To the ostriches who believe that Afghanistan is not our war because we do not need to fear terrorists, may I gently point out this news item (that is one scary looking dude! Amazing how dark glass can distort a face when looking through a camera lens.).
Oh well, I know what you're going to say, these are all Ontarians. They are "Canadian residents from variety of backgrounds," (though from their names, looks like they're all Muslims) so what has this cell got to do with Afghanistan?
Afghanistan was the nadir of the terrorist movement. It was the lawless place, with a devastated population after the Russians left, that was vulnerable to the rise of the Taliban, who harboured Al Quaeda. These thugs are trying to re-establish their stronghold so that they can rise up again and become a more potent fighting force with a firm foundation grounded in Afghanistan. Their only impediment is a well-functioning strong government that can improve living conditions, education, and women's rights throughout the country, which means that the local populace will want to and can better repel these invaders who only want to foment hatred.
Still, cells can rise up and establish themselves in other countries, and so why does it matter what we do in Afghanistan? It's like cutting off a chicken's head: the chicken still runs around, causing mayhem as the hapless human chases it, but eventually it keels over and dies. Helping Afghanis to establish a stable government and create peace throughout their land is like cutting off the chicken's head completely. Until the local population, with our military and civilian support, successfully does that, we'll be dealing with the chicken, his head partially severed, running here, there, and everywhere. And sticking our heads in the sand doesn't stop the chicken from running around our butts.
Oh well, I know what you're going to say, these are all Ontarians. They are "Canadian residents from variety of backgrounds," (though from their names, looks like they're all Muslims) so what has this cell got to do with Afghanistan?
Afghanistan was the nadir of the terrorist movement. It was the lawless place, with a devastated population after the Russians left, that was vulnerable to the rise of the Taliban, who harboured Al Quaeda. These thugs are trying to re-establish their stronghold so that they can rise up again and become a more potent fighting force with a firm foundation grounded in Afghanistan. Their only impediment is a well-functioning strong government that can improve living conditions, education, and women's rights throughout the country, which means that the local populace will want to and can better repel these invaders who only want to foment hatred.
Still, cells can rise up and establish themselves in other countries, and so why does it matter what we do in Afghanistan? It's like cutting off a chicken's head: the chicken still runs around, causing mayhem as the hapless human chases it, but eventually it keels over and dies. Helping Afghanis to establish a stable government and create peace throughout their land is like cutting off the chicken's head completely. Until the local population, with our military and civilian support, successfully does that, we'll be dealing with the chicken, his head partially severed, running here, there, and everywhere. And sticking our heads in the sand doesn't stop the chicken from running around our butts.
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