Captain Coffee said:I agree with a lot of what's been said here.
The sad truth is that most Canadians don't know what's going on in Afghanistan, why we're there or what we're doing there. I saw one poll (wish I could remember where) that had similar results to this one, but then went on to ask them some questions like "Why is are Canadian troops in Afghanistan?" "What is Canada's mission in Afghanistan?" etc etc. Of course the results showed that a disappointing number of people knew the right answers.
Then they proceed to tell them about the mission in as general, and unbiased a way as possible. How it came about, why we went, what we're trying to do, what results we're achieving etc etc.
Then they re-asked their opinions on the mission. HUGE difference. Lots of support then.
Some people actually think Afghanistan is a peacekeeping mission! Worse yet, they think it's a peacekeeping mission LIKE BOSNIA!
I like that we live in a country that isn't as "gung-ho grab a gun and lets go!" as the Americans are but I shake my head at how little the average person knows about the CF.
- Your first five paragraphs bemoan the misconceptions about our foreign policy, then your last paragraph promotes a common misconception about American foreign policy.
- I shake my head at how little the average Canadian knows about the USA.