And we're off:
1.
Dead soldiers in body bags are coming back home more frequent then originally thought!
You call this frequent? 15 soldiers since 2001? I'm sorry my friend, but that isn't frequent by any stretch of the imagination. The U.S. loses anywhere from 4-10 soldiers KIA in Iraq
A DAY. Furthermore our death count is highly misleading. Yes 15 soldiers have been killed, but how many by direct contact with the enemy? 8:
2 by an IED
1 by suicide bomber
4 by IED
1 by gunshot wound
The other 7 have been killed by accidents:
4 by a U.S. F-16
3 by vehicle accidents
The 7 killed in Afghanistan by non-hostile circumstances could have easily been killed whilst training in Canada. The CF loses dozens of soldiers killed or wounded each year in training exercises. We've had guys run over and killed by tanks, blow up by grenades, shot by machine guns, guys who've fell while rappeling, guys who've drowned while parachuting in to a lake. I'm not trying to say that the deaths of the lads killed non-hostily are all less significant than the boys who were, however I am saying that their deaths should not be a benchmark as to how the mission is going. Their deaths were accidents that could have happened anywhere.
Now back to the "body count", 15 is not a lot since 2001. This nation has sufferd worse casualties in shorter time spans. Some notables:
The Battle of Paardeberg South Africa: 31 Canadians Killed
The Battle of the Somme: 1,373 Canadians killed in 13 days
The Battle of Vimy Ridge : 3,598 Canadians killed
The Dieppe Raid: 907 Canadians killed
in 11 hours
Battle of Ortona: 2000+ Canadians killed
D-Day Landing (and breakout): 1,017 Canadians killed in 6 days
Battle of the Schedlt: 6,367 Canadians killed in 31 days
The Battle of Kapyong: 10 Canadians killed in 24 hours
The Battle of Ledra Palace (Cyprus): 28 Canadians killed
The Former Yugoslavia: 23 Canadians killed by direct contact with the enemy
The above is just a smattering of the casualties this nation has suffered since the turn of the 20th Century. As you can see, 15 is but a drop in the bucket when compared to some of these figures.
Retired soldiers end up with mental trauma, loss of arms, or legs, or on a wheal chair, and a minisqual pention to help them pick up the pices, when they come back home!
It's one thing to spout crap about our casualties. It's other to demean the way we treat our boys when they come home. Every soldier that has come home wounded, right from Sgt. Lorne Forde up to MCpl Paul Franklin, have been treated well, very well. You make it sound like they're alone, when they're not, not by a long shot. When a soldier is wounded and moved to Landsthul Germany, we fly their families to them, lodge them, provided them an escort. We the wounded are ready to return to Canada we then fly them all together. Back in Canada while they're in hospital we pay for the parking fees for the family so they can go visit, we hand the family buckets of money so purchases can be made to make the lives of the wounded easier. When they're finally discharged, if their houses need modification, we do it. Their pensions, you know nothing. A soldier wounded overseas, regardless of rank, will never have to work again. Even the lowest private, if he's wounded and cannot do his job, the pension he receives is almost triple his yearly salary, the dollar figure climbs as a soldier climbs in rank. As for them coming home wounded, it's part of the job, and we accept that. Don't try and drum up pitty for us, we don't need it. Look at MCpl Paul Franklin, the man is so positive. Even asked point blank if he was angry he was wounded, he said no. He had a job to do, and he did it. He was unlucky. Our lads are treated like gold when they're hurt, we go to great lengths to make their lives easier, and they're not abandon by any stretch of the imagination. Do you think the Americans care like we do about their multitudes of wounded? I highly doubt it.
Canada has a soldier reproduction problem; more soldiers are retiring than soldiers being recruited, which make the deployment of troops to fight stupid wars very costly and unjustified.
We don't have a reproduction problem...at all. In fact the numbers in the CF have risen by over 5,000 since last spring. So you're out to lunch on that and I don't need to say more.
To use up men and women as if they are disregard-able items is sad
That's a soldiers job. If you don't like it, don't join the Army. Enough said?
Two additional years in Afghanistan will destroy our Canadian soldier’s families in order to help Bush with a stupidly justified war. Afghanistan will be one of Harpers black eyes during his short term as PM.
So what about police officers? Like the one killed in Windsor recently? Don't you think his family is destroyed? Should we remove all police officers from the streets of Windsor to prevent any more from being killed? Moronic no?
As for Harper, how did Afghanistan become his War? We entered it back in 2001, well before he was Prime Minister. Do me a favour, and answer this Socrates, how does the War fall soley on Harper, having not been in power for even 10% of it? Why can't some people see past their dislike for Conservatism and inhabit reality?