Canada stands firm on 2011 Afghan withdrawal

[bigtree]

OTTAWA — Defence Minister Peter MacKay says Canada will pull its combat troops out of Afghanistan no matter how nicely U.S. President Barack Obama asks Ottawa to keep them there.

Mr. MacKay said there is a lot of good will for Mr. Obama in his quest to beef up the international military presence in Afghanistan.

And he said Canada will speak with the Obama administration about how to make the Afghan mission a success.

But he stressed that the Harper government will stick to its Parliament-mandated 2011 exit date for the mission in the Kandahar region of the war-torn country.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090121.wPOLafghan0121/BNStory/politics/home


related:

Petraeus: Afghanistan will be 'longest campaign of the long war ...
http://washingtonindependent.com/1571/petraeus-ascension