OVER THE EDGE NEWSPAPER. NOVEMBER. &, 2006

OPINIONS

The Anti

ANDREW KURJATA EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

You know who’ really pissing me off lately? Jack Layton, Which is weird be- cause I used to like the guy. At the end of the last election I even thought that, what with the Liberals not having a leader and all, he might be able to pull the NDP ‘further into the center and become a viable candidate for Prime Minister. But now I think a Layton-led government would be a mistake, mostly because of his “Just Say No” stance on the war in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, it seems as if there's a lot of people who would disagree with me on this one. On October 28, thousands of protestors gathered across the country to “bring our troops home.’ Not surprisingly Layton himself turned up at a Toronto rally, saying that the Afghanistan effort is “wrong for Canada.’

“According to a recent: poll, the majority of Canadians think the Canadian effort in Afghanistan cannot suc-

ceed. I beg to differ.“

In a way it’s almost cute. It's like he thinks he’s living in the United States during the Vietnam war-- or even the Iraq war. The fact that the United States appreciates Canadas presence in Af- ghanistan is enough evidence for the anti-war movement that Canadian sol- diers are being used as pawns in a quest for oil and hegemony. Look, T think the “war on terrorism” is as misguided as the next person, but that'doesn’t mean every military effort should be painted with the same brush. Believe it or not,

-Anti- War Movement |

not every problem in the world would be solved if western powets replaced their military budget with education and healthcare, It would just leave us defenceless against the militant groups that have a stronghold throughout other parts of the world. As unfortunate and distasteful as it may be to our “Canadian values,’ sometimes you need a military force in order to lay the groundwork for a functioning peaceful society, |

A frequent accusation lobbed against the Afghanistart effort by Layton is that the money being spent on the armed forces would be better spent on social reconstruction programs. The problem with this is he doesn't seem to under- stand that without the military, any ef- forts at social change would be neutral- ized by the bad guys with bombs. And, yes, they are “bad guys.’ They might not be “evildoers.” They might be the prod- uct of corrupt foreign policy of the past. But they still do bad things that need to be stopped before Afghanistan can move forward, ;

And move forward it can. According to a recent poll, the majority of Can- adians think the Canadian effort in Afghanistan cannot succeed, I beg to differ. Unlike Iraq, which quite possibly lacks the basic groundwork for a dem- ocracy to take off for at least a genera- tion, Afghanistan has some history as a developed, liberal state, For forty years they were a stable, western-style society, Men and women alike were able to ob- tain a university degree, It was a mon- archy, but a constitutional one, with a strong democratic movement. This last- ed until the seventies, when there was a communist coup followed by years of fighting and instability, cumulating with the rise of the Taliban and its subse- quent expulsion by US bombing. Since

then, a democratic government has been established, complete with rule of law, an elected president and parliament, and a court system. And here's an important

point-- foreign forces are in Afghan-

istan at the request of the elected Afghan government. This is no imposed military occupation. This is a fledgling democ- tacy that lacks the resources to maintain peace and order looking to other democ- racies for help:

And help we must. Those who say the effort in Afghanistan goes against “Canadian values” needs to reconsider what exactly those values are. You think it was a mistake to go into Afghanistan? Fine. But were there now, and I think we could agree that it is a bigger mistake to go into a foreign country, shake things up, and then withdraw before things have stabilized. You think we need to focus mote on social programs? Then do that. But also recognize that those social programs are nothing without a military presence to protect them, You think sol- diers are dying needlessly? Most of them

don’t think so-- we do, after all, still have: |

a volunteer army. Comments from those returning from (and those going to) Af- ghanistan indicate that they dont think they're doing something pointless. These are selfless, brave men and women who are willing to risk their lives in order to make a positive change in the world, The best way to make their efforts, and the tragic deaths of their comrades, “need- less” would be to withdraw now before that change can take place. If we're go- ing-to do something, let's do it right. A web search will give you countless ways to support both the Canadian military and Afghan charities. Support our army, support social reconstruction efforts, and then let's bring our troops home-- with their heads held high.

