Canada's War in Afghanistan

The Canadian troops are home. The heros are buried. The wartime marketeers are pleased with themselves. The media are jackals. The armchair philosophers grow fat.
I am thankful for the service that the Canadian Military performed. I was so embarrassed by the nit picking opposition while Canadians died in horrible conditions far far from home.  I have no memories of the soldier who died saving his platoon. I have no recollections of the men and women who fell in combat. Thanks to CBC and the opposition I'm left thinking there was something wrong with Canadians giving prisoners of war to their Afghanistan compatriots.  The Canadians were gentlemen and ladies compared to the terrorists who willy nilly captured westerners, tortured and killed them.  But all I recall are dead Canadian soldiers and the criticism they received for doing their duty.  I would have liked to have known the acts of heroism more.  I would have liked to have had coverage of the war such that today I could say what the campaigns were and where outside of Kundahar the Canadians served.
Now the jackals say the dead are wasted and the soldiers were fools as if this was Vietnam and they don't realize the world has changed.  Give a boy a hammer and everything is a nail.  I do believe the Canadians did wonders. I believe they showed Afghanistan what was outside of their primitive war torn tribalistic gangster world. I believe they showed them that women could be equals. I believe Canadians showed the world that we can fight as well and fair as anyone and we don't have believe in gangsterism and bullying and brutality.  I believe that NATO showed the people of Afghanistan that nations could cooperate where so often they are still fighting village against village. We showed that Canadians can fight too with less resources and less equipment and less support than so many others received.
The question is what would have occurred if we had not served NATO.  The critics would say it's okay to renege on our committments and mutual defense aggreements.  They'd gladly have England and France and Germany and the United States protect little Canada from the big bad bullies.  But other Canadians, like Prime Minister Harper, know the importance of participating in a global community and accepting that someone has to step in and show the bullies that there is a cost to terrorism.  Canadian troops stemmed the tide.
Were it not for the Canadians in Afghanistan I believe that the democracy demonstrations that occurred all across the east this summer would not have occurred. I believe that Ghaddafi would still be in charge in Libya and training terrorists to attack Israel, United States and yes, Canada.  I believe that were it not for Canadians fighing in Afghanistan China might well have invaded India again.
Without Canadians in Afghanistan, Afghanistan would now be joined with Iran and the worse faction of Iranian politics would be supported by the Taliban. Without Canadians in Afghanistan more women and children would have been sold as slaves and killed.
The Jihad would be further ahead and more arms would be sent to northern Sudan so that those Sudanese could kill the Sudanese Christians in the south.
Were it not for Candians in Afghanistan, Bin Laden would still be in charge of the Akaida and more pirates would roam the seas off the Phillipines.
Let's get real, Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan gave us all more time to deal with the increasing problem of terrorism and fundamentalism.  Canadians died and thanks to their deaths this country has had  freedom and peace.
Without Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan, Israel would have been wiped off the face of the earth taking countless Palestinians with them as 'collateral damage'.  Nuclear bombs would have gone off , for sure.
If Canadian soldiers had fought in Austria before WWII, Hitler would not have had the "peace' to build his armies that turned the globe into a war zone.  Canadians in Afghanistan served with dignity.  They saved the day.  The did their bit. Their contribution should not go unnoticed.  As a country we should be immensely thankful for their contribution to world security.
Alternatively we could disarm unilaterally.  We could dismantle the army and collectively become vegan and offer blossoms and scents to calm the barbarians that would come across our borders and sell the women and children into slavery.  We could offer  the next cannibal we meet with a fruit bar while we are at it. Otherwise we should view the world as it is and stay 'real' while admitting yes we should all get a long and sing 'kum ba yah' but some of us aren't quite there yet.   I am thankful that the Canadian military surely knows "kum ba ya' whereas our enemies don't. But I'm even more thankful that the Canadian miltary was able to go to war and hold it's own admirably.  The Canadian military deserve our respect and praise.