colin powell, a role model?

Colin Powell urges Canadians to remain steadfast in Afghan commitment
March 16, 2006

TORONTO (CP) - Canadians should prepare for "an extended" military campaign in Afghanistan and reject any impulse to set a timeline to withdraw its troops, former U.S. secretary of state Colin Powell said Wednesday.

"We all should be prepared for something that's going to be extended," Powell said of the need for coalition forces to remain steadfast in their commitment to the war-torn region. "I think it would not be the appropriate course of action now to put a time limit on it, because it's situational."
The ability of Afghan forces to improve their capabilities to police the region, political developments in the country, and the tenacity of the enemy will determine how long troops are needed, said Powell.

"You have to plan against the situation on the ground," Powell warned an audience of some 2,600 people in Toronto following a speech on Canadian-U.S. relations.

"I hope Canada will look at it in that way and not impose some artificial timeline that doesn't bear a relationship to reality." ...

Before Powell's speech, about a dozen protesters picketed the downtown venue, claiming that the former U.S. secretary of state is a war criminal responsible for some 100,000 deaths in Iraq since the U.S. invaded in 2003.

Two protesters dressed like prisoners, in orange jumpsuits and with black sacks draped over heads.

The group cited a 2004 report from U.S. Democrats that claims Powell made 50 misleading statements about the threat Iraq posed in the lead up to the war.

"We're calling on Toronto police and the attorney general to arrest him as a war criminal," said Dylan Penner, executive director of ACT for the Earth.

Powell entered the Toronto venue without incident.

As former chairman of the military Joint Chiefs of Staff, Powell led the Bush administration argument at the United Nations for a military attack to oust Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.