By Gurmukh Singh, IANS
Toronto : As the death toll and costs mount, Canada’s combat mission in Afghanistan is coming under increasing attack from the opposition and the public.
Seventy-seven Canadians, including 76 troops and one diplomat, have been killed so far in the anti-Taliban mission.
Canada joined the NATO-led mission in 2002. Assigned to anti-insurgency operations around Kandahar, the country’s 2,500 troops are scheduled to leave Afghanistan by February 2009.
But with a probable mid-term election this year, the mission will certainly become a major issue in the polls.
Keeping this in view, the Conservative government, which is closely allied with the policies of US President George W. Bush, appointed an independent panel for Canada’s future role in Afghanistan, headed by former deputy prime minister John Manley, to assess whether the mission should be extended beyond Feb 2009.
On Tuesday, the opposition Liberal Party told the panel that the mission should not be extended beyond February 2009.
However, it said, Canada should stay engaged in Afghanistan and deploy its reduced troops for training, protection and reconstruction purposes in safer zones.
In an eight-page submission, party leader Stephane Dion said Canada should tell the NATO alliance that it would pull out of its combat role by February 2009.
“As long as other NATO countries believe that our commitment to continue the counter-insurgency combat role in Kandahar is open-ended, they will never prepare for our departure.”
However, he said, Canada should remain “open to other possible military roles in Afghanistan to continue training the Afghan National Army and police, protect Afghan civilians or for reconstruction efforts.
“But we will not accept the simple re-branding of the current combat mission as a training mission. Any new military role must be crafted in such a way as to ensure that other significant Canadian forces deployments in other parts of the world are possible.”
Saying the government’s current approach to Afghanistan lacked understanding of the porous Afghan border and the narcotics trade, Dion said: “Canada has paid a price for this simplistic approach and we hope that the panel will not persist in painting the choices in these ways”.
He urged Canada to work for promoting “good government” and reform of Afghanistan institutions.
The panel will submit its report this month.