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CBC will be airing a documentary called 'The Crazy Eights' about a glimpse into lives of Canadian soldiers in Kandahar province.

The Crazy Eights will air on Thursday, March 29, 2007 at 8:00 p.m. on CBC television, repeating Saturday, March 31, 2007 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT on CBC Newsworld.

Here's a review of this documentary.

http://toyoufromfailinghands.blogsp...azy-eights.html

I look forward to watching this.

Front page of the Sun today.

edit; good to see public support for the troops

And this gets an WTF, though it really doesn't surprise me
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/War_Ter...4289575-ap.html

quote:

Taliban put 6-year-old Afghan boy in suicide vest, sent him to attack Americans By JASON STRAZIUSO FORWARD OPERATING BASE THUNDER, Afghanistan (AP) - The story of a six-year-old Afghan boy who says he thwarted an effort by Taliban militants to trick him into being a suicide bomber provoked tears and anger at a meeting of tribal leaders. The account from Juma Gul, a dirt-caked child who collects scrap metal for money, left American soldiers dumbfounded that a youngster could be sent on such a mission. Afghan troops crowded around the boy to call him a hero. Though the Taliban dismissed the story as propaganda, at a time when U.S. and NATO forces are under increasing criticism over civilian casualties, both Afghan tribal elders and U.S. military officers said they were convinced by his dramatic account. Juma said that sometime last month Taliban fighters forced him to wear a vest they said would spray out flowers when he touched a button. He said they told him that when he saw American soldiers, "throw your body at them." The militants cornered Juma in a Taliban-controlled district in southern Afghanistan's Ghazni province. Their target was an impoverished youngster being raised by an older sister - but also one who proved too street-smart for their plan. "When they first put the vest on my body I didn't know what to think, but then I felt the bomb," Juma told The Associated Press as he ate lamb and rice after being introduced to the elders at this joint U.S.-Afghan base in Ghazni. "After I figured out it was a bomb, I went to the Afghan soldiers for help." While Juma's story could not be independently verified, local government leaders backed his account and the U.S. and NATO military missions said they believed his story. Abdul Rahim Deciwal, the chief administrator for Juma's village of Athul, brought the boy and an older brother, Dad Gul, to a weekend meeting between Afghan elders and U.S. army Col. Martin Schweitzer. Schweitzer called the Taliban's attempt "a cowardly act." As Deciwal told Juma's story, 20 Afghan elders repeatedly clicked their tongues in sadness and disapproval. When the boy and his brother were brought in, several of the turban-wearing men welled up, wiping their eyes with handkerchiefs. "If anybody has a heart, then how can you control yourself (before) these kids?" Deciwal said in broken English. Wallets quickly opened, and the boys were handed $60 in American and Afghan currency, a good chunk of money in a country where teachers and police earn $70 a month. Afghan officials described the boys as extremely poor, and Juma said he is being raised by his sister because his father works in a bakery in Pakistan and his mother lives and does domestic work in another village. "I think the boy is intelligent," Deciwal said. "When he comes from the enemy he found a checkpoint of the ANA (Afghan National Army), and he asked the ANA: 'Hey, can you help me? Somebody gave me this jacket and I don't know what's inside but maybe something bad."' Lt.-Col. George Graff, a father of five who attended the meeting, also teared up. "Relating to them as a father and trying to fathom somebody using one of my children for that kind of a purpose, jeez, it just tore me up," said Graff, a National Guard soldier from St. George, Utah. "The depths that these people will go to get what they want, which is power for themselves - it's just disgusting." A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousef Ahmadi, denied the militant group uses child fighters, saying it has hundreds of adults ready for suicide missions. "We don't need to use a child," Ahmadi told the AP by satellite phone. "It's against Islamic law, it's against humanitarian law. This is just propaganda against the Taliban." However, a gory Taliban video that surfaced in April showed militants instructing a boy of about 12 as he beheaded an alleged traitor with a large knife. UN officials condemned the act as a war crime. Fidgety but smiling during all the attention, Juma told the AP that he had been scared when he was surrounded by Taliban fighters. He cupped his hands together to show the size of the bomb, then ran his hands along his waist to show where it was on his body. A fan of soccer, Juma said his favourite subject in school is Pashto, his native language, but he also showed off a little English, shyly counting "One, two, three ..." before breaking out in an oversize smile. Raised in a country where birthdays are not always carefully tracked, Juma said he is four. But he looks older and Afghan officials said he is about six. His brother appears to be a year or so older. Their village lies in Ghazni province's Andar district, a Taliban stronghold targeted this month in a joint Afghan-U.S. operation. The region remains dangerous and Afghan elders worry for Juma's safety. Maj. John Thomas, a spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force, said he was "a bit skeptical" about Juma's story at first, "but everything I've heard makes me more and more comfortable." Thomas said the case would force soldiers to think twice before assuming children are safe. "This is one incident. We hope it doesn't repeat itself. But it gives us reason to pause, to be extra careful," he said. "We want to publicize this as much as we can to the Afghan people so that they can protect their children from these killers." Col. Sayed Waqef Shah, a religious and cultural affairs officer for the Afghan army, wiped away tears after seeing Juma. "Whenever I see this kind of action from the Taliban, if I am able to arrest them, I'll kill them on the spot," he said. Haji Niaz Mohammad, one of the elders at the gathering, said he hoped "God makes the Afghan government strong" so it can defeat the Taliban. "They are the enemy of Muslims and the enemy of the children," he said, shaking his fists in anger.

quote:

Originally posted by EvilTree Front page of the Sun today. edit; good to see public support for the troops

So THAT's what I drove by!

