QUEBEC - Canadian troops in Afghanistan are waging a noble war against the "barbarian" Taliban, Quebec City Mayor Regis Labeaume said Friday during a stop in Valcartier where he met a group of soldiers preparing to deploy.
An unpopular mission among many in the province, Labeaume affirmed his support for Canada's military intervention in Afghanistan during the ceremony marking the departure of some 2,000 soldiers from the base near Quebec City.
He urged the soldiers and their families to ignore the pacifist discourse and all those who oppose the mission.
"Ignore those armchair babblers, safe in their living rooms in a secure Quebec, with their anti-military quibbling and ideas about Canadian politics and the role of the military," he said.
"Know that you are our brave."
As part of the UN-sanctioned mission, he said Canadian troops in Afghanistan are engaged in a crusade against barbarism.
"You will fight barbarians, barbarians who close schools, barbarians who destroy books, barbarians who destroy heritage, barbarians who degrade women," he said.
"In Afghanistan, according to the Taliban, women are no more important than goats... By my standards, that's barbaric."
He said it's up to the Valcartier troops to "fight that barbarism in a country where children don't have the right to dream."
The troops will begin deploying to Kandahar mid-March and will completely take over from the current rotation by the beginning of May.
While the six to nine month tour will be a first for some, for others it will be familiar terrain. Military officials say this will be the third rotation for about 70 soldiers.
Still, violence in the country has escalated since the last time many of them were in Afghanistan. It's anticipated this will be a tougher mission, particularly with Afghan elections coming up in August.
Even Brig. Gen. Guy Laroche, who commanded the troops in Kandahar last year, warned this will be a tough mission.
"During your tour of service, the eyes of the world will be on Afghanistan when the presidential elections are held," he said.
"Your task will not be easy, it will be dangerous and your duties will sometimes be hard to perform."
Canada has lost more than 100 soldiers to the Afghan mission since it began in 2002.
