KABUL (CP) - With military helicopters swirling overhead, Afghanistan's president told Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Tuesday he's willing to visit Canada to persuade Canadians their help is essential to his country's growing democracy.
Hamid Karzai accepted the prime minister's invitation even before Harper could finish making it.
"I'll be there," the Afghan president said, interrupting Harper in mid-sentence as the prime minister explained why Canadians needed to hear from him.
Karzai said he was willing to come to explain to Canadians why their presence is so important, a message he asked Harper to take home to a Canadian public grown somewhat skeptical of a mission that has taken the lives of 12 Canadians since 2002.
"Please convey to your people, to the people of Canada, the immense gratitude of the Afghan people for what your country, your people have done for us," he told Harper after an hour-long meeting.
"For giving the lives of your sons, for contributing in money, for contributing in soldiers and for being one of the biggest helpers in Afghanistan."
Harper's meeting with the Afghan leader came toward the end of his first foreign trip as prime minister. The high-security visit was aimed at boosting military morale, as well as support for the mission back home.
In a stark reminder of the instability that still threatens the country, the news conference at Karzai's presidential compound was interrupted for 30 seconds while U.S. attack helicopters swirled overhead to check security at the palace.
The Apache and Black Hawk helicopters provided an extra layer of security beyond the team of snipers, armed guardsmen, foreign soldiers, and maze of concrete checkpoints around Karzai's palace.
Afghanistan's first democratically elected leader following decades of civil war and radical Islamist rule, Karzai has been targeted with assassination attempts.
Harper used that dramatic setting to challenge his political opponents to offer their full support for the mission. The NDP, Bloc Quebecois and Liberals have all called for a parliamentary vote or at least a debate on the matter.
The prime minister raised the domestic debate with Karzai, mentioning his government's minority status in a private meeting, and twice again at a news conference.
He explained that his Conservatives don't control a majority in the House of Commons. But he was adamant that he would not support a vote on the mission.
"We're not going to have votes on commitments already made," he said at a later news conference in Islamabad, after meeting Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.
He triggered some confusion when he cited a Conservative election promise to hold
a vote on all future military deployments. Canada's current Afghanistan mission expires in February.
"These things obviously will be put to votes in the future. That's a commitment we've made," Harper said.
But his aides, after checking with the prime minister, told reporters the promise would not apply to the Afghanistan mission, which Harper has suggested may continue for years. He made a personal vow in a speech to 1,100 troops this week to never "cut and run" from Afghanistan as long as he's prime minister.
He also took a shot at opponents reconsidering the mission.
"I would urge the opposition parties not to play politics with that commitment but to get behind our troops and get behind our international commitment," he said.
Canadians are helping with everything from security, to training police, to helping the new provincial government in Kandahar set up its ministerial departments and even helping its governor organize press conferences.
Karzai said the help has been indispensable. And he argued that in helping Afghanistan, Canada is also helping itself and its Western allies.
"Afghanistan and Canada are united in one common objective," he said.
"By providing stability in Afghanistan, helping Afghanistan on its own feet, the Canadian troops - the Canadian sons and daughters - are also providing for the long-term security of Canada and the countries around it."
In his last night in Kandahar, Harper was flown by helicopter into a top-secret camp on the barren outskirts of the city where he slept alongside Canada's elite special forces, JTF-2.
"I'm not going to comment on where I was last night. ... We were visiting Canadian Forces in the field," Harper said.
"On this trip I wanted to make sure I got as close to the men and women in uniform as I could, to understand the great challenge they've taken on and also their perspectives. ... It's been a very enlightening and rewarding experience."
While other foreign leaders have visited Afghanistan - U.S. President George W. Bush came for four hours earlier this month - Harper's trip was touted as unprecedented in its length and scope.
Reporters and senior government officials were told of the trip only hours before departure from Ottawa. Insurgents sympathetic to the deposed Taliban government abound in the area, and Canadian troops have been targeted by suicide bombs and roadside attacks.
In Islamabad, Aziz called for a free-trade deal with Canada. The Pakistani prime minister also praised Harper's "mature" response to the controversy over "blasphemous" cartoons about Islam from Denmark, which caused protests worldwide.
At the time, Harper said: "I regret the publication of this material in several media outlets. While we understand this issue is divisive, our government wishes that people be respe
http://start.shaw.ca/start/enCA/News/WorldNewsArticle.htm?src=w031431A.xml
Having Karzai come to Canada to say why Canada should remain in Afghanistan is absolutely good. It will educate the public, help Harper and show radical Anti-Afghanistan deployment protestors and politicans as anti-Canadian military.
