Canada's top army general says Canada will play a role in Afghanistan for some time regardless of whether politicians decide to end the combat role there for the military.
Lt.-Gen. Andrew Leslie wouldn't comment on the Conservative government's throne speech Tuesday in which it suggested the current mission be extended to 2011.
"We're all soldiers, we're all professionals," he told reporters at Kandahar Airfield on Saturday. "We're all mature enough to understand that the decision to keep us here or to pull us out, that's purely political. We'll do that which the government of Canada tells us to do."
However, the fact that Afghanistan has so much recovering to do means Canada will remain engaged there, he said.
The current focus of the Canadian military is building up Afghanistan's national security forces, Leslie said.
"Then, tucked in right behind that, you develop," he said.
The general served in Afghanistan in 2003, and returns to visit every few months. He claimed progress, even though the country remains a dangerous place.
"There are more people out in the Panjwaii. There are more people in the subdistricts. The markets are open," he said.
While the Conservative minority government wants the current mission extended, the Liberals and Bloc Quebecois want the combat mission to end as scheduled in February 2009. The NDP would like the combat mission to end immediately.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper recently named a panel, headed by former Liberal cabinet minister John Manley, to examine options for continuing the mission.
Leslie said: "There will come a time when we have to leave and the Canadian army will probably go somewhere else, equally dangerous, equally complicated, and do an equally good job."
With files from The Canadian Press
