http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080228/...rorist_threats

Not good. See Canada? This is not the time to start waving the White Flag. Crush the French nature from within!!!!!!

Leaving the French bashing aside, this 'Mini-Surge' of Marines should help change the situation.

__________________
I'll tell you this no eternal reward will forgive us now for wasting the dawn
Nothing to kill or die for and no religion too
You may bury my body, down by the highway side,
so my old evil spirit can get a Greyhound bus and ride.

The article says only 11% is under Taliban control. Before the war it was like 90%. All this article is saying is that the progress we made has been massive, and you can thank Canada for a good chunk of that progress. For the remaining tribal areas not under either government or Taliban control, you need a political solution for that.

How is Canada waving the white flag? Of the 2 dozen NATO countries in Afghanistan, Canada is one of the three or four doing the direct fighting. We have been doing this since the beginning and will until we leave.

France, Germany, and most other NATO countries have not been in direct fighting, nor do they plan to. If they were in the fighting, like Canada has been, we could all withdraw now because the Taliban would be finished.

And Canada's withdrawal date, if it goes through, still wouldn't be until Nov. 2011. So Canada hasn't waved the white flag yet, and theres a good chance Canada will complete its mission before it has to withdraw.

If Canada leaves before the job is done, boo hoo, the rest of NATO might have to pitch in.

__________________
"The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. " — John Stuart Mill

We can have none of this in our alliance. There is no leaving when one chooses, if we want to present a Common Front then we must act together and not seperately.

I know it's very hypocritical of me (being a Yank) to say 'work together' but I think you can trust your cousins down south have learnt the dangers and folly of 'Pre-Emptive' war. Afghanistan however is critical for our success in the region. If we can win where the USSR messed up, then what will that say to the world? It will say NATO can act together, 1000's of miles from their home territory and still win.

__________________
I'll tell you this no eternal reward will forgive us now for wasting the dawn
Nothing to kill or die for and no religion too
You may bury my body, down by the highway side,
so my old evil spirit can get a Greyhound bus and ride.

Acting together is pointless if most NATO countries refuse to partake in combat. Its easy for most of these countries to have high public support, because they aren't sharing the burden and they aren't going in combat missions and taking casualties.

There is no common front. While Canada is off taking casualties in combat, most other NATO countries are sitting in bases in safe regions doing little to nothing.

The Alliance is already broken, yet you are too blind to see it. If other NATO countries stepped in and started sharing the load, public support in Canada would stop falling. Until then, domestic politics in Canada will be what it may, because NATO has put us in that position.

__________________
"The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. " — John Stuart Mill

off with you then, and dont be asking for others to offer their blood.

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I have something to hide.