I’ve Moved!
November 20, 2008
So I’m sure that most people have noticed that the site has been offline for a few days. There’s a reason for that, which I will get to shortly. But first, let me just say this:
In fact, I am blogging at a new site I have just finished setting up: kennethhynek.net. A full explanation for the reasons behind the move can be found here
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That said, this is not the end of Time Immortal. My wife Grace has expressed interest in taking over blogging at this domain, and I am working to make sure that she gets set up here as soon as possible.
Also, my profound apologies for the modification to the site face; the move was not as seamless as I would have hoped, and many of the image files for this theme, and in the gallery, were corrupted during the course of their evacuation from my previous web host’s servers. Until such time as I have repaired them, I’ve put a clean-looking template in place of the previous one.
Update: for the purposes of further traffic shaping, new posts from kennethhynek.net will be excerpted below. Full articles can be read at the new blog.
Harper accepts Manley’s main points
January 28, 2008
Prime Minister Stephen Harper says his government accepts the main recommendations in the Manley report, including the demand that NATO provide more assistance in the Afghan south as a pre-condition for extending Canada’s mission there.
“I have spoken with Mr. Manley and advised him that our government broadly accepts the recommendations put forward by the panel on Canada’s future in Afghanistan,” Harper said at a news conference in Ottawa.
The prime minister said he also agrees with the specific conditions set out by the five-member independent panel that should be met in order to extend the mission beyond February 2009.
The report, produced by a panel headed by former Liberal deputy prime minister John Manley, said Canada should only extend its mission if it can convince its allies to commit at least 1,000 more troops and if the Canadian military receives helicopters and surveillance drones.
“In other words, while the case for the Afghan mission is clearly compelling, the decision to allow our young men and women in uniform to continue to be in harm’s way demands the responsibility to give them a strong chance of success,” Harper said.
“Both of the recommendations will have to be fulfilled or Canada will not proceed with the mission in Afghanistan.”
Personally, I don’t think Canada should be discussing whether or not it should proceed with the mission past February 2009 unless the only points being considered in making that decision are readiness of the government, police, and military of Afghanistan to “go it alone”. I think that whether or not Canada’s NATO allies are willing to contribute troops is irrelevant to whether or not Canada maintains its military presence in, and military assistance to, Afghanistan.
That’s just me, of course. But Canada did make a commitment to the government and people of Afghanistan, not to the willingness of our NATO allies to participate in the fate of same. And if the rest of NATO can’t be counted upon, that’s no reason for Canada to back out of a promise it has made. We should stay in Afghanistan until the military, police, and government there can handle their own affairs and deal with the Taliban effectively without our assistance. To leave before that point would be to plunge the region back into instability and, quite possibly, the thuggery of a renewed Taliban rule (at least in parts of the country).
