Canada's Single Most Important Endeavor: The Blame Game Has Begun

Remember former Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier's gaffe of last April? You know, this specific one:

Bernier, on the final day of a tour of Canada's embattled patch in southern Afghanistan, initially told reporters the status of the controversial governor was in doubt as Ottawa redoubles its efforts to persuade President Hamid Karzai to crack down on corruption.

"There's the question to maybe have a new governor," Bernier said when asked what Karzai could do about perceptions of corrupt rule in the province, where Canadian forces are based.

"I think (Karzai) can work with us to be sure the (new) governor will be more powerful ... will do what he has to do to help us."

This gaffe borne out of arrogance caused quite the headeache to the government of Kabul Mayor President Hamid Karzai:

(...) according to an Afghan government source, the impact of Bernier's public comments unleashed a political shock wave that will be difficult to roll back.

Bernier is believed to have spoken candidly with Karzai on the subject of replacing Khalid during a weekend meeting in Kabul. According to one Afghan government source, Karzai pleaded with Bernier for "some weeks" to explore his options on appointing a new governor to the volatile province.

"By speaking publicly on this sensitive issue, the Canadian minister has put Karzai in a difficult position," a highly placed Afghan source in Kandahar said last night.

"If he stays with this governor, Karzai will look like he is ignoring the Canadians. But if he makes a change, it will be obvious to Afghans where the real power lies. It will make Karzai look like Canada's puppet."

Of course, Bernier quickly "clarified" his bold, "See? I am in charge!" statement:

"Afghanistan is a sovereign state that makes its own decisions about government appointments. I can assure you that Canada fully respects this and is not calling for any changes to the Afghan government. In fact, our primary goal is promoting the self-sufficiency of Afghanistan in all aspects of nationhood, including development, security and governance. We will continue working closely with all levels of the Afghan government to advance this objective."

And of course, Prime Minister Harper likewise chimed in:

Prime Minister Stephen Harper scrambled to Bernier's defence even as he expressed regret that his government's private concerns about Khalid had been so openly aired.

"Minister Bernier very quickly corrected a misimpression that I think had been left from some earlier comments," Harper said.

"Obviously we have talked to the government of Afghanistan from time to time about performance of that government, and some of our concerns, and we'll continue to express some of those concerns privately," he said.

So case closed, right?

Not quite - for Defense Minister Peter McKay picked up Bernier's baton yesterday:

The Afghan government must eliminate the corruption that threatens to undermine the good work being done by Canadian soldiers and their allies, says Defence Minister Peter MacKay.

MacKay made the comments Monday night during a break at a fundraising dinner for the Manitoba Progressive Conservative Party.

He said corruption, particularly in the southern region of Kandahar, is like a cancer that must be eradicated.

"The Afghan government must address those issues that can be like a cancer," MacKay said.

Canada is playing an "enabling" role in Afghanistan, assisting the government, its military and its administration in the pivotal task of rebuilding the country and defeating the Taliban, the defence minister said.

The obvious question is, of course: whatever happened to Prime Minister Harper's "regret" (see above) that his government's private concerns about Afghan corruption were being so openly aired out?

Nothing more than lip service, of course. Indeed, we must not dismiss the context in which McKay made this new (albeit quite true) condemnation, and once again so "publicly aired". For just last week, there was this massive jailbreak from Kandahar's Sarposa prison, right? What was the very first reaction of McKay? That's right - he laid the blame squarely at the feet of the Afghan government:

Defence Minister Peter MacKay tried to distance Canada from blame in the Kandahar jailbreak that freed hundreds of prisoners – including 400 pro-Taliban insurgents – saying the Afghan government must answer for failing to prevent it.

“Let's not forget this is an Afghan lead. It's not a Canadian-run prison,” Mr. MacKay told CTV's Question Period, adding later that the Afghans “have obviously a lot to account for as to what happened.”

Therefore, McKay's renewed charge of corruption in the Karzai government is nothing more than a pathetic attempt at further making the case that if things are going so bad in Afghanistan, well it is not Canada's fault and, by extension, has nothing to do with the incompetence of Harper and his Harpies.

In other words: the blame game has begun on the Afghanistan FUBAR.

And not surprisingly, the Harper government is borrowing yet again from the Bush administration's playbook, such as when they (and their supporters and enablers) deflect blame for the failures in Iraq on Iraqis and their government in order to escape their own, actual responsibilities for these same utter failures (one example here, among so many).

Because, of course, such failures have *nothing* to do with incompetence on the part of the "deciders" who entered such wars, misrepresented them, misconducted them, misplanned for them, mismanaged them, and utterly FUBARed them.

That is what the 4th Principle of Incompetence is all about.

Just you wait when Harper begins to also shifts blame to ... the Liberal Party of Canada.

However, there is just one problem for Harper and his Harpies: they are the ones who have made Afghanistan Canada's war. Why, let us recall Harper's very own words (emphasis added):

"Very quickly after assuming office, looking at all of Canada's interests abroad, we determined that the single most important thing we're doing in terms of our commitments, in terms of the risks were taking, in terms of the leadership we're showing, the most important thing is what we're doing in Afghanistan."

It will be up to us to keep reminding our fellow Canadians, and especially the Harpies themselves, of such "bold" words.

It is quite simple: responsibility for the FUBAR of Afghanistan, the absolute waste of lives, resources and money it has become, is to be shared in good part by the Harper government - who wants to keep us there until 2011 and beyond - and there is no escaping from this fait accompli.

However much the Harpies attempt to deflect blame on the Afghanis (or whomever else).

Obviously, the solution is quite simple: bring our troops home. Now.