The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
More Promises Made, Kept, and Broken Federal New Democratic Party Leader Jack Layton from time to time makes some sense before reverting to "Wacko Jacko," as he was referred to by the Liberals. This time the leader of Canada's fourth party has advocated bringing our troops home from Afghanistan and negotiating with the Taliban to end the conflict. As we all know, Canada is part of a NATO force sent to that wild country not as peacekeepers only, but to defeat the terrorists and help the people establish a stable democracy. As Foreign Minister Peter Mackay wonders, "Who would you negotiate with? The suicide bombers? Al-Quaida?" Realistically, what could such negotiations bring? Maybe a return to the subjugation of women who, under the Taliban, were not allowed to go to school or vote. They had no rights and were killed and sometimes crucified if they did not dress as ordered. Today under the allies and the new Afghan government, thousands of children are in school and the terrorist training camps of yesteryear are out of business. Progress is being made in spite of casualties. If we were to follow Jacko's suggestion, all those benefits would be negated and the enemy would in effect win the war. Canada, which has already passed a vote to extend the mission until 2009, would be the laughing stock of NATO and finished as a reputable country. Meanwhile, the Bloc Quebecois has called for an emergency parliamentary debate on Afghanistan. This will not happen if the government has its way, as the debate and vote have already been held to extend our mission. What is there to debate? Such a happening would not be beneficial to our troops, but the Bloc and NDP want to appeal to the peacenicks they hope will support them in the next election. According to some press reports, Layton is going to be under siege from the Green Party, which has recently elected a new leader who is supposedly an expert in communications. Pundits expect the Greens to go after the NDP vote. This could fracture the leftist vote and allow more Conservatives and Liberals to get elected. Some commentators said that Layton was playing the anti-Afghanistan card to get some publicity before the NDP convention, and to appeal to his leftist supporters. His rationale for his proposal, together with his beliefs as to what Canada should be doing in foreign policy, is simply drivel and has little or no relevance to the modern world. Roger's Right Corner runs Wednesdays.
