afghanistan

over time, i'm becoming more tired of hearing the play on words of, 'if you don't support it, you don't support the troops'. for many of us, it doesn't matter which political party we support per say; it is that we want more answers, more transparency on the direction of this afghan mission and where the aid is spent. and then in essence we can become more knowledgeable to either support or not support our military being in afghanistan.

Liberals paper over split, call for hearings to rebalance Afghan mission
2007-01-24

QUEBEC (CP) - Canadian troops shouldn't be pulled from Afghanistan "with dishonour," said Stephane Dion, who called for parliamentary hearings into the mission now that federal Liberals have papered over their differences on the issue. ... was less clear whether Liberals would support eventual withdrawal of Canada's soldiers if the mission remains largely a combat effort aimed at rooting out Taliban insurgents. ... Dion said the Liberals will call on the Commons foreign affairs committee to hold hearings on the mission. He said they want more information about the mandate of Canada's soldiers and on how $10 million in development aid is being spent. ... Dion dodged when asked if he'd support extending the mission beyond 2009, saying the hearings must come first. ...

Liberals paper over split, call for hearings to rebalance Afghan mission
2007-01-24

QUEBEC (CP) - Canadian troops shouldn't be pulled from Afghanistan "with dishonour," said Stephane Dion, who called for parliamentary hearings into the mission now that federal Liberals have papered over their differences on the issue.

The newly minted Liberal leader said Wednesday that MPs are now united in wanting to improve the dangerous mission, putting more emphasis on diplomacy and development.

"I'm optimistic, I'm very confident that . . . there is a way to have a mission that will really make progress and we'll work very hard for that," Dion said.

Dion said Liberals are opposed to immediately withdrawing Canadian troops "with dishonour," as he accused NDP Leader Jack Layton of wanting to do.

But Dion was less clear whether Liberals would support eventual withdrawal of Canada's soldiers if the mission remains largely a combat effort aimed at rooting out Taliban insurgents.

"I prefer to not contemplate that," he told reporters after wrapping up a two-day caucus meeting to prepare for next week's resumption of Parliament.

Dion said he's confident that Liberals can strike a balance between Layton's "shameful" support for unilateral withdrawal and Prime Minister Stephen Harper's "blind" support for the mission as currently constituted.

Although it was the previous Liberal government that committed Canada's soldiers to the combat mission, Liberals were split last year when Harper held a snap vote on extending the mission to 2009.

More than two dozen Liberal MPs, including then leadership front-runner Michael Ignatieff, supported the motion while the rest, including Dion, voted against it.

The issue was also divisive throughout the leadership contest. One leadership contender, Joe Volpe, called for immediate redeployment of Canadian soldiers out of the combat zone in Kandahar province to areas where they could concentrate on humanitarian aid and reconstruction - essentially the same position advocated by Layton.

Another contender, Gerard Kennedy, now Dion's election readiness adviser, called for eventual withdrawal if Canada's NATO allies could not be persuaded to reconstitute the mission.

Differences were less stark Wednesday but not entirely smoothed over.

Ignatieff, now Dion's deputy leader, was much less equivocal than his leader when asked if he could contemplate any circumstance in which Liberals would call for the withdrawal of Canadian troops.

"I can't see any," Ignatieff told reporters.

He said there is "absolutely clear water" between the Liberal and NDP positions.

"Our position is we support the mission, we support the troops but we have very strong questions about the way the mission is being handled and managed."

Dion said the Liberals will call on the Commons foreign affairs committee to hold hearings on the mission. He said they want more information about the mandate of Canada's soldiers and on how $10 million in development aid is being spent.

He said Liberals want Harper's Tory government to pressure Canada's NATO allies into shouldering more of the mission's combat role. They also want more pressure applied on Pakistan to close its borders to Taliban insurgents.

"(Tories) have all this very wrong and we want these hearings to improve this mission and we are strongly backing our troops," he said.

Dion dodged when asked if he'd support extending the mission beyond 2009, saying the hearings must come first.

The Liberals also intend to hold the Harper government's feet to the fire on a host of other issues, including health care wait times, the decision to abolish income trusts and the failure to create child care spaces.

Most importantly, Dion said Liberals will demand swift, concrete action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including "strong and meaningful regulations" on large emitters. With even U.S. President George Bush, whose government has doubted the science behind global warming, now calling for a 20 per cent reduction in emissions, Dion said Canada is increasingly alone in failing to come to grips with the problem.

"It's the kind of plan we need everywhere. The world is moving. This is the worst ecological threat that the world is facing," he said.