Oh Montreal, what have you done?

The second thought that came to mind was, shit, this is the sort of thing that happen every day in Bagdhad, 100x worse the violence, in places you instinctively figure as anonymously secure like your home. First, it was the war in Lebanon, and then, probably where we should feel responsible about as Canadians, the war in Afghanistan. The situation bothers me like fingernails screeching a chalkboard. The SRC sent a journalist to Afghanistan (right after the man had covered Lebanon in July/August) to produce a series over the course of a week or two. He interviewed respected religious leaders, ordinary townspeople, etc, and all of them seemed to point the obvious, that the gov't is corrupt to the bone, and that the foreigners are not necessarily welcome. It bothers me to hear Canadian soldiers saying that they are there to help, that they fight for an ideal; and it bothers me that if we're against the war, we're not supporting the troops, and thus being un-patriotic. It seems to me that there is nothing to justify the presence of a foreign army in any active fighting role. I know people enrolled in the army, and I hope they never get sent overseas (which would probably happen - but you can correct me up on it).

But at the same time, I understand the deeper consequences of our country's army in foreign soil. It's the defense of Canada's status in the world, if not in front of the world, at least in the eyes of our most important ally. It seems at least an accurate reading of history. The Economist had a story on the 50th anniversary of the Suez Canal crisis, during which, the old European powers were led by men obsessed by the Munich compromise. I think that similarly, the road of appeasement is the last that the US/UK would be taking. I can understand that their governments act in accordance with the interests of their population - and they can't do otherwise, can they - and have decided to go the tough way.

What can you do, really? Cut your addiction to oil? That'd probably take at least a generation, and a lot of tough choices for everyone (like, do you spend extra few grands for a hybrid car?), I think. Then, maybe once the technological edge is established, maybe those powerful countries will want to release a bit of their grip on the Middle East...

That's it, quite some mish-mash nonsense. Nonetheless, the Canadian presence in Afghanistan, the American-instilled instability in Iraq: cannot bear it lah.

Still shocking when your city makes the front page of an international news service, the bad way.