Afghanistan

Topaz · August 22, 2006

On MSNBC, Curtis from the "Guardian Angels" was on and he was saying thank God Americans aren't like Canadians, they lose one soldier and they cry bring the soldiers home! I guess he's still peeved for being kicked out of Canada! As far as Afghanistan is concerned, there's more Muslims to take the place of a dead terrorists than there are Canadians, so sooner or later we'll be just like the US in Iraq. Now , my question is whose making all the big bucks selling the military hardware and other things a war needs??

Wilber · August 23, 2006

On MSNBC, Curtis from the "Guardian Angels" was on and he was saying thank God Americans aren't like Canadians, they lose one soldier and they cry bring the soldiers home! I guess he's still peeved for being kicked out of Canada! As far as Afghanistan is concerned, there's more Muslims to take the place of a dead terrorists than there are Canadians, so sooner or later we'll be just like the US in Iraq. Now , my question is whose making all the big bucks selling the military hardware and other things a war needs??

Really?

Angels in YVR

Charles Anthony · August 23, 2006

There are for all intensive purposes 4 groups of combat forces in afgan, Afgan Army/police, NATO forces, drug lords, and taliban /insurgent forces. The last two are not linked, with the drug warlords in afgan for themselfs, not supporting the taliban.

So, drug lords are only fighting drug lords? Drug lords are not fighting anybody else?

NATO has been dealing with mostly Taliban forces, but for the most part has not bother with the opium fields for serveral reasons ,Not enough troops on the ground , and for the farmers it is the product of chioce because it pays the bills which feeds thier families. and for most it is a choice, grow it, or join the taliban because they pay the bills.

Who buys from the farmers?

Trust me when i say that most Taliban forces we've captured are not getting payed anything like you've mentioned 400.00 dollars is more likely a yearly payout..

Do any of your captives convincingly look like they took part in the World Trade Center demolition?

Give me a third one. Give me a reason for why those nations are interested in black market trade. Saying "black market" is foolish and means that you did not understand what you read.
Yes, there is a third, actually thier are plenty, but what kinf of econemy were you expecting from a nation that has been at war for more than 30 years.

Spit it out: what are they?

You keep posting links to extensively long articles that do not prove your point nor answer any questions.

Why are nations interested in our econemy, it fills a supply and demand and thier is a dolaar to be had.
Actually Black market is a term they used in the link i provided, what would you call it.

Forgive me, but I do not know how to put this lightly: You did not understand those articles.

You are just repeating what they say in them but you do not understand their meaning. I now see why you just post links to articles instead of highlighting relevent text from the articles you selected. That is unfortunate.

We have an underground economy in Canada but it is not a product or a service. A black market is a means of exchange. I get my roof fixed and the roofer says: "If you pay me cash, I will reduce the price." I say: "No, thanks. I want to claim it as a business expense. Please give me a receipt." but the underlying production is the roofing job. Black market does produce anything in and of itself.
In other words you get a product and service at a reduced cost, "if you had accepted" and the roofer gets to cheat on taxes owed.

Yes and the goods/service traded is roofing. A black market just describes how we trade currency.

With my analogy, I am asking you: what goods/services are being traded in Afghanistan?

Come to think of it, maybe you have identified precisely what foreign nations want: they want to be brokers in all sorts of black market trade.
You must be right, thats why Canadian troops are sacraficing themselfs for , to ensure Canada gets it share of the pie. are you really that jaded, or can you prove any of this.

I read those articles you posted in their entirety and they have made me more jaded. They do not shed favorable light on the foreign countries that are fighting in Afghanistan.

Could we set the record straight?
There is basically no oil in Afghanistan. None.

I suggest you read these articles to understand the connection with the demand for oil:

I'm sure they don't want a major American or NATO presence in the area, one that could threaten they're own goals for the area. or have them in a postion to influence other interests.

My Webpage

My Webpage

But then again are you saying that all these nations just want thier piece of the drug trade. Id like to see a link on that.

