QC Women's Group Takes Cheap Shot @ Moms of Fallen

[The Bread Guy]

WTF?  Class act, folks  I guess you're not interested in the women who are going to be the abandoned ones when NATO leaves, right? 

This from the Canadian Press:

A fictional military mom packs an AK-47 into a duffel bag. She adds a stuffed doll. Then, staring coldly into the camera, she says she might never have had kids had she known they'd grow up to become "cannon fodder" in Afghanistan.

These images are part of a new anti-war video designed to shock. It appears to have succeeded and is now pitting a fake military mother against real ones.

The video calls on the government to withdraw Canadian troops from Afghanistan and to put an end to the military's efforts to sign up new recruits in Quebec schools.

"It's like she spat on our children," said Celine Lizotte, whose son was killed by a roadside bomb last year in Afghanistan.

"She's spitting on our children and she's spitting on us as well because it's as if (she's saying) we shouldn't have brought these children into the world." ....

YouTube link to commercial here.

In case you have anything to say about this commercial, you can find the contact page for Fédération des femmes du Québec here.

 

[OldSolduer]

I saw part of the commercial and didn't think much of it. I don't understand French so well, but I figured it was just another peacenik bunch exercising their right to free speech.
Which my son and 151 other soldiers died fighting for.

 

[armyvern]

I saw part of the commercial and didn't think much of it. I don't understand French so well, but I figured it was just another peacenik bunch exercising their right to free speech.
Which my son and 151 other soldiers died fighting for.

Thank you for your family's sacrifice. May Mike rest peacefully knowing that he fought the good fight.

At the end of the day, know that he stood and fought - and died - so that others may have the right to spout trash; it takes our best and bravest to do that for their fellow citizens, including those who don't appreciate it.

 

[OldSolduer]

Thank you for your family's sacrifice. May Mike rest peacefully knowing that he fought the good fight.

At the end of the day, know that he stood and fought - and died - so that others may have the right to spout trash; it takes our best and bravest to do that.

Thanks Veronica. You're a class act.

 

[PuckChaser]

I saw part of the commercial and didn't think much of it. I don't understand French so well, but I figured it was just another peacenik bunch exercising their right to free speech.
Which my son and 151 other soldiers died fighting for.

The moral high ground is always the best road to take. Thanks Jim! 

 

[mariomike]

My grandmother was a Silver Cross mother from World War Two. It was a different generation, but I like the way they handled this trouble-maker:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aq2huwJJTOQ

 

[Jarnhamar]

She's sure enjoying freedom of speech isn't she.

 

[TimBit]

I just sent them the following. I know it`s in French, but I thought some of you might enjoy anyway. As I said, I think thei rposition is naive, insulting and divisive. Not to mention slightly nuts.

Je suis un peu dépité de votre clip publicitaire engagé sur YouTube. Bien que vous êtes évidemment dans votre droit le plus complet de soutenir les positions qui vous plaisent, je trouve votre position naïve, insultante et divisive.

1. Naïve: Ah oui, peut-être qu'aujourd'hui l'Afghanistan, ça ne vous semble pas important, mais par contre l'âge du conflit inter-nations et inter-humains n'est PAS terminé. Et jusqu'à ce que ce jour arrive, et Dieu sait qu'il n'arrivera jamais malheureusement, je préférerai toujours être de ceux qui sont prêt à aller combattre là-bas, quitte à perdre quelques fils et filles, plutôt que de le faire ici et à en perdre par milliers. Cette position nous semble évidemment à nous, nord-américains, débiles, mais parlez-en aux Européens qui ont vécu le joug nazi et je suis persuadé que c'est votre position qui leur semblera débile.
De plus, que pensez-vous de ces enfants en Afghanistan qui supportent tortures et attaques, à l'acide par exemple, parce qu'elles vont à l'école? Ou parce qu'ils votent? En tant que mères, ne trouvez-vous pas cela horrible? Êtes-vous humanistes ou isolationnistes?
2. Insultante. Je suis militaire. Ma femme supporte ce choix...et ma mère aussi. Nous avons des enfants. Je ne les encouragerai jamais à s'enrôler, mais ce serait hypocrite de ne pas les supporter s'ils font ce choix, puisque j'ai fait le même. Sommes-nous de moins bons parents pour autant?
3. Divisive. Suite à 2... est-ce que tous ces parents qui supportent la décision de leurs enfants de s'enrôler sont de mauvais parents? Doit-on les ostraciser?

