Friday, September 12, 2008

Harper takes Afghanistan off the election menu; MacKay puts it back on

G&M : "Mr. Harper pledged Wednesday to withdraw Canadian troops in 2011 from not just Kandahar, but all of Afghanistan, leaving no room for transfer to a safer region of the country."
CP : "You have to put an end date on these things," Harper said. "We intend to end it."

This new pull-out pledge should appeal both to women voters and to anti-war Quebec, where Harper must make inroads to get his majority.

But won't it also piss off the Con war supporters right before the election?

G&M : "Canada will continue to play a role in Afghanistan even after the military mission ends in 2011, Defence Minister Peter MacKay said Thursday. "We're there in numerous roles."

MacKay went on to cite the Canadian International Development Agency, diplomats in Kabul, "a significant number of civilian police trainers and military trainers", and NGOs, all of whom "will continue to support the effort to rebuild Afghanistan."

Well ok then. As you were.
A lot can happen between this election and 2011.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Harper's announcement changed nothing. He was reannouncing the terms of the Tory-Liberal vote on Afghanistan to extend the military intervention until the end of 2011. In doing so, he was trying to take control of the Afghanistan issue before someone else did.

Along with most Canadians, I'm still waiting for someone else to put this issue front and centre in the election. We want our troops back home. Jack Layton, can you hear us?

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