Afghan President Visits Ottawa

Hamid Karzai arrived in Canada Friday to deliver a historic speech to the House of Commons and was greeted with a 21-gun salute and inspected a military guard of honour at the Peace Tower – all of them soldiers who have served in Afghanistan.

Protesters also greeted the first democratically-elected Afghan president Friday morning, some wearing masks depicting U.S. President George W. Bush.

“Hey Karzai, we know you. You’re a little puppet too,” they chanted.

During his address to a joint session of the Senate and the Commons, Karzai said Canada stands as a “model to the rest of us for all that is good”, thanked Canada for its efforts in Afghanistan and addressed the fact that many citizens may be questioning their country’s military role in the war-torn nation.

“I know my visit comes at a time of sadness for a number of families across Canada who have lost loved ones in my country,” Karzai said. “Therefore, in addition to the honourable members, it is to those families and the Canadian public that I wish to address myself today.

“If the greatness of a life is measured in deeds done for others, then Canada’s sons and daughters, who made the ultimate sacrifice in Afghanistan, stand among the greatest of their generation … More than anyone else, Afghans very much understand that these sacrifices are for a great good cause, the cause of all of us as humanity.”

Karzai called the partnership that has developed between Afghanistan and the international community over the last five years a “co-operation of civilization” and said the efforts have enhanced security and provided education and health services to the country’s most needy citizens.

“Canada in all respects has been among the leaders of this partnership. Thanks to Canada’s contributions, Afghanistan today is profoundly different from the terrified and exhausted country it was five years ago,” Karzai said.

The Afghan president said more than six million children – 35 percent of them girls – are now attending school, compared to 700,000 five years ago – all of which were boys.

But terrorism continues to threaten progress in the country, he added.

“A year ago, in southern parts of Afghanistan, all schools were open. Today, all over the country, as I speak to you more than 150 schools are burned by … terrorists and 200,000 children who went to school last year, boys and girls, can’t go to school today, because of these attacks,” Karzai said. “Terrorism sees its ultimate defeat in the prosperity of the Afghan people.”

Karzai’s visit comes as polls suggest about half of Canadians are doubtful about the Afghan mission and shortly after the NDP called for a quick withdrawal.

But Harper stressed Canada’s unwavering commitment to Afghanistan at the United Nations Thursday and in his remarks to the Commons Friday.

“Mr. President, all the Canadians in Afghanistan, and I think all Canadians, are thankful for the peace and prosperity that our children enjoy almost as a birthright. And we want to share our blessings with the children of your country. That’s why, at your request, we’re in your country,” he said.

The government estimates Canada’s military mission in Afghanistan will have cost taxpayers more than $3.5 billion by early 2009. That figure doesn’t include the $1 billion over 10 years Canada has already committed in development aid.

Foreign Affairs also spent $29 million five years ago to open and maintain a temporary embassy in Kabul.

• After the special session of the House of Commons Harper joined thousands of people on Parliament Hill for a rally in support of Canadian troops. Participants wore red T-shirts, which was an idea originally proposed by the wives of two Canadian soldiers that gained popularity when an Ottawa radio station backed the plan.