Je ne m'attends à aucune réponse, honnêtement, mais je suis heureux de m'ajouter à la longue liste de gens qui critiquent votre publicité. Ceci étant dit, nous vivons dans une société démocratique libérale, donc vous avez droit à votre opinion. Dite société libérale démocratique qui, durant la seconde guerre mondiale, la guerre froide, et, j'en suis sûr, dans le futur, a été et sera défendue par des militaires comme moi. Et dite société libérale à laquelle n'ont pas droit les citoyens de plusieurs endroits où nous nous déployons, combattons, et perdons des frères d'armes, incluant, oui, l'Afghanistan.

Merci.

 

[The Bread Guy]

I saw part of the commercial and didn't think much of it. I don't understand French so well, but I figured it was just another peacenik bunch exercising their right to free speech.
Which my son and 151 other soldiers died fighting for.

You're the better man 

 

[steph_3007]

Nice post TimBit.

Can't say that I'm proud to live in Quebec when I hear things like this.
They may have the freedom of speech but probably not the intelligence to use it.
:rage:

 

[SevenSixTwo]

WTF?  Class act, folks  I guess you're not interested in the women who are going to be the abandoned ones when NATO leaves, right? 

This from the Canadian Press:
YouTube link to commercial here.

In case you have anything to say about this commercial, you can find the contact page for Fédération des femmes du Québec here.

Looks like the video is now "private". All, I have seen is the newspaper photo.


If anyone has another link for the video post it please I can't seem to find it.

When I first read the first little bit I was imagining a mother in Afghanistan but when I read it was about Canadian mothers and their children I was disgusted. It's disgusting for either mother to be portrayed like that from either country. But to take a pot-shot at your veterans and those they left behind AND THEN pretend to portray the mother?!

I REALLY doubt there's a mother out there in Canada that says their children were cannon fodder.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Looks like the video is now "private". All, I have seen is the newspaper photo.

Just spotted this - here's why the video is now "private", via the Canadian Press:

There's been an abrupt about-face by the makers of a controversial anti-war video.

The video, showing a fictional mother grieving the loss of a child in Afghanistan, has been edited.

In the original version, the mom says that if she'd known her kids would grow up to one day become cannon fodder, she might never have had them.

The video has triggered an angry reaction from some real-life military moms. Military families have emerged to say they're proud of soldiers' work in Afghanistan, and disgusted by the video.

The Quebec women's group responsible for the video had originally responded defiantly, saying it wanted to provoke a debate and would not be backing down.

But on Friday morning the group suddenly announced it would edit the video to remove the specific phrase that offended people. One military mother said that after watching the video she stared at a photo of her dead son and wept.

"(We) understand that the phrase where a mother expresses regret for giving life to her children because they went to war is hurtful and does not reflect the feelings of all soldiers' mothers," the group said in a statement.

"Therefore, the phrase will be removed from the capsule today."

The group said it was simply trying to question the military policy of the Canadian government ....

Here's the Group's statement:

La Marche mondiale des femmes (MMF) comprend qu’elle a offensé des personnes proches de militaires et s’en excuse.

La capsule a pour objectif de questionner les orientations politiques du gouvernement canadien en matière de défense. Nous y avons dépeint la grande douleur et la colère d’une mère suite à la mort d’un de ses enfants en Afghanistan, guerre qu’elle n’appuie pas. Elle se désole aussi du fait que l’armée ait recruté sa plus jeune fille à l’école.

Cependant, les représentantes de la MMF comprennent que la phrase qui évoque le regret de la mère d’avoir donné vie à ses enfants pour faire la guerre a blessé et ne reflète pas le sentiment de toutes les mères de soldats. Ainsi, cette phrase sera retirée de la capsule aujourd’hui.

La MMF réitère sa demande au gouvernement du Québec d’empêcher le recrutement dans les écoles et continue d’exiger du gouvernement du Canada qu’il retire les troupes de l’Afghanistan.

