What Pamela Wallin Said - a rant by Reg

The Independent Panel on Canada's Future Role in Afghanistan released it's report yesterday to the Government of Canada (pdf of report here) and firmly stated that Canada should remain in Afghanistan until 2011 and that NATO has to add at least another battle group to Kandahar Province to assist Canada with combat operations there (more details here and here).

The report clearly states the importance of our work there in the past, present and future. It is in a statement to the press by panel member Pamela Wallin, one of Canada's most respected and accomplished women, that tells Canadians why we need to be in Afghanistan:

I think in the past few months, we have all been profoundly changed by what we have seen and what we have heard, and most powerfully more me by the Afghan people themselves. Their spirit has not been defeated by decades of war with the Soviets, the poverty, or the unspeakable terror of the Taliban. They want to take charge of their future, not necessarily to build a democracy as we know it, but when they are able and ready, they are already more than willing to take on responsibility for the safety of their citizens.

We are in Afghanistan because we chose to be there. We, like our allies, responded to the attacks of 9/11. We lost citizens too. But the Taliban and al-Qaeda continue to pose a threat to us here and there and they try to undermine what we believe in and what we stand for. Yes, we are putting our troops in harm's way. We are at war. This is not some simple peacekeeping operation reminiscent of a simpler, easier time. But our men and women are there willingly and enthusiastically, and they take pride not only in their military operations but also in the faces of the young girls, once shrouded, who now proudly sit in school and write their names with pencils provided by our aid dollars. Success for Afghans and for us is stability and a sense of hope. That is our exit strategy.

It will take time, but we forfeit our leverage to succeed if we threaten to leave with every roadside bomb or mortar round. Our sacrifice has been very real, precious lives lost, hearts broken, but this is urgent and important. In Afghanistan, we are there because we have a moral obligation, there is a security imperative, and a monumental humanitarian need. Our work there I think rekindles our proud tradition of being participants and not just observers on the world stage.

These eloquent words should be a source of pride to all Canadians, yet on the news I saw some of Canada's opposition party leaders demanding we pull out now (and a third stammer foolishly while committing to doing nothing). These three men are wrong, they are an embarasment to Our Country, and I hope that Prime Minister Harper wipes the floor with them in the next general election.

h\t: Mr. C.