But don't take my word for it:
In Trudeauland, doing the right thing is nice, but only if it doesn’t
get in the way of pursuing more power. It’d be downright dandy to help —
at bare minimum — those Afghans who helped us, but too bad the Taliban
couldn’t wait to take Kabul at a more favourable time for the Liberals.
Instead,
while other world leaders focused their attention on Afghanistan,
Canada’s leaders hit the campaign trail. While U.K. Prime Minister Boris
Johnson recalled his parliament to address the crisis, Trudeau asked
Governor General Mary Simon to dissolve ours.
While there were
clearly issues outside our government’s control in Afghanistan, the most
frequently cited hurdle was Canada’s signature toxic combo of
incompetent bureaucracy, endless red tape, and lack of preparedness for
anything but the most ideal circumstances.
**
Hundreds and possibly thousands of Canadian citizens and local supporters remain trapped in Afghanistan after the military ended a rescue airlift, federal officials said yesterday. The Department of
Foreign Affairs recommended they go into hiding: “Use your judgment.”
(Sidebar: and, no, the government wasn't prepared just as it fumbled the coronavirus debacle.)
**
The Canadian government announced Friday it secured 500 seats on a U.S. flight for Afghan refugees trying to leave the Taliban-run country.
**
The only way out of Afghanistan for hundreds of approved immigrants
to Canada was through a sewage canal bordering the Kabul airport. On
Thursday, an explosive device was detonated at that site.
A day
earlier, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada had alerted by
text dozens of families to head to the Baron Hotel, and to join a huge
line that spilled into the swamp — the only route that got them close to
the Abbey Gate, the entrance to the airport tarmac, and a waiting
Canadian Armed Forces plane.
Until early Wednesday, soldiers from
Canada had joined other nations guarding that canal. Then they left
and, according to eyewitness texts and images, were replaced by armed
Taliban fighters.
And so the refugees waited, until late last night when Canadian visa holders received a mass email from IRCC.
“Because
of security threats outside the gates of the Kabul airport, we are
advising you to avoid travelling to the airport and to avoid airport
gates at this time,” the email read. For those already waiting outside
the airport “we recommend that you leave and find a safe place to
stay.”
**
In interviews with CBC on Sunday before the statement was released,
Marc Garneau, Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, said Canada is not
in direct contact with the Taliban, but is working through allies who
are, such as the United States and France. He said Canada’s leverage
over the Taliban to help ensure the safety of people left behind is
“primarily economic,” basically involving humanitarian aid.
“There’s
all sorts of leverage with respect to the Taliban, who are now
confronting the fact they’re in charge and they’re going to have to make
the country work,” Garneau said.
You mean bribe them? The same people who hunt down Christians? Who killed American Marines? Who use American intelligence and equipment to kill people? That Taliban?
Who sent this @$$hole into space?
**
We all know that we can really use people like the Shafias and the Taliban:
Canada is accepting 5,000 Afghan refugees evacuated by the United States, federal officials said Tuesday as they work to rescue 1,250 Canadians stuck in the Taliban-ruled country.
The deal comes as part of a new agreement reached with the U.S. in
order to secure safe passage for Afghans fleeing the Islamist militant
group, said Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino. They will be accepted
as part of the government’s expanded 20,000 Afghan refugee program.
He
added Canada has received assurances from the Taliban that they will
allow safe passage for those seeking to leave, as Canada works to
evacuate citizens it left behind. Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau
pegged that number at 1,250.
**
It's just money:
A final audit of foreign aid to Afghanistan says money was spent
unwisely without achieving demonstrable results. International
Development Minister Karina Gould made no mention of the findings in
praising Canada’s efforts: “There was a pressure to spend, and it was
too much and too fast.”
**
I'm sure it's nothing:
Also - no, political multiculturalism creates division and Quebec would be a dead province if it had not been for for political favouritism:
“It is a multicultural state, just like Canada,” said Ali Nazary, a spokesman for Ahmad Massoud,
leader of the Panjshir’s National Resistance Front (NRF). “One of our
examples has always been Canada. You have a peaceful co-existence
between the Québécois and the rest of Canada.”
And - this can't be good:
The United States officially has ended its military presence in Afghanistan with the final U.S. military flight out of Kabul, concluding 20 years of American involvement after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) head Gen. Frank McKenzie said during a
televised address that the last C-17 military plane cleared Afghan
airspace after lifting off at around 3:29 p.m. ET Aug. 30. That came
hours before President Joe Biden’s Aug. 31 deadline for shutting down
the final airlift.
“I’m here to announce the completion of our withdrawal from
Afghanistan and the end of the military mission to evacuation American
citizens, third-country nationals, and vulnerable Afghans,” McKenzie
said on Aug. 30.
There are still Americans who remain in Afghanistan “in the low
hundreds,” he said in response to a reporter’s question, adding that the
military and State Department will work to evacuate those individuals. A
Pentagon spokesman earlier on Aug. 30 said that around 600 still remain
in the country.
“We didn’t get out everyone that we wanted to get out,” the general said, adding that it is a “tough situation.”
