Dion digs in on Afghan deadline.

I am a bit puzzled by Dion's apparent rigidity on the Liberal position. I certainly doubt that the Liberals would ever have the courage to vote against any motion of the Conservatives on Afghanistan especially since it will follow the recommendation of the Manley report. Perhaps it is to show how strong and principled a leader he is before he caves in on the advice of Ignatieff.


Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Dion digs in on Afghan deadline
Meeting with pM; Liberal leader 'unwavering' on February, 2009
Juliet O'neill and Mike Blanchfield, Canwest News Service Published: Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Chris Wattie/Reuters
OTTAWA - Liberal leader Stephane Dion described his call for an end to the combat mission in Afghanistan in one year as "unwavering," after a 25-minute meeting with Stephen Harper yesterday.
If a compromise is in the works on the future of the mission, neither leader said so immediately after the meeting held at Mr. Harper's request.
Mr. Harper reiterated the minority government's position that the combat mission should be extended only on condition 1,000 extra NATO troops, plus equipment, are provided, his press secretary said.
Mr. Dion, whose party will likely have the deciding vote on the future of the mission, because the Bloc Quebecois and New Democratic Party are certain to vote against an extension, planned to comment on the meeting after he consults his caucus today.
Earlier, he said he wanted to "explore" with Mr. Harper a non-combat role for the troops after February, 2009. And Liberal defence critic Denis Coderre said, "we're not going to negotiate" an extension, but "maybe we should take a look at the definition of [the mission] after February, 2009."
After the meeting, Mr. Dion's office said that "Mr. Dion made clear the Liberal party's long-standing position on the mission in Afghanistan, including our firm and unwavering belief that the combat mission in Kandahar must end by February, 2009."
Likewise, Mr. Harper's office said in a statement the Prime Minister "reiterated the government's position -- that we are adopting the bipartisan recommendations of the Manley panel -- and that if we are unable to secure extra combat troops and equipment, Canada will not be extending the mission in Afghanistan."
Mr. Harper continued to lobby NATO allies for more support in southern Afghanistan with a telephone call yesterday to French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
As he has done in calls this week to Washington, London and NATO headquarters, Mr. Harper told Mr. Sarkozy he would follow the recommendation of the Manley panel to extend the mission only if the alliance can find another 1,000 troops.
While Defence Minister Peter MacKay suggested this week that France might be willing to contribute more to southern Afghanistan, French officials were non-committal going into tomorrow's meeting of NATO defence ministers in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Meanwhile, Germany reiterated its stance that it would not be able to contribute additional troops to southern Afghanistan.
With 3,200 soldiers on the ground in northern Afghanistan, Germany is the third-largest troops contributor to the International Security Assistance Force for Afghanistan, said German ambassador Matthias Hopfner.
"There's a very strong feeling in Germany that the German contribution to the Afghanistan mission is a very substantial contribution," Mr. Hopfner said.
"When it comes to so-called free riders that were mentioned yesterday, we do not really feel addressed by this kind of language. We would like to continue pointing at the contribution Germany is making in Afghanistan."
Mr. Hopfner was responding to comments made on Monday in Ottawa by visiting Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, who accused some NATO countries of "free-riding" in Afghanistan.
Poland has contributed 1,600 troops to Afghanistan.
Three Canadian soldiers were slightly injured yesterday when their vehicle drove over an improvised explosive device just outside Zangabad village, a known Taliban haunt in Kandahar. The soldiers from an explosives ordnance unit hit the device while moving toward Zangabad in their Cougar, a large armoured bomb-hunting vehicle.
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