HARPER PUSHING 'AFCANADISTAN'

To the Editor,

I watched Prime Minister Stephen Harper's speech at the UN General
Assembly last week, and am a little fearful that he was under the
influence of the sulphuric - or should that be Luciferic - odours at
the podium which the Venezuelan president complained of the previous
day. During his 15 minutes of fame on the world stage, Mr. Harper
said "Afghanistan" at least 10 times for each mention of Canada.

If we are to believe the PM, our two countries are really joined at
the hip, and that was even more apparent the very next day when
Afghani President Hamid Karzai addressed a joint sitting of our
parliament in Ottawa.

The diminutive leader is generally acknowledged to be little more
than the Mayor of Kabul - with the rest of his country being
controlled by either poppy-growing warlords or gun-toting Taliban.

Despite all the words of bravado this past week, let us not forget
the warning of American philosopher and writer George Santayana:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

Let us not forget that ethnic Pashtun tribesmen have successfully
repelled every occupying army for centuries, dating back to the
formidable forces of Alexander The Great around 300 B.C.

Mr. Harper could ponder that a little, but maybe he really is
interested in joining the two countries as a confederation - don't
you think Afcanadistan has a nice ring to it?

Afghanistan's opium poppy market has increased some 59 per cent in
the past year to its greatest ever yield, while right here we
reluctantly admit that our most lucrative cash crop is B.C. bud.

Think of the advantages to our beleagured taxpayers if all that drug
money was used to sponsor the 2010 Olympics.

Bernie Smith,

Parksville