[There] seems to be some kinky kind of competition on the Western left to be, metaphorically speaking, Islam's lead prison bitch.
Well, insert "Islamofascism" for "Islam" and I'm on board with that assessment. Much of our Left is effectively abandoning moderate and reasonable Moslems, who are also targets of the jihadis, in favor of letting the worst among Islam define the Moslem world's ideology and then claiming to embrace that twisted belief system in the name of tolerance.
Compassion in action, eh? So soon they forget this. Canadian troops in Afghanistan have stood up to the jihadi murderers who thought Canada was the weakest link. The Canadian troops showed the enemy that Canadian troops are mean bastards you don't want to cross. But back home, Canadian civilians worry that Mark Steyn might offend Moslems by discussing the jihadi problem that Canadian troops fight every day.
If Canadians think Mark Steyn is the enemy rather than murderous jihadis and their enablers, truly the surrender reflex up north may be too well developed to unlearn. Will Canadians decide they are honored to be victims of the jihad?
I'm just disgusted.
UPDATE: More on the Canadian troops in Afghanistan. I am thankful for Canada's contribution and commitment to this fight. Strategypage rightly notes that simply noting casualty rates of Canada--with no safer support troops to dilute the rate--with American rates that include large numbers of support personnel who supply and support the entire alliance effort is not a fair comparison. Even here, sometimes it is noted that Marines sustain higher casualties than the Army as a proportion of the total forces. That comparison too, without knocking Marine commitment or losses, fails to account for the large logistical tail of the Army that supports both Army and Marine combat units.
