JOHN CHUCKMAN

POSTED RESPONSES TO A COLUMN BY JEFFREY SIMPSON IN TORONTO’S GLOBE AND MAIL

It’s always the same with these meaningless imperial wars of America’s.

After chewing up people and resources for years, leaders are fearful of the notion that it was all to no purpose.

You cannot, no matter how much you bomb and kill, reshape an ancient society to your liking.

Only long-term economic growth does that, and war represents the very opposite, destruction.

The Afghanistan invasion was a pointless exercise in vengeance and American arm-pumping.

The UN and NATO only have their names slapped on the pathetic effort because the United States pressured and threatened and cajoled its way into getting them involved.

To this day, no greater physical evidence of the truth is to be found than in the pitifully token commitments of troops by all the American allies, a thousand or two here and there in specially limited roles – not what you would ever see were America’s extreme and hysterical words on the nature of the effort believed by anyone.

Canadians and others died for absolutely nothing here, but no leader would ever have the courage to say so.

But worse, tens of thousands of Afghans were killed by invaders who never understood what they were doing.
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“Steve, when he made that speech in his fishing vest in Kandahar, said ‘We [Canadians] don’t cut and run’. You mean that now, 158 casualties and ten years later, we should cut and run?”

Very revealing when people use loaded terms like “cut and run.”

Who would ever describe it in that fashion were Canadian troops or police killing innocents in our streets and roads, and people’s revulsion caused them to yell “stop!”

But that is exactly what “NATO” – America’s human shields against world opinion – has done for years in Afghanistan.

If people at home with the opportunity to inform themselves don’t understand what has happened in Afghanistan – and many do not – how are a bunch of soldiers dumped into a hot, confusing, almost totally alien place supposed to know anything about what they are doing?

In the end, Canadian soldiers died because in government it was said “we owe one to the Pentagon.”

And a man like Harper, the most dishonest and manipulative prime minister in our history, can only appeal to the most unthinking, from-the gut responses in our people with his “cut and run” to cover up the waste and shame of the whole sordid business.

JOHN CHUCKMAN

 

POSTED RESPONSES TO AN EDITORIAL IN TORONTO’S GLOBE AND MAIL

“The refreshing openness shown by some MPs to continuing Canada’s military presence in Afghanistan beyond 2011 is welcome”

Welcome by whom?

Who writes such rubbish as an editorial?

Afghanistan is the biggest waste of life and treasure in Canadian modern history.

We have no purpose there at all, other than “owing one to the Pentagon.”

President Karzai and the other parties there are perfectly capable of sorting things out themselves.

One thing is sure, occupation by foreign soldiers hinders Afghanistan’s ability to mend its affairs.
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Americano reminds us, if we needed reminding, of the mindset that gave the world the holocaust of Vietnam, the atrocities of Cambodia, the savagery of Iraq, and the stupid blundering of Afghanistan.

Along the way, there were countless lesser Appalachian Throwback works, from Chile to Somalia.

And America crowned its glories by so steeping itself in debt that it caused a financial collapse.

Truly, is there any country on earth more poorly run or more destructive in its actions?

China is almost a model world citizen by comparison.

And why does everyone not treat the U.S. as though these truths were obvious?

Only because of its wealth, and nothing else.

But all its stupidities are putting stress even on that for the future.

Some clown calling himself or herself “Americano” should give Canadians advice?

It’s just more proof of arrogance and ignorance beyond measure.

JOHN CHUCKMAN

 

POSTED RESPONSE TO A COLUMN BY JEFFREY SIMPSON IN TORONTO’S GLOBE AND MAIL

I have heard Rick Hillier speak at some length recently on CBC Radio. Naturally, he is out promoting his book.I thought he largely came off as a whiner, rather naïve about the realities of war and politics.Hillier went into Afghanistan literally barking about doing some killing, arrogantly tossing aside Canada’s sense of itself as a peaceful and peacekeeping place.

His words rankled many people, and naturally a control-freak like Harper put limits on Hillier’s mouth.

I tend to agree with Chantal Hebert’s assessment that Hillier’s book, unintentionally on his part, will only contribute to Canada’s not continuing a military commitment in Afghanistan beyond its commitment.

The entire Afghanistan adventure is nothing more than a demonstration of America’s ability to behave much as it pleases in the world. In the aftermath of 9/11, it pulled out all the stops in finance and diplomacy to get UN and NATO recognition of what essentially was vengeance.

The invasion never made any sense, and after America’s superficial “victory,” it had no idea what to do, except to let its brutal special forces loose on villages all over Afghanistan. Its “victory” amounted to a pact with the devils of the Northern Alliance – monsters like the mass-murderer General Dostum being as bad or worse than the Taleban – and it achieved nothing but a great deal of killing and the dispersal of the Taleban.

No NATO country – especially powerful ones like France or Germany – has made a commitment of troops that is in keeping with America’s paranoid assessment of the world dangers of Afghanistan – that fact is telling beyond anything else.

Canadians should never forget that the only reason we sent troops to Afghanistan was a decision in Ottawa that “we owed one to the Pentagon” after having refused to participate in America’s missile shield and its even more disastrous and murderous adventure in Iraq.

JOHN CHUCKMAN

 

POSTED RESPONSE TO A COLUMN BY JEFFREY SIMPSON IN TORONTO’S GLOBE AND MAIL

I don’t know what else was ever expected.

Of course, the truth is nothing was legitimately expected because this entire enterprise showed no genuine planning or forethought.

The original American invasion was stupid and pointless, pure vengeance with no clear purpose.

The Taleban were not responsible for 9/11, but the U.S. was thirsting for blood and so the country had to be invaded.

Since then they’ve killed thousands and thousands of innocent people and bombed the crap out of this poor country, all while claiming they are improving it.

They’ve committed war crimes, including complicity in the savage killing of several thousand prisoners.

Our joining in on the basis of “owing one to the Pentagon” could result only in the costly, pointless operation in which we are now engaged.

Yes, the odd poll says people are glad for us, but all that means is that in such a poor, backward country people are glad to get whatever they can free from foreign soldiers.

Also polls cannot possibly reflect the population there since no one is going to poll the Taleban or many remote villages.