HALIFAX and KANDAHAR — In what appears to be a U-turn, the Harper government has said publicly for the first time that it is seriously considering keeping hundreds of Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan to train that country’s security forces after the end of Canada’s official combat role next year.
Defence Minister Peter MacKay said Sunday that Prime Minister Stephen Harper will announce within two weeks Canada’s future role in Afghanistan.
Speaking to reporters at the end of a security conference in Halifax, MacKay opened the door to what soldiers in Kandahar and NATO officials have been hoping to hear for months — that Canada could soon announce it will train Afghan forces after its combat mission in the south of the country wraps up next summer.
MacKay admitted Canada is under pressure from its allies in Afghanistan to maintain a military presence, and that a new mission focused on training local army and police forces is an option.
However, “we’ve been crystal clear in saying that the combat mission will end in July,” said MacKay. “But training is an option, and something we’ve (already) been very good at, quite frankly.
“We all know the focus in Afghanistan is on transition — giving Afghans the ability to do many of the things we do for them, including military, police, security. That transition, that all countries (with operations in Afghanistan) are going through, is certainly something Canada is contemplating, and we should have more about that as we get closer to Lisbon”.
Harper is expected to represent Canada at a meeting of the NATO alliance in Lisbon, Portugal, in two weeks.
“The prime minister will have more to say about it,” said MacKay.
He emphasized that any future role for Canadian soldiers would be “behind the wire, outside of Kandahar, and it would involve further training”.
Reaction was swift and positive in Afghanistan among Canada’s NATO allies.
“It’s the right timing. It is exactly what NATO is looking for,” an elated senior alliance official said late Sunday.
“I had detected growing level of criticisms about Canada completely walking away from Afghanistan. This will dispel a lot of those concerns and show Canada has a long-term plan for the country”.
The official added: “We need to convert some combat troops into trainers to ensure full transition will be realized by 2014. . . . NATO has been quite vocal about nations digging a bit deeper. A country such as Canada, with a proven record in Afghanistan, has exactly the trainers we are looking for”.
The Liberals indicated they would consider supporting the government proposal for a training mission, something they advocated months ago and that Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff reaffirmed in a foreign policy speech last week.
GlobalNews
