Banking on the Apalachicola

One of the reasons I've been so lax in regular updating has been the work that I've been doing on the British Fort at Promontory Bluff on the banks of the Apalachicola River in 1816. The nickname for the place was "the Negro Fort". It was destroyed by an elite squad of US Army officesores sent south from Georgia to officially protect supply ships but secretly designed to obliterate the facility. Almost done.

Dalliance of the absence

I should apologize for the long absence from the blogs. I've been taking the Farce Book hiatus. Its good communicating with relations, old friends, acquaintances, and neighbors. Not much unexpected has happened really. To that point the mundane, the expected and the opinions expressed by others mimic my interpretation. There was no urgency to replicate the mundane.

And I have been doing more work on the Ft. Gadsden/Negro Fort which was destroyed on July 27th, 1816. Its a simple topic about one of the single greatest immoral crime or war crime in the 19th century. Yet this War Crime occurred in a time where this brutal behavior ruled human morality. Whether the winner or the defeated little mercy demonstrates. Torture and death held hands with military action.

The worst crime occurred after the time of the actual event which gives a result far worse than the crime itself. Both American and British authorities swept the crime under blankets of obvious excuse, lies and inaccuracies. Economic health and the greed of the rich created a situation where the magnet of greed conquered all ethics. And the worst crime appeared, humanity as a whole forgot this terrible episode.

Off blog

I have been working on a special project which takes away from blogging. I am almost finished with that project. It will be published here and on other blogs.

A warning though. That blog entry will be long and for some tortuous. The ideas expressed in this work embrace a new approach to a century old question.

Leaving it to Beaver

Are the memories of the falling skyscrapers full of innocent peoples of all nationalities, cultures and religions plunging in mortal terror into the dust, so far. Those flying bombs were not just pointed at those towers, they were pointed at you, your loved ones. The very same evil persons who perpetrated that deed are the very same people who committed that act.

It doesn't matter that one is a pacifist or not. The terrorists are total evil. So long as they breathe or walk free, they are committed not to steal your land, or steal property. They don't grow or sell drugs. These aren't rapers. These are ruthless, callous killers. They are trying to kill you.

Canadians have a volunteer army. And they volunteer for the combat. And they are committed to that view. They are there, on the ground, doing the very best that they can.

Whether or not one agrees individually with the grand strategy of getting involved or not in Afghanistan was exactly the brightest thing to do is irrelevant now. Canada is a democracy. Which means, that outwardly we must be united regardless of our internal doubts or personal disagreement. The Prime Ministers put this country into history as supporting the action to bring those terrorists to account for their terrible deeds. This is a question of historical accountability.

At the moment, that job is not done. An action like this isn't on a schedule or timetable. It is task oriented. It could've taken an hour. It could've taken a week. A decade seems like a long time, but in history it is but a blink. In a thousand years from now in an electronic library some student scribe will be authoring an article on the character of the people known as the Canadians. What they write then will be about the action we take now.

People around the world watch how Canadians behave in the action to protect the Afghan people from these terrorists. It does nothing for global reputation, whether the observer is friend or foe, to see a country waive its commitments on the battlefield. Withdrawal from this particular theatre of conflict, whether by end of contract or simply leaving while the conflict burns, is a defeat. There is no middle ground. No grey area. If Canada leaves next year, it was a defeat. You want that title impressed on your children, or their children.

Every thing that Canada stood for or now stands for becomes tainted with the name of loser, coward, lukewarm. We become like so many European little powers like Denmark. All mouth. All vanilla. Not worth listening too.

Look I am in complete favour of leaving Afghanistan to the Afghans. These terrorists that bomb innocents around the globe in their quest to impose a twisted vision of a religious utopia on the rest of humanity also terrorize and cruelly oppress Afghans. Our troops remain willing and able. I say, ...stay and finish the damn job.