Monday, September 03, 2007

MacKay announces surge in GnuGov bullshit

Sunday New York Times Front Page :
Afghan Police Suffer Setbacks as Taliban Adapt
"A year after Canadian and American forces drove hundreds of Taliban fighters from the area, the Panjwai and Zhare districts southwest of Kandahar, the rebels are back and have adopted new tactics. Carrying out guerrilla attacks after NATO troops partly withdrew in July, they overran isolated police posts and are now operating in areas where they can mount attacks on Kandahar, the south’s largest city.
The setback is part of a bloody stalemate that has occurred between NATO troops and Taliban fighters across southern Afghanistan this summer. NATO and Afghan Army soldiers can push the Taliban out of rural areas, but the Afghan police are too weak to hold the territory after they withdraw."

Sunday CanWest News :
"At least 30 Canadian soldiers were killed, and dozens more wounded, during operations last year to kill and root out insurgents from the districts around Kandahar. Canada and its allies therefore rely on Afghan police to hold strategic areas. But the Afghan police are notoriously unreliable, underpaid and poorly trained and equipped."

Sunday CTV Interview with Peter MacKay :
"Canadian sacrifices in Kandahar “have paved the way for incredible progress,” he said. “We’re seeing an Afghan army and Afghan police force able to participate in a more fulsome way in the defence and security of their own country.”
MacKay’s comments signalled the start of a new public relations campaign by the Conservative government on the home front this weekend, designed to highlight the successes of the mission and sell the war to Canadians.
“I think you’re going to see a more concerted effort to make those statements and demonstrate the progress that has come about because of the work of our military,” MacKay said on Sunday."

h/t Rambling Socialist

3 comments:

West End Bob said...

peter is ramping up the marketing of "the brand", as andy card would refer to it.

Can't wait to see what they have up their sleeves for hyping any Iranian action which I'm sure is about to follow . . . .

Anonymous said...

Depends on what the US does before Feb 2009. If Bush and Cheney decide their last big act should be to attack Iran, Canada can stay out on the grounds we're busy in Afghanistan, so Harper won't get himself lynched by Canadians.

Alison said...

Where a simple No would presumably be out of the question, huh, Holly?
Interesting idea.
There's 18 months left to go. Harper pre-empted opposition from the Bloc and Cons by announcing a kinda Afghan withdrawal but has yet to pass this tidbit on to NATO.

I found MacKay's first outing in his new portfolio very weird. Who was he speechifying here to exactly? Does he think we don't read the news? Is he right?

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