Here's how Chris tells it:
While answering a question last night at the St. Lawrence debate, I mentioned that it’s important for us to realize that there are currently Canadian military officers serving in Iraq as part of the American command. Bob Rae interrupted me to object adamantly, almost angrily. “No there aren’t!”Anybody who's been keepin' track already knew we've had guys in the JTF2 in EyeRack fer years. It's dang disappointin' to hear about Bobby Rae shootin' his mouth off on somethin' he don't know about. I'd like to see Bobby publicly apologize fer interruptin' Chris when Chris was right and Rae was wrong.Yes, I said, there are. “No there aren’t,” Mr. Rae said again. “They’re part of our military exchange program,” I explained. (I’m paraphrasing from memory for now, but will be able to check the tape later and will post the video when I can.) Strangely, Mr. Rae demanded I tell him where in Iraq our officers were stationed, as if my inability to do so would prove they weren’t there.
At that point, seeing no immediate resolution to our disagreement, I moved on with the rest of my answer. Today, however, having confirmed that I was correct, I’m quite taken aback that Mr. Rae could have been so misinformed about our military’s exchange program with the United States and our direct involvement in the war in Iraq. It’s made worse by the fact that Mr. Rae isn’t just any Liberal candidate: he’s the party’s foreign affairs critic.
(There's more...)
The Liberals put Canadian soldiers in Iraq and in Afghanistan. They caved in to Con pressure and agreed to extend the Afghan mission by 2 more senseless years. Doesn't Bob Rae even know what his chosen party has got us into?
JimBobby
11 comments:
Actually this is the 4th extension, as the original mission was suppose to end in 2003. So really, can anyone seriously believe that this will be the last one, so long as either Conservatives or Liberals have anything to say about it. This mission was suppose to end in 2003.
That said, it is your party leader who thinks that Dion along with the liberal cohert should be in charge, thus what's your point, beyond scoring who knows where are military is serving?
Sorry JimBob, but a liberal led govt won't get us out of Afghanistan or Iraq for that matter, it requires NDP. Until May quits propping up Libs and Dion, by default the Green Party supports war.
Hopefully, May will break her bonds with the libs and stands up!
If there are any soldiers in Iraq that are Canadian, it is because they were, at the beginning of the Iraq war, stationed at an American Airbase, and were required to go.
Nothing in the article you link shows that any formed unit of Canadians is serving in Iraq. It only states "The U.S. was impressed by JTF2's performance in Afghanistan and had its eye on the unit for its campaign in Iraq."
"... had it's eye on..." Clear indication that this is a desire as opposed to a reality. And given the US's failures WRT keeping secrets, I have serious doubts as to you claim of JTF2 being deployed to Iraq.
But hey, accuracy in reporting, who needs that...
Further, I've had my eye on a Lamborghini for a long time... Doesn't mean I own one.
Hey, anon, I mean Bob, is that you???
How's it going?
Anon 8:08,
JTF2 was deployed in Iraq. That's fact.
Canadian soldiers are serving in Iraq as a result of a military exchange - that does not make them less Canadian, just because they serve at the discretion of the US military. That's fact.
Bob Rae, Liberal foreign affairs critic, is unaware of this - but Chris Tindal and several bloggers who don't do foreign affairs for a living are.
Unconfirmed reports that they deployed to rescue CANADIANS does not mean they deployed for any other reason. That is a fact.
Facts are important... Something that you should work on.
I never said they deployed for anything else, but, you would have to have read and comprehend what I actually wrote to understand that.
I only said they were deployed to Iraq.
Focus, Anon. Focus. Try to work on one thought at a time.
Sorry, JB. Can't resist feeding the trolls on your blog.
Reading comprehension... That's good. You should read the context that "JB" put it in. It is kinda different the the one you use, eh?
Reading comprehension, try it before you accuse others. You just may look a little more intelligent for it.
There most certainly were Canadians who were serving in Iraq. They ended up there as there were part of an ongoing exchange program. One of the most senior officers in Iraq at one point, commanding US military, directing warfare, was a Canadian Armed Forces general.
I seem to recall this was a storm that the Liberals weathered, and that it was a point raised by the NDP years back.
More to the point, we still have a senior officer there:
"VANCOUVER, Jan 23 (IPS) - Despite the government's official position abstaining from combat in Iraq, Canada has dispatched yet another top general to the command group overseeing day-to-day operations for the U.S.-led occupation and counterinsurgency war.
Brigadier-General Nicolas Matern, a Special Forces officer and former commander of Canada's elite counter-terrorism unit, will serve as deputy to Lt. Gen. Lloyd Austin III, incoming commander of the 170,000-strong Multi National Corps-Iraq beginning in mid-February.
Matern is the third Canadian general to serve in the command group of Operation Iraqi Freedom as part of an exchange programme that places Canadian Forces officers in leadership positions in the U.S. military. His deployment is part of a three-year post with the U.S. Army's 18th Airborne Corps, based out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
Officials at Fort Bragg confirmed that Matern has already been deployed to Iraq, though no official statement has been made by Canadian officials."
From http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7897
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