Book: Hillier Is The Father Of Canada’S Aghan Debacle

Hillier made a one-man push for an Afghanistan mission, and with his charisma made Martin cave in to the U.S. military and give up on Darfur and Haiti. "Hillier ... persuaded the Martin government to set Canada on the path to a war in Afghanistan which no one, least of all Paul Martin, wanted or expected," Lang and Stein also say.

Lang says that Hillier has turned Afghanistan into a bitter war with no end in sight – and casualties will continue because of his actions.

If Harper is the most pro-American prime minister Canada has had in years, Hillier is the most pro-Pentagon chief of defence staff Canada has ever had. Harper, being pro-Pentagon and pro-Bush, agreed with Hillier.

The war in Afghanistan is the only thing standing in the way of a majority government for Harper. Quebec wants no part of the Afghanistan war, nor do Ontario, nor Canada's big cities. The Hillier story is not really helping Harper with Afghanistan.

Harper has to be careful with Hillier, who is loved by the troops in Afghanistan and the media. A wrong move by Harper could pull the whole Afghanistan mission down.

This Hillier story is the most remarkable story to come down the pike for Harper in years. Hillier refuses to talk to the media about the Fife story. Hillier is not granting any interviews.

The father of the Afghanistan war is unusually quiet.

Hillier is too popular to be touched by Harper — the soldiers and the public like Hillier far more than they like Harper.

SOURCE:..... CBC: The Trouble with Hillier [Proofreader’s note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on October 15, 2007]

Note: CBC: The Trouble wit...