They explain an other goal: securing an oil pipeline from the Caspian sea.

jdobbin · August 23, 2006

Another Canadian killed in Afghainstan.

http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/200...nistan-cda.html

Army Guy · August 23, 2006

jdobbin:

You say the situation has gotten better but people in Kandahar have not had consistent electricity since the U.S. left. The Independent newspaper article I gave you from yesterday had been from the city say the situation is worse. This is the first time the Taliban have ever fought a summer conflict

US forces are still in Kandahar, in fact Canadians share the same base, with the US making up the bulk of the forces there. Worse ,i guess that depends on what you call worse, The bombings have gone from once a day to perhaps once every week or two, there are more people at the markets, more going to school, more working, more kids in the street.

Yes there are problems with electricity, a favorite target of the insurgents, and a fairly easy one to knock out.

I don't know where you got your info on the "talibans first summer conflict" but it is false. A majority of the fighting stops during the winter season, the mounatain passes become unpassable ,they can't get food, water, ammo,,wpns in from Pakistan, and can't get thier wounded out into pakistan.

During the winter months there are a few bombings etc but nothing like the activity during the spring and summer.

We've been in Afgan since 2002, and have been engaged with the taliban every since, they have always come out of the winter break in the spring with a new force, and remained until the first winter storms. So to say this is thier first summer conflict is wrong.

So you are saying Reagan was wrong to leave Lebanon? I don't see being involved more deeply there would have helped.
And Vietnam is doing just fine now

Wrong or right the west does have a habit of leaveing before the job is completed.

As for Vietnam doing fine would depend on how you determined freedoms, life under a communist regime is not very rosey.

The major point here is that Martin committed troops to the south with a firm deadline so that our people would be back home later this year so that they could train new soldiers for some other major role in 2007. Eugene Lang's article in yesterday's Globe and Mail says that the extension now commit's Canada to 2010. There will be no other mission that Canada can commit to in the next 5 years as demonstrated by Harper telling the U.S. and U.N. that there were no troops to spare for Lebanon.

That commitment was made during the period that the government had declared DND's time to regroup and reorg, that did not happen. As for the training, one would be hard pressed to get a more intensive training program than is already set for afgan. Sort of train for the worse every thing else is gravy.

As for taking on another role, what is wrong with finishing the one we have now, because it's not popular in Canada is that the reason, because the US thought it all up, so we need to show the world that we are not US pupets. The Afgan people deserve more than that , our soldiers deserve more than that.

The Canadian people have no one to blame but themselfs for not having the military resources available for more than one mission. They also have to come to the conclusion that these missions take decades to see thru to sucessful conclusion. And if we are not going to give our military the time we have to ask our selfs what is the piont , why are we sacraficing our soldiers lifes if we are not going to stay.

Army Guy · August 23, 2006

jdobbin:

Is that the best you offer? Don't believe everything you read?

Look you have the same access to this material as i do, i've tried to give you another prespective from a guy thats been there. I don't know what else to tell you. except there is 2200 Canadian soldiers in afgan right now that live this everyday. E-mail them ,they would love to tell you thier story, one that is not bent to sell more papers, one that has the good,bad and the ugly mixed in. Try and keep an open mind, It's fustrating for soldiers because they know we are making progress there everyday, but the public say where ,what, i don't see any...but it is there because they see it, live it, ...The media is selling you a product, Soldiers are'nt selling anything.

And you said that Canada is not involved in taking down the poppy fields. I keep hearing we are

I did'nt say we have not taken down poppy fields, i said in my 2 tours we have taken down one, present combat operations don't leave any time to take down fields. Besides taking down one out of the thousands is really not making a dent.

And I hope you'll be okay in Afghanistan. Some of the soldiers in my own area still have high morale but are saying the situation is worse than when they arrived.

Thank you, Morale is always higher at the start of the mission, everyone is eager to go out and make thier mark, to improve on what the last roto has done. The PPLCI battle group were hit hard, it's worse with the fact that these guys had already spent 6 months in the region, and had fought some major battles, to survive all that and to die just weeks before going home is a real kick in the grion.

Charles Anthony · August 23, 2006

And you said that Canada is not involved in taking down the poppy fields. I keep hearing we are.
I did'nt say we have not taken down poppy fields, i said in my 2 tours we have taken down one, present combat operations don't leave any time to take down fields. Besides taking down one out of the thousands is really not making a dent.

Can somebody explain what you mean by "taking down poppy fields"? What exactly happens?

jdobbin · August 23, 2006

US forces are still in Kandahar, in fact Canadians share the same base, with the US making up the bulk of the forces there. Worse ,i guess that depends on what you call worse, The bombings have gone from once a day to perhaps once every week or two, there are more people at the markets, more going to school, more working, more kids in the street.
Yes there are problems with electricity, a favorite target of the insurgents, and a fairly easy one to knock out.

