Mr. Speaker, the House heard today from President Karzai that the way forward for Afghanistan is to move beyond military operations and attack terrorism at its source.
His fine diplomatic speech was as significant for what it did not say. There was no mention of the devastating impact of the counterinsurgency mission leading to the Kandahar quagmire.
Yesterday in the U.S. Karzai was more blunt when he stated, “You do not destroy terrorism by bombing villages”.
President Karzai gave more balanced emphasis to reconstruction, economic development and building civil society than does our government.
This government needs to understand the reality for too many women in Afghanistan: rape, abuse, neglect, poverty, disease, despair, and widowhood.
Canada must support courageous Afghani women who struggle day in and day out against sexism, brutality and intimidation at the hands of the northern alliance, the warlords, the drug lords as well as the Taliban, all of whom are represented in the Afghani government.
The Canadian government spends $9 on military counterinsurgency--