NATO troops needed to extend Afghan mission: Panel.

The entire article is at the CBC.
I am a bit surprised that the extension of the mission is made contingent upon more support in terms of troops and equipment. The caveats do make sense though in terms of Harper's agenda. Harper wants to spend more money on the military so this gives him a rationale to do so. Perhaps he can argue that it is a good stimulus in bad economic times, military Keynesianism. Of course the helicopters may be built in the US but with some Canadian sub-contracting perhaps. Canadians are a bit miffed it seems that the Canadian contingent seems to be taking on more than its share of combat roles so the other caveat is likely to be popular.
In all the discussions I have heard on Afghanistan our role as a junior partner in U.S. imperialism is simply ignored. This is a taboo subject or else it is just denied outright. Discussions of Afghanistan are always framed so that the basic questions of why we are there and if our even being there is legitimate are not even brought up. Commentators sometimes act puzzled that our mission is not clear. They are puzzled because of cognitive dissonance I suppose. The real reasons we are in Afghanistan do not cohere with their world view.


NATO troops needed to extend Afghan mission: panel
Last Updated: Tuesday, January 22, 2008 | 7:28 AM ET
CBC News
Canada's military should remain in Afghanistan beyond February 2009, but its presence should be contingent on more support in terms of troops and equipment, according to a panel led by former Liberal cabinet minister John Manley.

The five-member panel was not specific about how long Canada's mission in the embattled country should last, saying only the government should extend it beyond the current February 2009 end date.

The panel said Canada should remain in Afghanistan provided two conditions are met:

That a new battle group is deployed by the UN's International Security Assistance Force to Kandahar province, enabling Canadian forces to accelerate training of the Afghan National Army.
That the government secure new, medium-lift helicopters and high-performance unmanned aerial vehicles by February 2009.
The findings aren't binding, but will carry weight in the discussions about Canada's future role in Afghanistan given that Prime Minister Stephen Harper has also promised to allow MPs to vote on the issue in Parliament.