So now we know

I have so far supported sending our troops to Afghanistan, but only reluctantly given my misgivings about killing people, and only on the assumption they were there principally to aid the people of that tragic place stabilize their country and rebuild it, possibly even establishing a democracy in the process. Now Prime Minister Harper has disabused me of that notion. He has stated publicly that, "Our two military objectives are to fight terrorism ... and ... to aid the Afghan forces in fighting it themselves." He went on to say, "Afghanistan and Canada are connected in one common objective. The common objective is the fight against terrorism ..."

So there you have it. The principal goal of our military presence is to join President Bush's "war" on terror. How many Canadians, I wonder, want to become part of that farcical exercise. Most will, I suspect, support a military presence to safeguard our contribution to rebuilding Afghanistan, particularly if it enhances democracy, but not so many will support turning it into our version of Iraq. If we didn't need a parliamentary debate on this issue before, we desperately need it now. And we especially need a crystal clear statement of precisely what we are in that country for.