The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #170248   Message #4117140
Posted By: Charmion's brother Andrew
19-Aug-21 - 08:27 PM
Thread Name: Afghanistan - then and now
Subject: RE: Afghanistan - then and now
I made the same career move as Charmion, to which our father reacted, "Oh, no, not another one?"

I filled Charmion in on UNFICYP when I was posted to Kingston for a French language course just four months after my return the said mission. I pointed out that the reason it was working at the time was because the U.S. Sixth Fleet was just over the horizon to smack whoever got too uppity. Canada was happy to take on such peacekeeping roles that the U.S administrations knew they could not sell to their public.

Before I got too old and crusty, I had figured out that the role of the military is to operate the state's monopoly on violence or the threat of violence to meet state ends. I was still, however, enough of an adventurer that I would volunteer for missions.