The opposition Liberals want Prime Minister Stephen Harper to clarify what he plans for Afghanistan. But he is clear. He says he's bringing Canada's troops home.
The real puzzle is: What would the Liberals do?
This is not an academic question. By the time Canada's scheduled troop withdrawal begins next July, we may well have had another election. Should Michael Ignatieff's Liberals win, it will be up to them to decide how to proceed.
[...]
The Prime Minister...says the entire Afghan military mission will be terminated.
If he's sincere, that means Canadian troops won't be staying on as trainers or advisors – which, to a large extent, is what they are doing now. Nor will they provide security for reconstruction.
Actually, I think Walkom's got it half backwards. In an interview last week with CBC radio, Lawrence Cannon (I think) dodged and weaved and bobbed so bad over the question of training police/troops in Kabul post 2011, that it sounded either like he hadn't been told what the talking points were or the Tory gov. as a whole doesn't yet know its own mind on the issue. In any case, the minister certainly didn't rule anything out.
So, it would be nice if Iggy laid down a few markers indicating that, no, any involvement in the Afghan issue after 2011 will not involve the Canadian military. There is clarity needed on this issue; Harper and co. are not providing it, and if the official opposition doesn't step up and say what is acceptable from its POV, our guys will be getting shot at and blown up from 2011 until god knows.
16 comments:
the Liberals have been laying down.
They had 29 skip a budget vote. They muffed their own abortion vote.
Liberals should not lay down any more markers they can't back up.
The opposition have done an effective job in destroying any support for the mission.
Do your remember the last time Dion tried to make it a confidence matter? 23 broke ranks lesson learned?
Ugh... so don't express your opinion...
Your concept of democracy is perverse CS.
Instead of comming up with a unified, national plan, we've dickered about playing politics again. This was what the comission was supposed to be investigating but they wasted all this time looking for victims instead. Ujhol's been leading that charge.
I think we should stay and do training but I'm positive that every Canadian casualty past 2011 is going to be blamed on Harper reguardless of the situation.
Right now Harper is saying we're withdrawing the troops come 2011. I think an election is going to come much sooner than 2011; I'm thinking this fall, so do many others.
I seem to remember not all that long ago Peter McKay talked about keeping the troops past 2011:
http://sistersagesmusings.blogspot.com/2009/10/wheeling-dealing-hypocrisy-in.html
As much as I find CS to be a partisan Connie hack, he does have a point and the Liberals should be aware of the hypocrisy they embrace.
How bad a Liberal leader do you have to be to stay so low in polls when you have such a terrible PM as Harper?
Remember Ignatieff slobbering all over Obama, "Learning from the masters hand"
Something tells me that if Ignatieff were the PM, Obama would succeed in getting mission extended.
Cherniak_WTF said...
As much as I find CS to be a partisan Connie hack, he does have a point and the Liberals should be aware of the hypocrisy they embrace.
Well, I find you to be a partisan Liberal hack most of the time, but that doesn't seem to stop you from stating the harsh truth now and then. Kudos for that, anyway.
How bad a Liberal leader do you have to be to stay so low in polls when you have such a terrible PM as Harper?
True. This one is really a no-win
for you guys; either Harper is a much better leader and PM than you are willing to give him credit for, or you are backing a losing horse with Ignatieff.
I said it two years ago, and I'll say it again: your party is so divided down the middle that Michael Ignatieff and Bob Rae BOTH have to go now. You know in your heart that when the next election is finally called, Rae's people will do everything they can to sabotage Ignatieff, right?
(subtlety, of course)
Same as Chretien's people did to Paul Martin. You might think I should be happy about this, but I'm really not; I might not want to see a strong Liberal Party, but really don't want to see an overly weak one either. It's just not good for the country...
Well, I find you to be a partisan Liberal hack most of the time,
Don't let your bias get in the way of that rant...
I support theBQ and have for a while now.
(Don't worry about, people like Rural get upset because of the lack of fanning over Iggy and the idiots)...
As far as I"m concerned, Iggy is nearly indistinguishable from Harper - quite sad actually when you think about it...
You might think I should be happy about this, but I'm really not.
That you think anyone possibly spends a nanosecond thinking about what you care about is astonishing.
All the concern trolling, is truly bringing tears to my eyes.
As for you Rotterdam, you are truly one of the stupidest human beings on earth.
Fred from BC is not far behind.
CS?????
Walkolm,a known lefty has managed to sow some irritation and defensiveness among the partisans gathered here.
Perhaps the lead question is being avoided because no one really knows the answer.
Sir Gallahad, I think there are even dumber ones out there. They just haven't darkened this doorstep today; as of yet.
Rotterdam, your level of ignorance is surpassed only by Fred's level of drunkenness.
Ignatieff wants to know exactly how Harper stands, and more importantly about Karzai.
The other day Karzai attacks the Western world. Then he tries to schmooze Clinton.
Today, he's attacking the Western world again and threatening to join the Taliban.
Ignatieff is right......Karzai is a problem ad we should know exactly what's up with him.
Cherniak_WTF said...
I support theBQ and have for a while now.
Really? I never would have guessed. My apologies for assuming that your attacks on the Conservatives (and your presence on the Liberal blogs) marked you as Liberal...
(I knew you were too smart to be NDP, though...;)
(Don't worry about it, people like Rural get upset because of the lack of fawning over Iggy and the idiots)...
They can't bear to admit what a huge mistake they've made. Now there is no time to replace him before the next election, so they just have to hope he loses quickly so he can be replaced quickly. Then Bob Rae can start the process all over again...
As far as I'm concerned, Iggy is nearly indistinguishable from Harper - quite sad actually when you think about it...
It is. Particularly since that forces them to chase voters from the same part of the political spectrum. I think that the Liberals only have one chance now if they refuse to tear down their party and rebuild it (still the best course of action, but they're to stubborn to admit it): they have to move their party to the left, and either merge with the NDP or destroy them.
Stephen Harper has repositioned the Conservatives from the right to the center-right, and the NDP has been slowly shifting toward the center as well. Interesting times...
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