Canada Afghanistan debate

To their credit, the Liberal party finally seems to have gotten over its reluctance to discuss a renewed role for Canada in Afghanistan post-2011. But are Bob Rae's brave words in vain?

It seems our Prime Minister still isn't willing to give Canada's most important foreign policy engagement in recent memory any words other than a dishonest point about "respecting the will of parliament." But parliament didn't vote to end our involvement in Afghanistan after 2011. They voted to end the military mission in Kandahar. So there's actually quite a bit that Canada can do -- training of soldiers, development aid, electoral reform, education supports, institution building -- there is much that can be done. Indeed, to pull up stakes at this point, just as the international efforts are gaining momentum, would raise an even darker question of what our sacrifices were for.

Will the PM show leadership now and take up discussion of our role in Afghanistan for the future in a pragmatic approach with his fellow MPs? Or will political partisanship continue to throw a cloak of silence upon this critical issue?

A debate on The Agenda focusing on the big picture of Afghanistan. Will the surge work? Why are American soldiers providing the vast majority of the troops on the ground when some NATO alliance members are contributing nothing at all -- nearly a decade after the mission began? What is happening with Hamid Karzai's emotional statements reported in the media? Finally, what should Canada's role be in Afghanistan in the future?

See the show at http://www.tvo.org/cfmx/tvoorg/theagenda/index.cfm?page_id=7&bpn=779764&ts=2010-04-16+20:00:00.0

The discussion includes:

Lewis MacKenzie is a Retired Major-General and President of Major-General MacKenzie Enterprises.

Roland Paris is University Research Chair in International Security and Governance at the University of Ottawa. He is also the founding director of the Centre for International Policy Studies at the University, and Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs.

Najia Haneefi is President of Rabiha I Balkhi Women's Radio Station & Founder of Afghan Women's Political Participation Committee.

Sally Armstrong is a contributing editor at Maclean’s, and author of Bitter Roots, Tender Shoots: The Uncertain Fate of Afghanistan's Women.