I don't know where you got your info on the "talibans first summer conflict" but it is false. A majority of the fighting stops during the winter season, the mounatain passes become unpassable ,they can't get food, water, ammo,,wpns in from Pakistan, and can't get thier wounded out into pakistan.

During the winter months there are a few bombings etc but nothing like the activity during the spring and summer.

We've been in Afgan since 2002, and have been engaged with the taliban every since, they have always come out of the winter break in the spring with a new force, and remained until the first winter storms. So to say this is thier first summer conflict is wrong.

Wrong or right the west does have a habit of leaveing before the job is completed.

As for Vietnam doing fine would depend on how you determined freedoms, life under a communist regime is not very rosey.

That commitment was made during the period that the government had declared DND's time to regroup and reorg, that did not happen. As for the training, one would be hard pressed to get a more intensive training program than is already set for afgan. Sort of train for the worse every thing else is gravy.

The Canadian people have no one to blame but themselfs for not having the military resources available for more than one mission. They also have to come to the conclusion that these missions take decades to see thru to sucessful conclusion. And if we are not going to give our military the time we have to ask our selfs what is the piont , why are we sacraficing our soldiers lifes if we are not going to stay.

This is what Eugene Lang said on Monday.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization predicted an intense spring offensive this year from the Taliban. But, as in previous years, this was expected to peter out by summer as a result of the American-led counterinsurgency effort, coupled with the withering heat in Kandahar, which routinely tops 50 C at this time of the year, and is thought to be too brutal even for the Afghans to fight in.
This proved true in previous years, but, sadly, the predictions have not come to pass this year. The insurgency in Kandahar seems to have intensified over the summer, not diminished. Something new and not predicted -- a war -- is going on in southern Afghanistan today, and Canada finds itself in the middle of it.

Some analysts have suggested we are now witnessing the "Iraqification" of Afghanistan. Afghan President Hamid Karzai recently warned the international community about how bad things are getting in the south and the need for a new approach to the conflict.

This article tells how much Khandihar has changed since the last time you were.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article1220617.ece

Vietnam is no longer at civil war. Their economy has been open since 1986. Not perfect but it was the best decision for the U.S. to leave when it did. Reagan left Lebanon because you don't step into sectarian violence and not become the target yourself. And Somalia was the first example of how it is near impossible to fight against tribalism.

Paul Martin committed the force to the south with the break built in so that the Forces could re-group and train new people. Training doesn't mean sending somebody who volunteers in Regina to the front who doesn't even know how to wear body armour properly. That has to be done before he gets there.

At the moment, Canadian Forces are awaitng a backlash from the killing of a boy earlier in the day. Not the best of situations.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/23082006/3/worl...g-backlash.html

Army Guy · August 23, 2006

jdobbin:

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization predicted an intense spring offensive this year from the Taliban. But, as in previous years, this was expected to peter out by summer as a result of the American-led counterinsurgency effort, coupled with the withering heat in Kandahar, which routinely tops 50 C at this time of the year, and is thought to be too brutal even for the Afghans to fight in.
This proved true in previous years, but, sadly, the predictions have not come to pass this year. The insurgency in Kandahar seems to have intensified over the summer, not diminished. Something new and not predicted -- a war -- is going on in southern Afghanistan today, and Canada finds itself in the middle of it.

If that was entirely true then Taliban activities would drop off around june or july each year. as temp reach the 50's around this time frame. A quick google check and it is evident that we were involved in operations past these dates up to oct nov 2004, and 2005. one should also check American operations in the south for the same time period. because we just moved move from the north (Kabul) last year.

Again what is being printed is not exactly what is happening on the ground. where they are getting thier info i'm not sure but it is not very accurate.

This article tells how much Khandihar has changed since the last time you were.

I'll let you know in a few weeks, but from what are being told prior to going over by personal that where just over there is things have improved since we first set up in Kanadar, Yes there is a problem with electricity but that is just one of many small problems. considering when we first arrived in Kanadar it was the wild west.

