Canada's troops to stay, says PM

Canada's troops to stay, says PM
Harper expects national support
Drugs help fund terrorist attacks
Mar. 8, 2006. 01:00 AM
BRUCE CAMPION-SMITH
OTTAWA BUREAU

OTTAWA—Canada won't "cut and run" from its
increasingly dangerous mission in Afghanistan,
Prime Minister Stephen Harper said.
Speaking after a troubling week that has seen
troops killed and injured in accidents and attacks
while on patrol in the Kandahar region, Harper
reiterated his support and signalled that he
expects all Canadians to back the military effort
as well.
"Canadians don't cut and run at the first sign
of trouble.
That's the nature of this country and when we
send troops into the field, I expect Canadians to
support those troops," Harper told reporters
yesterday after a cabinet meeting.
He headed off any move from the Liberals to
question the mission, noting that it was their
decision that sent more than 2,000 troops to
Kandahar for a year-long deployment that
ends next March.
At the same time, Harper downplayed warnings
from the military leadership that Canada could
be in Afghanistan for up to a decade to combat
a determined insurgency and assist an
impoverished population.
While Harper said he expects to get the
"best advice" from commanders, he made it
clear that cabinet will have the final say on
when Canadian troops leave Afghanistan.
"I have the highest regard for our military and
military leadership, but decisions on
deployments are always made in the end by
civilian authorities," he said.
"The elected government will make the decision."
Meanwhile, a top-secret Canadian threat
assessment warns that Afghanistan's lucrative
narcotics trade is helping fund terrorist
attacks in the country.
Analysts with the federal Integrated Threat
Assessment Centre prepared a classified
evaluation early last summer spelling out the
links between such terrorist activity and the
Asian country's vast poppy fields that yield
opium, the main ingredient of heroin.
A heavily edited version of the June report,
"Afghanistan: Narcotics Profits Integral to
Militant Attacks," was obtained by
The Canadian Press under the Access to
Information Act.
"The Afghan narcotics industry is thriving,"
the report says.
"In 2004, 10 per cent of Afghanistan's
population, 2.3 million people, were involved
in poppy cultivation."
The Afghan drug trade was worth $2.8 billion
(U.S.) in 2004, more than doubling in value since
2002, the report notes.
The threat assessment centre, housed at
Canadian Security Intelligence Service
headquarters in Ottawa, includes representatives
of several federal agencies, including CSIS,
Public Safety, the RCMP, Defence and
Foreign Affairs, as well as the Ontario Provincial
Police.
With files from Canadian Press
link:
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?
pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_PrintFriendly&c=
Article&cid=1141771814242&call_pageid=968332188774