Canada's Defence Minister Peter MacKay flew into Kabul under tight security for a Remembrance Day photo-op yesterday. He used the occasion to assure Canadians once again that the deaths of 158 Canadians have not been in vain, and declared that all Canadians share a sense of pride in what has been accomplished.
His remarks are in stark contrast to the findings of a UN report released in September entitled The situation in Afghanistan. Seems the UN doesn't share MacKay's rosy assessment of the mess that the NATO intervention has made of the country. Where MacKay wants us to believe that we've given the Afghan people a "chance at a better future" the UN report paints a picture of a country spiraling into ever-increasing violence and chaos.
Even as MacKay was touting our successes, just a few miles up the road two Afghan women, mother and daughter, were being stoned to death for "moral deviation". So much for their chances of a better future. But we should be proud of what we've accomplished.
MacKay's comments come barely a week after the career of American Major General Peter Fuller went down the toilet because he had the gall to tell it like it is. Fuller was the second highest ranking American officer in the country. Spent a lot more time there than MacKay. Might have had some idea of what he was talking about when he claimed that the blood and treasure lavished on Afghanistan has been wasted because we insist on propping up an inept kleptocracy.
But maybe speaking the truth isn't what you want to do when you're celebrating our accomplishments on Remembrance Day.
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