In a new motion, the Conservative administration has set a firm date, in December 2011, to pull out of Afghanistan. On the recommendation of the Manly panel, the motion calls for NATO forces to come help in the dangerous southern region. This is motion that the Liberal party might accept as a compromise to their proposed 2009 date. Its a confidence motion so the Conservatives need the bipartisan support to keep governing. The two smaller opposition parties want immediate withdrawal. The Liberals really don't want the government to fall because they are still behind in the polls, so there is a good chance they would accept the motion. They could abstain from voting, but they have already done this too many times, which has given their leader Stephen Dion the perception of being weak.

But the budget vote comes before this vote, and its very possible the government could fall before this motion ever gets voted on. If thats the case, the Liberals could win the next election and with third and fourth party support, could pull out by the desired 2009 date anyways. However, not setting an exit date would have been a disaster for the Conservatives, given that 60% of Canadians are against the mission, and at the minimum want to know when we're leaving. Also, no party wants to be blamed for causing an election, if the Liberals don't accept the Conservative compromise, many would blame the Liberals for causing an unneeded election.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080222/...da_afghanistan

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"The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. " — John Stuart Mill

boo

I wonder how this affects NATO. I can't see the precedent of pulling out of a treaty obligated war unilaterally because the other players are being sissies to various degrees makes the alliance worth a (*)(*)(*)(*). BUT then the lack of combat troops from Germany etc is total BS as well.

Its 3 years so maybe it won't matter as much but still ....
al Qaeda.

Canda..yeah..whatever..

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl...l_gam_mostview

I assume the MP's will vote yes?
Very contradictory things going on up there..
One side is saying out of Afghanistan and NATO will just have to find another member to do x if x still needs doing.....great plan btw zz

..while Harper (I assume representing the other side?) is saying buildup because we need a military to fight wars like that in Afghanistan...

http://www.nato.int/docu/basictxt/treaty.htm

Ok I suppose they can cop out by defending the "North Atlantic area... "

Because afaik the Security Council of NATO has not set a date for declaring the War in Afghanistan over...which is pretty hard to do unless the enemy just co-operates and gets beat by the date declared....

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i think this are big mistake for Canada to go fro m Afghanistan. Stephane Dion he still think Afghanistan ar e Bush war. Canada must stay in NATO force in devoir to the free world.
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December 2011 is just under 4 years away. There are problems with withdrawal dates, but this one provides a huge amount of time, and its actually a better outcome than I thought the Conservatives could muster.

If the Taliban cooperate and get beat by the date declared, then great. If they don't, the Afghan soldiers that were trained over that 4 year span will finish them off.

Even after 4 years, Canada will probably leave a residual presence to support the Afghans, like Britain has done in Basra.

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"The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. " — John Stuart Mill

I believe this is a mistake. Set pre-conditions for withdraw but never a fixed date like this.

We should be encoraging other NATO members to contribute more, not sebding the message that a chunk of our forces will be quitting in a couple of years whether the job is done or not.

I'm saddened and dissappointed about this.

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Russian Imperialism is a greater danger to the World today than AlQueda terrorism

The date was ALREADY fixed. It was fixed at Febuary 2009. In a minority government situation, with all 3 opposition parties demanding withdrawal at the Febuary 2009 date, to get a compromise with the official opposition Liberals of almost FOUR YEAR extension is amazing.

Its not a mistake when the only alternative is for the government to not compromise, fall on the issue of Afghanistan in which 60% of Canadians are against the mission, give the Liberals momentum and a chance to win the election, and have the Liberals win guaranteeing Canada will be out of Afghanistan by EARLY NEXT YEAR.

You are Scottish, you should know that in a minority Parliament, you can't just ram your ideals through and expect to be successful. If that was possible, the Conservatives would be going for pre-conditions over a fixed date.

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"The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. " — John Stuart Mill

I was unaware Canada had already set Feb 2009.

So now I do - I am still saddened and dissappointed with that illogical decision.

The Government should stand by the principle of overthrowing the Taliban and their Al-Queda cronnies and introducing a stable Democractic Afghan State free from terrorist. I doubt the Government would fall on that sole issue - I may be wrong on that.

In the UK - the Parliment that has soverign decision making powers whether to go to war and continue that war is in Westminster - there are only 2 parties Labour and Conservative with any chance of being in power and both are committed to the war in Afghanistan and both can still remember why we are fighting there!

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Russian Imperialism is a greater danger to the World today than AlQueda terrorism

Parliament declares war and ends war here as well. The last motion to extend the mission, which occurred in 2007, passed by only 5 votes I think. It was a free vote, so each MP voted his own way. So it barely passed.

So if the Conservatives wanted to extend it again, they would definitely need support of another party. The two smaller parties are socialist, they will not extend no matter what, so the only choice is the official opposition Liberals. The Liberals really don't want an election, because they're not doing great in the polls, and the Conservatives don't really want to fall on the Afghan issue, because of how Canadians feel about it.

So they made a compromise,: the Conservatives extend the mission, and they get to govern longer, while the Liberals get a withdrawal date.

Obviously you have it great in Britain, you have a majority government that supports the mission. Even if they lose, your other party supports it as well. So lucky you, but not lucky us, we are in the worse position possible. I guess there is one worse position, being zero parties supporting.

Still, 3 and a half years more of combat fighting is way more than what France, Germany, and most countries are doing, or will ever do. I'd rather leave Afghanistan saying we've made a useful contribution, rather than sit there like Germany and France for 100 years sitting in the middle of Kabul doing absolutely nothing.

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"The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. " — John Stuart Mill