McDonough Slams Rambo Harper

The NDP's defence critic, Alexa McDonough, has accused PM Harper of "Rambo-style" tactics in pushing for such a quick vote on the extension of Canada's mission in Afghanistan for two years beyond February 2007.

Appearing on CBC, Ms. McDonough called the move “premature” and said scheduling a vote immediately on the matter was “almost unprecedented.”

“This is a kind of Rambo-style approach to what is a deadly serious issue, and I think not respectful either of Canadians wanting to be engaged in this debate because they're struggling with it,” she said.

“It's certainly not respectful of our troops and others who are in harm's way in Kandahar.”

The motion up for debate:

“that this House support the government's two-year extension of Canada's diplomatic, development, civilian police and military personnel in Afghanistan and the provision of funding and equipment for this extension.”

McDonough added:

“I think it's profoundly disrespectful of our troops and of other Canadians engaged in Afghanistan to be paying political games here, to be just sort of ramming through a yes-or-no, up-or-down motion without there being an opportunity to amend it, to really deal with the substance of it,” she said.

“Even to call it an extension of the mission in Afghanistan is itself not really accurate.”

She also said the motion is “extremely misleading because it creates this sense that we are operating on sort of a multipurpose basis in some kind of equal balance” between defence activities and diplomatic initiatives.

There's no mystery to this quick move by Harper's government. Since spring arrived in Afghanistan, the circumstances have become much more dangerous with more Taliban troops resurfacing in the southern parts of the country. No doubt, the Conservatives want this vote to happen now because they fear that as the death tolls of Canadian soldiers participating in the mission rise, public support will continue to plummet. Thus, the pre-emptive political move to ensure that Harper gets what he wants: an international image that he is just as militaristic as the rest of his warmongering buddies around the world.