Ignatieff says Canada belongs in Afghanistan

[Milhouser911]

Fair dealings act, yadda yadda

Ignatieff says Canada belongs in Afghanistan
Updated Wed. Sep. 6 2006 8:26 PM ET

Canadian Press

TORONTO -- Canadians have an obligation to keep their "moral promise" to Afghans despite a mounting death toll, Liberal leadership contender Michael Ignatieff said Wednesday as the bodies of five more soldiers returned home from the battlefield.


"This is an agonizing mission for Canadians but it's a mission that amounts to a moral promise," Ignatieff said following a rally in downtown Toronto where he unveiled a new campaign platform.


"It's a promise in which Canada said `We're going to help Afghans get their country back on its feet.' And the Canada I love and the Canada I respect always keeps its promises."


The latest casualties in Afghanistan, which brings the total to 32 since 2002, have prompted a growing number of politicians to push for an end to the mission.


Earlier this week New Democratic Party Leader Jack Layton said Canada should pull forces out and focus its efforts on reconstruction and negotiating a peaceful settlement.


Ignatieff dismissed Layton's proposal, saying it wasn't credible.


"I'm not clear who you negotiate with. I'm not clear what you negotiate about," he said.


"There isn't a responsible politician who doesn't prefer negotiating to combat. That's not the issue."


Ignatieff said he would continue to back soldiers so long as the mission offered the war-torn country a balance of security, reconstruction and humanitarian needs.


He made the comments following a rally where he kicked his fight for the top Liberal job into high gear unveiling an Andy Warhol-inspired poster campaign and a 40-page "nation building" manifesto.


He said it's time Canada's political leaders work to unite the rural and urban parts of the country. "This vision is anchored in the deepest traditions of our party," he said.


Ignatieff's "Agenda for Nation Building" includes a plan for a consolidated financial aid program for students to improve access to post-secondary education.


To tackle climate change, Ignatieff proposes tax incentives for using clean fuels and higher emission standards for cars.


The former academic said that the Liberals need to be strong, bold leaders because the country is tired of being "manipulated" by Stephen Harper's Conservatives.


Ignatieff's is the latest in a series of rallies being held this week and next by the 10 Liberal leadership hopefuls as they scurry to secure support ahead of the December leadership convention.


Ignatieff rival Bob Rae plans to unveil details of his platform on health policy and federalism over the next few days.


Ken Dryden got the ball rolling earlier this week launching his `big Canada' document. Stephane Dion, meanwhile, released a detailed plan for meeting Canada's climate change targets and making Canadians more energy efficient.
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________

Some common sense about afghanistan, and a little (totally unreasonable, IMO) stab at the conservatives. 

comments?

 

[wotan]

Ignatieff said he would continue to back soldiers so long as the mission offered the war-torn country a balance of security, reconstruction and humanitarian needs.

I hope that the above quote is simply the reporters take on Mr. Ignatieff's remarks.  A nation's soldiers should receive the backing of that nation, and of that nations politicians, regardless of what the mission is or achieves.  After all, it is the politicos that sent the soldiers off on the mission.  I believe that what might have been said, or what Mr. Ignatieff may have meant, was that he would support the mission so long as the mission offered the war -torn country a balance of security, reconstruction and huminitarian needs.

If, however, the noted statement is accurate and his support for our soldiers is conditional, I am neither surprised or shocked.  He is, after all, a Liberal and I have viewed his party's dedication to Canada's soldiers over the last 24 years.

 

[The Bread Guy]

WTF????  Now, we can't tell WHAT Iggy is saying - shared, as usual, in accordance with the "fair dealing" provisions, Section 29, of the Copyright Act.


He wants Canadian youth to go see and help......

Ignatieff wants young Canadians to go to Afghanistan to support democracy
Canadian Press, via Canoe.ca, 30 Nov 06
Article Link

Liberal leadership front-runner Michael Ignatieff says he'd like to send young Canadians to Afghanistan, Zimbabwe and other world hot spots.

Ignatieff says he went abroad as a young man and lived in dangerous countries and now he wants younger Canadians youth to have the same chance to go overseas and make a difference. The Liberal leadership frontrunner, who spent the better part of three decades outside Canada, also says he supports the war in Afghanistan, which he calls a "good Canadian mission."

Ignatieff says Canada has done several years of hard work in the country already and more help is needed to support democracy in the struggling nation.

The eight candidates vying for the Liberal leadership were divided when asked about the war at a gathering of the party's youth wing.

Bob Rae says he's not comfortable that the mission was extended to 2009 while Gerard Kennedy and Stephane Dion both say the mission needs a new mandate to continue.

....but not in uniform after 2009?

Ignatieff says he sees no reason to renew Afghan mission for Cdn soldiers
Dene Moore, Canadian Press, 30 Nov 06
Article Link

Liberal leadership front-runner Michael Ignatieff says he sees no reason to renew the mission of Canadian troops in Afghanistan beyond 2009.

When asked about the war by youth delegates at the party's leadership convention, Ignatieff said he supports the extension of the Canadian deployment over the next few years. Ignatieff backed the Conservatives' decision earlier this year to extend the mission but said Thursday, "I see no reason to renew it."

"We will have done seven years of work for which I have the utmost respect," said Ignatieff, who will be hoping to attract additional delegate support after being criticized in some circles for endorsing the mission extension.

He said Canadians have to understand what the soldiers are doing.

"The mission is not chasing terrorists around the Hindu Kush (an Afghan mountain range)," Ignatieff said.

"The mission is a good Canadian mission, that is to support and defend a democratically elected government, the first democratically elected government Afghanistan has ever seen."

Ignatieff also said he'd like to see young Canadians heading overseas, bringing Canadian values to some of the world's hot spots including Afghanistan and Zimbabwe.

Ignatieff, who spent the better part of three decades outside of Canada, said he had that kind of international experience as a youth and wishes the same for today's generation.

"This is a generation that can lead the world," he said. "I want to be the leader who got this generation out to Zimbabwe, to Afghanistan, to the places where Canada can make a difference."

Ignatieff said Canadians should share their tolerance, bilingualism and federalism with the world.

He said he would like it if "simply what you do when you finish university, when you finish higher education, that you go overseas and you put back not just to Canada, but to the world."

Although Ignatieff's camp was quick to clarify he does not intend young Canadians to go to the war-torn country as soldiers, Ignatieff did tell young Liberals he supports what he called a "good Canadian mission" in Afghanistan.

The eight candidates vying for the liberal leadership were divided about the war.

Bob Rae said he's not comfortable that the mission was extended to 2009.

"I do think we have to continue our active discussion with our NATO partners about what we're doing there," Rae told youth delegates.

"We do have to find a mission that is actually balanced in a way that could work."

Gerard Kennedy and Stephane Dion, who round out the top four contenders in the race, both said the mission needs a new mandate to continue.

Kennedy said Canada should leave Afghanistan "with their heads held high" when the original commitment expires next February.

"Our additional work in Afghanistan should be conditional and contingent on a successful mission," Kennedy told reporters.

That success would be measured in terms of economic development and humanitarian aid, he said.

"Without those things, our troops are not well-served and we've already done a lot and, if you look at the casualty figures, a disproportionate amount of short-term security."

 

[gaspasser]

Can't....believe...I'm ...posting....this...
+1 for Iggy for backing his Libby government's original plan to help the Afghanis.  Grud, maybe he'll make leader and later another Libby PM....

 

[canadianblue]

I never knew Harvard and London were dangerous countries......

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Ever since they banned guns in the UK, life for the averge person has gotten more dangerous!

Iggy seem to be the only one with any form of moral compass, which is why I expect them to elect Bob Rae instead.

 

[canadianblue]

I think Gerard Kennedy would be a better pick. But what would have impressed myself more was if a politician said he was willing to work with every party and every MP to work on the issues of the day instead of spouting off partisan BS.

 

[RangerRay]

For Liberals, it's all about gaining and maintaining power, not what's right for the Dominion.