O'Connor: Afghanistan War Won't be Won Militarily

When pacifists, liberals and other critics of Canada's military role in Afghanistan have suggested that the war there would not be won militarily, we were heaped with scorn, accused of wanting to cut and run and were told that we were dishonouring Canada's soldiers. What will those same people say now that Canada's Defence Minister, Gordon O'Connor, has said exactly the same thing?

CANBERRA, Sept 7 (Reuters) - NATO forces would quash the Taliban insurgency in southern Afghanistan but the guerrillas would never be fully defeated by military force, Canadian Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor said on Thursday.

Instead, he said it was crucial for NATO and Afghan forces to contain the Taliban and ensure the hardline Islamist group did not become a threat in more peaceful areas.

"We cannot eliminate the Taliban, not militarily anyway," O'Connor told Reuters in an interview. "We've got to get them back to some kind of acceptable level, so they don't threaten other areas."

O'Coonor also did some public whining about the troop levels - something he should have considered when his government pushed for a fast and dirty vote this past spring to extend Canada's role in the NATO mission another two years.

O'Connor expressed frustration at what he said was the unequal burden Canadian, British and U.S. troops were shouldering, and said he would raise the issue of other nations sending more troops to help out in Kandahar and other southern areas at a NATO meeting this month.

At least five Canadian soldiers have died in Operation Medusa and 14 British troops were killed when their plane crashed early in the offensive.

O'Connor discussed Afghanistan with Australian Prime Minister John Howard and Defence Minister Brendan Nelson in Canberra, but said he did not ask Australia to redeploy any of its 600 troops, mainly working with Dutch NATO forces in the safer central-east.

"I did mention that all loads aren't equal, let's put it that way," O'Connor said, adding he would raise the issue at a NATO defence ministers meeting in Slovenia from Sept. 28.

"I expect the British will also raise that issue."

Another US-led war without a plan or an end in site and Canada's Defence Minister is still determined that our soldiers will continue to die in Afghanistan, stubbornly sticking to the new NATO committment without any promises for a review based on the circumstances on the ground.

If there's anyone dishonouring our troops, it's this Conservative government and its Rumsfeldian puppet of a Defence minister, Gordon O'Connor.