[Azure]

CHICAGO—Canada has turned down requests from its NATO partners to extend its Afghan mission past 2014, offering a modest sum of money in place of troops to train the country’s security forces.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper delivered his verdict Monday after weeks of speculation about whether his Conservative government would heed the demands to commit special forces’ soldiers and other specialized troops to teach Afghans how to combat the Taliban insurgency.

That means that after 13 years in Afghanistan, Canada will quit the country for good in March 2014.

By that time, Harper said, foreign forces will have been fighting in the country longer than it took to complete both World War I and World War II.

“If you ask me, frankly would I wish it was earlier, I would say, ‘yes.’ But I think we’re doing it as early as is feasible,” Harper told reporters on the final day of the NATO summit here.

In place of troops, Canada will commit cash. Harper said Ottawa is willing to contribute $110-million annually over three years starting in 2015 with the strict goal of helping fund an Afghan army with an estimated strength of 228,500 soldiers.

Harper said Canada will also make available development assistance for Afghanistan, but any money that is to be managed directly by Karzai’s government will have strict accountability provisions to ensure it is not pilfered, siphoned off or misused.

“We often work through international institutions instead of Afghan institutions because of concerns that we have,” he said. “I was very frank with President Karzai today as I have been in the past that Afghan governance must improve and we have very real expectations in that regard.”

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/p...aining-mission

Great news, IMO. Obvious that they don't want our help anymore, so why bother. Time to bring everyone home.