Fellow Countrymen

With regards to the recent incidents resulting in Canadian casualties and deaths in the War on Terror consider this little story I received of late.

One of my sons serves in the army. He is still here in Canada. He called me yesterday to let me know how warm and welcoming people were to him, and his fellow soldiers, everywhere he goes, telling me how people shake their hands, and thank them for being willing to serve, and fight, for not only our own freedoms but so that others may have them also.

But he also told me about an incident in the grocers' shop he stopped at yesterday, on his way home from the barracks. He said that ahead of several people in front of him stood a woman dressed in a burkha. He said when she got to the checkout she loudly remarked about the
Canadian Flag lapel badge the cashier wore on her blouse.

The cashier reached up and touched the badge, and said proudly, "Yes, I always wear it and probably always will."

The woman in the burkha then asked the cashier when she was going to stop bombing her countrymen, explaining that she was Iraqi.

A gentleman standing behind my son stepped forward, putting his arm around my son's shoulders, and nodding towards my son, said in a calm and gentle voice to the Iraqi woman: "Lady, hundreds of thousands of men and women like this young man have fought and died so that YOU could stand here, in MY country and accuse a check-out cashier of bombing YOUR countrymen. It is my belief that had you been this outspoken in YOUR own country, we wouldn't need to be there today.

But, hey, if you have now learned how to speak out so loudly and clearly, I'll gladly buy you a ticket and pay your way back to Iraq so you can straighten out the mess in YOUR country - that you are obviously here, in MY country to avoid."

Everyone within hearing distance cheered!

Fallen Soldier

Here is to another fallen comrade in the War on Terror.

Pte. Robert Costall, 22, of the First Battalion of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry in Edmonton, was killed early Wednesday in an exchange of fire with Taliban Terrorists. For more info click the link below

My condolences to the friends and family of Robert.

Pro Patria

Ten Commandments of the Canadian Infantry

1. You are the elite of the Canadian Army. For you action shall be fulfillment and you must train yourself to stand every test.

2. Cultivate true comradeship, for together with your comrades you will triumph or die.

3. Be shy of speech and incorruptible. The Strong act. The Weak chatter and chatter will bring you to the grave.

4. Calmness and caution, thoroughness and determination, valor and a relentless spirit of attack will make you superior when the test comes.

5. Face to face with the enemy, the most precious thing is ammunition. The man who fires aimlessly merely to reassure himself has no guts. He is a weakling and does not deserve the name of "Infantryman."

6. Never surrender. Your honor lies in victory or death.

7. Only with good weapons can you achieve success. Look after them therefore, on the principle, "First my weapon, then myself."

8. You must grasp the full meaning of each operation so that, even if your leader should fall, you can carry it out coolly and warily.

9. Fight chivalrously against an honorable foe; fifth columnists and civilian snipers deserve no quarter.

10. With your eyes open, keyed up to the highest pitch, agile as a greyhound, tough as leather, hard as steel, you will be the embodiment of a Canadian Infantryman..

Author - Unknown

QW - "The Army In Which I Would Fight"

“I‘d like to have two armies: One for displaying with lovely guns, tanks, little soldiers,
Staffs, distinguished and doddering generals and dear little regimental officers who would be deeply concerned over their general’s bowl movements of their colonel’s piles: An army that would be shown for a modest fee on every fairground in the country.”

“The other would be the real one composes entirely of young enthusiasts on camouflage uniforms, who would not be put on display, but from whom impossible efforts would be demanded and to whom all sorts of tricks would be taught. That’s the army in which I would like to fight.”

Jean Larte’Guy

Canadians In Iraq

It's no secret that small numbers of Canadian military personnel are working with U.S. forces in Iraq but there has been regular military exchange commitments between the two countries for many years. This practice is also done between Canada and many other nations of the world. Otherwise, there is not a large contingent in Iraq, as there is in Afghanistan.
As for the question, "How long before Canada pulls out of Iraq?", that cannot be answered here on this forum. Only that as long as our treaty commitments and the War on Terrorism exists Canada will remain an active participant in world affairs.

QW - Military Action

"Military action is important to the nation - it is the ground of death and life, the path of survival and destruction, so it is imparitive to examine it"

Sun Tzu
Strategic Assessments

QW - Motivational - the Riddle of Steel

"Steel is only as strong as the hand the wields it"

- Thulsa Doom
from "Conan the Barbarian" the Movie

QW - The Soldier

THE SOLDIER

It is the soldier, not the reporter,

who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the soldier, not the poet,

who has given us the freedom of speech.

It is the soldier, not the campus organizer,

who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.

It is the soldier, not the lawyer,

who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the soldier,

who salutes the flag,

who serves under the flag,

whose coffin is draped by the flag,

and who allows the protester to burn the flag.

Author - Unknown