Afghanistan: Time For The Not So Long Goodbye.

It's not easy for me to write this post. Having visited La Citadelle de Québec and had the honour of passing through the chapel and museum of the Royal 22e Régiment, it's not a comfortable feeling breaking faith with our Canadian Forces -- especially after we've lost 131 soldiers, one diplomat and two aid workers. But that's how our precious democracy functions. Each citizen has to come to his or her own conclusions.

Our Prime Minister recognizes that it is the will of Parliament that all combat operations come to an end in Afghanistan in July 2011. Some would like to see a further extension of the mission, either in a supporting military or humanitarian role. I say no. NATO should be informed as expeditiously as possible that 2011 is it. Leave it to others on the European continent to make a foolish mistake, most notably British Prime Minister Gordon Brown (as if he didn't have enough problems already).

Canada has done her duty and has nothing to be ashamed of. Our forces have been stretched to the limit and sending our troops over there for 3-4 rotations is almost an obscenity. Those families deserve better than that.

Now, let's turn to the world of No Drama Obama. I sense that the President is extremely cautious about escalating troop levels. The U.S. already fields 68,000 troops and General Stanley McChrystal is pushing for a further 40,000 in reinforcements. Can you spell Q-U-A-G-M-I-R-E?

The Administration is divided: Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appear to be onside, to varying degrees, but the roadblock is called Vice-President Joe Biden. It's also my impression that President Obama's thinking is more or less in line with that of the VP.

Clearly most of the action has shifted to Pakistan where President Asif Ali Zardari knows he could follow his wife if Al-Qaeda is not brutally suppressed or exterminated. His government is in peril every day of the year and no one wants the terrorists getting their hands on the Pakistani stockpile. This is where most of the West's efforts should be concentrated. This is the vital lynch-pin in defeating Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

As for Afghanistan itself, it's useful to recall that so far the score is 4-0 in favour of Afghan fighters. Just ask the British and the Russians. More emphasis has to be placed on further training the Afghan Army and Police. But NATO cannot and will never win on the ground in Afghanistan. Generals have already admitted that.

In some ways, the West is damned if we do, and damned if we don't. But remember the lessons learned in Viet Nam. In 1968, General William Westmoreland pleaded with President Johnson for 200,000 more troops. Johnson said no, bowing to the inevitable that the war could not be won using military force. That conclusion applies today and God help anyone who's foolish enough to forget it.