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03-30-2010, 03:24 PM
U.S. asks Canada to stay in Afghanistan - Winnipeg Free Press (http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/us-asks-canada-to-stay-in-afghanistan-89494362.html)
GATINEAU, Que. -- The United States dropped a diplomatic bombshell Monday and asked Canada to extend its military mission in Afghanistan.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made the request in a televised interview Monday on the eve of the Canadian-hosted G8 foreign ministers meeting near Ottawa.
"We would obviously like to see some form of support continue because the Canadian Forces have a great reputation," Clinton told CTV News.
But at a hastily called news conference Monday night, Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon reiterated the government's position that it will withdraw all of its 2,800 troops from the southern province of Kandahar by July 2011, as Parliament has decreed.
"Let me be clear once again. Our military mission will end in 2011, " Cannon told reporters.
But he said the government is looking at non-military roles past that deadline.
Speculation has been rife about what Canada would do in Afghanistan after 2011. The government has said recently that all military options are off the table, including combat, further training of Afghan forces and maintaining a provincial reconstruction team in Kandahar.
The Opposition and analysts have called for a public discussion on what Canada could do in Afghanistan after 2011. Training the Afghan National Army is one possibility because the NATO-led mission has a shortage of such military instructors.
Moreover, training enough Afghan soldiers and police officers to competently protect their people is key to eventually bringing home all Western troops from Afghanistan.
Clinton said the post-2011 mission could be different from the combat role Canada is currently waging in Kandahar Province, the spiritual heartland of the Taliban.
"There's all kinds of things that are possible. The military could slip more into a training role than into a combat role," she said.
Michael Ignatieff quickly dismissed Clinton's request, saying any renewal of Canada's mission in Afghanistan "is out of the question."
"With all due respect to Mrs. Clinton ... it's not for Mrs. Clinton to tell us how to use our troops. It's for the Parliament of Canada to decide," the Opposition Leader told CTV News.
Clinton's request came one day after President Barack Obama made a surprise visit to Afghanistan and chided President Hamid Karzai over the long-standing concerns of corruption in his fragile, Western-backed government.
One of Canada's NATO allies, Norway, also piled on Monday, telling The Canadian Press that arbitrary withdrawal dates don't reflect the reality on the ground in Afghanistan.
"We have great sympathy with the losses Canada has taken and the impression that has made on the people of Canada," Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store said in an interview.
"We have gone in with NATO and we will go out with NATO in accordance with agreement with the Afghan authorities. We have not fixed a date. Our troops will not stay there one day longer than necessary but fixing a date is not something we will do."
Earlier Monday, Clinton criticized Canada for its one-day summit of Arctic coastal countries, which only five foreign ministers were invited to. She skipped Monday's closing news conference after saying she'd been contacted by indigenous groups disappointed they were not invited.
She also said Arctic states Sweden, Finland and Iceland were similarly concerned they were given the cold shoulder.
GATINEAU, Que. -- The United States dropped a diplomatic bombshell Monday and asked Canada to extend its military mission in Afghanistan.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made the request in a televised interview Monday on the eve of the Canadian-hosted G8 foreign ministers meeting near Ottawa.
"We would obviously like to see some form of support continue because the Canadian Forces have a great reputation," Clinton told CTV News.
But at a hastily called news conference Monday night, Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon reiterated the government's position that it will withdraw all of its 2,800 troops from the southern province of Kandahar by July 2011, as Parliament has decreed.
"Let me be clear once again. Our military mission will end in 2011, " Cannon told reporters.
But he said the government is looking at non-military roles past that deadline.
Speculation has been rife about what Canada would do in Afghanistan after 2011. The government has said recently that all military options are off the table, including combat, further training of Afghan forces and maintaining a provincial reconstruction team in Kandahar.
The Opposition and analysts have called for a public discussion on what Canada could do in Afghanistan after 2011. Training the Afghan National Army is one possibility because the NATO-led mission has a shortage of such military instructors.
Moreover, training enough Afghan soldiers and police officers to competently protect their people is key to eventually bringing home all Western troops from Afghanistan.
Clinton said the post-2011 mission could be different from the combat role Canada is currently waging in Kandahar Province, the spiritual heartland of the Taliban.
"There's all kinds of things that are possible. The military could slip more into a training role than into a combat role," she said.
Michael Ignatieff quickly dismissed Clinton's request, saying any renewal of Canada's mission in Afghanistan "is out of the question."
"With all due respect to Mrs. Clinton ... it's not for Mrs. Clinton to tell us how to use our troops. It's for the Parliament of Canada to decide," the Opposition Leader told CTV News.
Clinton's request came one day after President Barack Obama made a surprise visit to Afghanistan and chided President Hamid Karzai over the long-standing concerns of corruption in his fragile, Western-backed government.
One of Canada's NATO allies, Norway, also piled on Monday, telling The Canadian Press that arbitrary withdrawal dates don't reflect the reality on the ground in Afghanistan.
"We have great sympathy with the losses Canada has taken and the impression that has made on the people of Canada," Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store said in an interview.
"We have gone in with NATO and we will go out with NATO in accordance with agreement with the Afghan authorities. We have not fixed a date. Our troops will not stay there one day longer than necessary but fixing a date is not something we will do."
Earlier Monday, Clinton criticized Canada for its one-day summit of Arctic coastal countries, which only five foreign ministers were invited to. She skipped Monday's closing news conference after saying she'd been contacted by indigenous groups disappointed they were not invited.
She also said Arctic states Sweden, Finland and Iceland were similarly concerned they were given the cold shoulder.