Canadian Leader Gives Optimistic View of War

Bush Ally Defends Role in Afghanistan

TORONTO, Sept. 11 -- Prime Minister Stephen Harper sought Monday to bolster flagging public support for the five-year-old war in Afghanistan, where 32 Canadian soldiers have been killed.

"The Taliban is on the run," Harper proclaimed in a nationally televised address from Parliament Hill in Ottawa, where he was surrounded by the families of some of Canada's victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and by the wives of soldiers serving in Afghanistan.

"The horrors of the world will not go away if we turn a blind eye to them, no matter how far off they may be," Harper said. "These horrors cannot be stopped unless some among us are willing to accept enormous sacrifice and risk for themselves."

Canada, with 2,300 troops in Afghanistan, is at the forefront of an increasingly hot war with the Taliban. Most of Canada's troops are positioned in the southern Kandahar region, a Taliban stronghold, and its troops have been in near-daily combat.

Canadian news agencies have offered reports of fierce battles from Operation Medusa, a Canadian-led push against the Taliban. The acknowledgment by Canadian and NATO commanders that the enemy has been surprisingly strong has caused consternation in Canada, a country that prizes its reputation as a peacekeeper. But Harper offered a positive assessment.

"The Taliban is on the run, not in charge," Harper said. "Women now have basic rights as human beings. Youngsters are getting a chance to go to school. Many, but not yet all, Afghan families are beginning to rebuild their lives with our help."

"We are a country that has always accepted its responsibility in the world," he said. "From two great wars in Europe, from Korea to the Balkans, Canada has acted whenever the U.N. has asked. It is the desire to make a better and safer world that compels our soldiers to put their lives on the line."

But the fighting and the casualty toll have chipped away at public support for the war and for Harper's policy of staunch support for the Bush administration. Harper was elected head of the Conservative Party in January. Jack Layton, the leader of the opposition New Democratic Party, has sparked a debate by calling for a timetable for the withdrawal of Canadian troops from Afghanistan.

"This is not the mission that people originally thought we were going to be on. We thought it would have a lot more emphasis on development and diplomacy," said Tony Clarke, director of the Ottawa-based Polaris Institute, a public interest group opposed to the war. "Most Canadians did not realize that we were going to put our troops in a situation where we would be fighting a protracted war. I think a lot of Canadians are calling for a rethink."

"A lot of people think that the resistance the Taliban is putting up is an indication this strategy is doomed to failure," he said.

The United States began reducing its troops in Afghanistan in July, when it turned over more responsibility for the war to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force. The United States has about 20,000 troops in the country; Britain, about 5,500; and Germany, about 2,800.

With a nod to Canada's role, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice went to Halifax, Nova Scotia, on Monday to publicly thank the town for accommodating the passengers of many of the more than 200 commercial aircraft diverted to Canada on Sept. 11, 2001.

"The people of America will never forget your skill and professionalism. They will never forget you made a place for them to be safe at a time of great danger," Rice said. Twenty-four Canadians were also among the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks.