Afghanistan is a potent symbol of the costs inherent in abandoning nations to the lawless forces of anarchy. That alone justifies international efforts to help rebuild the country. Lest there be any doubt, remember Sept. 11, 2001, and its worldwide reverberations. We learned then how a country, shorn of its civic institutions, becomes a vacuum to be filled by criminals and opportunists. In its chaos and poverty, Afghanistan became a home base for terrorism.

Must we learn that lesson all over again? The past six years have seen a massive international partnership to rebuild Afghanistan’s state institutions. A modern constitution was adopted after widespread popular consultations. Presidential and parliamentary elections were held. Three million refugees returned from decades of exile. Clearly, a large majority of the population supports the international community’s efforts on Afghans’ behalf.

Yet, this progress is in jeopardy. Once again, the opportunists are on the rise, seeking anew to make Afghanistan a lawless place — a locus of instability, terrorism and drug trafficking. Their means are desperate: suicide bombs, kidnappings, the killing of government officials and hijacking of aid convoys. Almost more dismaying is the response of some outside Afghanistan, who react by calling for a disengagement or the full withdrawal of international forces. This would be a misjudgment of historic proportions, the repetition of a mistake that has already had terrible consequences.

(emphasis mine)
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Do you think perhaps “some outside Afghanistan” might be a reference to our very own Jack Layton?

I believe that we are at this point now in Afghanistan. I believe that in the face of a rising insurgency, of deteriorating lives for average Afghans, of a tarnishing of Canada’s international credibility in international law, that’s it’s time for a new strategy for Afghanistan. It’s time to bring the troops home, and to start pushing for a real resolution to this war.

I must agree with the U.N. Secretary General on this one, this is no time for the west to pull out and risk a return to Taliban control in Afghanistan. I’m also tired of hearing the term “exit strategy” tossed around as if this military operation were a bank heist. What was the exit strategy of the allied forces during WWII? And another thing, while I’m on a rant, who said that Canada’s “traditional role” has been as peace-keeper? I’m guessing this opinion is more a reflection of what the NDP would like our role to be, rather than what it has ever been.