Go figure

While it's always tempting the Cons' constant partisanship in kind, the most sure way to embarrass a government which is focused entirely on its opponents is to highlight its corresponding lack of basic knowledge about its own responsibilities. And as Aaron Wherry points out, Paul Dewar's request for information about the cost of the Afghanistan mission looks to have done just that when picked up by reporters:

Reporter: So can you give us a figure? How much is it costing us, say per month?
MacKay: Well, I’m not going to get into the specifics because we have added, as you know, additional equipment and there are additional procurements happening now in response to the recommendations of the Manley Committee that were endorsed by the House of Commons.
Moderator: One more question, folks.
Reporter: They’re saying you don’t have a cost, you don’t have a figure.
MacKay: Well, we do. Of course we do.
Reporter: Well what is it?
MacKay: Well, we have all kinds of figures.

And so they surely do - with different ones brought out at different times depending on whether their partisan goal for the moment is claim credit for pouring money into the military, or to minimize the cost of the war in an effort to reduce opposition to continued combat.

But what the Cons plainly lack - in assessing the cost of Afghanistan, as in far too many other files - is any basis in reality for their partisan puffery. And that's why when asked for a simple, accurate figure about the cost of their main foreign policy priority, the Cons can't even begin to answer the question.

Of course, the Cons are sure to strategize over the weekend about what number will reflect best on them, and put that forward that in an effort to defuse the immediate issue. But the even more fundamental problem is a government which doesn't see any value in basic, objective knowledge. And that can only be solved by removing the Cons from office at the earliest opportunity.

(Edit: fixed label.)