You want the TRUE Afghan war cost report? You read it here first.
Prescott Shipway, Sergeant
Andrew Grenon, Corporal Chad Horn, Private Mike Seggie, Corporal Shawn Eades, Sergeant Stephan Stock, Sapper Dustin Wasden, CorporalErin Doyle, Master Corporal
Josh Roberts, Master Corporal
James Arnal, Corporal
Colin Wilmot, Private
Brendan Downey, Corporal
Jonathan Snyder, Captain
Richard Leary, Captain
Michael Starker, Corporal
Terry Street, Private
Jason Boyes, Sergeant
Jérémie Ouellet, Bombardier
Michael Hayakaze, Trooper
Étienne Gonthier, Corporal
Richard Renaud, Trooper
Eric Labbe, Corporal
Hani Massouh, Warrant officer
Jonathan Dion, Gunner
Nicolas Beauchamp, Corporal
Michel Levesque, Private
Nathan Hornburg, Corporal
Raymond Ruckpaul, Major
Christian Duchesne, Master corporal
Mario Mercier, Master Warrant officer
Simon Longtin, Private
Jordan Anderson, Corporal
Cole Bartsch, Corporal
Colin Bason, Master corporal
Matthew Dawe, Captain
Jefferson Francis, Captain
Lane Watkins, Private
Stephen Bouzane, Corporal
Christos Karigiannis, Sergeant
Joel Wiebe, Private
Darryl Caswell, Trooper
Darrell Priede, Master corporal
Matthew McCully, Corporal
Anthony Klumpenhouwer, Master corporal
Patrick Pentland, Trooper
Allan Stewart, Master corporal
David Greenslade, Private
Kevin Kennedy, Private
Donald Lucas, Sergeant
Brent Poland, Corporal
Christopher Stannix, Corporal
Aaron Williams, Corporal
Kevin Megeney, Corporal
Robert Girouard, Chief Warrant officer
Albert Storm, Corporal
Darcy Tedford, Sergeant
Blake Williamson, Private
Mark Wilson, Trooper
Craig Gillam, Sergeant
Robert Mitchell, Corporal
Josh Klukie, Private
Glen Arnold, Corporal
David Byers, Private
Shane Keating, Corporal
Keith Morley, Corporal
Mark Graham, Private
William Cushley, Private
Frank Mellish, Warrant officer
Richard Nolan, Warrant officer
Shane Stachnik, Sergeant
David Braun, Corporal
Andrew Eykelenboom, Corporal
Jeffrey Walsh, Master corporal
Raymond Arndt, Master corporal
Kevin Dallaire, Private
Vaughan Ingram, Sergeant
Bryce Keller, Corporal
Christopher Reid, Corporal
Francisco Gomez, Corporal
Jason Warren, Corporal
Anthony Boneca, Corporal
Nichola Goddard, Captain
Matthew Dinning, Corporal
Myles Mansell, Bombardier
Randy Payne, Corporal
William Turner, Lieutenant
Robert Costall, Private
Paul Davis, Corporal
Timothy Wilson, Master corporal
Glyn Berry, Diplomat
Braun Woodfield, Private
Jamie Murphy, Corporal
Robbie Beerenfenger, Corporal
Robert Short, Sergeant
Ainsworth Dyer, Corporal
Richard Green, Private
Marc Leger, Sergeant
Nathan Smith, Private
Volunteers, each and every one of them. Killed halfway across the world while selflessly trying to improve the lives of complete strangers. None of them WANTED to die, but all of them knew it COULD happen - and yet still they went.
THAT is the cost of this war.
Whether you agree with the mission or not, whether you think they should come home right now, in 2011, or 5 years ago... if you think the cost of this mission is measured in dollars, you're completely out of touch with reality.
98 broken families. 98 young Canadian men and women dead. That is the cost of this war. Whether that cost has been worthwhile is up to each of us to decide for ourselves - there's not even unanimity among the 98 families who have paid that price.
So, no matter if the monetary cost has been 8 Billion, or 10 Billion, or more... even at $10 Billion, that's $500 for each taxpayer. Sure, I've got things I'd rather spend $500 on than taxes...
But ask Chad Horn's family what this war cost them. I don't think they'll be talking about their tax dollars.
3 comments:
Very well said
Yes, well said.
But getting back to the cost for a moment. Does it really matter what the exact number is? Really, we know the number is higher than zero and below tens of billions, but how do you evaluate the number? Whether the cost was in millions or billions, some would say it costs too much, and some would say the cost is worth it - both for reasons that do not rely on money, but rather their ideological support (or lack thereof) for the war.
Even though I know many intelligent people read this blog (well, at least one), we don't know what a war "should" cost, in dollar terms. You can't say that War "X" in Year "Y" cost "Z" dollars, and have that translate into what it would cost today. The best you could do is take the cost of the war and compare it to total GDP, and then take a look at historical ratios of the same. But it doesn't answer the question of whether or not we should be there.
My real fear is that a govt that won't spend enough in dollars (good training, equipment, shelter, tools and weapons) will increase the cost in lives.
Our troops need to be fully supported, here and on any UN missions we are on. If we are not careful we may discover soon enough why countries have a military at all... Afterall, what exactly is Russia doing, or likely to do, in the arctic?
Post a Comment