GEOFFREY R. WELLER LIBRARY

| DID YOU KNOW?

The Geoffrey R. Weller Library is pleased to announce its participation in a prov-

© ince-wide Calloborative Virtual reference Service project led by the BC Electronic

Library Network (ELN). The Post-Secondary Virtual Reference Service called As- kAway was officially launched on September 25th.

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You can access the service by clicking on the AskAway link on the Library homepage http://library.unbc.ca or at hetp://www.questionpoint.org/crs/servlet/ org.ocle.home, T FSRedirect?virtcategory=12380,

Research @ your fingertips

Remember

In Flanders Fields

Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae

in Flanders fields the poppies blow : Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie,

in Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

if ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields,

AMBER L. RICHARDS STAFF WRITER On November 11, at the eleventh

hour, don’t forget to have a moment a si- lence, Not only for the soldiers who died

in the World War I and II but for the -

soldiers who are giving up their lives in the war that is happening today,

The Canadian soldiers, who are going to Iraq and Afghanistan to fight this war today, are giving up a lot. They are giving up their families and there is the possi- bility of them not coming back. At the same time, they are doing this on their own free will to go there and fight for Canada. Give Canada a good name for being there.

I personally don't support this battle, I do support the people who choose to go. I support on the level that if they want to fight they can. At the same time,

| I don't support this war because this

has been going on for several years now.

Prime

JOSEPH JEFFERY STAFF WRITER

Everyday the news seems to be filled -

with escalating violence in Iraq, more and higher ranking officials from the countries involved are screaming at their leaders to get the hell out of there, yet each one is met by the words “no”.

Sir Richard Dannatt the most senior soldier in Britain and leader of the Brit- ish armed forces made a statement that Britain should pull out before it was too late as “our mere presence does exacer- bate, and violence results. Many people are worrying that the western forces in Iraq are pushing it slowly towards civil wat, a point which seems to be more ob- vious with every day that passes.

This situation was not unforeseen though. Many people in Britain pro- tested against the war in the first place, there were concerts, albums released, letters where written, mad boxers even drove trucks into the gates of Downing Street in protest and let us not forget the protest marches. All these things where ignored. Those who sent in let- ters of complaint about the war received one back thanking us kindly for the cor-

They have been fighting to settle the ter- rorist attacks and probably some other

‘things that some people are not telling

us, I am pretty sure we all know what is happening, but personally I don't know what is going on all the time over there in“ War Land’.

When I hear on the news that a Can- adian soldier has died in this wat, I feel sick to my stomach,“Such and such per- son was shot down today since there was another car bombing...” I hear. When are they going to stop? That's my ques- tion for the day. When you are thinking about what is happening the world to- day, place your poppy on the gravestone of those who gave up their lives to save this world. Not only for this world, but for everyone that is still alive today, To this article, I say, when you give a mo- ment of silence remember what those soldiers did for you as well what they are doing for you.

Idiocy

respondence and that the government would keep their name on record should any further trouble arise; charmed I’m sure. It wasnt just the general public who where against it, many MPs did not agree with it, including key members of the cabinet such as the foreign secretary Robin Cook and Claire Short.

Three years on and on the brink of civil war, what have we really achieved? Well those WMDs (Weapons of Mass Destruction) were pretty bloody fan- tastic weren't they? Oh wait, that ex- cuse didn’t work out quite so well and when the lie was exposed it wasnt the government that got hurt but the BBC who lost a top reporter and their direc- tor general,

The solution to all of this, well if a certain man with the initials TB where to resign that might be a step forward — he’s already promised that he will leave before the Labour-party confer- ence 2007 which means that either he's got plans to cancel the conference or his counting skills are going to warp slightly as we move from 2006 to 2008.