The Death of Trooper Karine Blais

I've long believed that our military mission in Afghanistan is doomed. I think it's the wrong way to fight terrorism and religious extremism. I believe it's making Canada a more dangerous place rather than a safer one.

But that doesn't stop me from paying tribute to this brave Canadian soldier.

Because however misguided this mission is.... to me she is a HERO. For showing the brutish Taliban, and the poor oppressed women of Afghanistan, what a liberated Canadian woman looks like.

And for showing the little girls of Canada that they can be WHATEVER they want to be. Even a frontline soldier.

Which doesn't mean that I don't share the feelings of this relative:

"I think she did this for absolutely nothing... I ask myself what Canada is doing. We were blue berets, now we're fighters.

"I don't think it's our place at all, at all, at all. We should be leading peacekeeping missions, not combat missions like we're doing."

Or that I wouldn't give the same answer her family gave her, when she asked if they were proud of her.

"To answer your question, yes, we are always proud of you, despite the sadness that has enveloped us..."

Too bad she had to die in a country where one side murders women.

And the other side treats them like animals.

Mohseni said that women and men are not equal in Afghanistan and shouldn't be treated as equals, arguing that men are the breadwinners and that rural women are illiterate, making it difficult for them to provide financial support to the family.

"It is not possible for all women to pay the same amount of money as men are paying. For all these expenses, can't we at least give the right to a husband to demand sex from his wife after four nights?"

And nothing we can do will change those Medieval attitudes.

Karine Blais from Les Mechins, Quebec, showed those barbarous men what the future will look like. She IS a hero.

I wish I could just think of that.

But all I feel is sadness...