September 9, 2006
STARBUCKS VS TIM HORTONS
Half of Canadians support mission (Norma Greenaway, CanWest News Services, September 9th, 2006)
The latest wave of deaths and injuries among Canada's troops battling Taliban militants in southern Afghanistan has not translated into a loss of support at home for the mission, a new Ipsos Reid poll says.The survey, conducted exclusively for CanWest News Service and Global National, says support for the mission stood at 51%, up slightly from the 47% registered in late July.
The survey was released as news surfaced Afghan President Hamid Karzai will visit Ottawa this month to meet Prime Minister Stephen Harper and address Parliament.[...]
Mr. Wright said the findings, combined with earlier polls on the subject, suggest the country has settled into a 50/50 divide over the merits of the mission.
"There is a very simple story here. The country is virtually split," said Mr. Wright, Ipsos Reid's vice-president of public affairs.
Despite two spectacular battle victories in the last month, the chattering classes are starting to unsheath their knives and are leaning more and more on the “we can’t win†meme as opposed to arguing from principle. It may be a self-fulfilling prophecy if most NATO countries continue to pass the buck, but Harper continues to show astounding resolve for a minority leader and is backed by a military whose morale is higher than it has been for years.
Posted by Peter Burnet at September 9, 2006 7:51 PM50/50 in Canada is damn good! Considering that the other 3 parties in Parliament are against this mission in principle, and that they garnered over 60% of the vote in the recent election, this bodes well for Harper in an election that is sure to be called within a year.
Posted by: obc at September 9, 2006 8:01 PMThe reason morale in the military is high is fighting a war is what the military are trained and prepared to do. Like everyone else, they want to practise their trade eventhough this may mean death and mayhem to them. That's why the French troops' suicide rate is higher than our troops' in Iraq. The French are just bored to death. Canadian support is higher than before is because they are proud of their accomplishment in the venture. The elites may deny it, but the people want to fight back. Fighting in Afghanistan is a less controversial way to destroy the enemies. It's unmanly to gripe about the US, hide behind its secuirty umbrella without making contributions to the cause.
Posted by: ic at September 10, 2006 4:47 AM