Good Ol' Barack Takes a Tour

I certainly am no authority on American politics, but as a Canadian seeing Barack Obama visiting Afghanistan; I can think of a few questions. Now I read from one of my favorite news sources that Barack Obama would be meeting with the Prime Minister of Afghanistan as well as the Prime Minister of Iraq. Both Canada and the US have troops stationed in Afghanistan so I read on. Here's the part where I raised an eyebrow. Obama wants to redeploy some troops that are stationed in Iraq to Afghanistan. What does this mean for the Canadian Mission in Afghanistan?

Well more troops to support the efforts in Afghanistan would be in Canada's interest. I remember not that long ago that we Canada were calling for some support from the nations allied in this war on terrorism. What is Obama doing? Now unfortunately all Canadians lost a soldier recently and as our thoughts are also with the fallen soldiers family I can't help but wonder why Obama would want to redeploy to Afghanistan. Is there a chance that Canada may be pulling out of Afghanistan? I don't know about that one but what do Canadians think about it?

My guess about whether or not Obama gets elected into office and is able to redeploy troops to Afghanistan is that it could happen. Shifting the spotlight from Iraq to Afghanistan is definitely a good political move so this just might be a good move for his campaign. There was a big buzz about his foreign trip coming so long after his opposition Senator McCain. Senator McCain made his way over to the same areas but I do not remember much being covered on that. Everything is up in the air and the mudslinging and finally the Democratic Primaries have been wrapped up. Can Obama be the next president?

This little snapshot of his foreign policy can give us some insight into where he plans on taking the US. Clearly there has been much unrest about the war in Iraq and while the economic state of the US slowly dwindles it is possible that great change is coming. Now as for what Obama's visit to Afghanistan means to the average Canadian, well its just more campaigning except this time we don't hear about the Clintons. I remember some of the commercials running during our last elections, I posted a couple of videos of commercials that ran during our last election not that long ago, I'm wondering if anything similar will be running up until November 4th? Anyway as for the US election, chose wisely America one vote can make a difference even if you don't think its possible.

What do you think of Barack's Tour to Afghanistan and Iraq?

Image: Wiki Media Commons

An Appeal to N.A.T.O. For a Thousand More Troops In Afghanistan

Today I was watching a report on the C.B.C. News network that I found really interesting. The report was on Canada's appeal to N.A.T.O. for a thousand troops that are needed for the current mission in Afghanistan. I found it interesting because Peter MacKay, Canada's Defence minister met with other N.A.T.O. defence ministers and he flat out said that there is a need for 1000 more troops in Afghanistan.

Now I know that this push at the meeting for N.A.T.O. defence ministers in Vilnius, Lithuania was part of a new plan the Conservatives tabled yesterday and is rumoured to bring another election with it if the government votes against it. This really is a motion that could break the current minority government in Canada. Mostly because at least once a week I hear something coming from the Liberal opposition that clearly states that they are not happy playing the role of the opposition. I don't know about the rest of Canada, but the current economic boom we have been enjoying is not entirely due to the rumours of a recession in the U.S., the minority government has reduced the Goods and Service Tax by two percent since taking office, as well as boosting the funding for our military. Granted some still consider our military to be a joke, but I have a really bad feeling that if the Liberals get back in, our defence forces will suffer greatly.

I know that our neighbour to the south has a very strong military force, but we still have to protect our sovereignty regardless of which country is on our borders. Not only will our defence forces suffer from a potential general election in which the Liberals could form a majority government, but from my perspective, I would actually be ashamed to be Canadian if the Liberals formed a majority government. The last time they had power, many funds were squandered while our military was using dangerous used goods to protect us. I can understand politicians making claims against each other slinging mud back and forth because that has been what I have seen from them, but there comes a time when the interest of the people need to be considered.

I personally support the mission in Afghanistan, mostly because I have a friend or two serving over there as well as a co-worker who hails from Afghanistan. I have heard a few horror stories from before the whole "War on Terror" began in Afghanistan and I believe that we are needed to help rebuild. I have also heard from various news programs that we are only keeping the Taliban at bay while the people of Afghanistan are rebuilding their country from the bottom up.

But I digress, back to the news story I started with. The fact that we are trying to take the lead on keeping troops in Afghanistan on a mission to help the efforts to rebuild is incredibly important. Democracy takes time to develop and not even the most powerful nations in the world can deny that. It is always disheartening to hear about our soldiers being wounded or killed in the line of duty, but in this imperfect world of ours it takes sacrifice to make changes. But what about the global image of Canada? We have been peace keepers for many years, we have helped bring peace to many different parts of the world and the mission in Afghanistan is just as important as any peace keeping mission in the past.

Now the story also includes some hope. France has heard our call for more troops in Afghanistan. Just how many troops is purely speculation and rumours, although the rumoured number is 700. There is also a chance that other nations could commit enough troops to fill the void. Now what does this mean for an average Canadian, well it could mean nothing or yet another trip to the polls to vote for another Prime Minister or the same one. As this is a developing story we will have to watch and wait. That's my opinion, what's yours?

Image source: Wiki Commons
News Story: France heeds Canada's call for more troops

Canada to the Rescue

Here's an interesting story for you, Canadian fighter jets temporarily fill in for U.S. air defences, I found this one the C.B.C.s website. Apparently Russian bombers had resumed flying high Arctic long range patrols, which forces fighters to scramble to meet them. Not since the cold war ended have the Russians flown so close to our continent. It never fails to amaze me when I hear some Americans saying that Canada doesn't need a military force just because we share the same continent. Shouldn't both of our countries work together in defence of our continent? I'm sure this incident should turn a few heads, even if it doesn't make the news on C.N.N..

Image source: Wikimedia Commons