The Cost of Nationhood

I was saddened to discover yesterday that six more Canadian soldiers lost their lives in Afghanistan. The six, along with their Afghan translator, were travelling outside of Kandahar when an improvised explosive device destroyed their vehicle, killing them all.

Each death in Afghanistan makes my heart ache, but I know that the friends and family of those who died hurt ten thousand times more than I could ever feel. All I can say is that your loss is appreciated and your loved one is remembered.

But it is not the survivors of the casualties that I wish to address -- I want to speak to Stephane Dion and Jack Layton. Specifically, I want to tell them: grow up!

Nobody likes the casualties that we are facing. The soldiers don't. Their families certainly don't. The prime minister does not. The public doesn't. A little nobody like me doesn't. It's a high price, and unfortunately it is likely that the price is going to continue to rise. It is also a price that must be paid if we are to be a sovereign nation. Especially if we are to be the sort of active force for good in the world that average Canadians would like their country to be.

We have committed ourselves to helping the government of Afghanistan. We have committed ourselves to helping the people of Afghanistan. We have seen a truly shitty situation in Afghanistan and we have committed ourselves to helping make it a better place.

I have spent the past two months in a country that has one huge asset -- hope. In a continent where genocide and political strife has happened all too often, the people of Tanzania are hopeful. That is what makes Tanzania such a wonder place. That is what makes Tanzanians such beautiful people.

To pull out our troops immediately as Mr. Layton would have Canada do might save a few Canadian lives -- all of them precious -- but how many Afghans -- each of them just a precious -- would die because they didn't have Canadian troops to help them? Abandoning the people of Afghanistan would rob the peole of hope that life will get better. That may not be a crime, but in my books it is surely a sin.