本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛Updated Wed. Sep. 10 2008 8:13 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
Canada's military commitment in Afghanistan will end in 2011 as scheduled, Conservative Leader Stephen Harper said Wednesday.
Harper, speaking to reporters during a sit-down breakfast in Toronto, said 10 years of war is enough.
Last March, Parliament overwhelmingly passed a motion to extend the military mission in Afghanistan to 2011.
"You have to put an end date on these things ... we have to say to the government of Afghanistan that there is an expectation that you are going to be responsible for your own security," Harper said.
Harper said Canadians have no appetite to keep soldiers in the country past the agreed pullout date. He also added that military leaders, although they won't say so publicly, feel that a decade of war is enough.
Still, one analyst warned the announcement could be a ploy to win votes through pledging to end an increasingly unpopular war.
"I think people have to realize that there's an election going on, and there's going to be a lot of promises," said Steven Staples, president of the Ottawa-based Rideau Institute, a public policy think-tank.
"He's likely to say whatever he can to win a majority," he told CTV.ca.
Staples also said that making such a commitment is irresponsible.
That sentiment was echoed by retired Canadian Maj.-Gen. Lew Mackenzie, who said announcing such a deadline publicly gives "too much warning" to the Taliban.
"Personally, I don't like deadlines," he told CTV Newsnet. "I'm not in favour of announcing to anybody other than ... our allies, when we are leaving."
Mackenzie added a 2011 pullout would "leave a very large hole" in Afghanistan, since Canada has played such a large part in the mission.
Although the bulk of the troops will be out by 2011, Harper did say there may be a few Canadian soldiers who stay in the country as advisers.
On Tuesday, the Taliban said they wanted Canada's next prime minister to pull Canadian troops out of Afghanistan.
Harper said Wednesday the Taliban had no influence on his decision.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net
CTV.ca News Staff
Canada's military commitment in Afghanistan will end in 2011 as scheduled, Conservative Leader Stephen Harper said Wednesday.
Harper, speaking to reporters during a sit-down breakfast in Toronto, said 10 years of war is enough.
Last March, Parliament overwhelmingly passed a motion to extend the military mission in Afghanistan to 2011.
"You have to put an end date on these things ... we have to say to the government of Afghanistan that there is an expectation that you are going to be responsible for your own security," Harper said.
Harper said Canadians have no appetite to keep soldiers in the country past the agreed pullout date. He also added that military leaders, although they won't say so publicly, feel that a decade of war is enough.
Still, one analyst warned the announcement could be a ploy to win votes through pledging to end an increasingly unpopular war.
"I think people have to realize that there's an election going on, and there's going to be a lot of promises," said Steven Staples, president of the Ottawa-based Rideau Institute, a public policy think-tank.
"He's likely to say whatever he can to win a majority," he told CTV.ca.
Staples also said that making such a commitment is irresponsible.
That sentiment was echoed by retired Canadian Maj.-Gen. Lew Mackenzie, who said announcing such a deadline publicly gives "too much warning" to the Taliban.
"Personally, I don't like deadlines," he told CTV Newsnet. "I'm not in favour of announcing to anybody other than ... our allies, when we are leaving."
Mackenzie added a 2011 pullout would "leave a very large hole" in Afghanistan, since Canada has played such a large part in the mission.
Although the bulk of the troops will be out by 2011, Harper did say there may be a few Canadian soldiers who stay in the country as advisers.
On Tuesday, the Taliban said they wanted Canada's next prime minister to pull Canadian troops out of Afghanistan.
Harper said Wednesday the Taliban had no influence on his decision.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net