Photo credit: Master Corporal Matthew McGregor, Image Tech, JTFK Afghanistan, Roto 8
In the aftermath of the much publicized “attack” on Kandahar Air Field, in which some journalists glowingly praised the “rising resolve” of the heroic Taliban, Canada’s most senior foreign correspondent in Afghanistan, Matthew Fisher, has responded with an attack on his fellow journos.
Matthew Fisher has set the record straight on numerous issues blown out of proportion by the Canadian media sitting comfortably at home, including an interview with CFRA radio in Ottawa last December that should have properly put to rest the matter of the so-called “Afghan detainee scandal.”
Mr.Fisher describes attacks over the past week and a half in Kandahar and Bagram airfields [the main bases for Canadian and US Forces, respectively] as militarily insignificant but “spectacularly successful publicity coups for the Taliban.” Well, that isn’t surprising when Canadian writers make a mad dash to lavish praise on the insurgents for their “brazen” attempts to take the main bases of some of NATO’s top armies. Which is sort of like praising a mosquito for trying to bite a camper.
The fact of the matter is that the insurgent attacks on Bagram and Kandahar didn’t have a snowballs chance on Venus of succeeding, outnumbered as they were by several thousands to one, which is certainly not a good ratio when you consider Canadian Forces have consistently managed a kill ratio of about 100 to 1. But that’s besides the point, because the Taliban didn’t send Allah’s warriors with the intent to succeed. No, they were counting on the foreign media to help them with that latter objective.
Matthew Fisher explains in an interview with CFRA today:
Because it’s the main base, it gets a tremendous amount of attention. And that’s exactly what the Taliban want. You know, they’re not trying to achieve success with these attacks in terms of military. They’re just trying to get a lot of attention. This works in terms of intimidating the local population, and it works also in undermining support for the mission overseas by the idea the main bases are being attacked.
The fact of the matter is Canadian small bases get attacked constantly and in much more systematic ways than the big base, and virtually none of that ever gets reported. It’s just the big bases that have the attacks reported on, and that was the case in Bagram last week and here, and certainly it has achieved a success, and a strategic success with the Taliban because they’ve received massive publicity about it.
One of the things that Matthew Fisher says bothers him most is that a lot of these articles detailing this growing and robust insurgency are being written by journalists who either haven’t been to Afghanistan in years, or else haven’t been to the country at all. All they’re trying to do is get their name above the fold on the front page, realizing that an article about the Taliban making headway against ISAF is a lot more exciting than reporting the fact that the Taliban continues to make no progress whatsoever outside of their IED strategy.
What’s significant about this rebuke of the Canadian media from a senior correspondent of the Afghan war, is that he has no bias or interest in the mission beyond reporting the facts correctly. It frustrates him that he’s there reporting events on the ground as he witnesses them personally, or from people he interviews on the ground who are first on the scene, yet back in Canada there is an entirely different story being told to a Canadian public which, unfortunately, all too readily laps up the defeatist milk.
RELATED
By now you’ve probably heard that Canada’s 146th soldier has died in Afghanistan to an IED attack. Trooper Larry Rudd, from Brantford, was killed by an IED today.
I think it’s worth pointing out that the only means of warfare left to the Taliban is the unconventional IED attacks. I went through the casualty list, and the following statistics reveal the most common type of death is by these random roadside bombs:
Improvised Explosive Device: 84
Conventional Gunfire: 23
Accident: 18
Suicide Bombing: 12
Friendly Fire: 5
Landmine: 4
What’s interesting is that gun-fire related deaths are mainly from 2006-07 when Canadians were slaughtering the Taliban at a 100:1 ratio. If you go through the casualty list, you’ll find that conventional deaths from gunfire drop precipitously from 2008 onward, to nearly zero as the Taliban changed their strategy to avoid direct confrontation with ISAF.
Thanks for that Adrian. Well written and badly needs to be said.
Thanks also to Mr. Fisher.
Yes, thanks Adrian. I’m so sick of these pro-Taliban journos in Canada.
Glad both of you liked it. I’ll trust the words of a man in the thick of it over there, rather than the creative writers over here any time.
One great “Attaboy!” to you A.
For Mr. Fisher? Triple “Attaboy!” and one gold “Way to go Champ!” Both Awards replete with “Eternal Blanket Rights Enabling Bearer The Right To At Will, Gleefully Thump Canadian Quislings and Leftoid/Leftard Useful Fools.”
Brazen?Taliban?
Most Canadian leftoid/leftard quasi-pseudo journos? I see them as nothing more than craven, turn-coat sellouts.
craven;
adjective: as in craven coward, a craven surrender cowardly, lily-livered, faint-hearted, chicken-hearted, spineless, timid, timorous, fearful, pusillanimous, weak, feeble; informal yellow, chicken, weak-kneed, gutless, yellow-bellied, wimpish; contemptible, abject, ignominious. antonym brave.
