WE ARE THE GOOD GUYS FIGHTING FOR WHAT'S RIGHT

I read with angst the news article and your editorial on Canadians
involvement in Afghanistan and I feel compelled to write to defend our
presence there and support the courage our government has to remain
involved in its current capacity. War is not popular and is very
upsetting. Brave men and women have died and more will die in defense
of our freedom.

The war in Afghanistan is a worthy fight with clear reasons and
desired outcomes and should in no way be confused with what is going
on in Iraq, or communism versus capitalism.

This war in Afghanistan is not born out of ideology. It is a war the
Taliban waged against free society -- us. The Taliban is wreaking
havoc on our nation and continues to make direct and targeted threats
against Canada and its allies. Our soldiers are fighting in defense of
our nation and for the safety and security of millions of innocent
people for exactly the same reasons we fought in the last two world
wars.

I respect Jean Crowder's altruistic view that we should be focusing on
humanitarian and reconstruction of a war torn region but I completely
disagree with her and the NDP's approach. Who could argue the virtues
of humanitarian peacekeeping operations? First thing's first, we have
to end and suppress those who would tear down any effort that provides
for a society to live in peace and prosperity, freely according to its
own customs, and to choose its own government. The Taliban would tear
down a school, hospital, blow up infrastructure, and topple a
fledgling government as fast as it was erected if they had the chance
for the pure and simple reason that it was made available by the west.

The Taliban need drug money to fund its terror on the
world.

To this end it extorts and enslaves innocent people to produce the
world's largest stockpile of opiates netting billions of dollars to
pay for its terrorist activity, which targets millions more innocent
people who today enjoy democratic freedom, a freedom we can't take for
granted. One can draw a direct line to where those drugs end up, take
a walk down East Hastings in Vancouver, a microcosm of a global
reality in the free world of the scourge of drug addiction inflicting
harm upon its victims.

The Taliban is using Afghanistan as its base for world terror and
consequently Afghan people are being used as pawns to do its bidding,
by being forced to grow dope to fund its war machine and network.

The Conservative government is taking a huge political risk by
supporting our military to the extent it is. It's been a long time
since our soldiers have been given the tools and mandate to get the
job done. I am proud of the courage our government has for taking the
risk to do what is right. I am deeply grateful for the men and women
who risk their lives on a daily basis and to those who have paid the
ultimate price to uphold our freedom.

I pray that one day when our job is done, the people of Afghanistan
will have hope and opportunity to live freely without fear. I ask what
would happen if we were not there now or unwilling to stay? How many
"9-11's" would the world have endured?

How long would we live in fear of it happening again?

How many attacks have we stopped or derailed because of our
willingness to fight back and defend?

What rights and freedoms would we lose in the name of homeland
security and isolationist policy?

How much longer will men, women, and children of Afghanistan live
without education, healthcare, adequate infrastructure, and good
governance? To be sure, virtues embodied in these questions are what
our veterans fought for in the First and Second World War.

In my view, it is reckless, irresponsible, and degrading to our
military to call this war "Canada's little Vietnam". Nor is it right,
as Jean Crowder has done, to compare this fight with that of the
former Soviet campaign.

It's not about ideology, it's about doing the right thing to defend
our freedom in light of attacks and threats waged against us by the
Taliban. It's a clear fight between good and evil and once again we
are the good fighting a worthy and noble cause. God bless our soldiers.

I have great confidence in our current government that when the time
comes we will not abandon those who have suffered the most. We will
embark on creating opportunities through humanitarian and
reconstruction plans and take care of our own too.

It's the Canadian way, and today I'm proud to be Canadian.

JOHN KOURY

Maple Bay