Dion "open to debate" on Afghan mission.

Translated into ordinary English "open to debate" means open to selling out to the Conservatives, especially if the polls do not look good. Manley rightly points out it was the Liberals who originally got Canadians involved in Canada. Of course he neglects to tell us that it was at the suggestion of the U.S. and sort of a quid pro quo for not involving ourselves in Iraq--well not directly.

Friday » January 25 » 2008

Dion "open to debate" on Afghan mission

James Cowan
Canwest News Service
Thursday, January 24, 2008
CREDIT: REUTERS/Chris Wattie
Liberal leader Stephane Dion
TORONTO - Liberal Leader Stephane Dion on Thursday reiterated his party's position on the Afghan mission - that Canada's involvement in combat must end in 2009 -_but added his party is "open to debate."
An independent panel led by John Manley, a former Liberal cabinet minister, this week released its report on Canada's mission in southern Afghanistan. The five-member panel called for Canada to remain in the region beyond the mission's scheduled end in 2009, provided NATO allies offer additional troops.
The report also called for the Conservatives to supply much-needed transport helicopters to minimize the dangers to Canadian troops from roadside bombs in Afghanistan, which are responsible for the majority of the country's 78 military fatalities there.
Cpl. Etienne Gonthier, 21, a Quebec-born combat engineer from the 5th Regiment, became the 78th soldier killed in Afghanistan after his light armoured vehicle struck an improvised explosive device early Wednesday afternoon.
Manley also urged Prime Minister Stephen Harper to "step up" and personally take the lead in a new diplomatic offensive to push NATO allies to provide at least 1,000 additional troops for southern Afghanistan so that Canadian troops there could focus more on training the Afghan army.
Manley said Thursday his party should be aware that it was the Liberals who first initiated the Kandahar mission.
"Quite frankly, I think the challenge for my party here is that this was a mission initiated by our party ... when Paul Martin was prime minister.
"That's what we undertook," Manley said during a taping of Focus Ontario, "and therefore it's going to be important in trying to differentiate, if that's what they want to do, from the government, on a basis that doesn't cause them even more trouble than they would have if they were simply to say we endorse what the government is doing."
Speaking in Toronto, Dion said he's waiting to see how the Conservative government will react to the report.
"The question is: Will the 1,000 troops make a difference? What will they do?" asked Dion. "This is certainly something that we are open to debate ... but our view has been very clear."
Members of Manley's panel have also suggested the government delay any debate in the House of Commons on the Afghan mission until after a meeting of NATO leaders in April.
This is a reasonable recommendation, according to Dion. "There is no rush to vote right away."
National Post
© National Post 2008

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