- Harper's Afghan Policy - If He Can't Play Soldier, He Wants to Takes His Marbles and Go Home

Posted: 6/16/2010 10:45:30 AM The Globe and Mail
Afghanistan: Ignatieff enlists, Harper wobbles, The Globe and Mail, 16 Jun.'10,
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/editorials/afghanistan-ignatieff-enlists-harper-wobbles/article1605485/

Canada ending its combat role in Kandahar and “contributing to the capacity of the Afghan people to govern themselves effectively continues to be in Canada’s interests,” sounds like the same role Canada undertook when it first went into Afghanistan and before Harper and the Con's, with such free abandon, took over and ramped it up to full combat.

It appears that Stephen Harper, if he can't play soldier anymore, wants to take his marbles (actually they're not his marbles, of course, Harper just treats Canada's resources and revenues as if they were his and the Con's, after all to the winner go the spoils - that's a pretty fundamental Con doctrine) and go home.

It is important for Canada to maintain a presence in Afghanistan and help it to rebuild and Ignatieff is right (morally) that to simply pull out would undermine all our efforts and all the sacrifices our men and women in uniform have made.

The recent news that there is approx 1 trillion in minerals There is real potential to help in build Afghanistan - vis.:

"The previously unknown deposits — including huge veins of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and critical industrial metals like lithium — are so big and include so many minerals that are essential to modern industry that Afghanistan could eventually be transformed into one of the most important mining centers in the world, the United States officials believe."
(NYT, 13 Jun.'10)

Given Canada's long history and expertise in mining certainly we can assist them in this regard. It may even supplant their current cash crop (I have never understood why G.W. Bush with his 'war on drugs' didn't do something about it, but then Bush was the ultimate Con). It would also tend to loosen the grip by the Taliban since they obtain a considerable amount of their funding from the poppy crops and it is easy for them to 'interact with' farmers. However, it is hard to see them exerting much direct influence in the mining industry.

Also, leaving Afghanistan will mean that after we have spent so much efforts there, other countries will step in and give the real assistance.

Lloyd MacILquham cicblog.com/comments.html