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Originally Posted by Charlatan
Baraka... then I'm not sure what the issue is other than to maintain the course we are on.
We are not in Iraq (thankfully). We are in Afghanistan under the aegis of NATO. We are not part of the "coalition of the willing".
We became involved in Iraq as support for a larger cause than just US interests. It was an invasion that had the support of the UN and was later handed over to NATO.
Quite frankly, if the US had have stayed focused on Afghanistan and not entered the completely unrelated Iraq, I would have a lot more sympathy with the US, "war on terror". As it stands, "the war on terror" is little more than a marketing ploy to make palatable what the current US admin's goal of invading Iraq (I tend to believe they would have found an excuse to do it regardless of 9/11).
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This is what I'm trying to say. (It's been a long week.) And this is the reason why our government needs to keep open dialogue as to why we're in Afghanistan and just when it is we can leave. I guess I'm worried that after Afghanistan, the Americans will expect too much from us somewhere else.
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Originally Posted by Charlatan
NATO holds that if one nation is attacked, we are all attacked and will fight on behalf of the injured party - in this case, the U.S., but the larger picture is that NATO as a whole was attacked by the coalition of Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
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This is true and is why we are committed to Afghanistan. But note that NATO responsibilities are not purely aggressive, it's role is to use force only where necessary. I'm stating the obvious--I'm sure you know this about the treaty--but this is the kind of open dialogue our government should maintain. NATO's strength also lies in security and other modes of support.
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Senator Dallaire recently supported the mission in Afghanistan, but he also expressed a general concern over our role as peacekeepers, saying that it seems like a thing of the past. This is something we need to re-evaluate once things stabilize in Afghanistan and our forces become freed up. Think of the long term. I don't want Canada to join the witch hunt for "evil" simply because we have the capacity.