NO NEED for HOUSE DEBATE on MILITARY MISSION

The latest deployment comes at the request of NATO to have Canada command a brigade of multinational troops. It is a part of the initial committment to rid Afghanistan of the terrorist cadre that has occupied it for so long and to reconstitute that country with a government which is able to survive and provide for its own self-defence. Until they are able to do that, and until the necessary reconstruction is completed, Canada is committed. Calls for a parliamentary debate on this particular deployment are little more than political posturing. Those demanding such a debate, Jack Layton in particular, knew full well what this operation involved because it was announced by the previous government and has been planned for over 6 months.

The media, with their sudden faux shock at the fact that Canadian troops are in a shooting war, is little more than sensationalizing at the expense of their readers. The horror they express from their desks at the fact that troops are being wounded and killed belies the fact that all the information about the type of mission and its inherent risks were laid before them long ago.

The Torch: Whether you like it or not, our presence in Afghanistan is fully justified.