Canada becoming a "warrior nation".

I submitted this as part of an assignment for my world politics class.
Sorry it's so long*.

*That's what she said. Sorry, couldn't resist.

Anyways here it is.

Since Canada started it's mission in Afghanistan it has fairly quickly
become a "warrior nation". The mission is a highly public one, one
noticed often by the media. This media coverage is showing Canadian
troops as fighters instead of peacekeepers. The way UN peacekeepers
work is that they do not fight unless they are attacked. Currently,
the Canadians are on an "offensive" (according to Stephen Harper).
Last time I checked peacekeepers didn't go on "offensives". In my
opinion the image of the Canadian forces being created is very one
sided. We only seem to be told about the soldiers killed or suicide
bombers and all the bad things and never the good things like all the
IED's (improvised explosive devices) that are found or the schools
built. It seems like this has been blown out of proportion by the
media. All we ever seem to hear about is Afghanistan. Remember last
year when the Canadian navy captured a load of pirates? Not really.
But you remember all those reports about Canadian soldiers being
killed. What about the relief that was sent during hurricane katrina?
Nope. Nothing much. But there was lots of coverage about when Stephen
Harper went to Afghanistan. Canada is still a peacekeeping nation but
that image is being tarnished by the media.