for or against our military to be in afghanistan, i believe, we have a right to have this issue debated. we as canadians deserve to know what the long term mandate is; as i feel this sitauation goes and will be going far beyond our norm of our military taking an active roll in peacekeeping. as a canadian, to blindly accept is ignorance. and for every high powered politcal figure who deems these new missions as the way to go, i want to see your son or daughter or spouse standing up to the plate and joining our forces.
No debate, says MacKay, generals will decide how long troops in Afghanistan
Tuesday, March 7, 2006
OTTAWA (CP) - The length of Canada's military commitment in Afghanistan is an "open question" to be determined in large part by the generals, Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay said Monday.
Amid sustained calls for a full parliamentary debate - and at least one for Canada to quit the southwest Asian country altogether - MacKay said now is the time for "perseverance and resolve" rather than a public review of the deployment.
He was responding to comments by Gen. Rick Hillier, chief of defence staff, who said last week the dangerous mission will require troops for at least a decade and that Canada is in for the long haul.
Both Hillier and Brig.-Gen. David Fraser, who is leading a multinational force in Kandahar which includes about 2,200 Canadians, "have indicated clearly this is going to be a longer-term commitment than was perhaps originally intended as far as troop deployment," MacKay said following a meeting with the visiting Russian foreign minister.
"Canada's in a position where we have to exhibit in a very clear way that we are committed to this mission, that we intend to finish what we started - if I can put it that way - and to work with our allies there."
How long Canadian troops remain on the ground, said MacKay, "is an open question.
"It's one, of course, where we are going to rely heavily on the information we receive from Gen. Hillier and others who are overseeing this mission."
MacKay's comments came as a military analyst warned that Hillier is being set up as a political fall guy in case the Afghan mission goes off the rails.
"He was set up by the Liberals, and he's being set up by the Conservatives, as the lightning rod for public discontent if this mission should go really sour," David Rudd of the Canadian Institute of Strategic Studies said in an interview.
"It's not his call."
Rudd said Liberals and now Conservatives in government are skirting political accountability and that a full parliamentary debate should take place, if only to tell people exactly what Canada's role is in war-ravaged Afghanistan.
"I don't subscribe to the notion that fostering or sponsoring a parliamentary debate would be catastrophic for morale," said Rudd.
"If the government feels it has a strong position, it should articulate it."
The Conservatives, he added, are "doubly wrong by saying this is not the time for debate, but at the same time allowing a uniformed officer to stand in for them."
The Canadian Peace Alliance, a group representing some 140 member groups, issued a call Monday for Canada to abandon Afghanistan.
"It is time for the killing to stop," said the peace group's release.
New Democrats are also demanding a full parliamentary debate and vote on Canada's military deployment, which has nine months remaining on its current mandate.
The troops were committed to Afghanistan by the former Liberal government, with only a take-note debate in the Commons and no vote on the decision.
Ujjal Dosanjh, the newly named Liberal defence critic, says no parliamentary vote is needed but he'd like to see a public discussion - including in Parliament - of the rationale for staying the course.
Public opinion polls have showed sagging support for the mission in light of recent casualties, Dosanjh noted, but Canadians remained steadfast through two world wars and the Korean conflict.
"The more Canadians hear about why our troops are there and what they're engaged in, I believe there will be more support," he said Monday.
Neither Canadian troops nor the public at home wavered during the Second World War, when an average 20 Canadian soldiers died every day over the six-year course of the conflict.
The Conservatives appear disinclined to take the advice of Rudd, the official Opposition or the peace lobby.
MacKay is adamant a public debate of the mission's merits would undermine Canadian soldiers.
"Recent results have demonstrated this is life and death and we don't want to jeopardize or in any way have a psychological or a real impact on the troops who are in Afghanistan," said MacKay.
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