Bob Rae, Liberal Foreign Affairs Critic. Photo: Globe and Mail
When I wrote in the National Post the other day that it should be unsurprising that the Special Parliamentary Committee to the mission in Afghanistan would change its mind about Canada’s military coming home after the summer of 2011, it was only because I think that when it comes to Afghanistan, “seeing is believing.” But to say that I haven’t been surprised by the comments from the Liberals and NDP since the committee returned to Canada, would be dishonest.
Verily, I have been nearly floored by the prospect of keeping some kind of role in Afghanistan beyond our parliamentary consensus to leave in 2011. Floored, because the suggestion is coming not from the traditional base of support for the military, the Conservative Party, but from those who have been altogether engaged in smearing the mission for the past year, the opposition parties.
In a particularly bizarre reversal of support for the mission in Afghanistan, the parliamentary committee suggested that Canada should continue a role — a non-combat one — in the country, by continuing humanitarian work and focusing on the ongoing security needs of the people there. But equally bizarre is the fact that Stephen Harper, who once wrapped himself so tightly in the colours of the mission that leaving was considered a cowardly value, now seems to be ruling out any possible restructuring of that mission.
“I note [Mr. Rae's] words with some interest,” Mr. Harper said. “I think we’ve been very clear. We’re working according to the parliamentary resolution that was adopted in 2008 by which Canada’s military mission will end and will transition to a civilian and development mission at the end of 2011. And that continues to be our workplan according to the resolution adopted by Parliament.”
Mr.Harper has been like a skipping record on this answer since 2008, and while it made sense to respect to the will of parliament and drop a losing proposition, I would have expected something a little more ambiguous this time around. A response to the effect of welcoming further discussion in the House of Commons, would have been far more consistent with the Conservative Party line that they had been forced to adopt the resolution to end the mission in Afghanistan unwillingly.
The response to Mr.Rae’s words about the possibility of a mission extension in a non-combat role has been particularly jaded coming from the media. Some suggested that it was a sign of a loss of control over the Liberal Party by leader Michael Ignatieff, unable to reign in the rogue Bob Rae. Some called the former NDP Premier of Ontario “two-faced”, and intimated that this is prerequisite trait of being a Liberal.
The truth is that Bob Rae does deserve a considerable amount of heat for his about-face, if only because he and his party has been determined to undermine the mission in every way possible for the past year with the “torture-rendition-war crimes” inquisition of our military. Nobody has worked harder to control a negative perception of the mission in Afghanistan than the Liberal Party.
Vancouver MP Ujjal Dosanjh worked overtime in casting aspersions on both the military command and the government in the House of Commons during Question Period, that suggested we were deliberately having Afghans tortured by the NDS in order to extract information from them.
For those reasons, it’s not difficult to see why the sudden offering of support for a post-2011 role would be met with mistrust and skepticism. But that does not mean we can ignore the branch that has been offered. This is an opportunity too valuable to scoff at. And though the professionalism, maturity, and sensibility appear to have arrived at a most tardy moment, it would be wrong-headed to simply turn away. Even the Toronto Star has cast its support for a mission extension of our military’s presence in a non-combat role.
It is positively surreal to see Bob Rae sitting on CTV’s Question Period, making sensible comments and suggestions about the importance of providing ongoing security training for the Afghan police and army. We can either mock him for his late arrival to table, or we can take this opportunity to spur on a much-needed discussion about our post-2011 role in Afghanistan, and maintain our commitments to our allies. If the comments of Conservative MP James Rajotte are any indication, there is at least some willingness to do that from within the government.
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Canada’s milblog is divided on the opportunity here. Mark sees a chance for a military role to continue in some beneficial way. Babbling sees this more cynically as keeping the troops trapped “behind the wire”, where they will be least effective.
// It is positively surreal to see Bob Rae sitting on CTV’s Question Period, making sensible comments and suggestions about the importance of providing ongoing security training for the Afghan police and army.//
There is an ulterior motive to his about face.
To me it’s simple,anything Harper is for,Rae will be against.It doesn’t matter what it is and what his previous viewpoint was..
Please do expand on your theory. I’m interested to hear ideas on what you think Rae is trying to accomplish with this.
As much as I am for the mission in Afghanistan, I think it would be death for the Conservatives in Quebec if they don’t hold their promise (to leave) on this one. So I don’t trust the initiative by Bob Rae.
Not sure that’s true Nicola. 47%, an equal amount for as against, believe in staying in a “training role” beyond 2011:
http://unambig.com/canadians-want-to-help-afghanistan-and-they-dont/
Rae seems to be waiting with his Knives sharpened to stab Iggy. As we know Iggy is More Conservative out of the Country than he lets on while in the Country.I think Rae is playing Devils advocate and we will see the “Night of the Long Knives” repeat it self,Federal Style.