Paul Martin committed the force to the south with the break built in so that the Forces could re-group and train new people. Training doesn't mean sending somebody who volunteers in Regina to the front who doesn't even know how to wear body armour properly. That has to be done before he gets there.

Don't let any of those politicians fool you, they have been promising a break forever, but there is always a mission they have that needs to get done...Besides the liberals already had Africa in mind when they made that decission.

Trust me when i say nobody gets sent over to Afgan that is not ready, does not know thier job, and those that say they don't know how to put on thier body armour is lying or just retarded. on top of all the basic training, combat arms training , every indiv must still complete an intensive 6 month "Afgan" mission specific training program before deploying. there are exceptions to pers that vist or on assistant vists but those guys are restricted to camp and require an escort every where.

What the forces needs and has been asked for repeatily is a 4 year break from all missions, and a major investment in our infra structure both regular and training infra structure.

But we both know that any major cash flow is not going to happen so the forces will not be expanded at any steady rate for some time.

jdobbin · August 23, 2006

I'll let you know in a few weeks, but from what are being told prior to going over by personal that where just over there is things have improved since we first set up in Kanadar, Yes there is a problem with electricity but that is just one of many small problems. considering when we first arrived in Kanadar it was the wild west.

Be sure to keep your head down while you're there. I'm sure you'll let us know if it more difficult than the last time you were there.

I always fear that while soldiers might gripe about things, they can't actually come out and question the tactics of the mission without being in violation somehow.

It is a long mission committing soldiers up to 2010 and I think needs to be re-evaluated again this fall to see what sort of goals and obsjectives are there are to see if they can be met. If it is in fact the force cannot help Afghanistan to stand on its own, we shouldn't be thinking of propping it up indefinitely.

Four more years is a long time if things don't dramatically improve. I don't think a government, whatever government is in power, can stand to fight in a low grade but deadly conflict in a timeline that makes World War 2 seem short.

jdobbin · August 24, 2006

New session of Parliament to be dominated by Afghanistan talk.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/23082006/2/nati...nt-resumes.html

Army Guy · August 24, 2006

jdobbin:

I always fear that while soldiers might gripe about things, they can't actually come out and question the tactics of the mission without being in violation somehow.

The have a saying in the Army, a Soldier is not happy if he's not bitching, it's when he stops bitching that you have to worry. In the case of Afgan there is not to many soldiers that would come out a say " we are not making a difference, that we are not helping the people of afgan rebuild.

But rebuilding a country takes more than soldiers it takes a major effort by our government and other depts

Yes thier is a PRT element there but it really needs more funding and to be enlarged, those are the guys that do the winning of hearts and minds. They are the ones that rebuild power plants, schools ,hospitals. I truely believe that these are the things that will defeat the Taliban.

It is a long mission committing soldiers up to 2010 and I think needs to be re-evaluated again this fall to see what sort of goals and obsjectives are there are to see if they can be met. If it is in fact the force cannot help Afghanistan to stand on its own, we shouldn't be thinking of propping it up indefinitely.

It is a long mission, but if it was not this one then it would be another, so there is no break for the soldiers most soldiers in the army experiance a tour once every year and a half, but out of that time 6 months is spent training, so you get a year with your family, then you get a year away from them...

which is why it is so important to us that the job gets done and it stays done, that we spend the time and get it right. because we want all our sacrifice to be worth while.

Four more years is a long time if things don't dramatically improve. I don't think a government, whatever government is in power, can stand to fight in a low grade but deadly conflict in a timeline that makes World War 2 seem short.

4 years from now things will look alot different than today, 4 years ago we were in kabul, with the taliban controling most of the country today we are in the south and the taliban are hiding for the most part in Pakistan, every day they loose more control over the land...It's the people we have to work on winning the heart and minds. but most Afganis want what everyone wants peace, to be able to live a normal life...

Undoing over 30 years of conflict is not going to be easy, and it will take a long time.

jdobbin · August 24, 2006

4 years from now things will look alot different than today, 4 years ago we were in kabul, with the taliban controling most of the country today we are in the south and the taliban are hiding for the most part in Pakistan, every day they loose more control over the land...It's the people we have to work on winning the heart and minds. but most Afganis want what everyone wants peace, to be able to live a normal life...
Undoing over 30 years of conflict is not going to be easy, and it will take a long time.

