Soldier slain in Afghanistan was unhappy with mission, felt `misled'

[tuvor]

By The Canadian Press

TORONTO -- A Canadian killed in Afghanistan is remembered by family and friends as an outgoing, intelligent soldier who loved his girlfriend and was devoted to his work in the military.

However, Cpl. Anthony Boneca, 21, had said he was so unhappy with his mission, he was looking for ways to get sent home early.

(snip)

Boneca was so miserable on his mission, he had asked an army priest if talk of suicide would get him discharged, his girlfriend's father, Larry DeCorte, told the Toronto Star.

Boneca didn't feel suicidal, but ``he went to the priest to see if he could get out that way,'' DeCorte said.

``He hated it over there. He was misled as to what was going to be there when he got there, and what he would be doing. He was very mad about it.'' Boneca did not think his second tour in Afghanistan would be so tough, since he was a reservist. DeCorte said Boneca was on a patrol that was supposed to have lasted seven days, but stretched into three weeks.

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/9001004.html

ON EDIT: More from CBC http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/07/10/solidier-family.html

[Spazito]

1. When the government changed their mission from one of peacekeeping

to one of combat, those who were there under the peacekeeping mantle were betrayed, imo. Extending the combat mission, as was recently done, added to the initial betrayal. Both the Libs and the faux Cons should pay for this, pay politically.

[MrPrax]

2. That was very sad...

CTV talked to the boy's father...it was heartbreaking.

They looked very poor and it was there only son...made me cry, so I flipped the channel.

That's partly why I hate watching TV news...no matter which one you watch you inevitably will be confronted by a relative sobbing over the death of someone, either some child that dashed his brains on a highway or poor people crying while their house burns with their pets still in it...and that is mixed into the usual corp-guv agit-prop where they debate the merits of selling water to people or how you losing your job in Rexdale, only to have the guy set it up in India or China, is actually a 'good thing'.

Missing, of course, in the report (as well as that 'sacrifice' thread in this forum) is a coherent explanation as to why this poor family lost their child and WHY are our troops even in Afghanistan -- it's obviously NOT peace or freedom and since 'rich man's gold' is not likely to be volunteered by the elites, I suppose we can still debate the merits of 'support our troops' (fer it or agin it)

But then again, we live in Canada where people still get all defensive about some racist imperialist war in Europe from 90 years ago...apparantly we were defined as a nation 90 years ago as well.

[daleo]

3. I feel very sorry for the parents, who lost their only child

Now it turns out he didn't even want to be there.

Who will care two figs about the Canadian-Afghanistan war in ten years? It will be looked upon as a weird historical aberration, like the Canadian role in the expedition to the Nile in the 1880's.

I guess this explains why the Globe played up the hero aspect in today's paper. They wanted to defuse the notion that this was a very reluctant hero.

[Bragi]

4. You wrote:

I guess this explains why the Globe played up the hero aspect in today's paper. They wanted to defuse the notion that this was a very reluctant hero.

That was just the usual propaganda from tearleader Christie Blatchford. She's been shilling for Harper and the military brass now for the better part of a year.

- B

[daleo]

5. I agree with you there re: Blatchford

But today's propaganda seemed like a little extra, even for her. I don't usually read her stuff, though.

[tuvor]

6. Defence minister denies slain soldier was 'misled'

(snip)

But yesterday, (Defence Minister Gordon) O'Connor showed little sympathy to the concerns and even joked about his own time in the military.

"You don't get a choice in what you do or don't do. This is the military,"he said in a remark that sparked laughter and applause during a stop at a military base in Winnipeg.

"As an old sergeant said to me years ago when I was a young officer 'You only volunteer once,'" he said. The defence minister defended the training of reservists and publicly doubted that Boneca was "misled" about his mission.

"I would be very surprised to find out if a soldier was misled on what operation they're going out on. These operations are well-planned, orders are given, they're given all the way down the line," he said.

http://www.guelphmercury.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=mercury/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1152611583369&call_pageid=1050067726078&col=1050421501457