On the DEWLine 2.0: Dwight Williams

Just got home from my second viewing of Hyena Road. The first time, I left the cinema feeling shocked. Tonight, I left in a state of anger.

And I'm not quite sure of where to aim that anger.

Does that make sense?

I mentioned somewhere that I felt ashamed of showing up late for the ceremony today at the Peacekeepers' Monument. Granted that the event as such is only one year old, but the work was and still is important. 82,000 people from however many nations, including 65 from mine, are doing it in various parts of the world as I type these words. It matters.

I should also have expected the ceremony to start at somewhen between 10:30 and 11:00 AM, given our history of commemorating such things. Planning accordingly would certainly have helped. But I digress.

I've read stories of ongoing derision of peacekeeping over the last few years as the work of wimps. I've also read - today - of people who accuse those who have respect for peacekeeping of basing that respect in some kind of stupid naivete. (Calling Mr. Granatstein...)

I don't think either of those camps really has it right.

It takes a special kind of self-discipline for this work. As special in its way as anything else any nation's soldiers, sailors, aircrew and police can be honourably called upon to do. I believe I know for a certainty that I don't have that self-discipline. I could, perhaps, find out the hard way years from now that I am wrong in such self-criticism. But right now, at this point, I doubt it.

That people sometimes kill and die performing this service? This is understood. I wish that it weren't so, but it still happens, despite the ongoing efforts of many around the world to put an end to it. The wars that are fought these days, I am told, take fewer lives less often than they once did, so I am inclined to suspect that the peacekeepers and the diplomats backing them are having some measure of success at their work.

So Peacekeepers Day has a certain amount of earned respect for itself by virtue of the reasons for its creation. Which leaves me thinking of myself as less than respectful today to those who deserve better.

Much better.

Just got the news a few minutes ago: six of our soldiers in Afghanistan died today. And just to further aggravate things, Afghani journalist Ajmal Naqshbandi was announced as executed as well.

To everyone affected by this...I'm sorry.

Sad update - 9 April 2007: We now have the names of five of the six we lost in Helmand province.

We've lost a good one today.

Details here, care of the CBC.