Mid-Week Post

Your the middle-of-the-week interlude...


Interim Tory leader Rona Ambrose calls PM Trulander's cowardly withdrawal from the fight against ISIS "shameful":

Interim Conservative Leader Rona Ambrose says it’s “shameful” that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is pulling back from the combat mission against ISIS in Iraq and Syria, even as the United States lauds the new Canadian contribution.

The Alberta MP said Trudeau's plan to pull CF-18 fighter jets back from the region by Feb. 22 was tantamount to surrendering Canada’s role in the fight against global Islamic terrorism.

“Mr. Trudeau likes to say ‘Canada is back,’ when in fact we are stepping back,” Ambrose told reporters in Moncton, N.B.

“Every ally in the fight against ISIS has stepped up their military efforts in the bombing mission, and Canada is now, today, ending our combat role against what is the most heinous terrorist organization we’ve seen in my generation.”

The interim Conservative leader pointed to the extremist group’s rampage through Iraq and Syria, its enslavement of women and children and its “barbaric” treatment of gay and lesbians as proof that ISIS is the “greatest threat to human rights in the world.”

“Mr. Trudeau doesn’t think its our fight,” Ambrose said. "If he doesn’t think that we should use our military against this group, I don’t know when he thinks we would ever use our military. It’s shameful, it’s absolutely shameful.“

 

Also:

When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks of the ineffectiveness of air power in the war against ISIS, I cannot help but shake my head at his ignorance.

During my time at the front, I witnessed on multiple occasions the effectiveness of coalition air strikes. 

At small towns and villages like Tal al-Ward and Rashad, where fighting on the ground was fierce, I saw Western air strikes brutalize and punish ISIS fighters when they were in the open and reduce their strongholds to rubble.

On another instance, my unit was made ready for battle late one January night because ISIS was launching a massive offensive on our position. However, the arrival of just two coalition jets destroyed the enemy attack and we were able to stand down without firing a shot.

Western air power has allowed Kurdish forces to liberate cities, towns and vast tracts of territory that were once under ISIS control. These are places where women and girls are no longer gang-raped by ISIS fighters, children no longer conscripted into the jihadist ranks, and men no longer summarily shot.
In a sense, civilization has returned to these places, but as long as the flags of the Islamic State fly on the horizon, the country and the world will never be safe.

Pulling Canada’s fighter jets from this war is a severe tactical mistake. Canadian sorties have made a difference; they have saved lives and prevented countless atrocities.

Air power alone isn’t going to win the war in Iraq and Syria, but we sure as hell aren’t going to win the war without it. Our allies are counting on us to continue the fight. The world needs us and now is not the time to run.

(Merci, good sir.)




Indigenous Affairs (because aboriginals are different from us!) Minister Carolyn Bennett pandered met with families of murdered aboriginal women:

Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett met with the families of missing and murdered aboriginal women in Winnipeg on Monday and said she noticed a different tone from similar meetings in other cities.

"Today we heard many things a little bit different than other places," Bennett said halfway through the day-long meeting.

"Here in Winnipeg, there seems to be tremendous anger and cynicism. People are concerned about the police. They're concerned about the government. And ... they were quite skeptical as to whether an inquiry will help at all."

Bennett is on a cross-country tour to meet with victims' families and other interested parties so parameters can be set for an inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women that is expected to begin by summer.

To wit:

The overall solve rate for female homicides in RCMP jurisdictions for 2013 and 2014 was 82%. Homicides of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal women had similar solve rates of 81% and 83%. ...

Relationships between the offender and victim for 2013 and 2014 showed a trend similar to that found in the 2014 Overview (1980-2012). Offenders were known to their victims in 100% of solved homicide cases of Aboriginal women, and in 93% of solved homicide cases of non-Aboriginal women in RCMP jurisdictions in 2013 and 2014. Current and former spouses and family members made up the majority of relationships between victims and offenders, representing 73% of homicides of Aboriginal women and 77% of non-Aboriginal women in RCMP jurisdictions in 2013 and 2014.

Also:

Oil producing Saskatchewan First Nations are suing the federal government in a class action lawsuit. They say the government hasn't done enough to develop the resources on First Nations.

Why wasn't this done weeks ago?

The FBI has formally confirmed it is investigating Hillary Clinton's private emails, giving fuel to a controversy that the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination has been unable to put behind her.

Again, why aren't we holding China accountable?

Previously, NK News revealed that the Masikryeong Ski Resort was filled with foreign-sourced equipment, and identified most of the manufacturers (if you aren’t a subscriber, there’s a version here, at The Telegraph). The question left unanswered, however, was whether the North Koreans obtained the equipment directly from the manufacturers, or through China. The Times found evidence in China’s own customs data proving that it was the source of at least some of the equipment…

 
(Kamsahamnida)



Move over, Japan:

A cat has done such a great job been guarding the railway at a station in Huddersfield, England that she’s been given a new title and a jacket to show for it.