Our troops ... give them a thought today and everyday

Yesterday, over at Ranting Owl's blog, I watched a vid showing how soldiers carry out bodily functions  on the battleground. How many of us knew about this particular hardship, amongst countless others, they have to go through every day they are out there in the harshness of the enemy's playground ?

It also reminded me of the supposedly deliberate killing of a Taliban fighter in Oct 2008, while the insurgent was purportedly injured and unarmed, by a Canadian soldier.

The charges laid against Semrau stem from the testimony of one witness. We are left in the dark to determine for ourselves, whether the witness was an Afghan or a Canadian comrade in arms of Semrau. The looming question here should be: "Who is the witness?" If the witness is an Afghan, then this is a set-up and if the witness is a comrade in arms, then it is a bigger set-up.

Captain Semrau has been a great soldier during his time in the army. He spent 3 years with the British armed forces in Macedonia and Afghanistan and was given "an exemplary discharge" and has never had any previous charges on his record. At the time of his arrest he was the head of an Operational Mentor and Liaison Team.

It is more than likely that Semrau saw the wounded Taliban making a lunge at him, and as should happen in a theatre of war, Semrau reacted the only way he has been trained to react. Any witness who says this was a deliberate killing has their own agenda and why our Canadian military court cannot see that is beyond me.

Over-zealousness on the part of the Canadian Military overlords to show how very good and proper Canada is on the battlefield should not be at the expense of soldiers who are standing on guard for Canada.

This sorry state of affairs involving Capt Semrau makes me sick to my stomach.  I thought our guys were there to kill as many Taliban fighters as possible.