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/

[Spazito]

1. Our mission WAS noble when it was peacekeeping and reconstruction

and BEFORE it was changed to a combat mission making our soldiers replacement fodder so the US can continue to screw up Iraq.

General Clark is right,imo, when he says this:

"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.

[MrPrax]

2. Never liked this phoney...

It's amazing how much support this ineffectual warmonger got among 'democrats' like Michael Moore...but then again, if you are for choice and think health care is a good idea, you are progressive down south. :eyes:

Dear Gen. Clark,

You were WRONG in December 2005 and your wrong now...show some humility and stop treating these kids, your soldiers, as cannonfodder.

We don't need a war criminal American general telling us what is 'noble' or advise us of the proper way to drink a cup of kool-aid.

I propose we "cut and run" now before more Canadians are sacrificed in a CIVIL war which doesn't affect us one way or another -- using fear to sell foreign policy is ALWAYS a bad idea that gets innocents on both sides killed by hack generals who operate under ideological partisan considerations where they believe two contradictory positions like: having a dialogue with iran and syria to disfuse one situation (pragmatism based on winnability), but deny this option in Afghanistan.

Why the discrepency? Is Karzai that important and vital to the Afghani people? Please...

According to the creaky racist logic of US politics, they are all terrorists out to get our freedom and SUVs and so talking is merely a position of weakness, appeasement, and capitulation, right?

You bought into both the bullshit of Serbia and Iraq and never mentioned 'diplomacy' once -- in fact you shamelessly pushed the democrat canard in Iraq suggesting that the problem was 'not enough troops' when you ran for the primary.

Yeah that's right Wes -- everything in Iraq would have worked out peachy keen if there were MORE US troops illegally occupying a defenseless country ground down by 13 years of sanctions. Instead of one Fallujah -- you could have ten. Instead of one Abu Grahib -- you could have 20. More troops = more opportunities to oppress.

Show humility and say you are wrong and stop fronting for your military contractor buddies

Fuck you,
MrPrax