In for a Penny, In for a Pounding

In the continuing war against dark-ages revanchism (aka the “War on Terror”) we continue to lose troops in ongoing combat operations. Yesterday was a bad day for Canadian troops in Afghanistan, with 4 dead and 10 wounded.

Again, this is the cost of defending our way of life, since we must be defended against things that menace us as far from our shores as possible. So far Canada has lost 20 soldiers to enemy activity (and 4 more to a trigger-happy American pilot) in the ‘stan, and there will be more. I won’t get into the casualties the US has suffered, but I will add a bit of historical perspective for Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition in Canada, since they seem to need it.

All-Canadian forces took the “impregnable” Vimy Ridge position from the Germans between 9th and 14th April 1917, and suffered 3598 DEAD in that one battle. Five days (most of the casualties on the first day) versus 4 years with an average to date of 5 dead per YEAR. Yes I know that average is a meaningless statistic, but I think I’ve made my point.

All of our troops are volunteers, and a lot of them are quite eager to pay these Taliban, etc. idiots back with interest for every one of our people who gets hurt or killed. Our side’s taking some stick, but we’re more than happy to give it back, and despite the cursory news coverage, we’ve been doing so.

Pansy-ass politicians (who aren’t even in power) should keep in mind the fact that people out on the sharp end signed up knowing what the risk was, and had every opportunity to get out of the Forces if they felt they didn’t want to deal with it. Comments suggesting that things are “too dangerous” are an insult to the troops, since (a) they’re professional soldiers, and (b) the guys making these comments were in power when Canada was committed to Afghanistan. That’s right Liberal Party; YOU put the troops there, so shut up and let us do the job that YOU saddled us with.

I could get in some trouble for making statements like this, but that’s why my name isn’t all over this. I’ll take a few chances, or I shouldn’t be in the military. To dig things a bit deeper for myself, I’m impressed with how our present government is handling things, and I know the troops appreciate the fact that the people who took over have our backs.

Don’t get the idea that I think troops are disposable; I don’t. One thing you can say though; I want a lot of payback for our losses, and I don’t care that a lot of pudding heads would say “that won’t solve anything”. If you haven’t yet read the poem that my space is named after, I’ll give you the relevant passage:

With home-bred hordes the hillsides teem,
The troopships bring us one by one,
At vast expense of time and steam,
To slay Afridis where they run.
The "captives of our bow and spear"
Are cheap, alas! as we are dear.

Again, change the names and technology, but the concept hasn’t even budged since Kipling’s time.