Harper supports the troops

Harper supports Canadian troops so much that, to keep his little "punching above our weight" war going in Afghanistan, he sends those suffering from depression and PTSD right back into battle.

Jeff Esau writes:

The Canadian military is sending soldiers to Afghanistan who are suffering from mental illnesses, including depression and operational stress injuries such as post-traumatic stress disorder.

...[Psychiatrist]Col. Boddam added that deployment to a combat zone can benefit some depression and PTSD sufferers. However, he said, “we do not deploy knowingly anybody who is suffering from a mental illness that would impair their ability to function in this environment.”

Rather, the Forces “deploy people who are on maintenance phases of their treatment or who may have a minor illness that is not really impairing their function,” such as a phobia.

Add this to a report last week that stress and depression is skyrocketing in military families, with children in particular having trouble getting the psychiatric help they need, and we get the idea that while Harper gets the glory for his little war and gets to play with the big boys, kids are so frightened that one little boy whose father was killed has to go home from school several times a day to make sure that his mother is still alive or he can't function.

Harper - leading the troops into battle from behind, out of harm's way.