HALIFAX - U.S. Senator John McCain says there should be no talk of exit dates and exit strategies in Afghanistan until the situation is turned around.
He says "success" in the war-torn country is the way out of the conflict.
McCain's remarks were made on a panel today at the Halifax security forum and come one day after Ottawa began to cement its 2011 withdrawal plans.
Michael Semple, a Harvard expert on Afghanistan, said that the absence of resolve shown by Western countries is noticed in the region and the message needs to be sent that they're there for the long-term.
Otherwise, he says, locals in both Afghanistan and Pakistan will throw their lot in with the Taliban because they want to be on the winning side.
Retired Canadian general Rick Hillier says the west has only "one shot" to turn the war around in the next year or 18 months.
Najam Sethi, a newspaper editor and TV commentator in Pakistan, says the Pakistani military believes the U.S. is "dithering" over implementing a strategy and the coming troops surge is likely too little, too late.
McCain predicted more casualties and more strain on western governments during the surge.
