Good Work Manley!

It appears that John Manley and his colleagues have actually done good work. Contrarily to what everyone had imagined, their report on the future of Canada's mission in Afghanistan is surprisingly thorough and unbiased, and clearly defines the objectives of the mission and the conditions of our participation. Some experts and journalists are even going as far as to call it "the bible" of Afghanistan. And while I obviously wouldn't go that far, I am nevertheless prepared to recognize the legitimacy of the research.

One can agree or not with their findings. They say that a extra 1000 foreign troops would be enough to make the mission a success, I say that a billion dollars of cash to get poppy farmers onto another crop would be a better use of resources. They say that "Canada is meaningful in Afghanistan", I cynically believe that the only ones who really matter are the United-States. But these are just opinions, which are always stronger after a healthy debate.

There is one idea of the group, though, which I find particularly brilliant: tell NATO that Canada will pull out all of its troops in February 2009 unless the alliance can send the extra 1000 well trained soldiers viewed by Manley as essential to the success of the mission. In other words, send NATO an ultimatum.

These troops probably won't make a difference. To be honest, thinking that the Taliban can be vanquished thanks to a few more western soldiers is simply wishful-thinking, frankly naive. But at least, by sending a ultimatum, the government would reiterate Canada's commitment to Afghanistan while making it clear that the country will not be pushed around by other members unwilling to do their share of combat. That works for me!