Afstan: Quebec City mayor has the right idea

Good words for most of the next roto; pity none of the federal Conservatives speak so clearly:

Off to fight the 'barbarian' Taliban
'Know that you are our brave,' Quebec mayor tells troops going to Afghanistan

Soldiers leaving on a six-month deployment to Afghanistan walk in single file after a ceremony at CFB Valcartier, north of Quebec City, on Friday. The troops will begin deploying to Kandahar in mid-March and will completely take over from the current rotation by the beginning of May. (CLEMENT ALLARD / CP)

QUEBEC — Canadian troops in Afghanistan are waging a noble war against the "barbarian" Taliban, Quebec City Mayor Regis Labeaume said Friday during a stop in Valcartier where he met a group of soldiers preparing to deploy.

The war in Afghanistan is an unpopular mission among many in the province.

However, during a ceremony to mark the departure of some 2,000 soldiers from the base near Quebec City, Labeaume affirmed his support for Canada’s military intervention.

He urged the soldiers and their families to ignore the pacifist discourse and all those who oppose the mission.

"Ignore those armchair babblers, safe in their living rooms in a secure Quebec, with their anti-military quibbling and ideas about Canadian politics and the role of the military," he said.

"Know that you are our brave."

As part of the UN-sanctioned mission, he said Canadian troops in Afghanistan are engaged in a crusade against barbarism.

"You will fight barbarians, barbarians who close schools, barbarians who destroy books, barbarians who destroy heritage, barbarians who degrade women," he said.

"In Afghanistan, according to the Taliban, women are no more important than goats. . . . By my standards, that’s barbaric."

He said it’s up to the Valcartier troops to "fight that barbarism in a country where children don’t have the right to dream."

The troops will begin deploying to Kandahar mid-March and will completely take over from the current rotation by the beginning of May.

While the six to nine month tour will be a first for some, for others it will be familiar terrain. Military officials say this will be the third rotation for about 70 soldiers...