What Harper has done is made a fresh commitment to keep Canadian troops in harms way until at least 2011. Who knows what his position will be then and even this commitment is a weasel one in that he is pulling out combat troops. Who knows how many other troops might be kept there. Of course in the mindset of the mainstream press and no doubt in the reality of illusions that Harper creates no doubt the article has a point.
Layton is disappointing on May. His position is the same as that of Harper. The article does not mention any reaction of Layton to what Harper has said about Afghanistan. He could at the very least make the point that we should be withdrawing now if we care about casualties. Crying will not help.
Harper's fresh commitment on Afghan pullout neutralizes war as election issue
1 hour ago
OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Stephen Harper tried to change the channel on a campaign of distractions Wednesday as he deftly neutralized the Afghan mission as an election issue, reiterating a pledge that Canadian troops would be coming home in earnest in 2011.
Harper was unequivocal and unambiguous in saying soldiers would come out of Afghanistan as scheduled, and also took the opportunity to continue reshaping his public image by admitting he cried openly the first time he spoke to the family of a Canadian soldier killed in action.
"You have to put an end date on these things," Harper said during a rare breakfast briefing with reporters.
"We intend to end it."
On the surface, Harper's remarks appeared to do little beyond repeat Parliament's existing commitment to end the military mission in the war-torn country - a mission that has so far claimed the lives of 97 Canadian soldiers.
But the nuances represent the clearest indication to date that the Conservative government has come around to the view that Canada's role in the war should have a hard-and-fast time limit.
If nothing else, the move turned attention away - at least temporarily - from a recent string of Tory missteps, including the so-called "pooping puffin" affair, the exclusion of the Green party from the televised leaders' debates and the resignation of Rosamond Luke, a Conservative candidate in the Halifax riding who, it turns out, has a criminal record.
NDP Leader Jack Layton, who has been pilloried in recent days for his refusal to support letting Green Leader Elizabeth May join the debates, changed his tune Wednesday afternoon, saying he now was willing to let her join the debates.
His announcement of a proposed $8.2-billion investment package to foster the creation and protection of "green-collar" jobs and environmentally friendly cars had been obscured earlier in the day by lingering protest over the May affair.
Liberal Leader Stephane Dion sought to keep the May shunning a top campaign issue earlier Wednesday after a new poll found two thirds of respondents supported the inclusion of the Greens in next month's debates.
"I cannot accept that Mr. Harper, Mr. Layton, monsieur (Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles) Duceppe decided that Madame May will not be there," he said, hours before Layton's change of heart.
Dion said he will ask the broadcasting consortium that ruled against May to explain their reasoning and expose what roles other leaders had in denying her a place.
"The consortium must explain because Mr. Harper and Mr. Layton are hiding themselves behind the consortium. Not only are they not inclusive, but they don't have the courage to explain their position."
Layton had been taking a beating on his Facebook site, with visitors purporting to be long-time NDP supporters blasting his position and threatening to deny him their votes.
"Sorry Jack, you just lost my vote. Nice work," wrote one.
Layton was campaigned Wednesday in Oshawa, Ont., where General Motors has announced it will shut down its truck assembly plant, to highlight his party's commitment to protecting jobs.
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