Christian Conservative Christian "Independent"

I'm an evangelical Christian, member of the CPC, but presently & unjustly exiled to wander the political wilderness.
All opinions expressed here are solely my own.

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Liberal Hypocrisy at its Worst

Alberta Ardvark has pointed out yet another example of Liberal hypocrisy... remember "the good old days" back in 2002, when the Liberals were running the show, and PM JC refused to even acknowledge that there were Canadian soldiers on the ground in Afghanistan?

Now, they're calling us on the carpet for handing over Afghan prisoners to the Afghan authorities... prisoners to whom the Geneva Convention does not apply. (they are not uniformed soldiers of any nation under any declaration of war) The irony of this whole issue? They're being handed over in accordance with the prisoner transfer agreement established during the tenure of the previous Liberal government. Yes, some reports of questionable practices have come up... so the Government has an obligation to investigate. There are still many details that need to be cleared up, but once things are clear, action should indeed be taken. But seeing the Liberals and other Opposition parties harping on The Honourable Mr. O'Conner is just sad.

Poor old Gordon. I'll admit, he's gone and stuck his foot in his mouth this week about the non-agreed to agreement to monitor prisoners. Looks like he jumped the gun a bit, and got some as-yet-to-be-determined details wrong... details, which by the way, are still in the works. But hardly the kind of thing that he should be forced to resign over. He's got one tough job, and can't seem to get a break.

During the CPC Training back in March, when he came up to the microphone to speak, the audience stopped him before he could open his mouth... by giving him a standing ovation for all the hard and thankless work he's done since taking office. He more than deserved it. (and he responded, after almost two minutes of sustained applause, "My mother put you up to that, didn't she." LOL) He has done more to rebuild this nation's military than any other Defence Minister for the last 15 or so years. It was indeed a "Decade of Darkness"... brought on by the Liberal Party of Canada's utter lack of understanding of the role of the Canadian military, and by its total lack of respect for the men and women who serve in uniform. That's why the men and women in Canada's military by and large support our Party, if any... because we're the only one who's shown them any kind of respect for generations.

They're greatful for what we've done for them... just as we are greatful for what they have done, and are willing to do, for each and every one of us.

Mr. O'Conner, while admittedly not the best performer in the House of Commons, or even on the media front, is just not a politician... he is a man of action. He took over a department that was in tatters, and has begun the task of rebuilding a proud Canadian institution... the Canadian Armed Forces. Some, even here amongst the Blogging Tories, are saying it's time for him to go. I disagree. He's made some real progress on a huge number of issues and files... and though admittedly he's made a couple of minor blunders on the Afghan detainees file, I hardly think it's something he should be tossed out in the cold for.

If it's a problem, give that portion of his file to Peter MacKay in Foreign Affairs, or to his Parliamentary Secretary... and let him keep doing the rest of his job that he has been doing so well.

I'll put it to you this way... I trust a blundering Mr. O'Conner running the Defence Department way more than I trust his predecessors.

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Saturday, February 17, 2007

"Decade of Darkness", Lt. Gen. Hillier - 2003

So, Messr. Coderre, how come it's only NOW that you object to the phrase "Decade of Darkness"... as it's been floating out there for over four years now?

"We are coming out of a decade of darkness."
Lieutenant-General Rick Hillier, Chief of the Land Staff, quoted during the Combat Development Board, 12 May 2003.

Anyone care to review that?

Another question for you, Messr. Coderre... who was in power back in 2003? Sure wasn't the Tories, that's for sure!

And if he'd made a statement like that back in 2003, why on earth would you choose to appoint him as Chief of the Defence Staff in 2005?
Lieutenant-General Rick Hillier appointed new Chief of the Defence Staff
NR–05.004 - January 14, 2005

OTTAWA – Minister Bill Graham welcomed the Prime Minister's announcement appointing Lieutenant-General Rick Hillier as the new Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS), effective Feb. 4.

“Lt.-Gen. Hillier assumes the position at a very important time for the Canadian Forces,” said Bill Graham, Minister of National Defence referring to the Government's defence policy review looking at what kind of military Canada needs in the post-September 11th security environment.

“Lt.-Gen. Hillier's leadership and experience will be invaluable as we move forward in this process to transform the Canadian Forces to meet the security challenges Canada faces. He has extensive experience serving in Canada, Europe and the United States. Lt.-Gen. Hillier has more operational experience than most having served a number of times on United Nations and NATO missions – most recently lead some 6,000 troops from 35 nations as the commander of NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).”

“I have complete confidence in his ability to shape and implement Canadian Forces transformation,” said Graham.
This post thanks to an observant commenter... thanks "Wilson61"!

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Friday, February 16, 2007

MP Denis Coderre and "Tory props"

Well, I'm sure we've all by now heard of Liberal MP Denis Coderre's boneheaded comments... Gen. Hillier "a Tory prop"? Hey man, you guys appointed him!

Humm, I'll have to admit though, it was a particularly devastating quote... "decade of darkness"? NICE! Thanks Rick, I like it! Mind if we take it out for a test drive and beat them over the head with it for a while? ;-)

In reading about this on the BT tonight, I went through the comments on SDA... various current and former military guys leaving comments, having a general discussion on the Liberal's deplorable record in regards to Canada's military. Someone left a really interesting comment to think about...
"Hmmm, I wonder why almost the entire complement of our soldiers vote Conservative, while all the criminals in our jails vote Liberal.

Must be a causal relationship there..."
I mean, I always knew the particular voting preferences of these two groups, but I never really thought to much about it! Interesting contrast, eh?

I think Kate sums up the whole matter about Denis Coderre's comment quite well...
"Thereby taking a statement of fact made before a small audience and repeating it to a a wider Canadian public to remind us that yes - under the Liberals, the Canadian Forces endured "a decade of darkness", with soldiers at food banks, bullet rationing and rotting equipment.

Well done, Denis!"
Had he not commented on Gen. Hillier's statement, I would have missed it all together... and it would have likely garnered little or no media coveage whatsoever.

Again, thanks Denis!

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