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What war in Afghanistan?

This Magazine Staff

Last week Senator Barack Obama voiced his concern about the unfavourable manner in which little foreign kids with dreams perceive America. Do any of our candidates care about how they perceive Canada?
The CBC asks, have foreign policy issues dropped off the radar? To rephrase a coworker who recently quipped, “What war in Afghanistan?” my answer is: “We have foreign policy issues?”
No one is arguing that economy isn’t important, but where do the party leaders stand on the growing aggression between Russia and its near abroad? Do they think NATO should strike al Qaeda targets in Pakistan? When will we find out?
Given that they’ve largely ignored Afghanistan for the past three weeks, the candidates should perhaps also focus some time on reassuring the remaining 41 per cent of Canadians who still support the war of its virtues, or, for the 56 per cent who oppose, of its sins. Quebec has the lowest support for this war, so it will be interesting to see whether anyone brings it up tonight.

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