wmtc letter in globe and mail

Yesterday the Globe and Mail ran a huge, colour picture on their front page of Mishelle Brown, standing beside a photo of her husband, Dennis Brown, who was killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan.

The huge headlines read: "Widow Tells Stephen Harper: 'We may not be able to beat the Taliban... But do you give up? Do you stop? Absolutely not." After PM declares that allies can't defeat the insurgency, wife of slain officer urges Ottawa to stand behind the mission." The story didn't start until page 14, but the gratuitous, colourful placement gave the G&M a chance to juxtapose Ms. Brown's press conference with a story on CSIS's extraordinary rendition of Abousfian Abdelrazik to Sudan. Better get them over there, before they get us over here, eh?

Allan and I were both repulsed, and wrote letters. Mine made it in, Allan's did not, but here are both our letters, plus another good one the G&M published on the same topic. The words in brackets were edited out.

My heart goes out to Mishelle Brown, who lost her husband, Warrant Officer Dennis Brown, to a bomb in Afghanistan. We can also reflect on the Afghan men and women whose lives have been lost [defending their country and their beliefs]. Their lives were no less valuable.

Ms. Brown quotes her husband as saying, "If we don't get them in their backyard, they're sure to get us in ours." I feel certain that if a foreign army landed in Canada, Canadians would feel justified in using any means necessary to expel its troops.

The best way we can honour Dennis Brown is to ensure that not one more Canadian life is lost in the pointless Afghan mission.

Laura Kaminker
Mississauga, ON

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[unpublished]

After seeing the front-page placement to Mishelle Brown's plea to Prime Minister Stephen Harper to continue Canada's presence in Afghanistan, I look forward to the Globe & Mail's equally prominent story on a war widow who is against Canada's presence in Afghanistan, someone who demands that no more Canadians be killed in what Mr. Harper admits is a losing cause.

Allan Wood
Mississauga, ON

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"We may not be able to beat the Taliban ... But do you give up? Do you stop? Absolutely not." This is what Mishelle Brown said at a heartbreaking news conference, reacting to the death of her husband, Dennis. Does this mean Canada should prepare for perpetual war? Why stop in Afghanistan? Why not, like our American neighbours, become police officers to the world? Our troops must be brought home as soon as possible; any other prospect is positively Orwellian.

Allen Small, Unionville, ON

The "backyard" reference is particularly disturbing to me. Did Warrant Officer Brown not realize that he was in someone's backyard? And therefore, he was the "them" that needed "getting"?