Dion Copies Kennedy, AGAIN

This morning this story 'broke,' Stephane Dion wants to pull out our troops before 2009, and he wants to do it by also engaging with other NATO countries on our withdrawal. For anyone who has kept current of this Leadership Race you'll find Gerard Kennedy came out with this idea not just a week ago, but months ago. Before Stephane Dion, before any Layton idea, Simply put, Gerard Kennedy was the first to call Afghanistan like it is and say the mission is not being effective.

Kennedy's Afghanistan Position can be found on his website in multiple places, Here, a Forum on Afghanistan, and here.

Dion's Afghanistan Position can be found here, the one lone article he just did an interview on.

Kennedy's Afghanistan Position:

"Liberal leadership candidate Gerard Kennedy today called for Canada to push NATO to re-evaluate what amounts to a losing strategy in Afghanistan and for Prime Minister Harper to address the shortfall in aid development.

"If NATO fails to change their strategy, Canada should pull out of the war in Afghanistan," Kennedy told Ontario Young Liberals as part of the Young Liberal Summer Speakers Series at Ryerson University last night."

Dion's Afghanistan Position:

"Liberal leadership contender Stephane Dion says Canada should withdraw its troops ''with honour'' from Afghanistan before 2009 because their current mission is ill-conceived and misguided."

Kennedy's Afghanistan Position:

"In August, I called for a re-evaluation of what amounts to a long term losing strategy in Afghanistan, changing into one that would be a proper mandate for our armed services, the Afghani people and Canadian principles. If NATO fails to change the strategy, Canada should pull out of the war in Afghanistan...."The only way we can justify staying in Afghanistan is if we can create a mandate for real success.""

Dion's Afghanistan Position:

"In an interview with CanWest News Service, Dion said the current military mission is not making progress. But he quickly added any pull-out of troops would only occur after discussions with the other NATO countries involved in the military mission."

Kennedy's Afghanistan Position:

"In August, I called for a re-evaluation of what amounts to a long term losing strategy in Afghanistan, changing into one that would be a proper mandate for our armed services, the Afghani people and Canadian principles. If NATO fails to change the strategy, Canada should pull out of the war in Afghanistan."

"Kennedy noted that Canada has a role to play in marshalling other NATO countries to call for a winning plan in Afghanistan. "Sustainable peace cannot be achieved by military operations alone. The international coalition should focus on the immediate and long-term economic needs of the local communities, and any use of force should be balanced with extensive, visible and effective development efforts," he said."

Dion's Afghanistan Position:

''Canada must say: 'Look, we are very willing to work with you, to design something that makes sense, because I don't want to risk the life of our soldiers if we are not making progress','' said Dion.

Kennedy's Afghanistan Position:

Loss of life, lack of progress and no end in sight weigh heavily on our national conscience. By focusing solely on the military objectives in Afghanistan, Prime Minister Harper is making the same mistakes that the Bush administration made in Iraq and it will lead to similar long-term failure.

Dion's Afghanistan Position:

''We need to involve the other nations much more. It is really sad what happened because Mr. harper last spring played the macho the one who will be able to carry us out of Afghanistan. He copied the speeches of Mr. Bush, I think President Bush should request copyright from these speeches,'' said Dion.

Kennedy's Afghanistan Position:

It is now clear, Afghanistan faces three interlinked crises: an opium crisis, a development crisis and a security crisis. The international community and the Afghani people must deal with the opium and development crises before lasting security can become reality.

Last year's crop was worth $2.7 billion at export, or 52 per cent of the GDP, representing a 20 per cent increase in poppy planting and a record for the biggest crop in Afghanistan's history, according to the United Nations.
Revenues from opium crops fund the Taliban's operations against international forces. Additionally, without economic alternatives the allegiance of local populations shifts support away from the international community and towards Taliban insurgent factions that capitalize on growing economic desperation.
The biggest failure in Afghanistan to date has been the way the international community has alienated the Afghani people.

Dion's Afghanistan Position:

''You have the Taliban, you have warlords, it is a complex situation. E and we need to work with the other nations to see if we can create a type of Marshall Plan like the one for Europe after the Second World War to be sure that the poppy can be used for licit activities. Otherwise I think it is very very difficult to make progress,'' said Dion.

Now perhaps Kennedy should request copyright from Dion's speeches. Not only that but Dion's position is but a shallow pool compared to the ocean of facts and evidence supporting Gerard Kennedy's position. I advise all to read Gerard Kennedy's website for further details.

Prior to this copying of Kennedy Dion has done it before. In regards to the Canadian Wheat Board, Stephane Dion copied Gerard's stance identically as noted in a previous post here, about nine posts down.