John McCain seems to think it is Europe's fault that things aren't going well in Afghanistan. He believes that Europe should follow Washington's lead and put more forces and resources into the country. Spake McCain:
"Failure in Afghanistan risks a reversion to its pre-9/11 role as a sanctuary for al Qaeda terrorists with global reach, a defeat that would embolden Islamic extremists, and the rise of an unencumbered narcostate."
Yes indeed. But perhaps failure will be more due to the administration opening a second front in the "War on Terror" before Afghanistan was taken care of. It is a little much to expect the Europeans to fill in the gaps made by the badly planned and implemented foray into Iraq, a blunder which shifted attention away from Afghanistan allowing chaos to reign, and which, of course, was supported by McCain.
Five years on, the Taliban is resurgent, al Qaeda remains in existence, and Bin Laden is nowhere to be seen. Of course it is the fault of the Europeans.
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Canada has 2.500 troops in Afghanistan
US: 20,000 (?) Wikipedia say 12,000 under NATO, 8,000 under direct US command
UK: 5,800
Germany: 3,000
Canada: 2,500
Netherlands: 1,900
Canadian troops have been involved in heavy combats, in the last 12 months.
Theres grumbling because some other NATO forces have safer areas to protect.
The Harper government is heavily comitted to war in Afghanistan, altough the Reconstruction theme is much more popular with the canadian electorate.
John McCain also had this to say to Putin:
In today's multi-polar world there is no place for needless confrontation.
Pot - kettle, anyone?
Notice, that on the official FBI page, Bin Laden is not wanted for 9/11, but for "in connection with the August 7, 1998, bombings of the United States Embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya. These attacks killed over 200 people. In addition, Bin Laden is a suspect in other terrorist attacks throughout the world."
What does that tell us?