Canada extends Afghan mission

The Canadian House of Commons has voted in favour of extending the mission in Afghanistan to 2011.

The Canadian Forces plays a critical role in the mission to Afghanistan, which is not focussed entirely on fighting the Taliban. Some opponents would say Canada should focus on reconstruction and training. This is an excellent idea. In fact, it’s such a good idea, the government is already helping the Afghan government with development and training its security forces.

Canadian civilian police - plus civil servants from the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and the Canadian International Development Agency -are already involved in helping the Afghans with reconstruction and security.


But southern Afghanistan is a dangerous place. If the Government of Canada continues to keep people in southern Afghanistan, it will need the army to protect them.