An editorial from a webblog that is worth reading.

quote:

Good News! Caution: this is a long article crammed full of facts; facts which will contradict the �stories� being put about by politicians, journalists and anti-military academics and �peace activists.� It might be dangerous, even subversive because it may cause some readers to actually understand what is happening in Afghanistan. It may shatter some belief sytems because the cold, hard facts are at odds with the prevailing 'wisdom' in Canada. A few days ago The Ruxted Group provided a rather bleak assessment of the likely consequences of a precipitous (early 2009) Canadian withdrawal from combat operations in Afghanistan. Today we offer a counterpoint: a catalogue of the �good news� items which, we fear, are not sufficiently �newsworthy� and, therefore, fail to make it on to our TV screens and, therefore, do not �inform� Canadian public opinion. It is a long list but it barely scratches the surface. There is so much aid and development going on that we are persuaded that journalists and NGO workers and officials must be tripping over the projects. Even in deadly dangerous Kandahar where, admittedly, less is being done because the Afghan National Army (ANA) and Afghans National Police (ANP), supported by Canadian combat troops, have not, yet, managed to bring sufficient security to that province � not sufficient, yet, to satisfy the �requirements� of the NGOs who remain hard at work in the relatively peaceful North.

The rest of the article can be found here.

http://ruxted.ca/index.php?/archives/75-GOOD-NEWS!!!.html

quote:

Originally posted by ShadoWolf That's not true. Our tradition has been to wage war against the enemy. We didn't "peacekeep" Hitler out of Europe - we kicked his ass out.

that was russians.

quote:

Originally posted by geroin that was russians.

Which textbook did you read, The Great Patriotic War? lol

Certainly the Russkies did a large part to beat Germany (and paid the biggest price in terms of lives) but Russians alone didn't beat the Germans.

quote:

Originally posted by EvilTree Which textbook did you read, The Great Patriotic War? lol Certainly the Russkies did a large part to beat Germany (and paid the biggest price in terms of lives) but Russians alone didn't beat the Germans.

maybe you should watch the movie i posted in the documentary thread, made by the americans in 1943
i've read both textbooks, the canadian one and the russian one, the canadian barely talks about russian effort, only the Stalingrad battle, there was much much more than that trust me. Just to add, the whole Europe was controlled by Nazis at the time, except for Russia and Britain.

Part1: [[ LINK REMOVED ]]


Part2: [[ LINK REMOVED ]]

quote:

Originally posted by EvilTree Which textbook did you read, The Great Patriotic War? lol Certainly the Russkies did a large part to beat Germany (and paid the biggest price in terms of lives) but Russians alone didn't beat the Germans.

woah
I knew history they teach here is twisted, but I didn't expect you to be so ignorant

quote:

Originally posted by EvilTree An editorial from a webblog that is worth reading. The rest of the article can be found here. http://ruxted.ca/index.php?/archives/75-GOOD-NEWS!!!.html

Great read. Thanks dude. It bothers me that none of this is on the news, and made public, so that people can see how big a difference is making in Afghanistan.

quote:

Originally posted by FunkyCrew woah I need history they teach here is twisted, but I didn't expect you to be so ignorant

he doesnt realize that here they teach only about what canadians did in the war, to be honest they didn't really do much at all...

there was 45,300 Canadian Casualities while there was 23,600,000 of Russian (Soviet) Casualities, the numbers speak for themselves

quote:

Originally posted by geroin he doesnt realize that here they teach only about what canadians did in the war, to be honest they didn't really do much at all... there was 45,300 Canadian Casualities while there was 23,600,000 of Russian (Soviet) Casualities, the numbers speak for themselves

yeah I know
even the British textbooks don't discount us as much as Canadian/US do

*puts his historian gloves on*

By no way I'm discounting Soviet effort in beating the Germans.

But by no means Russians did most of the work to beat the Germans. Sacrificed most lives, yes. Contributed most of the war effort? Debatable.

Arguably, if Germany didn't keep so many divisions in France in case Allies did invade France, Russia would have been in so much more trouble trying to fight Germany's full war machine.

WW2 was a collective effort to win against Germany, no nation's contribution was so great to claim the sole, or even most of the credit.

Anyways, this is so off topic, and I'd rather keep this thread stay on topic.

Feel free to PM me, or msn if you want to continue this. (for the record, I am a history major, with special interest in WW2)

quote:

Originally posted by EvilTree But by no means Russians did most of the work to beat the Germans. Sacrificed most lives, yes. Contributed most of the war effort? Debatable.

imo they did, if russia was to lose there is a high chance you'd be speaking german right now. Again, i posted a nice documentary, take a look when you have time.

quote:

Originally posted by geroin imo they did, if russia was to lose there is a high chance you'd be speaking german right now. Again, i posted a nice documentary, take a look when you have time.

