Statement made on 27 February 2007 by Senator Jane Cordy
Hon. Jane Cordy:
My question is also for the Leader of the Government in the Senate. One of the biggest problems facing NATO and Afghanistan is the issue of national caveats. Many of the 37 countries contributing to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, ISAF, in Afghanistan, have set restrictions on their troops or the use of their equipment. The caveats significantly reduce the personnel a commander has at his disposal.
During the NATO summit last fall in Riga, the supreme commander of NATO urged allied countries to remove national restrictions on their forces' operations in Afghanistan, saying that such caveats adversely affect commanders' abilities in fighting Taliban insurgents.
Can the Leader of the Government in the Senate tell us what this government is doing to ensure that other NATO allies are willing and able to relieve Canadian troops in Afghanistan? What are this government's plans if NATO countries other than Canada, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and the United States refuse to remove caveats allowing their troops to be in Kandahar and southern Afghanistan?
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