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Thursday, April 27, 2006

Flags, Cameras, Soldiers

There has probably been all too much ink spilled over the recent policies out of the PMO on the peace tower flag and media access to military bases during such tragic times. My position most of the week is aptly summarized in 4 sentences by Radwanski:
I support having Canadian troops in Afghanistan. I agree with my colleagues at the Post that each soldier's death, while tragic, cannot be treated as a national emergency if we're serious about our commitment there. But this is bad news. Opting not to lower the flag on the Peace Tower doesn't dishonour the fallen, but treating them like a dirty secret sure does.

As Liam noted yesterday, there is a cheapness and hypocrisy to some of the shrillest commentators on the flag issue. Still, Rick Mercer makes some difficult-to-refute points regarding who we chose to honour. Let's not run from these debates on what we are doing overseas, and let's not let rank partisanship (on either side) have us forget what we are arguing about.

1 Comments:

Blogger Liam O'Brien said...

Sadly no party was truly consistent here. I think the government was right to restore the 80 yr tradition re peace tower flag. . . this view was supported by the Legion and most of my armed forces, reserve, and retired forces friends.

I also support the media ban on what I see as a solemn ceremony for families. Families deserve full privacy on these matters. .unlike politicians, they aren't fair game. . which is why I don't think the government went far enough there.

10:34 AM  

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