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**uMG6uOSo** · 08-29-2012, 11:32 PM

Thats not how it happened. Harper didn't declare victory and then get us out of there. The pull-out was decided back in 2008 as part of a deal Harper had to make with the Liberals to get their support for an extention of the mission.

Yes, because the Liberals were in favor of staying in Afghanistan, only they wanted a timeline drafted up of the goals we wanted to meet, and to have a firm deadline of December, 2011 to get everyone out.

They could have voted against any extension along with the other two parties at the time and ended it, but they wanted to do it smart.

In any case, Stephen Harper, in his speech to the troops on May 30 of this year basically made it a "Mission Accomplished" speech. He said, "“Islamist terror (in Afghanistan) no longer represents a geo-strategic threat to the world — it is no longer a source of global terrorism.”

Photos: Harper lauds troops on surprise Afghanistan visit | Posted | National Post

He has never played it like he's respecting a deadline. He went over there and lauded the troops, reminded everyone what it was we were there for, how we accomplished it, and that the job was now done.

He declared victory so we could come home, which is the PR way of doing it. If Harper really wanted to stay there, he would have made that possible, so I think he did the right thing by just admitting it's time to finally get the heck out. They drove Al Qaeda away (they're in Pakistan now) and Afghanistan needs to save herself now.

08-29-2012, 11:32 PM	#31
uMG6uOSo Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 450 Senior Member	Thats not how it happened. Harper didn't declare victory and then get us out of there. The pull-out was decided back in 2008 as part of a deal Harper had to make with the Liberals to get their support for an extention of the mission. Yes, because the Liberals were in favor of staying in Afghanistan, only they wanted a timeline drafted up of the goals we wanted to meet, and to have a firm deadline of December, 2011 to get everyone out. They could have voted against any extension along with the other two parties at the time and ended it, but they wanted to do it smart. In any case, Stephen Harper, in his speech to the troops on May 30 of this year basically made it a "Mission Accomplished" speech. He said, "“Islamist terror (in Afghanistan) no longer represents a geo-strategic threat to the world — it is no longer a source of global terrorism.” Photos: Harper lauds troops on surprise Afghanistan visit \| Posted \| National Post He has never played it like he's respecting a deadline. He went over there and lauded the troops, reminded everyone what it was we were there for, how we accomplished it, and that the job was now done. He declared victory so we could come home, which is the PR way of doing it. If Harper really wanted to stay there, he would have made that possible, so I think he did the right thing by just admitting it's time to finally get the heck out. They drove Al Qaeda away (they're in Pakistan now) and Afghanistan needs to save herself now.
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