Even the Toronto Star looking favourably at CF role in Afstan post-2011
Dear Mr Harper,
Please get with the program. The Dutch may do it. Do you want Canada to be the first NATO member to bug out completely?
Update: Adrian MacNair looks at the politics and reality of it all and concludes (judicious fellow):
Please get with the program. The Dutch may do it. Do you want Canada to be the first NATO member to bug out completely?
Update: Adrian MacNair looks at the politics and reality of it all and concludes (judicious fellow):
...Upperdate: A good recap of some of the political nonsense that has been going on at The Canada - Afghanistan Blog--with this apposite comment by milnews.ca:
The truth is that Bob Rae does deserve a considerable amount of heat for his about-face, if only because he and his party has been determined to undermine the mission in every way possible for the past year with the “torture-rendition-war crimes” inquisition of our military. Nobody has worked harder to control a negative perception of the mission in Afghanistan than the Liberal Party...
...it’s not difficult to see why the sudden offering of support for a post-2011 role would be met with mistrust and skepticism. But that does not mean we can ignore the branch that has been offered. This is an opportunity too valuable to scoff at. And though the professionalism, maturity, and sensibility appear to have arrived at a most tardy moment, it would be wrong-headed to simply turn away...
It is positively surreal to see Bob Rae sitting on CTV’s Question Period, making sensible comments and suggestions about the importance of providing ongoing security training for the Afghan police and army [my reaction to Mr Rae's slap down of Craig Oliver in second comment here-- at Babbling's post on the matter]. We can either mock him for his late arrival to table, or we can take this opportunity to spur on a much-needed discussion about our post-2011 role in Afghanistan, and maintain our commitments to our allies. If the comments of Conservative MP James Rajotte are any indication, there is at least some willingness to do that from within the government...
Rae seemed to have a good grip on the issue last fall, when he spoke during debate in Parliament on the issue - PDF of 5 Oct 09 Hansard excerpt at Scribd.com here. Well worth the read.
Now, what'll it take to get anybody from the Government side to speak in this level of detail and clarity.
posted by Mark, Ottawa at 7:45 a.m.
4 Comments:
The Canadian Parliament voted.
Mr. Harper must comply.
Do you think he knows the opposition will go against whatever he says, so in the end he will actually get what he wants?
The motion was for ending the current mission in Kandahar. It did not say totally leaving Afghanistan in summer 2011.
Did the motion not also say the 2011 date would be an end to a combat role?
Kinda hard to see how a training and development role could succeed if there's still battles raging all around.
I swear my father is rolling in his grave.
Do not trust this olive branch. It is poison. The only reason the Liberals want troops in Afghanistan is to make it more difficult for the Conservatives to balance the budget.
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