+1.. the North American allies only joined in much later, when it was evident that the Nazis were losing

otherwise, most of the war was fought by the Soviets and their European allies

I take great interest in that time period, and watched a ton of different documentaries about it

anyway! /end hijack

quote:

Originally posted by FunkyCrew +1.. the North American allies only joined in much later, when it was evident that the Nazis were losing

exactly, they got afraid that Soviets would occupy most of the Europe and turn it into an even stronger superpower than the nazis.

quote:

Originally posted by geroin exactly, they got afraid that Soviets would occupy most of the Europe and turn it into an even stronger superpower than the nazis.

I'm sorry. I can't resist

North America consists of 3 nations

Canada: Declared war on Germany 10 Sept 1939
USA: Germany declares war on USA Dec 1941
Mexico: neutral throughout the war IIRC.

quote:

Originally posted by geroin 23,600,000 of Russian (Soviet) Casualties

Russians have slaughtered similar numbers of themselves...

quote:

Originally posted by geroin imo they did, if russia was to lose there is a high chance you'd be speaking german right now. Again, i posted a nice documentary, take a look when you have time.

this is perhaps a fair comment...but isn't it also fair to say that without the assistance of the Allies, the same could be true?

I have not viewed your documentary, but is anyone honestly suggesting that without the other Allies, Russia alone would likely have defeated Germany? Even Russia and it's European allies? Suggesting Canada didn't do much at all is a slap in the face to our veterans and those who died in the war.

I think it's as foolish for some to suggest that the Russians "mainly" defeated Germany as it is for others to discount the incredible Russian contribution and sacrifice in WWII.

I think most historical accounts point to a unified Allied effort being a major reason for victory as it forced the Germans to fight battles on multiple fronts, no?

anyway...back to the Afghanistan topic at hand...carry on

quote:

Originally posted by MarkT this is perhaps a fair comment...but isn't it also fair to say that without the assistance of the Allies, the same could be true? I have not viewed your documentary, but is anyone honestly suggesting that without the other Allies, Russia alone would likely have defeated Germany? Even Russia and it's European allies? Suggesting Canada didn't do much at all is a slap in the face to our veterans and those who died in the war. I think it's as foolish for some to suggest that the Russians "mainly" defeated Germany as it is for others to discount the incredible Russian contribution and sacrifice in WWII. I think most historical accounts point to a unified Allied effort being a major reason for victory as it forced the Germans to fight battles on multiple fronts, no?

i did not say that canadian veterans did nothing, i said that canadian history books are mostly based on canadian/american achievements in the war when there were much more important things happening in europe.

Total deaths:

United States: 418,500
United Kingdom: 450,400
Soviet Union: 23,600,000

this is including the civilians, i mean its quite obvious who did most of the work.

"but is anyone honestly suggesting that without the other Allies, Russia alone would likely have defeated Germany?"

i think it would.

"I have not viewed your documentary"

you should

some more stats for you:

I mean no respect to Russian war dead, Russia is huge and has most population in Europe, so their numbers would be huge compared to other European nations. Russia also has many more men to spare so used raw numbers to try to fight the Germans. (pretty much near suicide attacks in a lot of cases)

I don't discredit that Russia sacrificed the most people, but that does not mean they were fighting the most effective.

Numbers can be deceptive.

quote:

Originally posted by EvilTree I don't discredit that Russia sacrificed the most people, but that does not mean they were fighting the most effective. Numbers can be deceptive.

so who was fighting the most effective? I don't think you know much about Soviet's military strategies and their massive achievements... well it's obvious, they don't teach that here in history class..

quote:

Originally posted by geroin exactly, they got afraid that Soviets would occupy most of the Europe and turn it into an even stronger superpower than the nazis.

Agreed. However this is one of many reasons for the U.S.A joining the war.

Though I do not agree that Russia would have won without the Allies help. Germany was already at war with England before the nazis turned on Russia. I have read/heard hundreds of times over that if the Nazis didn't split their forces across two fronts, they would have one. It is the biggest reason why they lost, same applied to Napolean hundreds of years ago. Supply lines are too long, forces are spread to thin. THAT was the biggest contributor to the Nazis defeat. Not anyone nation (although some clearly contributed more than others).

*Not discrediting Russia's numerous massive victories over Nazi forces*

Since different accounts from different nations history textbooks are being presented here...while in Germany conversing with history majors (at a hostel while stoned)...from their perspective... Allies did not win the war, Germany lost it.

Let's just be happy we didn't go through this personally and honour those who lost their lives (military and civilian) during this horrific period.

quote:

Originally posted by geroin they don't teach that here in history class..

Ok, thanks, we read this the first 3 times... POINT MADE!

Lets start a "Russian Military Victory" thread where all the Russians/former-bloc citizens can get together and mutually-masturbate about their past grand "strategies" and "massive achievements"?

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