I have an opinion???
What do we say? And why does it really matter? About what you ask? You may or may have not noticed that the bodies of 3 soldiers were brought back from Afghanistan today. There are 2 issues that are being discussed in our nation's capital pertaining to this event. 1) the flag on the peace tower wasn't lowered to recognise their deaths and 2) the media has been banned from covering the arrival of the soldier's bodies- both of which, according to critics, are a sign of the Tories down-playing and avoiding the human costs of war.
If I may (and I may, its my blog dammit), I'd like to comment briefly on these 2 issues (I should really make it brief - I'm supposed to be studying right now). First, the flag. If indeed, as the argument goes, the lowering of the flag is to show our support of Canada's boys and girls abroad, what does it really matter to them? they're ABROAD. I argue that it's really for those at home, not those abroad, who want to feel that their personal losses of family and friends are being recognised and validated. If the state mourns the loss of Jim or Jane, then I know that they were lost in the name of Canada and not for some vaguely defined justification to test our weaponry. Perhaps, rather than calling a bunch of old reservist guys in on overtime to lower flags across the country, maybe our troops would feel better supported if we, the people our government represents, spent that overtime pay on upgrading a few of our armoured vehicles, or getting some new body armour so that we don't have to lower the flag so often. I'm not talking about new weapons, I'm talking about PROTECTION. Who needs laser scopes and fancy camoflage? the US do, nobody likes them. Everybody likes Canadians and we should distinguish ourselves as such by being the best armoured and the least armed lot over there. Maximum protection and minimum force... peace isn't cheap or easy, but it MUST be worth it.
Second, the ban on media coverage of the arrival of the dead soldiers is a good thing. Its not about propoganda, or disinformation, its's about preventing sensationalist journalism. 3 coffins on a plane is not news, the agony of grieving families is NOT NEWS. NEWS informs us of facts so that we can make informed judgments about the world, news shouldn't be about the personal trauma of families for the sake of increasing viewership. SCREW THE SENSATIONALIST MEDIA. Tell me whats going on in Afghanistan and why the soldiers died, so that I can make an effort to get something to change. Its not important for me to know that Sgt. Soandso loved hiking and had a beautiful family, it is important for me to know if his commanders sent him/her out with inadequate equipment or information, it is important for me to know if his/her unit had been overutilized: THIS WOULD BE NEWS. It's time the media realized that the freedom of the press is intended to inform, not spread gossip and boo on the Liberals and Dosanjh for using the defence of familial privacy as a political weapon.
so much for keeping this brief...
If I may (and I may, its my blog dammit), I'd like to comment briefly on these 2 issues (I should really make it brief - I'm supposed to be studying right now). First, the flag. If indeed, as the argument goes, the lowering of the flag is to show our support of Canada's boys and girls abroad, what does it really matter to them? they're ABROAD. I argue that it's really for those at home, not those abroad, who want to feel that their personal losses of family and friends are being recognised and validated. If the state mourns the loss of Jim or Jane, then I know that they were lost in the name of Canada and not for some vaguely defined justification to test our weaponry. Perhaps, rather than calling a bunch of old reservist guys in on overtime to lower flags across the country, maybe our troops would feel better supported if we, the people our government represents, spent that overtime pay on upgrading a few of our armoured vehicles, or getting some new body armour so that we don't have to lower the flag so often. I'm not talking about new weapons, I'm talking about PROTECTION. Who needs laser scopes and fancy camoflage? the US do, nobody likes them. Everybody likes Canadians and we should distinguish ourselves as such by being the best armoured and the least armed lot over there. Maximum protection and minimum force... peace isn't cheap or easy, but it MUST be worth it.
Second, the ban on media coverage of the arrival of the dead soldiers is a good thing. Its not about propoganda, or disinformation, its's about preventing sensationalist journalism. 3 coffins on a plane is not news, the agony of grieving families is NOT NEWS. NEWS informs us of facts so that we can make informed judgments about the world, news shouldn't be about the personal trauma of families for the sake of increasing viewership. SCREW THE SENSATIONALIST MEDIA. Tell me whats going on in Afghanistan and why the soldiers died, so that I can make an effort to get something to change. Its not important for me to know that Sgt. Soandso loved hiking and had a beautiful family, it is important for me to know if his commanders sent him/her out with inadequate equipment or information, it is important for me to know if his/her unit had been overutilized: THIS WOULD BE NEWS. It's time the media realized that the freedom of the press is intended to inform, not spread gossip and boo on the Liberals and Dosanjh for using the defence of familial privacy as a political weapon.
so much for keeping this brief...
posted by kalen at 1:43 PM
1 Comments:
Also in the spirit of brevity.
The flag is not a monetary issue (we'd have to pay 1000 guys to lower the Peace Tower flag 100 times to pay for an amoured vehicle). Its about respect. Those people died in the name of Canada and our Canadian value of peace. Lower a flag half way is a small token of respect to offer.
Second, I completely agree with you - max protection & min force - but that's not what we're doing in Afghanistan. A group of Cdn soldiers are HUNTING Osama in the caves & hills. We took over the American mission. We are being bombed. They are differentiated Canadian from American. I think its safe to say they dont' like us. So we need max protection (and since we've assumed an offensive stance) adaquate force. I dont' agree with the policy, but that's the reality of what we're into. We're aren't only peace keeping and certainly not peace building.
Sensationalistic, yes. But the altrenative is public ignorance. Until we find a middle ground, I'd rather have people outraged and upset than apathetic and ambivalent. People as a whole arent' smart, so if they need a flag draped coffin to piss them off & realize what's going on in the world, then so be it.
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