Shame on the minister of defence

Catholic New Times, May 21, 2006 by Cathy William

How dare Minister of Defence Gordon O'Connor use the language of the military to hide the atrocities to which he commits our young people. He offers training, a future in peacekeeping and a chance to rebuild a broken world.

Then he takes them to the "theatre," which is truly the stage where men and women, young and old, build their homes and their dreams, only to be slaughtered by those who search for 'insurgents' and 'weapons of mass destruction.'

How dare he call our fallen ones, "casualties of war" and hide their coming home, when indeed, they are the flesh and blood sons of mothers and fathers and brothers to all of us in this land of the 'free'--free to demand more wealth, more oil, more power.

Does he think that Canadians cannot see that the next war will be about nuclear arms in Iran when our neighbours to the south have the greater power to stockpile? Why not sit down and decide that war is no answer; there is no freedom in the destruction of the Earth and its creative beauty.

I am enraged by what he and Mr. Harper are doing to our country. They play us for fools.

Cathy Williamson

Westmeath, Ont.