Mr. Harper Goes to Kandahar

Stephen Harper has just made his first foreign visit, and it is appropriate that he goes to Afghanistan to meet with the Canadian Forces stationed in Kandahar. Amid all the public questioning of the Canadian mission in Afghanistan, inappropriately led by the Liberals (who were the party responsible for sending Canadian troops there in the first place), it is a tremendous gesture on Harper's part to demonstrate the Government of Canada's resolve to see the mission through to a successful conclusion. Canada is doing great work in that country, assisting in the Afghan government's establishment of security and stability while contributing to the international mission to ensure that the despotic Taliban never again takes hold of the reins of power. Our troops are protecting civilians from terrorist attacks, setting up schools and hospitals, making crucial contacts with factions in civil society, and taking the fight to those who would try to revert Afghanistan's progress back to what it was when 9/11 occurred.
I send my thumbs-up to Stephen Harper for making this gesture in support of the Canadian Forces, and I hope that this will begin a campaign to inform Canadians of the mission in Afghanistan so that this ill-conceived attempt at raising questions about the viability of the campaign is quickly nipped in the bud.