Vol. 72/No. 12      March 24, 2008

Prime Minister Stephen Harper of the Conservative Party hopes to have the extension passed before an April 2-4 NATO meeting in Bucharest, Romania. At the meeting Harper is expected to ask for 1,000 more NATO troops as well as helicopters and unmanned drones to assist the Canadian forces in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

A “non-partisan” review of Canada’s role in the Afghan war was released January 28. Harper commissioned the review, known as the Manley Report, last year. The report makes the point that the Canadian military’s combat and so-called reconstruction and training activity in Afghanistan are intertwined and can’t be separated. It also recommends the addition of 1,000 NATO troops.

The report has bridged differences between the Liberals and Conservatives about the weight to give to “reconstruction” relative to combat activity for Ottawa’s troops. Referring to the motion to extend the mission in Afghanistan, Liberal Party leader Stephan Dion said, “I agree with the Prime Minister that what we have now is neither a Conservative motion nor a Liberal motion—it is a Canadian motion.”

“Canada should be a leader in the world, not a follower,” said Harper, supporting the motion to extend the mission in Afghanistan. “And in today’s dangerous world, Canada must have a credible military to be a credible leader.”

In the days prior to the debate top military leaders on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border weighed in.

Chief of Defence Staff Richard Hillier, speaking to the Conference of Defence Associations in Toronto, said Parliament should unanimously pass a motion expressing support for Canadian troops. Hillier’s speech implied waffling in Parliament on the issue could lead to increased Canadian casualties.

The day before the February 25 debate began, Adm. William Fallon, head of the U.S. Central Command and the officer responsible for U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, rejected any distinction between combat and reconstruction roles. “You can’t say ‘we’re going to do this and not this.’ You need a comprehensive and coordinated approach to this problem,” he said.

On March 2 the 79th Canadian soldier was killed in Afghanistan. Canada has maintained 2,500 troops in Afghanistan since 2002.

Federal budget figures show the commitment of Canada’s capitalist rulers to prosecuting the war. Ottawa’s military budget in inflation-adjusted dollars is at its highest level since World War II at $18 billion.

The intensification of Ottawa’s role in the imperialist war abroad is also reflected in deepening attacks on the democratic rights of workers at home. In tandem with the tabling of the motion to extend the Afghanistan mission Ottawa reissued “antiterrorist” security certificates for Hassan Almrei, Adil Charkaoui, Mohamed Harkat, Mahmoud Jaballah, and Mohamed Zeki Mahjoub, all of whom have been jailed or are under house arrest and threatened with deportation. The security certificates were reissued following court-ordered cosmetic changes to the legislation which allows the government to jail without charges or public evidence non-citizens whom it accuses of being a threat to national security.  
 
 
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