Rejecting 2011 Canadian troop withdrawal reversal

I want to respond to the Liberal decision to support the Harper government keeping Canada’s troops in Afghanistan. Here is an exchange with Liberal Defense Critic Bob Rae after his appearance on CTV Question Period November 21st 2010

I have been a Liberal and supported candidates since Roger Mitchell held the Sudbury seat in the 1950’s and early 1960s. I did not always agree with the direction of the party and refused to be a card-carrying member and donor at times. However, I always supported the party federally and had a working friendship with Maurice Foster and Brent St. Denis when they represented our riding. Like many Liberals, I suppose I would not be considered a die-hard supporter. I was having a difficult time supporting recent Liberal initiatives. Your appearance on CTV QP on Sunday I felt was a political disaster for the party and the country. You came across as willing to sacrifice Liberal ideals once again to avoid having to face the electorate over the Conservative flip flop on keeping troops in Afghanistan. We are all aware of the reasons for supporting the US, the UN and helping Afghanistan to try shedding the image of a recruiting ground for terrorism. They are all noble causes but when the vast majority of Canadians are saying leave the war and find another more effective way to fight terrorists, Liberals should listen instead of placing all the party’s credence in a coalition with the Conservatives. The people have spoken, no screamed, that the war is a lost cause. You and the other Liberals in the farce called parliamentary debate during question period must listen and shift gears if you want financial and voter support from we, the usual party supporters. I feel better now.

I received this reply from an intern in Mr. Rae’s office. Thank you for taking the time to write to our office concerning the future of Canada’s involvement in Afghanistan after July 2011. After months of speculation and inaction, the Harper government finally revealed its plan for the post-combat role of the Canadian forces: the Conservatives will keep 950 military personnel to train in Afghanistan until 2014.
Both Mr. Rae and the Liberal Party believe that Canada’s combat mission in Afghanistan must end in 2011, as is currently scheduled. Further, we support the new post-combat training presence outlined by the government on November 16.
The Liberal Party has long made it clear that we support a continuing training role for Canada’s troops after the combat mission ends to sustain a stable, effective government in Afghanistan. Nearly six months ago, we took a position of leadership by proposing in our Global Networks Strategy that Canada pursue a limited, post-2011 role based on training of police and military personnel and civilian capacity-building in Afghanistan. The government’s proposal conforms to this Liberal position.
Despite the fast-approaching July 2011 deadline, the Conservative government was silent on the issue, providing no plan or guidance for how this withdrawal would take place, or what role, if any, Canada should play once the combat mission ends. Then, just hours after the Liberals pressed for answers in the House of Commons, and just days before the Lisbon NATO summit, the government has finally confirmed details of the post-2011 role that they are proposing.
Mr. Rae and the Liberal Party believe that this training role is appropriate, provided – as the government has stated – that such training will not involve any Canadian personnel, including military personnel, in an active combat role.
Canada must continue to work with other NATO and UN partners to sustain a stable, effective government in Afghanistan. Canada must remain committed to strengthen the capacity of the Afghan government to provide educational, health and social services, promote the equality of women, and develop its democratic institutions.
Mr. Rae and the Liberal Party strongly support the post-2011 non-combat mission as the best path to stabilizing the situation in Afghanistan for the Afghan people and its government. The position of the NDP is simply not credible. Jack Layton has called for “a massive civilian deployment” to provide stability in Afghanistan; however, you cannot achieve this in the midst of conflict without providing Afghans with the tools to protect their security and democracy.
The Liberal Party believes that the non-combat role in Afghanistan fits into the broader Liberal vision of Canada’s role in the world. The Liberal Global Networks Strategy emphasizes a return to a leadership in the United Nations peace operations and support for the ‘Responsibility to Protect’; constructive multilateralism, and a “whole-of-Canada” approach to human development.

I replied to Mr. Rae through the intern. Thank you for your detailed reply. I hear the same argument reiterated on almost every newscast and television political broadcast. It appears to be simply rhetoric to avoid an unplanned election. Ten years of war and 154 Canadians dead is sufficient reason to get out of a country that cannot hold democratic elections without charges and counter charges of fraud. The country’s rulers historically await invaders (because that is what we have become) to stop spending money and leave so ruling chieftains can return to administering power in the traditional manner. Those future ‘trained troops’ will be equipped with modern weaponry supplied by NATO and UN countries believing themselves saviors of the nation that will eventually use that weaponry to defend and kill more ‘invaders’ to ensure the same old ideas that have been the nation’s character since before biblical times is reinstated. The Liberal/Conservative coalition in this instance has not learned anything from history and only succeeded in sacrificing 154 Canadian lives and thousands of Afghanistan men women and children in an effort to stop the next Al Qaeda attack against the western alliance even though experts tell us that attack is inevitable. Many of the people I speak with everyday on social networks, in coffee houses, on the street, and in shopping centers across Northeastern Ontario feel the same about this latest capitulation to the Harper drive for power. I don’t expect any further reply but you, Mr. Rae and his team should be aware that many former Liberal donors and supporters are disappointed.