Saturday’s appearance of the above editorial cartoon coincided on a particularly brutal weekend which saw the deaths of 5 Canadian soldiers fighting alongside NATO troops in Afghanistan. Predictably, calls are again being made to get our troops out of the war and bring them back home. The loudest voice comes from Jack Layton who has seized the political opportunity to play the peace dove in this debate. You’d think following the overwhelming condemnation of his position in weekend editorials, columns, military circles, and even within his own caucus, Layton would refine his opposition and (while the word is still flying around) ‘nuance’ his words a little more keeping in mind Canada’s international obligations and long term strategy for defeating the Taliban in Afghanistan. The debate about Canada’s role in Afghanistan was settled months ago when Parliament voted to extend our mission there. And do we really need to be reminded on a daily basis why we’re in Afghanistan in the first place? Does Layton seriously see Canada sitting down and discussing a peace settlement with the Taliban over a cup of tea? Maybe…as I suggested back in April:
Today’s cartoon was the amalgamation of two previous cartoons. One is of the former Prime Minister, Jean Chretien, portrayed as a SeaKing helicopter, and another of Jack Layton who mixed politics and the deaths of homeless people during the 2004 federal election by blaming Paul Martin. Layton seems to have a good track record of twisting any sort of tragedy or misfortune just to make he and his party look good.
