“Canada’s elite JTF2 soldiers are heading to Afghanistan as part of a 2,000-troop deployment that will target the “detestable murderers and scumbags” behind the rise in international terrorism, General Rick Hillier said yesterday.

In a blunt briefing that signalled a new aggressiveness at the top of the Canadian Forces, the Chief of the Defence Staff said the impending operations are risky but necessary in light of last week’s bombings in the British public-transit system.[…]

It was the first time Gen. Hillier has confirmed that members of the Joint Task Force 2 — the country’s secretive commando team — will be involved in combat missions against the remnants of the former Taliban regime and supporters of al-Qaeda.

“These are detestable murderers and scumbags, I’ll tell you that right up front. They detest our freedoms, they detest our society, they detest our liberties,” Gen. Hillier said.

He stressed the new face of the Canadian Forces, which he said are now focused on the first job at hand: protecting Canadian interests at home and abroad.

“We’re not the public service of Canada, we’re not just another department. We are the Canadian Forces, and our job is to be able to kill people.”

However, needs must - CF needed a shakeup and he was the man to do it. BZ to General Hillier, the first General Officer in a long time to earn his soldier’s loyalty.