In memory of a person and the national folly

Remember the name and face of Jonathan Couturier, who achieved the age of 23, and no more. Couturier represents the worst fear of a Conservative government perilously clinging to political power. In its short mandate, the Conservative government of Canada changed the operational goals of the Canadian military from one of security and reconstruction to one of outright combat and killing. Couturier died because of that flawed strategy. Couturier's words beg to haunt the Canadian government unlike any other critic before.

An obscure Taliban soldier ended Couturier's promising life by setting up an explosive trap. On the one hand, the political supporters of this war would have you believe that this was a cowardly terrorist attack. Nothing could be further from the truth. That Taliban was a soldier who planted a weapon to rid his homeland of an invader. Terrorists attack unarmed noncombatants indiscriminately. This was an attack on another armed soldier who was carrying a weapon pointed at his interpretation of freedom, and his life. Its the type of message not likely to be spread in Couturier's homeland. Couturier, a private, the lowest rank in the army, recognized the patently obvious about this war, he said, referring to his own army in the third person "... they are wasting their time over there."

Couturier appears not to be the only one in the army who died and expressed those same opinions. It appears that their is a schism in the ranks of the Canadian military. In the view of those with the rank of Major and higher, the war is a good thing. It appears that at the company level and down there is growing discontent and another message permeating through the army. One problem that the Stephen Harper led government will be encountering is that in a democracy the word of a Private carries the same validity as the word of a General.

Couturier's words ring true. He was fed up. He did say that we are wasting our time. He died the 131st Canadian casualty in that futile war.

Lets put this into context. It was in 2002 that Canadians entered Afghanistan. Only 131 Canadians have died. This is a terrible number, but compared with most wars, compared with most deadly conflicts it is barely a scratch militarily. It is about the number of a single company of infantry complete with officers.

The problem remains in the original goals. Our original goals were to rebuild their infrastructure to usability and train their army to defend itself. Ultimately its the Afghans who must defend themselves and provide their own security. Its been about seven years. Just how long does it take to train a fucking police officer or soldier. In the Canadian army its eleven weeks of boot camp. In the Canadian police academy, about two years to train a constable. Just what has our military been doing over there. Obviously not what they say they were going to do, obviously they lack the competency to train an Army or that would have been done a long time ago.

It is a good dedicated person just like Couturier who points us in the right direction, much like another hero Terry Fox did. Unlike any other soldier who might desert, Couturier died at his post. He did not abandon his duty. Lets get focused on training up the Afghans and getting the hell out of their country.