Dion Takes a Dive on Afghanistan

The Liberals have made a fateful choice in their attempt to de-politicize the issue of Canada’s military mission in Afghanistan.

Liberal leader Stephane Dion has made himself look very foolish by espousing two hopelessly conflicting notions. He claims that the Liberals are sticking to their insistence that Canada must end its combat mission in Kandahar by 2009, while conceding that Canadian troops should remain there after that date to train Afghan soldiers, and that he would leave the military details up to the Canadian Forces. Since the Canadian Forces have made it clear that they see active conflict against the insurgency as a fact of life as long as we stay in Kandahar, this means that Dion has gone over to Harper’s stance on the issue. Liberal claims that they have triumphed by winning the government over to their position are bogus, and everybody knows it.

Dion has done the Conservatives an enormous favour. The government’s Afghanistan position is sharply at odds with what Canadians have repeatedly told pollsters they want---an end to the combat mission by 2009. What the Liberals have actually decided is that there will be no real debate between the country’s two major parties on the Afghan question in the upcoming election.

In English Canada, at least, it falls to Jack Layton and the NDP to spell out the alternative, which is to end the combat mission and devote Canadian energies to development aid in Afghanistan.

When Stephane Dion was elected leader of the Liberal Party, he seemed to offer Canadians a refreshing combination of candor and perspective. On Afghanistan, he is serving up insincerity and confusion.