The Liberals are wrong on Afghanistan

The Liberals are once again demanding that we halt the combat mission in Afghanistan to focus solely on development. This plan will only lead to failure of the entire mission.

Peter MacKay, the Defence Minister, is telling it like it is.

“Development and security go hand in hand,” MacKay told the crowd in his home province. “Without security, there can be no humanitarian aid or assistance, no reconstruction, no democratic development.”

“To suggest, as some have, that we can do one without the other is nothing short of pure folly and, in fact, it’s dangerous.”

MacKay also explained Canada’s position that the country supports extending its military mission past the current deadline of February 2009 under the condition NATO sends more troops and equipment to help Canadian soldiers in the dangerous Kandahar region.

“In fact I’m sometimes left to believe that some members of the Liberal and NDP caucus are fundamentally, ideologically opposed to reality when they have this discussion,” he said.

All of this talk is ahead of the confidence motion to extend Canada’s combat role in Afghanistan for two years to February 2011 that is expected to be voted on in March.