Reporting from Halifax, Canada — As the Obama administration wrestles over its new Afghanistan strategy, the domestic debate is having far-reaching implications for the United States' ties with its allies in the war.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates was in Canada on Friday as part of an effort to strengthen the alliance with a partner considered vital to the war effort.
But with the U.S. strategy still undecided, Gates was hardly in a position to ask Canada to reconsider or modify its decision to withdraw its 2,800 troops by 2011. Instead, the trip to Halifax, in the Maritime province of Nova Scotia, was billed by officials as more an effort to build goodwill over the long term.
Gates arrived in the midst of a national furor over the conduct of Canadian troops in Afghanistan. A senior Canadian diplomat has charged that the country's troops handed military prisoners over to Afghanistan's intelligence service, under which they faced a high likelihood of torture.
The outcome of the debate over those charges could help determine Canada's decision on its troops, who are concentrated in Kandahar province. Southern Afghanistan is the birthplace of the Taliban movement, and Kandahar, the region's main city, is a key strategic target of the insurgency. In the short term, it is Canada that is looking for reinforcements for its mission.
Canadian Defense Minister Peter MacKay said more allied forces were needed to help secure Kandahar, but did not specify U.S. troops.
"It is fair to say there is an expectation that all NATO countries will up their game," MacKay said at a news conference with Gates. "There are a number of ways they can contribute, but what is needed right now is combat soldiers."
Because of Kandahar's importance to the Taliban, Canadian forces have seen fierce fighting. Canada has lost more than 130 troops, proportionately one of the highest fatality tolls of any allied nation.
"In Afghanistan, the Canadian military has more than distinguished itself in battle in some of the most dangerous parts of the country," Gates said Friday in a speech to the Halifax International Security Forum, an international conference.
Public sentiment in Canada has turned against the Afghanistan mission. Still, U.S. officials believe that with improvements in Kandahar and the surrounding area in the next year, Canada might be more open to extending its stay.
