Quote of the Week - Peter MacKay - Canada's foreign affairs minister: Knowledge Driven Revolution

"One would suggest that the fight is the last vestiges of the hold that the Taliban continue to exert over parts of Afghanistan."
Peter MacKay

Allies would be "shocked" by Canadian retreat from Afghanistan: Australia

HALIFAX (CP) - Australians would be shocked if an "ancient friend" like Canada retreated from the battlefields in Afghanistan as the military death toll mounts, that nation's foreign minister said Monday.

Standing in a legislative chamber lined with portraits of British royalty and reminders of common wars, Alexander Downer became the latest in a series of conservative politicians attempting to stiffen Canada's resolve in the face of growing public unease with the war in Afghanistan.

"We would be shocked if Canada suddenly decided to withdraw . . . if Canada said, 'No we're not going to do anything here We're going to let the rest of you do it,' " Downer said during a news conference at the Nova Scotia legislature, as Canada's foreign affairs minister, Peter MacKay, looked on.

Downer said retreat would mean the "sacrifice of president Karzai (of Afghanistan) and his democratically elected parliament and allow terrorists to take control."

Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice travelled to Halifax, where she said Canada's role in Afghanistan was critical to the war on terror.

On the weekend, Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Bernard Bot also paid a visit to MacKay to discuss the common mission in Afghanistan.

Canada has about 2,300 troops in Afghanistan, most of them in the south.

Before MacKay's meeting with Downer, the military confirmed that a suicide bomber on a bicycle killed four Canadian soldiers and injured several others while the troops were on patrol in southern Afghanistan.

The deaths Monday raised to 36 the number of Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan since 2002.

The mission has been a contentious issue among the political opposition in Canada, with the NDP calling for a withdrawal. Liberal party leadership candidate Gerard Kennedy has called for an withdrawal of unless NATO changes the mission.

Recent polls have suggested Canadians are deeply divided on the issue.

However, MacKay repeated his pledge that Canadian soldiers will remain in Afghanistan until its borders are secure, its infrastructure is rebuilt, refugees return home and democratic institutions are in place.

"We want to leave Afghanistan when those things are achieved in a meaningful way," the Nova Scotia MP told reporters at Province House.

"I believe, in spite of some casualties and some very high costs . . . these are values and principles worth fighting for."

MacKay said Taliban fighters are firmly entrenched in southern Afghanistan, which helps explain why they are turning to suicide attacks as Canadian soldiers press into hostile territory.

"They've shown the fiercest resistance," he said. "The military operations have encroached upon the area in which the Taliban felt that they were going to maintain that stronghold."

Both MacKay and Downer said they had encouraged Pakistan's government to stop the movement of Taliban fighters between that country and Afghanistan.

"It's a tall order," said MacKay, noting that Pakistan seems to be struggling to meet that challenge.

Downer went further, suggesting the elements of Pakistan's security forces were sympathetic to the Taliban.

Nevertheless, MacKay insisted that progress was being made with the help of Australian, Dutch, British and American troops.

"One would suggest that the fight is the last vestiges of the hold that the Taliban continue to exert over parts of Afghanistan."

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Quote of the Week: Peter MacKay - Canada's foreign affairs minister

Allies would be "shocked" by Canadian retreat from Afghanistan: Australia

Quote of the Week:
Peter MacKay - Canada's foreign affairs minister