this time we will.

I've worn the uniform, and I've seen many of my friends serve overseas in many operations, and every one is proud to do it. Right now we're following one particular friend in Kandahar, and we hold our breath when we here bad news. He's proud and he should be. It's not just the medals, it's the honour. It's the tradition of knowing you are doing a small part to keep the world and Canada in particular a safer place. It's also the honour of knowing that as one of the richest countries in the world, we did our part to help a poor country to stand up and be counted. We are helping kids go to school, helping farmers plant crops to sell in the markets, helping doctors treat those in need, helping the country stand up and shove the Taliban back into the cave they crawled out of. This organization is bent on destroying the place and any non-muslims. That's just wrong, and any of the 138 Canadian soldiers and 2 civilians who have died there will tell you they were there to prove it.

So to the naysayers who are tired of seeing coffins offloaded from military transport planes - Stand up or shut up. Grab a C7 and a flak jacket and help your country, or if it bothers you that much, turn away and put your tail between your legs like the cowards that you are.

Our heroes have come home.