Afstan: Stéphane's in dreamland

And who does he propose will pay--Canada? As the Liberals spent to implement Kyoto?

Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion has told a key caucus member that he's "not committed" to the Conservative decision to keep Canada's troops in Afghanistan for another two years, setting the stage for a renewed debate about Ottawa's role in the troubled country.

Yesterday, Dion expressed his discontent with the mission, saying that trying to "kill the Taliban in every corner of the mountains doesn't work.

"So we will try to propose to the government an approach that makes sense and hopefully will be a role that will be positive in Afghanistan," said Dion, who opposed the Conservatives' spring motion to extend the military mission to 2009.

He reiterated his call for a "Marshall Plan" [emphasis added--I guess he's been listening to Pakistan's President Musharraf] for Afghanistan, a strategy aimed at boosting the country's economy akin to the efforts to revive war-ravaged Europe and Japan after World War II...

Words, words, words, blah, blah...You can't do the reconstruction in the south without security. Someone has to do the fighting and for the time being that someone includes Canadians.

This sort of military activity should appeal to Liberals, but how will Quebec react when Van Doos die?

Meanwhile, a contingent of 120 soldiers from Canadian Forces Base Valcartier near Quebec City leaves today for Afghanistan. The soldiers from Quebec's Royal 22nd regiment, better known as the Van Doos, will join their colleagues in Kandahar for a nine-month mission.

A military spokesman says 100 of the solders will join the provincial reconstruction team, which has been in place since Canadian troops first went to Afghanistan.

Mark C.

Posted by markc at December 5, 2006 09:58 AM