Canada PM tells Bush he ready to quit Afghanistan

[sabra]

Source: Reuters

OTTAWA, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, reinforcing an ultimatum over Afghanistan, told U.S. President George W. Bush on Wednesday that Ottawa would withdraw its military mission next year unless NATO sent in more troops, officials said.

Canada, which has 2,500 soldiers in the southern city of Kandahar, is fed up with the refusal of other NATO nations to send more forces to the violent southern part of Afghanistan. The Canadian mission there is due to end in February 2009.

Harper said on Monday he accepted the recommendations of an independent panel which urged Canada to end the mission unless NATO provided 1,000 extra troops and Ottawa obtained helicopters and aerial reconnaissance vehicles.

A spokeswoman said Harper had talked to Bush on Wednesday about the report.

"He underscored that, unless Canada was able to meet the conditions specified by the panel of additional combat troops and equipment from NATO allies, Canada's mission in Afghanistan will not be extended," she said.

Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N30229782.htm

[calimary]

1. The "Coalition of the Wilting."

There goes another one, george. You really are in a class by yourself. Loner 101.

[sabra]

2. is this is from a Bush ally...

[snagglepuss]

6. I put no stock in this whatsoever. Mr Weenie knows how bad he is doing in the

polls and knows that being bush's weenie has been a big negative with Canadians. IMO Mr Weenie is simply posturing and I believe Americans have probably given him a green light to stage this farce in hope that this posturing is going a get NATOs attention.

[applegrove]

8. Not to mention Harper may face an election in 2008. The majority of

Canadians do not like that we are taking on the Taliban seemingly by ourselves. We want out. The whole eminent person's panel is a ploy to keep the issue of Afghanistan on the back burner come an election. Cause the conservatives know they cannot win (especially in Quebec) if they were to support an extended stay in Afghanistan.

[FightTheRight89]

3. This is unfortunate...

Considering this is the war we have a chance of winning AND the only justified war we're fighting now.

[atreides1]

5. Yes it is Unfortunate

And while the fight in Afghanistan has more legitimacy then Iraq, it can't be won without a maximum effort on the part of the US, and if there is truth to the reports that the Taliban has gotten stronger, we'll start right back at square one.

Why should NATO pick up our slack? Besides the US military has killed more Canadians then the Taliban has, not exactly the kind of people I would want watching my back, the US not the Canadians.

[LynnTheDem]

10. Except that we have no chance whatsoever of winning it, whatever

"winning" means, and that while it may be legal due to UN sanction, it isn't justified.

[FightTheRight89]

11. Why is it not justified? n/t

[LynnTheDem]

12. Did you know the vast majority of the world opposed attacking Afghanistan, and

only 3 nations had a majority supporting an attack? Those 3 nations were: USA, Israel, and India.

You probably weren't aware of the above facts. Most Americans remain to this day unaware of the fact that the vast overwhelming world majority opposed attacking Afghanistan. The world had very good reasons to oppose bush's attacking Afghanistan, just as the world had very good reasons to oppose bush's attacking Iraq. And most Americans remain to this day totally ignorant of those very good reasons.

One reason, out of many, is you don't start a war in one country, where the majority of people killed & destroyed are going to be innocent civilians, (and have been), for the criminal actions of a handful of lunatics, none of whom even came from that country.

And the Taleban had nothing to do with the 911 attacks.

Of course neither did Saddam Hussein & Iraq, but that didn't stop the current US "government" from attacking & slaughtering people from both nations. Both totally without justification.

[FightTheRight89]

13. I wonder what we should have done then...

Here's what I know.

Osama bin Laden attacked us.

The Taliban refused to give him up.

Thus, the Taliban is our enemy.

This is why Democrats like us lose elections. I don't care what the world thought in this circumstance. I don't even know if you have your facts straight. I do know that when you as a nation are attacked, you have a responsibility to hit back at the enemy a thousand-fold, lest you be attacked again. It's incredibly unfortunate that people died in the counterattack. And I mourn their loss as much as anyone. But it's not like we lined up 3,000 Afghanis and shot them in REVENGE. We assisted one side of the civil war - the good side.

[tabasco]

14. "Democrats like us." LMAO.

Not all Democrats agree with the post you responded to. If you knew anything about Democrats, you would know that.

I'm a Democrat and did two combat tours. How many you got, Mr. Democrat?

[FightTheRight89]

16. I have none.

But I used the phrase "Democrats like us" to illustrate that I am not a Freeper, I just hold an opposing view from yours and then said that many mainstream Americans are turned off by the anti-Afghanistan rhetoric that comes from the far-left of our party. That's all. Sorry if I offended you.

[FightTheRight89]

17. Wait a second...

After reading your other response I may have misinterpreted what you said. ... What are you saying? Are you agreeing with me? It sounds like you are, but then you laid down a rude remark.

[tabasco]

15. Do you have a link for your "vast majority of the world" claim?

I know that the U.K. and NATO participated from the beginning of the Afghanistan operation. I didn't see polls of the people from NATO countries before the invasion of Afghanistan but I would be interested to see them if you have a link. Thanks.

The war in Afghanistan was justified. Unfortunately, the job was not completed because Bush thought it was more important to launch an unjustified war in Iraq. IMO, the Iraq war was always about the oil. But the coalition was justified in invading Afghanistan, where the people who planned the attack on NYC were located. There were training camps located there where these paramilitaries were preparing for more attacks on innocent people. I'm not sure how you conclude the Taliban had nothing to do with the 9-11 attacks when they were providing real estate and safe haven for the people who attacked us.

I am anti-war. But I am not anti-killing-the-fuckers-who-attacked-us.

[merwin]

4. Bush tells Canadian PM that he's been stop-lossed and must report back until 2026.

[tabasco]

7. "No problem" says Bush. "I'm outta here in a year."

"Maybe if Afghanistan had some more oil we could send some more troops there."

[TrogL]

9. OK, so there must be an election in the offing

This is the #1 topic to most voters and reflects badly on the Conservatives.