Paul Russell: This week in letters: NDP vs. Taliban, and limiting Canadian abortions

Posted: February 11, 2008, 2:30 PM by Dan Goldbloom
Filed under: Paul Russell

Canada’s role in Afghanistan was hotly debated on the letters page last week, after an aspiring NDP politician wrote in to defend her party’s dovish position. “The naïveté of the NDP and their allies is astounding,” responded Tom Linning. “Does this woman really believe that the Taliban would stand idly by while ‘the UN works within its mandate and its civilian organizations to improve conditions for women and children in Afghanistan?’ It’s time the NDP faced reality — which, in this case, means dealing [militarily] with the Taliban, who are determined to deny basic justice and human dignity to the Afghan people — and not pontificate with an eye on winning votes in the next election.”

I'm with Tom.......

“I suppose that this would not be the first time in history that high-minded values have lead to complete and total devastation, but I cannot think of a more effective plan for the re-Talibanization of Afghanistan,” added Robert S. Sciuk. “Let the genocide begin.”
Many readers have told us that they support continued military action in Afghanistan, especially after a particularly touching photo was printed on the letters page (and reprinted alongside this column), under the headline, “Making their harsh lives a little easier.”
“Your photo of Corporal Julie Alain attending to [two] little Afghan girls is astounding,” wrote Ray Hickin. “Surely we could never leave these youngsters, and thousands of others, to an enemy that shows no regard for them.”
“Take a good look at the affection and admiration those two Afghan girls express towards Corporal Alain,” added Brian J. Graham. “This photo strikes me as a true portrait of our military personnel leading by example. I’m sure Corporal Alain has provided these girls with not only comfort but also much needed hope in a land where such sentiment must be in short supply. My respect and regards go out to her and all our Canadian Armed Forces.”

The only limitation I would like to see is not to use abortion as a form of birth control...use a condom or keep your knees together.

2. Abortion continues to be a key issue for readers, with approximately 75% of letter-writers saying there needs to be some limits on the procedure’s use in Canada. The most passionately argued letters in this regard came from those who told us how their lives would be poorer if someone they knew had decided on abortion.
“I’m the besotted grandmother of the most delightful, gentle and caring little girl who ever walked this Earth, and I will never stop thanking her birthmother for this privilege,” wrote a B.C. reader, who asked not be to named in order to protect her granddaughter’s identity. “Her birthmother had every reason to seek an abortion. She was a widow with three teenage children and her pregnancy was the result of an affair with a married man. But this woman chose not to have an abortion and instead, choose a family for her little baby. [She decided that the child] must be loved unconditionally and be given all the opportunities that this woman herself never had.
“She chose well. We’re now raising a proud Canadian. I know this young girl is going to make a profound difference in many lives, and that the world would have been a much poorer place without her in it.”
National Post
prussell@nationalpost.com