The Lieberman Party strikes again

There's plenty not to like in the Senate defence committee's recent report. But perhaps the most inexplicable part of the report (which is highlighted by the CP) is the call for PMS to take over the public airwaves to launch another jingoistic "defence" of combat in Afghanistan:

The government has to do a better job of explaining Canada's mission in Afghanistan, a Senate committee said Thursday...

Senator Colin Kenny, the committee chairman, said two successive governments left the explanations to Gen. Rick Hillier, the chief of the defence staff.

"This was not his job."

Kenny said Prime Minister Stephen Harper should speak to the country on TV, explaining the rationale of the mission.

"We think there needs to be a very clear statement about what the government expects to get for putting the lives at risk and spending all of that money," he said. "It's up to the government to make that case and we think if the case is made well, there will be a significant amount of public support for it."

In fairness, the Senate's call is officially for some real content in response to many of the questions which have gone unanswered about the mission. But there's no reason why the answers should have to come in one particular forum as opposed to another - and indeed the Libs in the Senate (not to mention those in the House) have plenty of opportunity to ask for the same information from their Con counterparts.

Instead, the report adds nothing to the frequent calls for some real justification for the Afghanistan mission. And it shouldn't take much of a prognosticator to predict that PMS is politically canny enough take the invitation to free air time without meeting the Senate's request for actual information.

It's easy to see why the Cons in the Senate want to give Harper more air time and spread blame across the past two governments. But for the Senate's Libs, the willingness to hand a platform and political cover to Harper shows only exactly the same type of naivete that's kept the U.S.' Democrats from being a remotely effective opposition party over the past few years. Fortunately, Canada's voters (unlike their counterparts to the south) do have a real option which is able to speak out for what Canadians want rather than being caught up in insider politics...and the sooner that choice is able to win power, the better.

(Edit: typo.)