On The Highway of Hero's

As part of my new job I need a car. It sucks, I like to ride, but sometimes I guess I've got to burn the fossil fuels. So I decided, rather than burn a bajillion liters and wear out Lesley's brand new gas guzzler, I bought a very used 2001 VW Jetta TDI (diesel).

Anyway the guy selling it lives way out in Oshawa and I had to drive there today to give him the deposit. Now for people who are not from the greater Toronto area, every time a Canadian Soldier dies in the field their remains are flown to CFB (Canadian Forces Base) Trenton and then driven along the 401 to the Don Valley Parkway and south to one of the hospitals in downtown for an autopsy. Every time this happens, people of all sorts gather on the highway overpasses and drape flags over the side and watch, meanwhile the police close most access to the highway. The highway has been renamed, Highway of Hero's.

I bring all this up because Oshawa is between Trenton and Toronto, and some of our boys were KIA (Killed In Action) in Afghanistan. I had the chance, not that I would care to repeat it, to drive under all those patriotic overpasses and contemplate Canada's role in Afghanistan. This is what I wrote to a friend of mine:

Every highway overpass had people out with flags and "Support our Troops" ribbons, more soldier's remains are going in for an autopsy.

I got on the 401 core lanes just before they closed access to the core lanes and whizzed into town. Meanwhile at every single overpass I was reminded of why I was averaging 120km/h on the 401 at 4pm.

I have to rant about politics for a second here, I don't doubt the integrity of people who would wait out, sometimes in snow or rain, sometimes on a nice day like today, to give their last respects. But we all know, in a couple months the last of our soldiers are coming home and then what? Have we actually done anything useful? Afghanistan is reverting to Taliban control, Hamid Karzi (our guy in Kabul) is a criminal and we've lost over a hundred boys and girls, they are children really, and several billion dollars. I used to think we were going to Afghanistan to get the
SOB who sent 767s into the side of the World Trade Centre, now I don't know what the fuck were doing there and the whole damned thing is really upsetting. Meanwhile people keep standing on highway overpasses with Canadian Flags and people like my neighbour (a reservist) get to contemplate going to a country to "liberate" the locals who feel they are under an occupation. In this situation we cannot possibly "win", so why send my neighbour at all why not just call it a bad day and move on?

Sorry I'm full of morbid thoughts, but I guess after that drive on the 'Highway of Hero's that's gotta happen.