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NDP says Canadian military wrote Afghan president's speech
Article link: http://www.macleans.ca/article.jsp?content=w092553A
September 25, 2007 - 13:13
THE CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA - The NDP says it has documents that show the Canadian military effectively wrote Afghan President Hamid Karzai's speech to Parliament last year.
The party's defence critic, Dawn Black, says the papers indicate Karzai's address was an "elaborately staged political stunt."
Continued Below
Black held a news conference Tuesday to release access-to-information documents that suggest a team of military advisers prepared an initial draft of Karzai's speech, delivered on Sept. 22, 2006.
She quoted a situation report from Task Force Afghanistan as saying: "Team prepared initial draft of President (Karzai's) address to Parliament 22 Sep."
Black said Gen. David Fraser reports in the documents that "key statistics, messages, themes, as well as overall structure (of the speech), were adopted by the president in his remarks."
"What Canadians heard was not the voice of the Afghan people, but the talking points of the Department of National Defence," Black said.
In the speech, Karzai thanked the families of soldiers killed in combat and painted an optimistic, but not rosy picture of his country's future.
He also took direct aim at NDP Leader Jack Layton's opposition to the war, saying that those who believe the mission was weighted too heavily toward combat and not enough toward reconstruction were wrong.
"There has been speculation about the resources that the Department of National Defence is pouring into trying to sell this mission to the Canadian people," Black said.
"I never thought that the Canadian military would go this far. This raises serious concerns about the independence of the Afghan president and origin of his recent comments to Canadian media in Kabul."
Black said she plans to call for an emergency debate on the issue in the House of Commons when Parliament resumes next month.
She also said she will seek an investigation by the Commons defence committee into the military's communications campaign.
NDP says Canadian military wrote Afghan president's speech
Article link: http://www.macleans.ca/article.jsp?content=w092553A
September 25, 2007 - 13:13
THE CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA - The NDP says it has documents that show the Canadian military effectively wrote Afghan President Hamid Karzai's speech to Parliament last year.
The party's defence critic, Dawn Black, says the papers indicate Karzai's address was an "elaborately staged political stunt."
Continued Below
Black held a news conference Tuesday to release access-to-information documents that suggest a team of military advisers prepared an initial draft of Karzai's speech, delivered on Sept. 22, 2006.
She quoted a situation report from Task Force Afghanistan as saying: "Team prepared initial draft of President (Karzai's) address to Parliament 22 Sep."
Black said Gen. David Fraser reports in the documents that "key statistics, messages, themes, as well as overall structure (of the speech), were adopted by the president in his remarks."
"What Canadians heard was not the voice of the Afghan people, but the talking points of the Department of National Defence," Black said.
In the speech, Karzai thanked the families of soldiers killed in combat and painted an optimistic, but not rosy picture of his country's future.
He also took direct aim at NDP Leader Jack Layton's opposition to the war, saying that those who believe the mission was weighted too heavily toward combat and not enough toward reconstruction were wrong.
"There has been speculation about the resources that the Department of National Defence is pouring into trying to sell this mission to the Canadian people," Black said.
"I never thought that the Canadian military would go this far. This raises serious concerns about the independence of the Afghan president and origin of his recent comments to Canadian media in Kabul."
Black said she plans to call for an emergency debate on the issue in the House of Commons when Parliament resumes next month.
She also said she will seek an investigation by the Commons defence committee into the military's communications campaign.
