Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Godspeed, Private Longtin   [Steve Schippert]

Honoring the Van Doos' fallen and our Canadian allies.

[Private Simon] Longtin's death was the first in Afghanistan for the Royal 22nd Regiment, known as the Van Doos, who are based in Quebec - where support is low for the Canadian mission. The 23-year-old soldier from Longueuil, Que., died Sunday when his light armoured vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb.

More than 1,000 soldiers from 37 countries paid tribute to Longtin at a ramp ceremony in Kandahar Airfield on Monday.

Perhaps "support is low for the Canadian mission" in Quebec, but it is not extinct. And Quebec is not Canada, similar to how so many media outlets forget New York City is not America.

Meanwhile, across the Van Doos' near border, the same enemy also seeks out Pakistani soldiers.

Suspected militants attacked a military checkpoint in northwest Pakistan before dawn Wednesday, triggering a shootout that left three soldiers dead, police said.

The attack happened in Bannu, a troubled town near the North Waziristan tribal agency that borders Afghanistan, said Mohammed Noor, a local police official.

"Suspected" militants attacked them. That always amuses me. I suppose it could have been Red Cross relief workers.

08/22 06:14 PMShare