Canada to Withdraw from Afghanistan

By: Michael van der Galien

Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced yesterday that Canada would withdraw its troops from Afghanistan ASAP.

Canada has been committed to bringing peace, stability and democracy to Afghanistan for long enough, he said. In fact, the North-American country spent more time fighting terrorists in the Middle East now then it spent fighting Hitler during World War II.

Enough is enough; time for the troops to come home, Harper said.

The announcement came days after the Dutch Parliament voted for withdrawal in 2010. The Netherlands has 1.650 troops in Afghanistan’s southern province of Uruzgan. If the government does what Parliament wants, they’ll come home next year.

This means that at the very least two of the ten key allies of the US in Afghanistan will withdraw their troops within max. 1.5 years time.

Germany, the third most important provider of troops, has also talked about withdrawal, as have several other important allies.

I expect it will not take long before the West’s coalition decides to withdraw altogether and hand the country back to the Taliban – especially considering America’s unwillingness to do what’s necessary to win this war.

Source: PoliGazette