Google English translation:

The World March of Women (WMW) understands that she has offended people close to military and apologized.

The capsule is designed to question the political guidelines of the Canadian government on defense. We have depicted the great pain and anger of a mother following the death of one of his children in Afghanistan, it did not support war. She also laments the fact that the army had recruited her younger daughter to school.

However, representatives of MMF include the phrase that evokes the regret of the mother for giving life to her children for war wounded and do not reflect the sentiment of all mothers of soldiers. Thus, this sentence will be removed from the capsule today.

MMF reiterates its request to the Quebec government to stop recruiting in schools and continues to require the government to withdraw Canadian troops from Afghanistan.

 

[vonGarvin]

Crazy Uninformed Nazi Tools. That's what they are, every one of them.  Crazy Uninformed Nazi Tools.  Their statement they "(Elles sont) des milliers de femmes engagées pour que l'égalité devienne une réalité pour toutes" forgot to say "Our way or the highway"


Crazy
Uninformed
Nazi
Tools


Every last one of them.

 

[SevenSixTwo]

Crazy Uninformed Nazi Tools. That's what they are, every one of them.  Crazy Uninformed Nazi Tools.  Their statement they "(Elles sont) des milliers de femmes engagées pour que l'égalité devienne une réalité pour toutes" forgot to say "Our way or the highway"


Crazy
Uninformed
Nazi
Tools


Every last one of them.

The only people worse then this organization are the crazy god damned commentors on cbc.ca:


"MulePine wroteosted 2010/10/08
at 10:47 AM ETI think its a good ad. No mother raises a child hoping that the child will die in a pointless war. Its unfortunate that some people still believe in this war and are offended by this ad. Soldiers in these wars have been used by governments, military contractors, oil companies and others in power for their own benefits. Remember, this war was started by Bush and Dick Cheney, two neo-con chickenhawks. Cheney received 5 draft notices and got deferment for ALL of them. He is a multi-millionaire and former CEO of Haliburton an oil company that was awarded a food services contract in Iraq. These people are making tons of money but when they were young, there was no way they would put themselves in harm's way!

No one should die for corporate greed and American Imperialism. This war is making us less safe, not more safe. We are becoming more and more a target for terrorism. Afghanistan is still a mess after 9 years of war. Let negotiations end this war.

Stop the killing. Bring the troops home now."

 

[GAP]

Group backs down on anti-military vid
By BRIAN LILLEY, Parliamentary Bureau Last Updated: October 8, 2010
Article Link

A Quebec feminist group has removed a portion of an anti-military video that sparked outrage among military families and denunciation from members of Parliament.

In a statement on its website, the Quebec Federation of Women said the video was “designed to question the political guidelines of the Canadian government on defence.” However, the inclusion of the term “cannon fodder” to describe Canadian soldiers sparked a backlash the group wasn't expecting.

“Upon reflection, we determined that we never intended to harm anyone, so we decided to remove the hurtful section,” federation president Alexa Conradi told all-news channel LCN in Montreal.
More on link

 

[lethalLemon]

*sigh* Damn the incredibly easy access to media. 

Some people need to learn a little thing called respect. You may not have to like the CF and it's members and the operations they participate in - but please still have the decency to respect them.

 

[OldSolduer]

Before we crucify them all....yes they are whackos etc but they have the right to be whackos. I really wish CTV had called me, I would have said something along these lines:

"They are exercising their right to free speech. Yes, its very insensitive of them to call our Fallen Heroes "Cannon Fodder" but they have the right to say it. Mind you, the right to free speech also guarantees that someone will make an ass out of themselves....like these people have"

How does that sound? Is that Lew McKenzie ish enough?

 

[vonGarvin]

Jim
I disagree.  They pretended to represent a mother of a fallen soldier.  That's not free speech.  That's abuse of it.  :rage:

 

[Armymedic]

I have to agree with TV on the point that they are misrepresenting. Unfortunately, it does not seem to be contrary to any our our country's law's. Perhaps a human rights complaint is in order.

 

[CombatDoc]

Does anybody else find it odd that the "mother" in this video is loading an AK-47 into her "daughter's" duffle bag?  Certainly not a firearm used by the CF, but ubiquitous amongst the anti-NATO forces.