Afstan update: God bless Claude Bachand (BQ)

I have been watching the take-note debate on Afghanistan. I am shamed to say that the only speech showing:

a) a decent respect to the opinions of mankind;
b) a true understanding of the issues involved;
c) research into the international legal background to the Canadian mission;
d) a realistic view (to the extent that it is possible) of the aims of the mission; and
e) a lack of concentration on subsidiary issues such as land mines and prisoners,

has been by BQ member Claude Bachand.

Far superior in his presentation to Liberal National Defence critic Ujjal Dosanj, who was much better than National Defence Minister O'Connor.

M. Bachand has done his homework and thought about the broad issues involved. His speech was, in the best sense, non-partisan. I wish that many who are Canadian federalists had more of his realism and less of their own partisan ideologies--though I obviously do not share the conclusions of M. Bachand's ideology. But at least he can in this instance think very clearly--and do the work needed to reach and support those conclusions.

Bravo!

0820 Update: Michael Ignatieff, in his first words in the Commons, just sold his soul--intellectual and moral--to his desire for the Liberal Party leadership. Treatment of prisoners turned over to "Third Parties" (i.e. the Afghan government, though he dared not name it: how diplomatic) is, apparently, the major issue.

Otherwise, as Mr Ignatieff said: "The paradigm has shifted and we support that shift of paradigm."

Hegel, where art thou?

Upperdate: Afghanistan 'debate' stirs no dissent: Canadians divided, but politicians stay united behind mission...

Uppestdate: The Globe's John Ibbitson eagerly awaits the opposition's using the Q or V words (full text not online).
...
The debate over Afghanistan centres on who will be first to utter the q-word or the v-word: "quagmire" and "Vietnam." The opposition parties, for all their bluster, simply aren't ready to go there, yet. Their own caucuses are divided, they fear being tarred as disloyal to our troops overseas. Instead they laid down a marker. The House is behind the mission, today. But it may not be behind it tomorrow...

That's the spirit, Mr Ibbitson. One wonders why those words fly so readily from your keyboard when no-one has uttered them.

Posted by markc at April 10, 2006 08:37 PM