But you can see what I'm saying here. If there aren't signs of improvement and not just talk about it like we hear in Iraq, we will see the government on very shakey ground. Harper has hitched his wagon to this just as Bush did with Iraq.

And now, years later, Bush is starting to get discouraged. And who wouldn't when casualties have escalated years after the major fight was over.

Army Guy · August 24, 2006

jdobbin:

But you can see what I'm saying here. If there aren't signs of improvement and not just talk about it like we hear in Iraq, we will see the government on very shakey ground. Harper has hitched his wagon to this just as Bush did with Iraq.

I agree, as long as part of that discussion actually looks at "have all measure that every dept been taken and have we've given them the time to do the job".

I actually agree with Harpers decission to leave us in Afgan, we 've not been given the time required to do the job, it has cost Canada bils in infra structure, moving equipment, purchasing mission specific equipment, that with a new mission will have to be spent again. And the troops still believe it is a worth while mission and they are making a difference.

jdobbin · August 24, 2006

I agree, as long as part of that discussion actually looks at "have all measure that every dept been taken and have we've given them the time to do the job".
I actually agree with Harpers decission to leave us in Afgan, we 've not been given the time required to do the job, it has cost Canada bils in infra structure, moving equipment, purchasing mission specific equipment, that with a new mission will have to be spent again. And the troops still believe it is a worth while mission and they are making a difference.

Keep safe while you're there and be sure to say something if you think things are going south.

Sometimes it has nothing to do with the quality of the troops in the field but the strategy is which they are deployed. Witness Iraq again today where another 2 U.S. soldiers have been killed and more civilians killed in sectarian and insurgent violence.

Some said this week that the U.S. has been doing some soul searching on the issue.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/08/24/...main/index.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14487361/site/newsweek/

Things will probably never be perfect in Afghanistan. Try to fulfill the mission as best you can and get home fast.

jdobbin · August 26, 2006

Friendly fire incident in Afghanistan.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/stor...?hub=TopStories

There have been a lot of Afghan police killed in the last week because of friendly fire. There has to be a better way to avoid this. It just makes the job more difficult when it comes to the support of the Afghan people.

Canuck E Stan · August 26, 2006

Slow down! You are jumping all over the place.

A lot of jurisdictions refuse guilty pleas for people accused of murder for many reasons. One of which is to avoid a fall-guy taking credit or blame for an other person's crime.

What I think does not matter. I am talking about evidence.

There are several Canadian soldiers at war and dying in Afghanistan and we do not even know why.

The U.N. and most countries and most countries asked the Taliban to turn over Osama bin Laden. The evidence that the U.S. has on this remains classified although I can't think of too many countries who were opposed to bin Laden being turned over for questioning. The Taliban refused and the U.N. authorized that the U.S. move against Afghanistan. September 11 was only part of a long laundry list of attacks that had been traced back to bin Laden and Afghanistan.

I was in support of the apprehending bin Laden and removing the Taliban if they were responsible for allowing attacks to take place from a safe haven in their country. I am now a little leary of the continued fight there as the problems of safe haven in Pakistan now threatens the security of Afghanistan. I'm not sure if Afghan forces will ever be up to the task and they may be frustrated by Pakistan not stopping the Taliban from constantly coming back.

I am up for any evidence that Afghanistan was not involved in offering safe haven for attacks. I just haven't seen anything convincing yet. Have you?

My neighbor was killed on September 11 so I'd like to see the persons responsible brought to justice.

It appears that even the Taliban are begining to fight among themselves and some are getting upset with the number of foreigners getting invoved in their fight with the Afghanistan government.This could be the break that NATO needs.

Taliban distance themselves

Letters from the province’s purported Taliban military council blame a breakaway faction of Taliban tied with “foreigners” for attacks that have killed Afghan civilians.
“Our council has determined that as soon as they can, they will demolish those Taliban who are linking with foreigners,” reads one letter, published in the weekly Surghar newspaper.

“We will punish them,” says the translated version of the letter, addressed to “the senior and courageous residents of Kandahar City.”