Hamid Karzai accepted the prime minister's invitation even before Harper could finish making it.
"I'll be there," the Afghan president said, interrupting Harper in mid-sentence as the prime minister explained why Canadians needed to hear from him.
Karzai said he was willing to come to explain to Canadians why their presence is so important, a message he asked Harper to take home to a Canadian public grown somewhat skeptical of a mission that has taken the lives of 12 Canadians since 2002.
"Please convey to your people, to the people of Canada, the immense gratitude of the Afghan people for what your country, your people have done for us," he told Harper after an hour-long meeting.
"For giving the lives of your sons, for contributing in money, for contributing in soldiers and for being one of the biggest helpers in Afghanistan."
Harper's meeting with the Afghan leader came toward the end of his first foreign trip as prime minister. The high-security visit was aimed at boosting military morale, as well as support for the mission back home.
In a stark reminder of the instability that still threatens the country, the news conference at Karzai's presidential compound was interrupted for 30 seconds while U.S. attack helicopters swirled overhead to check security at the palace.
The Apache and Black Hawk helicopters provided an extra layer of security beyond the team of snipers, armed guardsmen, foreign soldiers, and maze of concrete checkpoints around Karzai's palace.
Afghanistan's first democratically elected leader following decades of civil war and radical Islamist rule, Karzai has been targeted with assassination attempts.
Harper used that dramatic setting to challenge his political opponents to offer their full support for the mission. The NDP, Bloc Quebecois and Liberals have all called for a parliamentary vote or at least a debate on the matter.
The prime minister raised the domestic debate with Karzai, mentioning his government's minority status in a private meeting, and twice again at a news conference.
He explained that his Conservatives don't control a majority in the House of Commons. But he was adamant that he would not support a vote on the mission.
"We're not going to have votes on commitments already made," he said at a later news conference in Islamabad, after meeting Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.
He triggered some confusion when he cited a Conservative election promise to hold
a vote on all future military deployments. Canada's current Afghanistan mission expires in February.
"These things obviously will be put to votes in the future. That's a commitment we've made," Harper said.
But his aides, after checking with the prime minister, told reporters the promise would not apply to the Afghanistan mission, which Harper has suggested may continue for years. He made a personal vow in a speech to 1,100 troops this week to never "cut and run" from Afghanistan as long as he's prime minister.
He also took a shot at opponents reconsidering the mission.
"I would urge the opposition parties not to play politics with that commitment but to get behind our troops and get behind our international commitment," he said.
Canadians are helping with everything from security, to training police, to helping the new provincial government in Kandahar set up its ministerial departments and even helping its governor organize press conferences.
Karzai said the help has been indispensable. And he argued that in helping Afghanistan, Canada is also helping itself and its Western allies.
"Afghanistan and Canada are united in one common objective," he said.
"By providing stability in Afghanistan, helping Afghanistan on its own feet, the Canadian troops - the Canadian sons and daughters - are also providing for the long-term security of Canada and the countries around it."
In his last night in Kandahar, Harper was flown by helicopter into a top-secret camp on the barren outskirts of the city where he slept alongside Canada's elite special forces, JTF-2.
"I'm not going to comment on where I was last night. ... We were visiting Canadian Forces in the field," Harper said.
"On this trip I wanted to make sure I got as close to the men and women in uniform as I could, to understand the great challenge they've taken on and also their perspectives. ... It's been a very enlightening and rewarding experience."
While other foreign leaders have visited Afghanistan - U.S. President George W. Bush came for four hours earlier this month - Harper's trip was touted as unprecedented in its length and scope.
Reporters and senior government officials were told of the trip only hours before departure from Ottawa. Insurgents sympathetic to the deposed Taliban government abound in the area, and Canadian troops have been targeted by suicide bombs and roadside attacks.
In Islamabad, Aziz called for a free-trade deal with Canada. The Pakistani prime minister also praised Harper's "mature" response to the controversy over "blasphemous" cartoons about Islam from Denmark, which caused protests worldwide.
At the time, Harper said: "I regret the publication of this material in several media outlets. While we understand this issue is divisive, our government wishes that people be respe
http://start.shaw.ca/start/enCA/News/WorldNewsArticle.htm?src=w031431A.xml
Having Karzai come to Canada to say why Canada should remain in Afghanistan is absolutely good. It will educate the public, help Harper and show radical Anti-Afghanistan deployment protestors and politicans as anti-Canadian military.