It is a tale of two young women ... both have lost thier lives in a far away land ... both at the hands of those who no longer value human life, and who foolishly see ideological lunacy as the ONLY solution ...The first young woman was 19 when she and her fiance decided to elope ... they fled their parents homes only to be hauled back to thier family village where they were tried, convicted and EXECUTED by the Taliban, in a southern province of Afghanistan where the conservative clerics continue to hold control. (the CTV story is here) There is little that one can offer to this story except the realization that the day this story broke, another young woman, this one from Canada made the news.
Trooper Karine Blais was aged 21 when after two weeks on the ground in Afghanistan, she was killed by the detonation of an improvised explosive device that left four of her comrades wounded.
Today many Canadians will wonder why we are in Afghanistan ... the story of these two young women helps to remind us of the answer to that question ... I am no fan of this war ... I remain a dedicated pacifist, but I am a realist.
Our soldiers are in Afghanistan to put and end to the violence that has ended BOTH of these young lives.
We know Trooper Blais' name ... the other young woman is nameless, but no less important in this discussion ... after hearing of her death at the hands of the Taliban, we are left with only one option ...
Our soldiers and aid workers are there on OUR behalf to build a better society. Otherwise 117 Canadian soldiers have died in vain ...
2 comments:
Let's not forget Nicola Goddard, the first female Canadian soldier murdered in Afghanistan.
I daresay you missed the point of my posting ... this has less to do with the first or the second female to die in combat. Nicola Goddard, based out of Shilo that is less than 25 kms from where I sit right now - is no more, nor less important than Trooper Blais ... my point was the bitter irony that one the day we mark a fallen female soldier, buried in the news headlines was the story of another young woman who died because of the Taliban ... the reason Nicola, Karine and the other 115 soldiers and one diplomat, not to mention dozens and dozens of Afghani citizens have died is to STOP the madness that is still lingering in the "lawless" corners of Afghanistan and other neighbouring regions ...
I agree - we shouldn't forget Nicola, or Karine OR ANY OF THE OTHER sons, brothers, husbands, boy friends and grandsons who have died in Afghanistan since this WAR began ... 117 of Canada's young men AND women have paid the ultimate sacrifice and we should not forget THAT !!!
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