Harper Wins Liberal Backing To Keep Troops In Afghanistan
Posted November 17, 2010 7:47 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper averted a showdown with international allies and his biggest domestic political opponent Tuesday by promising that Canadian Forces trainers in Afghanistan will not be drawn into fighting.
Harper told Parliament that Canada’s combat mission will end next year as scheduled, as his government finally confirmed that the country will keep up to 950 soldiers and support staff in Afghanistan on a training mission until March 2014.
The long-anticipated announcement won praise from NATO’s leadership in Brussels, even though some allies exerted pressure to keep Canadian troops on the front lines of fighting in Kandahar beyond the July 2011 withdrawal date.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he “warmly” welcomed Harper’s decision to deploy “a substantial number of trainers” to Afghanistan, and acknowledged the “real difference” Canadian troops have made in the war-torn country, “often at a high cost.”
Harper was dead set against extending the military mission beyond 2011, in any form. But his reversal leaves Canada in lock-step with the 2014 Afghanistan exit strategy that will be front and centre at this weekend’s NATO summit in Lisbon, Portugal.
“In just a few days, at the Lisbon Summit, we will launch the transition process, and early next year Afghan forces will steadily begin taking the lead for security throughout the country. This Canadian contribution of hundreds of trainers will help the Afghan security forces to more quickly become capable of securing their own country against terrorism and extremism — a goal we all share,” Rasmussen said from Brussels.
In Ottawa, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff offered his party’s support for the training mission and backed the government’s decision not to seek formal parliamentary approval.
“This will not be a combat mission,” Harper said in response to a question from Ignatieff.
“It will occur in classrooms, behind the wire and in bases,” the prime minister added. “This is a way of ensuring we consolidate the gains we’ve made and honour the sacrifice of Canadians.”
Ignatieff said he agreed with Harper that the decision is one for the government to make.
“We think this is a tough decision, but it’s the right decision as a matter of principle,” Ignatieff said.
“You can’t have the Bloc (Quebecois) and the NDP coming out there and saying, ‘Let’s just walk away from Afghanistan and leave them a lot of fine words.”
“When Canada is asked by its allies and when Canada is asked by the Afghan people, ‘Get us ready to defend ourselves,’ I think Canada should respond as the government is responding.”
But a new poll suggests Canadians are wary of any extension to the military mission in Afghanistan, which has claimed the lives of 152 members of the Forces.
The Canadian Press Harris-Decima survey indicates respondents are split on the issue, with 48 per cent saying all troops should be brought home once the combat mission ends next July and 42 per cent saying some troops should remain to help train the Afghan military.
About 60 per cent are opposed to a Canadian military presence in Afghanistan, while only 37 per cent support it. The telephone survey of just over 1,000 people was conducted Nov. 11-14 and is considered accurate within 3.1 percentage points, 19 times in 20.
Harper’s chief spokesman Dimitri Soudas confirmed that allies pressured Canada to extend the combat mission in Kandahar.
“We’ve been under a lot of pressure from our allies. Our allies knew very well that our mission was to end given the Canadian parliament’s resolution,” said Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon.
“But the situation has changed.”
Cannon said the “non-combat” troops will be stationed in the Kabul area and will also provide humanitarian aid. The precise makeup of the contingent will be decided after consultation with NATO allies.
“We shall dedicate ourselves to development, diplomacy, and a non-combat role in training members of the Afghan National Security Forces.”
Defence Minister Peter MacKay said the withdrawal of the combat force will likely begin months before the July 2011 withdrawal date set by Parliament because of logistical considerations.
“Given that reality of what is usually seen as fighting season . . . that is one of the options we may pursue, that is to say, we will start to draw down sooner,” MacKay said.
MacKay said Canadian troops will not accompany their Afghan trainees on operations — the sort of field mentoring that could expose them to front-line fighting.
“The legacy of the Canadian Forces in Afghanistan will endure in a professional Afghan National Security Forces capable of providing a more secure and stable environment for the Afghan people.”
The new mission will cost the military up to $500 million a year. The move to Kabul from Kandahar alone will cost $85 million. The government will spend another $100 million a year over three years on development and aid, said MacKay.
The government says the mission extension does not require formal parliamentary approval, but the NDP is making a concerted push for a Commons vote.
New Democrat MP Jack Harris called the extension a “function of mission creep” and said it’s “laughable” to suggest the new undertaking is already covered by previous parliamentary votes.
“We’ve been there nine years now,” Harris said. “We were supposedly there for a few months, then we were there for six months, then we were there, etc., etc.”
