Dear General Hillier: STFU

Cripes, the more Hillier opens his yap lately, the more he sounds like a propaganda shill for the Cons.

Today, Canadians were treated to the General lecturing us about how the detainee issue is detracting from "all the good things" the troops are doing.

Allow me to make something very clear - this critic is not annoyed with the job that the troops on the ground are doing. They are carrying out a difficult job in even more difficult circumstances.

Having said that, those troops are carrying out orders and directives created by the General himself, at the behest of his political masters. When those orders and directives cheapen Canada's name on the world stage, it is my duty as a Canadian to stand up and be heard.

While Hillier complains that we aren't "looking at the good bits" of the picture, the fact is that it's not the "good bits" of the story that Canadians should be concerned about. It is policies and agreements signed on our behalf by a General who seems more interested in lecturing us on "supporting the troops" than taking ownership of questionable decisions that he has made, and that the Harper government is ill-disposed to correct.

We, as Canadian citizens, must ask ourselves repeatedly whether this is the kind of government that we want? Do we want one where challenging government policy is frowned upon? A government that actively uses its armed enforcement agencies as propaganda tools, with the implicit threat of force should we have the temerity to disagree with them?