Blang!

Here is a crazy rant; I don’t normally talk about politics on this blog because, well, i’m a techie and I feel that people better qualified should talk about politics.

However, having seen little evidence that “people better qualified” actually exist, I’m going to take a stab at it.

The Liberals have just named their new leader, Micheal Ignatieff. And, on the same day the newly re-appointed United States Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates has gone out of his way to praise Canada and its solders on the job they have done in Afghanistan. He barely stopped short of formally requesting Canada stay on longer.

Never the less, the conservatives quickly dismissed the idea saying we are going home on time and bla bla bla….

What a golden opportunity! The Liberals should get ahead of the curve and support Obama. They should immediately commit to keeping our troops in Afghanistan as long as the new U.S. administration is committed to getting the job done!

This would put the Conservatives in the awkward position of either supporting the Liberals or opposing Canadian troops and the U.S.

But forget politics! If I thought the only reason for keeping our troops in Afghanistan was to embarrass the Conservatives then I’d throw-up on myself.

The mission is the right thing to do and now is the time for Canada to show our support! It’s only because of Bush and Iraq that it hasn’t always seemed that way. With Bush gone and a new commitment by Obama, lets get focused and do the job!

Let me set this straight; to date I’ve been no fan of the mission in Afganistan. Bush exploited the grief we felt on 9-11 and then lied to us. This was supposed to be a hunt for Bin Ladin and the 9/11 attackers when in fact it quickly became apparent that G.W. Bush had no interest whatever in Bin Ladin and diverted the efforts of the U.S. military to Iraq while hanging our Canadian asses out to dry in Afghanistan. And the Conservatives were mystified as to why we didn’t support it?

Forget Bush. He’s gone. Fast forward to Obama. Obama is not even in the white house yet and already the U.S. is committing 20,000 new troops to Afghanistan and pleading for Canada’s help. The “real” war to get Bin Ladin is just starting.

Obama is the world’s most popular leader. If he, or his administration were to make a personal appeal for continued support in Afghanistan along with a dramatically increased commitment by U.S. forces, Canadians would support it.

No, correct that. We would overwhelmingly support it! Canada has always wanted Bin Ladin and those responsible for 9-11 brought to justice. We won’t hesitate to pledge our support for their capture as long as we feel like we aren’t out there alone.

So we can support Obama, or, I guess we could just pull out at the end of our term like the Conservatives want to do.

Can we finally get Bin Ladin?

YES WE CAN

In light of the horrid treatment Canadians (and one can only assume everyone) who is unfortunate enough to come in contact with the Mexican “justice” system receives, I just can’t stomach the thought of putting any of my tourist dollars into a country like that.

It seems blazingly obvious to anyone that Brenda Martian was innocent, but even if you assume she did know where the money came from that raises the question of why, Marco Antonio del Toro, Alyn Waage’s lawyer is allowed to remain free. Alyn Waage gave del Toro a million dollar mansion purchased with the proceeds of crime and yet faces not even a hint of the same “Mexican justice” that Brenda Martian has been subjected to. [full story]