An Open Letter To The NDP
I received an e-mail today from the NDP asking for me to have my “voice heard” by signing a petition to withdraw our troops from Afghanistan and “support our troops” by making a donation to the NDP. I read a rather lengthy statement by Jack Leyton and then sent in this reply…
Unfortunately I cannot support your stance on this issue. I think more effort needs to be spent identifying the source of the insurgence such as the involvement of other nations such as Pakistan and Iran in giving tacit (or open) support to these groups. You suggest Afghanistan is Iraq but it clearly is not, our reasons for being there are completely different and limiting ourselves to a reconstruction role is ignoring the reality of the situation. What good is it to build a school if it is to be bombed the next day and our engineers killed in the process of trying to build it? I support our troops, my brother and friend are in the armed forces in point of fact, but I also support what they are trying to do and if that puts them in harm’s way that’s unfortunate but I believe they do so willingly in this case because they believe their cause is just and I support that. You have not provided sufficient evidence or cause to change my mind on that count.
You say the Conservatives equate questions with being unpatriotic (Harper certainly doesn’t like questions!) and concern expressed over lost lives a threat to our troops. Frankly I don’t have time to investigate these claims but if true they are disconcerting however I find claiming a donation to the NDP is a show of support to our troops is almost as disingenuous. It’s as if you are using the tactics of your enemy to decry the tactics of your enemy, the irony is palpable.
Your approach to this problem seems to be too one-dimensional and frankly makes me wonder if it is a stance created largely to cast the Conservatives in a bad light rather than actually address the situation logically. The Conservatives are doing a fine job casting themselves in a bad light over David Emerson, reversing the Liberal income tax breaks, and avoiding the media. If you want to fight the Conservatives, fight them on those fronts. If you want to defeat terrorism look at the root causes, not the death toll. In the mean time I intend to let my membership in the party lapse, assuming it hasn’t already, until such time as I find myself in more agreement with your approach. Were an election called today my first step would be to investigate the Green Party for my possible support. You say you want Canadian voices heard, this is mine. In the past you’ve done an excellent job standing up for Canadians but right now I don’t feel as if you are standing up FOR me but rather standing up TO the Conservatives for the sake of eroding their support in a Machiavellian attempt to bolster your own. I say give them enough rope to hang themselves with and hold their feet to the fire on more clear-cut issues such as David Emerson. That’s the key to regaining my support.
You need to address the things they do that are bad, not assume what they do is bad because they’re Conservatives. I mean, it’s conceivable that even George Bush might do something right on occasion - unlikely, but possible. You need to address the issue and their ideas based on their merit, not their source. The NDP has made it’s greatest strides in bipartisan efforts, I think you’ll get more done and build more of a Canadian consensus if you get back to those roots.
And oust David Emerson.
