Canadian Soldiers Pussies

I'm going to start this post by saying that I hold our servicemen in the highest regard. There's no question about it. That admiration however doesn't overide the need to call BULLSHIT when it needs to be called and after several days of thought, and some poorly made comments from Peter McKay, I've got to call it. This post is not a comment on the whole of our forces but rather a select few (I sincerely hope) individuals within it. Keep that in mind when you start flaming the in-box.

Last weeks move by the Western Standard to publish the Mohammed cartoons raised a bit of a shitstorm within Canada's lib-left and rightfully so. We expected that. I even predicted that the week would be filled with tiny explosions coming from the tiny brains contained in tiny MoonBat heads. We need to be able to honestly look at ourselves and our place in the international community. As a function of that debate however I noticed some disturbing comments coming from individuals that call themselves soldiers. More specifically, this:

Mr. Levant, I am a Canadian soldier. I have friends serving in Afghanistan. I'm gonna keep this simple.

We're fighting an insurgency in Afganistan. Unlike a traditional war, the bad guys are hard to find and kill.

Canadian soldiers rely on sympathetic local folks to tell us all about the bad guys. Without the goodwill of the locals, life is bad. The locals happen to be Muslims. Are you with me so far? Good.

The Afghans who provide intelligence to us will probably hear about a Canadian magazine publishing the cartoons. They may get mad at us. They may stop telling us about the bad guys, or actually help them to target us. Still with me? Good.

Your "freedom of speech" spin is crap. You publish an obscure regional pamphlet. The controversy raises your profile, and (you hope) your income.

While you flog your alleged devotion to "Canadian Values", remember that this may blow up in your face. You've earned it.

In Afghanistan, far from your safe little office, other things may be blowing up in the faces of my comerades because of your idiotic stunt.

You have endangered them all.

Posted by: Shawn | 15-Feb-06 8:07:01 PM

And this (written by R. Storring for the CBC):

I followed the flow of comments about freedom of the press, freedom of speech, freedom of expression and how western countries shouldn't be afraid of protesting or rioting Muslims; that it's our inherent right to print those cartoons. But I couldn't help noting that this slew of "freedoms" come from people who take for granted what our fathers and grandfathers paid for in blood, and what our own soldiers pay for today.

Freedoms are something many people here in Canada and around the world take for granted; the minute someone perceives that those freedoms are being infringed upon, a whole movement begins that can quickly snowball out of control.

I am a soldier that believes deeply in freedom, and by virtue of service for my country I have and am willing to put my life on the line for what my country believes in. With freedom of anything comes the responsibility to make sound decisions and common-sense choices.

Deciding to not print those controversial cartoons has nothing to do with being cowed by fear of Islamic retribution; it has everything to do with respecting another person's beliefs and the common sense that Canadians have always been known for around the world.

When we as soldiers move into another country, whether to keep or enforce the peace, we respect the fact that the host country is unique in its beliefs and culture. We try to leave the country (at some point) with minimal cultural impact.

We respect their holidays and events; we go so far as to try not to eat or drink in front of Muslims during Ramadan out of respect for their culture, even while in our own camp. This has nothing to do with fear of offending them, but has to do with respect and our ability to live in a multi-cultural environment -- whether overseas or here in Canada.

Some publishers here in Canada have used their "freedoms" to inflame an already volatile situation in order, they say, to make a point. If now, like so many European countries, our troops become targets over what boils down to so-called freedoms of press or expression, where will be the position of those Canadian publishers then? If one of our troops is killed as a target of "blasphemy," I highly doubt those publishers will thank the soldier's family for allowing their magazine to express their belief.

I could comment on how "Shawn's" post is all about fear and that it may be appropriate that he used the term "comrades" but I won't. I could also comment on how the second article starts out by saying that "it's not about fear" but ends up "being all about fear" but I won't.

Fear is expected.

It's how these two individuals handle it and the values they're willing to throw away because of it that makes them pussies.

These two jack-asses don't want us to exercise the very rights they're sworn to defend because it's going to put them in danger. Well guess what!

That's the friggin job they signed up for!

They were hired and trained to protect our interests.

To kill people and blow shit up.

To have people with compeeting interests try to kill them.

That's the kind of stuff that happens in war zones and they knew it going in.

To use a bad anology, these two are acting like a couple of pump-jockeys who don't want to turn on the service station lights because they might get a customer and have to do their friggin' jobs.

Having them act in this manner is a complete disgrace. And, yes, as a matter of fact, I am questioning their patriotism. As we all should be...

Note to Peter McKay: Grow a friggin' spine! You're not helping anything with comments like these and it shows you to be a pussy as well.