He's Good But Not That Good

I was reading the Embassy magazine today and Jeff Davis has an article in it examining what effect Barack Obama's election will have on Canada's commitment to Afghanistan. One idea that comes up in his examination is that maybe President Obama will ask Canada to stay longer than the 2011 pull out date that was agreed upon in the last parliament.

Now I've read the articles and seen the showings of support for Canadians for Obama; the most surprising of all being the poll that claimed that as much as 80% of Canadians would vote for Obama if they could (a truly amazing idea considering that not even 60% of Canadians voted for their own politicians!). But even though the majority of Canadians like Obama, I don't know if this support would change Canadians minds about the Afghan mission.

For the past couple years, Canadian Forces have handled the dirty work of the mission, working in the places that no one else will. Other allies have greater numbers and better equipment, but it has been up to Canada to shoulder the brunt of the workload. Our nation did not shy away from this task either, we recognized the importance of the mission and got to work. This has, however, taken a toll on both the Canadians Forces and the political will of the nation.

I don't care how much Canadians like Obama or how close Canada is as an ally, the Canadian people have demanded that Canada be relieved of this terrible burden and it is unlikely that this will change anytime soon. In fact, Obama's commitment to re-deploy troops to Afghanistan will probably bolster Canadians' resolve that our forces need no longer be in Afghanistan.

President-elect Barack Obama may be the latest and greatest in international politics but when all is said and done, the dover principle takes over and the people of this nation will see the Canadians coming home in body bags and forget all about how much they like Obama.

- blenCOWe