Wesley Clark: Canada's Afghan mission 'noble', but needsmore than soldiers

[tuvor]

Former U.S. general Wesley Clark says Afghanistan is a "noble mission" for Canada, but all countries need to do more to support the country's development, including a new approach to reconstruction.

"Can't we do more to provide the kind of economic, political and social development support that's required to help this mission move forward?" Gen. Clark told Embassy following a keynote speech at the Centre for International Governance Innovation annual conference in Waterloo on Sept. 15.

"It's a wonderful thing to provide your soldiers, but what are we going to do about crop substitution?" he added, using improvements in the agriculture sector as one example of what's needed. "You can't grow pears and peaches where you grow opium because you can't market them."

General Clark, who served as NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe from 1997 to 2000 and challenged Senator John Kerry for the Democrats' presidential nomination in 2003, said a strong economic program in Afghanistan is a sign of strength.

http://www.embassymag.ca/html/index.php?display=story&full_path=/2006/september/20/wclark/