Kandahar, Afghanistan — Liberal Defence critic Denis Coderre arrived in Afghanistan on Monday to hear from Canadian troops on Canada's role in the conflict.
But Mr. Coderre said that no matter what he hears in the coming days, it won't change his party's position calling for an end to Canada's combat mission when the current mandate expires in February 2009.
“No, in the sense that, about the combat mission we are pretty clear about the notion of rotation,” Mr. Coderre told reporters after his arrival at Kandahar Airfield.
“We feel that rotation is in order and that we should put an end to the combat mission.”
Related Articles
The Liberals have vowed to vote against the Conservative government's plan to extend the combat mission.
Mr. Coderre said other members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization should take up the front-line role Canada is currently playing.
“It is not a Canadian mission. It is an international mission,” he said after visiting the Tim Hortons on the military base Monday.
Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier made the same photo-op stop at the base the day before.
With the war in Afghanistan expected to dominate Parliament this fall — and perhaps even a federal election — all parties have ramped up efforts to sell their positions to the public.
Mr. Coderre, who was part of the government which deployed troops to Afghanistan in 2002, said Canada has done its part when it comes to the Afghan war.
“We're not abandoning the Afghan people,” he said. “There might be some other way, at the military level, that we can help the Afghan people but we believe, about the combat mission, that rotation is in order.”
He said NATO should now look at the caveats that some member countries have in place that keep their troops out of combat in Afghanistan.
“What we need is to be blunt,” Mr. Coderre said.
No other member countries are volunteering. In fact, several, including the Netherlands, are debating the future of their own missions in Afghanistan. The Dutch commitment ends in August 2008.
NATO and Canadian military officials have already sounded the alarm over troop strength in Afghanistan.
The international force has around 37,000 troops in Afghanistan but only Canada, the United States, Britain and the Netherlands have taken on combat roles in the violent southern regions, where Taliban activity is strongest.
Canada has about 2,300 troops in Kandahar as part of its overall commitment of 2,500 to the International Security Assistance Force.
Seventy-one Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have died since the Canadian mission began in 2002 and Mr. Coderre said public opinion is against continuing the mission.
Mr. Coderre will spend two more days at the NATO base on his unofficial visit but he won't be going off the base to visit soldiers on the front line for security reasons.
His opinion on the proposed February 2009 pullout is not a popular one with many troops.
“I don't think it's a good idea,” said one young soldier. “We haven't had time to do what we wanted to do. It would be better to continue.”
He said he's ready to come back and finish the job.
Another soldier was resigned to the fact that the decision will be made for political reasons.
“The decision will be made by politicians,” he said. “[But] Honestly, I think we need to stay because we've started work here that we need to finish.”
Mr. Coderre said he's spoken to General Ray Henault, the Canadian general who chairs NATO's military committee, and he said the international organization does have a contingency plan for a Canadian withdrawal from its combat role.
He told reporters that Canada should focus instead on Pakistan's role in war in Afghanistan. Governance and corruption within Afghanistan are another major issue.
“We can announce millions and millions, but do we believe that that money is going exactly where it should be?” he asked.
491
