Afstan: combat or not? Minister of National Defence goes wobbly

Mr O'Connor contradicts the Canadian commander on the spot.

Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan aren't looking for a fight but will defend themselves, Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor says, admitting he's got a big selling job ahead of him to explain why the troops are there.

"We're not in Afghanistan to conduct combat operations," Mr. O'Connor said yesterday...

"There is an insurgency in Afghanistan. But we're not aggressively going after the insurgents," Mr. O'Connor said. "But if we're attacked, we'll attack back."..

This is what the commander of the Canadian battle (?!) group at Kandahar said a month ago:
...
...Lt.-Col. Hope said yesterday he plans to take the offensive against the suicide bombers and those who train and support them. "We'll never be able to stop them completely, but we will continue to do the active offensive operations to counter them and deter them."

The Conservatives seem to be creating another Wonderland in Canada.

..."one can't believe impossible things."

"I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was younger, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."

Mr O'Connor has adopted the UK position. See this Jan. 27 post at Daimnation!

Afstan: Brits won't hunt enemy; will Canadian troops stop?

Cross-posted to Daimnation!