Mr. Speaker, I think the member's arguments are false. He tries to draw parallels between the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in late 1970 and early 1980, and our mission in Afghanistan today.
The biggest difference between the two missions is that the Soviet Union entered Afghanistan under unilateral auspices. We are in Afghanistan, however, under multilateral auspices, under multilateral organizations like NATO and the United Nations. That is the biggest difference between those two missions. I do not think he can draw the strong parallels between those two, which he has tried to draw.
The biggest problem with the member's argument is this call for an immediate unilateral withdrawal of our military from the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The United States, the United Kingdom and Canada pursued a policy of isolation in the 19th century, a policy with respect to engagement in European affairs. However, the bloodshed of the 20th century taught us one thing. It taught us that we could not live in isolation, that we must be engaged in the world. That is why external affairs diplomats like Hume Wrong and Norman Robertson helped to construct multilateral institutions like the United Nations and like NATO.
What follows from the position of member for the New Democrats is one of two things. Either it is returned to the isolation of the 19th century, or he is asking the Canadian government to do diplomacy and development work without defence.