#11 I'm just relishing that headline - "Canadians Launch Major Offensive" - a way-cool, retro, sort of warm feeling inside. I had extensive contact with the Canadian Forces just as they pitched over into decline (that is, neglect and starvation and disrespect at the hands of their national political class, at that time entering an extreme phase of its dementia) - I recall some of the senior people being very glum, as they could see the writing on the wall. I don't suppose the new regime there has had time to have an impact on materiel matters, but it's clear from Medusa and these ops that the spirit has endured.
The cheap-shots, self-righteousness, and free-loading from most of the Canadian leadership and all of their media elites in recent years have really stung, even amidst a world full of similar pathetic behavior, as I've always considered Canada almost a second home country (OK, I've played hockey - or at least a mediocre American version of it - since I was a kid). My knowledge of Canada's outsized and outstanding contributions in the two World Wars also added to the dismay at the post-9/11 nonsense from up north.
Even as much of NATO - unsurprisingly - finally demonstrates in Afghanistan the lack of political will and maturity we have suspected for ages, perhaps Canada will be among those lesser powers that rediscovers its adult self on the battlefields of Central Asia. Perhaps ....
Meanwhile, another thing I love are the cool regimental names they still have. In addition the name of the armored unit in this story, there are the Royal Canadian Regiment, the Vandoos (the 22nd, French-speaking unit from Quebec), and my favorite, the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry ...... |
Heading into Panjwaii district