When people have courage and integrity, these are the kinds of letters that they write.

We deserve truth about Afghan mission
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Jun 09, 2009 04:30 AM
Re: Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan, June 8

A soldier's duty is one segment of a three-way partnership. Phrases designed to stir emotion do no more than make the loss of lives and limbs acceptable. Comparing Afghanistan to Juno Beach in Normandy, or focusing on the plight of Afghan schoolgirls, is both erroneous and distracting.

We "ordinary Canadians" must search beyond the patriotic rhetoric to find out why our soldiers fight and die in a land half way around the world. We must engage in critical thinking and hold our politicians to account. We owe this to our soldiers.

The root cause of Afghanistan's destruction as a nation is outlined in Robert Gates' memoirs, From the Shadows. In 1979, U.S. intelligence services began to aid the Mujahadeen in Afghanistan six months before the Soviet incursion, in order to draw the Russians into the Afghan Trap. "A U.S.-backed pipeline from the Caspian petroleum reserves is planned to run directly through Kandahar," according to an article by Josh Visser of CTV.ca news. Are Canadian soldiers being used to help sweep up an American-made mess and help prepare Afghanistan to receive an American-controlled pipeline? Ordinary Canadians deserve a straight answer to this question.

The grim total is now 119 Canadian soldier deaths in Afghanistan.

Graeme Gardiner, Sidney, B.C.