Please. Feel free to embellish, add to, expand, build. We then ought to publish the names of these “great” reporters [c/w their respective media] adding on the list of true adjectives that most accurately describes them. Maybe we ought to consider showing our contempt for these low-lifes, by moving to boycott their major advertisers.
pace!
tj
t.e.&o.e.
*
the unfortunate truth is… that’s what the media does.
not to minimise the terrible loss & pain of any of the friends or family of the brave canadian men & women who have fallen in afghanistan… but let’s just run some numbers here…
“According to Statistics Canada… there were 594 homicides in Canada in 2007. That’s 50 times the average number of yearly Canadian combat fatalities in Af’stan the last 7 years.”
it’s the same smoke & mirrors the msm & the liberals are generating about the 2 billion dollar “farmer bob rifle registry:… which willfully ignores that “92% of gun crimes in Canada are committed with illegal handguns.”
the indisputable fact is… every time these donkeyheads go head to head with our troops they get their asses handed to them.
what they actually excel at is backstabbing & blowing up women & children.
just another little factoid you’re not gonna see at the cbc.
*
Still waiting for an article on Princess Patricia’s Light Infantry which has sustained the most deaths during this mission.
P.P.C.L.I. The only non-American military unit to be awarded, and wear, a U.S. Presidential Unit Citation for their action in the Korean conflict. circa. early fifties.
“Matthew Fisher, has responded with an attack on his fellow journos….”
WTF? Really? AN !*ATTACK*! on his fellow journos?
WHERE? I read no attack on journos in this article.
He wrote the truth. — Big deal.
Do journalists now get medals for writing the truth?
When he starts stating the !*NAMES*!
of the propaganda slime bags in the press who write this sh*t.
–ie:Globe and Mail writer, John Doe wrote Tuesday that …”xxxxxxxx”. His story was inaccurate because yyyyyyyy.
THEN (!) it would be of some value.
Like all journalists he follows the old rule, “Smear anyone in society but never another journalist”.
Simply stating generalities about “the media” or blaming unnamed, generic reporters does nothing to hold the MSM for their shameless Taliban cheerleading.
Seemed fairly clear to me he was talking about Koring.
It doesn’t matter what is “clear to you”.
Journalists have no problem stating the names of individuals in ANY OTHER segment of society when they want to print their snotty, holier-than-thou judgments on anyone who is not a journalist.
On the rare (EXTREMELY RARE) occasion when they critcize the MSM themselves, they always go gutless and generalize instead of leveling specific charges against NAMED INDIVIDUALS.
THIS(!?) is an ATTACK on shoddy reporting?
A pretty mild “attack” if he can’t even be bothered to openly state who he believes is responsible.
I suppose he’s only thinking of his career. Calling out fellow journalists can be a risky venture. You don’t want to burn any bridges or piss off the wrong people.
This is why I have no respect for these low lifes.
They gleefully smear anyone who is not “one-of-the-group” while at the same time ignoring the corruption and lack of ethics of their own.
When I see an editorial calling for journalist John Doe to be fired or charged because of XXXXX,
Maybe THEN I’ll believe there is even ONE of these toilet lickers who is worthy of respect.
BUT I won’t be seeing THAT ….. EVER.
I’m not a journalist, but I called out Kady O’Malley on CBC and haven’t been invited back. Coincidence?
Full disclosure, I’m going into journalism myself, so I’m not so fired up about referring to a possible future job position as a “toilet licker.”
“I called out Kady O’Malley on CBC and haven’t been invited back. Coincidence?”
Probably not.
So I guess you will be intimidated enough to continue the practice of covering up the wrongs of others in the business by keeping your mouth shut. Is this the case?
We’ll see. I’d rather speculate about getting a job in the media before I speculate about whether I’ll be bad-mouthing anybody.
But I don’t know about your self-righteous attitude. I have strong doubts you rebuke the people at your jobs or burn your own bridges for future employment.
Having said that, it’s inaccurate to say that journalists never call one another out. Hell, the whole Globe and Mail called out Christie Blatchford over detainees. And recently she gave it right back.
Plus the Star writers bash the Post writers by name and vice versa all the time.
“don’t know about your self-righteous attitude.”
Wow, pot calling kettle black. Hey, with hypocrisy like that you will make a decent journalist.
I could debate this for a long time and your minor unreferenced ancedotal “examples” of how wonderfully responsible these toliet lickers are means nothing.
But I’m done. It’s late and somebody has to finish this.
Get the last word in — journalists love to do that.
I have followed Matthew Fisher’s father all my life. Douglas Fisher was always one of my favourite columnists. It seems his son Matthew is following in his Dad’s stolid footsteps to his credit.
Is Douglas Fisher still alive? If so he would be quite old. It would be sad if he has passed away. He was one of the best and there are few to take his place.
Doug Fisher died in September last year:
“The death of a former Canadian soldier”
Mark
Ottawa
[...] Air Field north of Kabul and another three days later against Kandahar Air Field in the south [more from Adrian, with [...]