Silly Little Country

Mansbridge gets to talk to Obama!

To be played on The National tonight at 9 and during its various repetitions - (but PBS has far more interesting plans).
Mansbridge makes reference to our 'extreme' casualties in Afghanistan.
Obama rightly does not jump on this and goes "Waa-waa" in his answer. (When you are a windbag you can do this well.)
But what standard is the CBC using to decide the roughly 100 casualties Canada has taken in Afghanistan over several years is 'extreme'?
Probably not the standards of the major Canadian movie, Paul Gross' "Passchendaele", of this calendar year. How far into that battle might we have hit 100 casualties (casualties meaning soldiers killed)? It did not take many years. Perhaps under a minute? With a much smaller national population?
I have no wish to be dismissive about what each casualty costs a family, but I also sure do not want us judging current ways by brain-dead standards. And it appears the CBC is making a small industry out of stupid comparisons.

posted by Alan Adamson @ 5:19 PM