Prime Minister Stephen Harper is being accused of reaching a new low after suggesting Liberals sympathize more with Taliban insurgents than Canadian soldiers.
His vintage outburst yesterday came during an exchange with Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion, who was calling for Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor to resign after the minister's admission that he misled the Commons on the issue of Afghan detainees.
"I can understand the passion that the leader of the Opposition and members of his party feel for Taliban prisoners. I just wish occasionally they would show the same passion for Canadian soldiers," Harper said.
Hmmmm..... where have I heard that before? Could it be from the sane and moral George W. Bush, using such black-and-white dictums (dicta?) to justify lying, torture and murder in defense of the American way?
Gilles Duceppe, in the same report, said that we were seeing the "old" Harper of 1993-94 in these remarks. There is no "old" or "new" Harper. This is what Harper is like. He hasn't changed. He is desperately trying to keep his true nature under wraps until he can get a majority government, and the "new" Harper will disappear as fast as the snow in spring, especially the new hot and dry springs that we can expect under the global climate change that Harper insisted didn't exist as recently as a few months ago.
You wanna know how to "support the troops", Stevie? Don't sent them into battle under U.S. direction to fight for an oil pipeline. Don't send them to prop up a puppet government composed of transplanted-from-London oil executives who are fond of boy dancers, drug lords, warlords and other less-than-savoury types.
From the Wayne Madsen Report - March 7, 2007:
Libby Defense Find features this photo of Libby with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai. Libby once penned a novel titled "The Apprentice," which featured pedophilia, bestiality, and rape. Karzai is rumored by our Afghanistan sources to be an aficionado of "boy dancers," underage male strip dancers that are popular with Karzai's fellow Pashtun warlords. One reason the Taliban banned music and dancing was to eliminate the attendant sexual exploitation of boys by the Pashtun elite.
I'm no fan of the Taliban, but the women of Afghanistan are not primarily being abused by them. According to American journalist Ann Jones, ninety-eight percent of Afghan women are abused by their husbands, fathers, and other male family members. Instead of propping up and perpetuating this patriarchy of oil and drugs, how about not pouring "our troops" and our money into the black hole that is Afghanistan. As far as I can see, the only way to eliminate this systematic abuse of women would be to elimate 98% of the male population of Afghanistan, which could be accomplished militarily (this is sarcasm, folks).
The Taliban objected not only to the ruling elites, but also to the oil pipeline that was to run through their country. That's why they are the target. Their right-wing agenda and supression of women was just a palatable excuse to peddle to war-wary citizens.
Since most of our money (ours, not yours, Stevie) is going towards military equipment, not to bettering the lives of women and their children, the only ones who benefit are arms dealers and defense contractors, and puffed-up little generals who want to "punch above their weight".
