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Politics : Canadian Political Free-for-All -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Richnorth who wrote (10445)	9/9/2006 10:11:53 AM
From: Ichy Smith	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 37155

This is an exerpt from the September 9th, 2006 Toronto Star......... It clearly shows that the decision to put Canadian Soldiers into harms way was done by the Liberal Government The road to Kandahar At an afternoon meeting in Ottawa, a decision was made that would cost soldiers' lives, billions of taxpayers' dollars and, perhaps, Canada's reputation Sep. 9, 2006. 01:00 AM BILL SCHILLER STAFF REPORTER It was the afternoon of March 21, 2005 — 48 hours before Prime Minister Paul Martin's first visit to the ranch with presidents George W. Bush and Vicente Fox in Waco, Texas. Members of Martin's inner circle were filing into Room 323-S in Parliament's Centre Block, among them, freshly minted Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier, a charismatic and articulate man hand-picked by the Prime Minister himself. Martin had called the meeting to discuss an array of foreign-policy issues. But Hillier and planners in the defence department were fixed on one thing and one thing only: Afghanistan. The meeting was the perfect opportunity to win confirmation for an idea they'd been planning for months, one that had the potential to transform Canada's military and embolden its reputation worldwide. Defence Minister Bill Graham had already confirmed Canada would be sending soldiers in Afghanistan south to Kandahar, the dangerous stronghold and birthplace of the Taliban. There, Canadians would run a Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT), a military formation combined with small components of diplomacy and development. The goal: to help reconstruct the country. But Hillier wanted more than that — and he'd already won backing from the government's foreign affairs establishment. Hillier wanted a battle group — at least 1,000 soldiers strong. Three hours later, Hillier had won the room. Canadian soldiers would move from the relative comfort of Kabul to the pointy edge of combat in the turbulent south. A cabinet committee would later refine the details, then the full cabinet would approve it. But that afternoon in the oval-shaped room will be remembered as the day the deal was done, the day that paved the Canadian road to Kandahar. In time, the decision would cost the lives of Canadian soldiers, billions of taxpayers' dollars and, possibly, our well-earned reputation for peacekeeping built during the last 50 years. The mission has stirred controversy — one that will endure, especially since Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government has extended that mission from 2007 until at least 2009. How long it will actually take to stabilize Afghanistan, nobody knows. But former Canadian ambassador to Kabul Chris Alexander has been quoted as saying: "Five generations." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Some who were in the room that day (they numbered about a dozen), say there were no raised voices, no clashes and certainly no outrage. Those assembled knew the assignment would be risky. They knew that Canadians would die. But several say that no one expected the kinds of casualties Canadian forces are now experiencing.