So you view all of this as entirely self-serving? You don’t believe that any of it could be based on genuine support for the mission?
I don’t remember the Last time Bob Rae ever did something that wasn’t self serving.
I suspect its a two step forward, one step backward kind of play.
No-one in the media is talking about this, down the road if the conservatives do change the nature of our exit plan, the liberals will claim that was our intentions all along, and the media will assist.
All of Raes bluster today will be forgotten, deliberatly.
Just like the media are willfully assisting the liberals now with how Canadas deficit is all Harpers fault while conviently omitting that back at the beginning of this recession the Harper conservatives were talking about a small surplus and little or no stimulus, then all of a sudden, stimulus was demanded or face a coup of the Socialist/Seperatists.
The liberals and the media are looking to INVENT scandal when ever…where ever…!
Harper is right to be wary of Raes intentions , we all should!
And yet eventually some discussion on Canada’s exit strategy needs to happen in the House of Commons.
Bob Rae is about as anti-military a Marxist as they come..what do you think?
Who can trust Bob Rae and his about face on this issue? PM Harper is right to be skeptical of his motives. Follow Parliament’s wishes and have the opposition vote to extend the mission. Do not listen to the siern song of the mermaid/man known as Bob “Rip Tide” Rae. Cheers.
Well, I suppose that’s true. The opposition could lead with a motion to vote on an extension to the mission in a non-combat role and see where the chips fall.
Well I to,am puzzled by who this is coming from behalf the LPC, I am willing to accept it and use it as a means to open the talks. What needs to happen here is for the CPC to play it up in the media, and get the message out that they are responding to the will of the house for a debate concerning the future of the mission.
The one thing that has to be made clear though, is there can be no continuation of the mission without the acknowledgment of more casualties. We cannot train the ANA and ANAP on a white board and walk them to the gate and say off you go, we will have to go with them and that will involve combat.
Good commentary, Kingston. Agreed.
There is only one person in Bob Rae’s world and that is Bob Rae. He doesn’t care about anything other than himself and his sponsor Power Corp. This is highly calculated and he is poking his finger into Stephen Harper to try and stir controversy and push PM Harper into saying something Rae can twist.
Fortunately I believe PM Harper can handle this.
But Adrian, don’t you see – make the opposition demand a debate – they are playing right into the PM’s hands on this one.
If Stephen Harper had demanded debate or made noises about “afterward”, he would have been crucified in the media and with the opposition.
Better to let it come from the opposition.
That’s fair. But if the opposition initiate a discussion on the topic and the government is standoffish, it will signal a reluctance to engage in a mission extension from the government.
I nominate all ex liberal mps and senators to go to afghan to lead a non combat role. After the next election there will be a lot more to fill the job. How do you have a non combat role.
And considering that the Pres of Afghan is talking about releasing all the prisoners, how safe would our non combat force be.
Perhaps all those peace loving idiots on ships to Gaza could change their destination and go help in Afghan.
And the first time one of our schools, roads, hospital is blown up, get the hell back to Canada and tell Afghan to solve their own problems.
The recent comments about releasing the prisoners sounds like a very seriously brain-damaged idea.
I have heard it said, many times I think, that our small military has been there too long. They are exhausted from repeated individual deployments. If our politicians want them to stay they need to greatly enhance the number of personel in our forces.
It’s unlikely our forces would be strained in a non-combat role.
I am so glad that about a week ago I made predictions ofr late 2010 and into 2011.
I predicted that the NDP and Liberals would now attack Harper for abandoning the Female and gays being murdered in Afghanistan. I expect the Label of Misogynistic and Homophobe to show up the the RED Star rag.Even Muslims will will join the Hatefest to make haper a Bush-Clone.
I’ll try to find my Predictions,they were obvious after the Troops had MP Dosanjh call the War Criminals even before a trial.
The NDP already aided a Syrian draft-Dodoger Sue canada for $400 million,and Alexa McDonough is fete`d on the Pro-Hamas webiste WAO alnog with the Syrian’s wife who once worked for the NDP but refused to shake the hand of Jack Laton that filthy Infidel Pig married to a non-Shariah Law kuffir wife.
I saw this coming folks,Liberals and the NDP are alway late to the Dance and at the wrong Banquet Hall as well.
Adrian – ‘strained’ is relative. The army really needs to come home and regroup. They’d still be in or near a combat zone, no matter how the mission is dressed up, and targets of those who want all foreigners out. So there would still be the stresses and dangers they currently have, without the ability to strike back.
[...] Conservative government is open to a Liberal pitch to keep troops in Afghanistan post-2011, Defence Minister Peter MacKay said [...]