Prime Minister Stephen Harper is in Seoul, South Korea where he is to participate in the G20 leaders' summit. Earlier today, before a special Remembrance Day ceremony at the War Memorial of Korea, Harper did a quick television interview with CTV's Lloyd Robertson. The interview is big news: For the first time, Harper said it seems likely that Canada will not pull its troops out of Afghanistan after 2011, as he had promised (and as Parliament voted.)
First, here's what Harper told me and John Ivison in an interview he did with us on Jan. 5 of this year:
We will not be undertaking any activities that require any kind of military presence, other than the odd guard guarding an embassy. We will not be undertaking any kind activity that requires a significant military force protection, so it will become a strictly civilian mission. It will be a significantly smaller mission than it is today.
Harper now says it's quite likely that there will be a significant military presence after 2011, much more than the “odd guard guarding an embassy”. Here is a transcript of the Q-and-A between Robertson and Harper, taped earlier today, provided to us by our good friends at CTV:
ROBERTSON: We know there is a lot of discussion about what’s going to happen in Afghanistan after combat troops are returning in July 2011. What’s the plan there?
HARPER: “As you know Lloyd many of our allies would like to extend the combat mission. I've been extremely clear that the combat mission is ending. I haven't made a secret of the fact that I'd like to see all of our troops come home. That said, as we look at the facts on the ground, I think the reality is, there does need to be some additional training of Afghan forces. So we are looking at some training options for a smaller number of Canadian troops but this would be a strictly non-combat mission.
ROBERTSON: So looking at a training mission then, is that the idea?
HARPER: Yeah. I think we can use some additional training to make sure the Afghans gradually assume more responsibility for their own security. Look, as you know we've been in Afghanistan for a very long time. almost as long as the two world wars combined. We do want to make sure that as we leave, what we leave behind is a situation that will ensure that the sacrifices that Canadians have made – and there have been a lot of sacrifices there – that those sacrifices are appropriately honoured,. So i think that will require some additional training but as I've said – I've been absolutely clear. It cannot involve any more combat.
ROBERTSON: How long might that training mission take? Can we anticipate a window on that?
HARPER: We’re looking at the 2011 to 2014 period.