The split is seen as a positive sign by NATO, which has taken a multi-layered approach toward fighting the Taliban that includes a divide-and-conquer strategy within local communities.
“It’s a good sign. We’d rather face factions than a united Taliban,” said the NATO source.

jdobbin · August 26, 2006

It appears that even the Taliban are begining to fight among themselves and some are getting upset with the number of foreigners getting invoved in their fight with the Afghanistan government.This could be the break that NATO needs.
Taliban distance themselves

Letters from the province’s purported Taliban military council blame a breakaway faction of Taliban tied with “foreigners” for attacks that have killed Afghan civilians.
“Our council has determined that as soon as they can, they will demolish those Taliban who are linking with foreigners,” reads one letter, published in the weekly Surghar newspaper.

“We will punish them,” says the translated version of the letter, addressed to “the senior and courageous residents of Kandahar City.”

The split is seen as a positive sign by NATO, which has taken a multi-layered approach toward fighting the Taliban that includes a divide-and-conquer strategy within local communities.
“It’s a good sign. We’d rather face factions than a united Taliban,” said the NATO source.

I saw this. And I also saw the information that Canada was negotiating with elements of the Taliban.

The fact is that the Taliban is still conducting attacks every day.

Two French soldiers killed early this morning.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/08/26/afghanistan.ap/

Rue · August 26, 2006

Afghanistan will fuel isolationist feelings particularly as it will be bunched in with Lebanon and the Liberals, Block and NDP will all bounce over each other all trying to look anti-American and self-righteous.

I think what Canadians really should talk about is;

1-our future in terms of protecting our natural resources and sovereignty up North-the US and European Union are making a big push to argue it should be open season for them to exploit

2-our criminal code and how it has become a joke

3- our environment and in particular the continuing pollution of our greatest natural resource, water

4- our energy and the need to find alternative fuel sources and promote natural gas and propane

5- the need to rebuild or military

6-our ability to remain economically competitive world-wide

7-then and only then our foreign policy.

I think the majority of our politicians are ignorant as to our environment and economy and find it easier to talk about something like Afghanistan then some of these other issues.

Afghanistan will become a distraction from very serious issues as all world conflicts are...but we should not lose sight of these other issues and right now I have seen nothing coherent coming from Duceppe, Layton or the Liberals. In fact other then the Green Party on the environment and Harper's simple plain talk on the Middle East and Afghanistan which was refreshing for its candor and bluntness, there hasn't been much form our politicians although our Justice Minister has stirred the pot a few times by throwing out some hoit potatoes to test the waters, i.e., his comments on doing away with preliminary inquiries.

Canuck E Stan · August 26, 2006

I think the majority of our politicians are ignorant as to our environment and economy and find it easier to talk about something like Afghanistan then some of these other issues.

I think you're right,the issues of the economy,homeland security and other issues here in Canada will alienate those politicians who insist on making issues outside of Canada of major importance.Canadians will tire of politicians who place foreign affairs over domestic issues.

jdobbin · August 26, 2006

Afghanistan will become a distraction from very serious issues as all world conflicts are...but we should not lose sight of these other issues and right now I have seen nothing coherent coming from Duceppe, Layton or the Liberals. In fact other then the Green Party on the environment and Harper's simple plain talk on the Middle East and Afghanistan which was refreshing for its candor and bluntness, there hasn't been much form our politicians although our Justice Minister has stirred the pot a few times by throwing out some hoit potatoes to test the waters, i.e., his comments on doing away with preliminary inquiries.

Afghanistan is not going to go away. The opposition parties don't have to say a thing. It is up to the Conservatives to explain their policy there and it isn't going to work by playing to fears.

There is a reason that the Conservatives have not made any progress in the polls.

There has been very little to judge them on aside from foreign policy.

This has what has happened to Bush. Foreign policy has come to define a great deal of his presidency. And the public finds him lacking now.

Continued dismissal of Afghanistan by right wingers is not going take it out of the mind's of Canadians.

jdobbin · August 26, 2006

I think you're right,the issues of the economy,homeland security and other issues here in Canada will alienate those politicians who insist on making issues outside of Canada of major importance.Canadians will tire of politicians who place foreign affairs over domestic issues.

There is very little to judge Harper on except his foreign policy. He had only five things he wanted to do. He has deferred one of those things to the provinces.

He has done some housekeeping work on several things but he hasn't articulated what he intends to do in Parliament in the fall.

The only thing that has kept Harper really in the spotlight is foreign policy. And Canadians are divided on that. His poll numbers are still in the minority govenment status.

But the Tory supporters say this isn't about poll but doing the right thing. Maybe so. But that holds no water in Quebec.