Ezra Levant is endangering our peacekeepers

Stardate 5328.5

Thanks to Cerberus for this letter posted on the Shotgun by Shawn, a Canadian soldier currently stationed in Afghanistan, regarding the Western Standards reprinting of the hateful cartoons that have made more headlines than Dick's hunting accident.

Mr. Levant, I am a Canadian soldier. I have friends serving in Afghanistan. I'm gonna keep this simple.

We're fighting an insurgency in Afganistan. Unlike a traditional war, the bad guys are hard to find and kill.

Canadian soldiers rely on sympathetic local folks to tell us all about the bad guys. Without the goodwill of the locals, life is bad. The locals happen to be Muslims. Are you with me so far? Good.

The Afghans who provide intelligence to us will probably hear about a Canadian magazine publishing the cartoons. They may get mad at us. They may stop telling us about the bad guys, or actually help them to target us. Still with me? Good.

Your "freedom of speech" spin is crap. You publish an obscure regional pamphlet. The controversy raises your profile, and (you hope) your income.

While you flog your alleged devotion to "Canadian Values", remember that this may blow up in your face. You've earned it.

In Afghanistan, far from your safe little office, other things may be blowing up in the faces of my comerades because of your idiotic stunt.

You have endangered them all.

Posted by: Shawn 15-Feb-06 8:07:01 PM

Personally, I have to draw the line on Ezra's so called "Freedom of Speech" excuse when it comes to something as ugly, hate mongering and stupid as this. There is absolutely no way a sane person would have acted in the way that Ezra Levant and his hate-mongering magazine have done without any thought about the consequences of their actions.