Canadians in Afghanistan

Canadians in Afghanistan

Postby Oscar » Sun Apr 19, 2009 11:11 am

Canadians in Afghanistan

April 03, 2009 1:28 PM

To the Editor,

It is with some trepidation that I write this letter inasmuch as it seems that anyone who questions Canada's military presence in Afghanistan is accused of not supporting our troops in this war - that appears to have no end in sight - while the number of our young men (and women) being killed or injured is increasing.

First of all, let us be plain that the reason Canadian soldiers are in this theatre of war is because they volunteered service in the military.

They did not join because they wanted to kill people. But now our government has required them to do just that.

However, by the time our military arrived on the scene, we already had been told that the enemy was al-Qaeda and the "Taliban" who were responsible for 9/11.

Originally the Taliban were recruited and formed with the help of the CIA who were anxious to defeat the Russian army after the 1979 invasion of Afghanistan. The Taliban, at that time, consisted mostly of mujahidin war lords. Seven of these people are now members of Hamid Karzie's Afghan government. Five of these are known warlords who have been cited for human rights abuses and killings, and a sixth has been accused by the UN for illegal land grabs. All the while, the majority of Afghan people live in terror and poverty.

A British commander stated that " the fight here isn't really about religion. It's about money".

And that means that it is about control by diverse interests of the vast reserves of oil in the Middle East region. Although we Canadians abhor the fundamentalist extremist cultural practices of the Taliban, these wars are now into the eighth year of destruction, displacement, injury and death of millions of people in the region. Add to that the sacrifice of the lives of over 4000 American soldiers, and over 100 Canadians There are thousands more on both sides of this struggle who have been physically and mentally injured for life.

It would appear that the US military, with the help of their NATO allies, obviously have the greatest number of efficient, technological superior weapons of war on this planet.

But it also would appear that those who foster war are the most uncivilized species presently living on this obscure planet Earth.

Leo Kurtenbach,
Box 268, Cudworth, Sask., S0K 1BO
Oscar
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Military Observations

Postby Oscar » Sun Aug 09, 2009 4:22 pm

Military Observations

July 21, 2009

To the Editor,

General Omar Bradley was a well known military leader when he served under President Dwight Eisenhower during World War 2. The following is his statement about war: "We have grasped the mystery of the atom, and rejected the Sermon of the Mount. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about war than we do about peace, more about killing than we do about living."

Recently, the elderly retired General Albert Stubblebine, who, during his active military career, was in charge of the Intelligence Branch of all the military sectors for the US, commented on the 9/11catastrophe. He intimated that the destruction of the two towers in New York and the Pentagon was a false flag operation, and described the details of how those buildings were leveled, which led him to that conclusion.

Almost no one, including George Bush and Tony Blair, no longer denies that the reason that US and NATO forces are in Iraq and Afghanistan is because we wanted their oil. What our leaders are teaching our young people is this: if you cannot get what you want by negotiation or by paying for it, it is okay to use military force.

After all the horrible destruction and the death of many innocent civilans in those two countries, plus the loss of 4,326 American and 126 Canadian soldiers, and thousands more wounded or disabled in this tragic war, we now console ourselves with the fact that we got rid of that brutal dictator, Saddam Hussien, and now are valiantly struggling to rid the world of those Islamic extremists, the terrible Taliban.

The latter are the same group that the CIA advised and encouraged in driving the Russians out of Afghanistan after a twelve year war!

Can't help but think about the old saying, "what goes around comes around". We are killing people that never invaded the US or Canada.

It is truly disturbing and regrettable that we, who consider ourselves an integral part of two Christian nations, cannot relate to the teaching of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, who, when arrested, admonished one of his followers to put away his sword when he had cut off the ear of the high priest's slave.

Leo Kurtenbach,
Box 268, Cudworth, Sask., S0K 1B0
Phone --256 3638
Oscar
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Prisoners being tortured?

Postby Oscar » Thu Nov 26, 2009 4:35 pm

Prisoners being tortured?

From: "Leo Kurtenbach" <leokurt@sasktel.net>
To: "Harper, Stephen - M.P." <Harper.S@parl.gc.ca>; <Ignatieff.M@parl.gc.ca>; "Layton, Jack - M.P." <Layton.J@parl.gc.ca>; <Duceppe.G@parl.gc.ca>; <Dion.S@parl.gc.ca>
Cc: "David Orchard" <davidorchard@sasktel.net>; <Trost.B@parl.gc.ca>
Sent: Thursday, November 26, 2009 3:35 PM

Dear Members of Parliament,

My wife, Helen, and I are very concerned about the allegations voiced in the House of Commons regarding Afghans being detained by our Canadian soldiers. The allegations are that these detainees have been turned over to Afghan government security forces and may have been tortured.

We understand that Canada, a signatory of the Geneva Convention, prohibits the use of torture on prisoners of war. It seems to us that it follows that we should not deliver prisoners into the care of others who may use torture. It is also quite possible that some of the Afghans taken prisoners during heat of the battle may have been civilians not connected to the Taliban. Blame for torture cannot be levelled against soldiers on the front lines. They do what they are ordered to do by their political and military leaders. This does not mean that it is okay to torture Taliban prisoners.

Since our Canadian soldiers are in Afghanistan fighting under the aegis of the US command, who are known to have condoned torture, and since our present federal government is loath to criticize US military practices, it does not seem unreasonable to question our political and military leaders on this issue.

Our global reputation as a peaceful nation is being sullied. The situation now requires an independent inquiry to sort out the present allegations and denials.

Yours sincerely,

Leo and Helen Kurtenbach
Cutknife, SK
Oscar
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Pakistan/Afghanistan and War

Postby Oscar » Fri Sep 03, 2010 12:10 pm

Pakistan/Afghanistan and War

September 3, 2010

To the Editor,

It shatters our hearts to see the appalling conditions that the powerless and impoverished people of Pakistan have to endure. And knowing that millions have lost all their material possessions, including their crops, and many people have lost their lives due to the unprecedented floods. Million of acres are presently covered by water.

In the meantime, the U.S. military continues to assassinate Pakistani Pashtun leaders, who they believe are in league with the Afghan Taliban. This is done with the use of American pilot-less airplanes called drones. The latter may be accurate to location, but needless to say, such attacks often kill or maim innocent civilians.

Recently, Canadian police have arrested three or four Canadians who are alleged to be planning acts of terrorism in Canada. There is only one way to stop this sort of violence from taking place: remove our Canadian attack troops from Afghanistan and replace them with United Nations sponsored Canadian peace-makers. That should be and would be a more Christian approach.

To really understand what is now taking place in Afghanistan, a country that has been besieged by almost thirty years of foreign invasions, let us just imagine how we Canadians would react if an Afghan military force, with the support of its Middle East neighbors, invaded Canada. And let us also suppose that this Middle East invasion force had the same modern array of weapons that Canada and its NATO allies are using in Afghanistan. Lastly, let us visualize that Canada had no real army, air force or navy, and like Afghanistan, was one of the poorest countries in the world

Under the circumstances described above, how many Canadians would become insurgents or terrorists?

Leo Kurtenbach,
Box 268, Cudworth, Sask., S0K 1B0
Phone (306) 256-3638
Oscar
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