What Did He Just Say?

I watched a bit of Canada AM this morning and Gordon O'Connor was being interviewed. He was defending the mission in Afghanistan...fair enough, that's his job.

Toward the end of the interview though, while explaining why we are in Afghanistan, he suddenly said, "remember, the terrorists that blew up the twin towers, came out of Afghanistan". (video)

Now I'm quite sure that this man knows that is incorrect, but the question is why would he say that? Is it just easier to explain our NATO role in Afghanistan by simplifying it in this ridiculous way or is it meant to mislead and bolster support?

Thoughts?

Give Us a Call?

You'd think with the mounting death toll in Afghanistan, that every effort would be made by our Defense Department to explore all ideas concerning the detection of IED's, wouldn't you? Apparently not.

Finally!

Could we, at long last, finally be seeing a shift away from the incessant "fear mongering" that we have experienced, over the past 6 years?

"In contrast to Tony Blair, the new British leader has offered no emotive sound bites, no promises of tough new laws and no talk of a “war on terror” since the failed attacks in London and Glasgow."

Obviously, until Bush is gone, this will not be the new "norm" and even then there are no guarantees, but it is refreshing to see a more leveled approach to this issue.

I heard a report yesterday that Brown intends to stop using terms like, "the War on Terror" and "Muslim Extremists". All I can say is, it's about time that a Leader started to bring us back to a more reasonable view of what we face in the world today. As it relates to the perpetrators of terrorism, his intent is to name them by affiliation, Al-Qaeda, etc.

Approaching terrorists as criminals, seems infinitely more effective to me. Isn't that how we approach this issue here? In spite of all the blustery rhetoric from Harper and Day, at the end of the day, it's an intelligence and policing issue, not a "war".

I hope his sanity will catch on and that other leaders will stop their endless rants and childish repetition of vacuous "tag lines".

We all know what is going on around the world and I have no doubt that the media will continue to inform us as events occur. Having leaders who can put those events into context, without the histrionics, is long overdue.

Excessive? Compared to What?

What a surprise, Bush has commuted "Scooter's" sentence.

"I respect the jury's verdict," Bush said in a statement. "But I have concluded that the prison sentence given to Mr. Libby is excessive. Therefore, I am commuting the portion of Mr. Libby's sentence that required him to spend thirty months in prison."

Perhaps we should buy the man a dictionary, respect and excessive, seem to require further definition.

A spokeswoman for Cheney said simply, "The vice president supports the president's decision."

I think we can replace the word, "supports" to forced, don't you?

It is quite remarkable what this man, Bush, has gotten away with. This being minor in the scheme of things. I'm sure historians will be scratching their heads wondering how it all happened.

The answer of course is, because America allowed it, politicians and citizens alike.

HAPPY CANADA DAY TO ALL!