There was a reasonably extended special segment of the National on the Afghan mission. I thought that overall it was really not very informative and that many significant issues were not even brought up. To a considerable extent this may have been due to the framing of the whole discussion.
The frame of the discussion was an alleged change in Harper's speeches from clear and resolute support of the mission to a much more muted support and even perhaps a desire to cut and run when the mission runs out in 2009. As a result of this framework there was no real discussion of why Canada was there in the first place. There was absolutely nothing about the legality of the invasion .
There was nothing about the obvious change in Canada's role from peacekeeper to active combat roles. There was nothing about our relationship to the US. In fact with a straight face people debated whether Canada would win or lose the war in Afghanistan. Huh! Where are the US, the Brits, and the others in ISAF and the NATO mission. No one even hinted that we might be in Afghanistan to help promote US policies.
No one mentioned the return of strict Sharia laws, the female legislator kicked out of the legislature for criticising her colleagues. Nothing about the convert to Christianity who had to be spirited away to Italy before he was executed. And the CBC presentation was probably far better than anything you might see on FOX news for example.
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