While spending much of Tuesday's question period deflecting jabs by the opposition accusing him of using the armed forces as a scapegoat, Prime Minister Stephen Harper still refused to share details about prisoners captured by the Canadian military in Afghanistan.
Opposition leaders spent Parliament's second day back in session blasting the prime minister on keeping Canadians in the dark regarding Canada's Afghan mission.
After listing the number of captives held by the Netherlands, United States and United Kingdom, NDP leader Jack Layton demanded to know how many people were in Canadian custody and where they were being held.
"If the military decides to reveal that information, it is their decision," Harper responded. "I guess what it means is Canada makes it own policies."
After recent revelations that Canadian Forces stopped transferring detainees to Afghan authorities on Nov. 5 after allegations of prisoner torture, opposition MPs wanted to know how the military would determine that it was once again safe to hand captives to the Afghan authorities.
"The prime minister announced the (prisoner) transfers will resume at some unknown time," said Liberal Leader Stephane Dion. "Does he even have a concrete plan to ensure (that) when the transfers resume, the torture will stop?
"Will the prime minister realize that the buck stops with him on the leadership of this mission and he cannot scapegoat the military?"
Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe was additionally concerned the Canadian military might be more likely to let Afghani troops capture any prisoners so there would be no need for the halted transfers.
"The result is saying there is a risk of torture and Canada is washing its hands of it," Duceppe declared.
However, Defence Minister Peter MacKay quickly rebuked the suggestion that Canadians are standing idly by while Afghans arrest militants.
"That is not the practice of the Canadian army,'' he said, noting the government does not tell field commanders what to do on a case-by-case basis.
It's still unclear what is happening to prisoners.
Retired general laments parliamentary micro-managing
According to Canadian Maj.-Gen. (Ret.) Lewis MacKenzie, the endless parliamentary uproar probably likely plays a role in the military's reason for keeping prisoner information to itself.
"Back in the Netherlands the people aren't hanging on every word the commander says," he told CTV's Mike Duffy Live on Tuesday evening, referring to one of three countries involved in the mission known to disclose prisoner information to its public.
"There are detainees being taken, they are being taken somewhere. I think commanders are getting somewhat teed off about how they're being micromanaged and micro-analyzed."
MacKenzie also responded to rumours the Kandahar airfield base -- which is staffed by many local citizens -- had been infiltrated by the Taliban.
"I can guarantee you it's been infiltrated," said the retired general. "There's never been a mission in my life where the locals don't infiltrate civilian staff.
"You assume you've been infiltrated," he added, noting a popular strategy is to disseminate false information throughout the base in order to fool those who may use it maliciously. "Some people back here seem to think (war is) some sort of sterile by-the-book type of activity. I'm sorry, it doesn't work that way."
Time to reassess goals, says Rae
The lack of new information from Harper on Tuesday didn't come as a surprise to many observers, particularly after the recently released Manley report on the future of the Afghan mission, which criticized Harper's government for secrecy and lack of vision for the mission.
Liberal Foreign Affairs Critic Bob Rae said Tuesday morning it's time to reassess Canada's goals in Afghanistan and come up with an exit strategy that reflects the outcome.
Rae, who hopes to win a seat in the riding of Toronto Centre, spoke to CTV's Canada AM one day after Harper said he accepts the "broad recommendations" of Manley's report.
Harper told an Ottawa news conference on Monday that his government accepts the report's recommendation that the mission be extended so long as the extension is conditional on more NATO support and equipment.
Rae said it's time to rethink the mission, then decide how long we should stay involved.
"What is the most realistic and effective way for Canada to stay and where do we have the greatest chance for success? In our view, an open-ended, never-ending military mission that focuses on counter-insurgency is not going to succeed and we have to create a mission that has a more realistic chance of success," Rae said.
The panel recommended that NATO find a 1,000-soldier battle group to assist Canada's 2,500 troops in Kandahar province -- one of the most insurgency-wracked parts of Afghanistan.
It also said Canada's soldiers should be supplied with helicopters and aerial drones.
Rae said he believes Canada should remain in Afghanistan for the next few years in some capacity, but not necessarily a military one.
"I think we really have to move away from this notion this is exclusively a military mission or that the only thing Canada is doing or should be doing is counterinsurgency and military activity of that kind," Rae said.
"We've got to take a step back and try to get an assessment of where this country of Afghanistan is going and how can we actually help to advance the cause of stability, which has to be our objective."
He acknowledged that the mission in Afghanistan is a tough one thanks to a complex political situation, a history of violence and the presence of the Taliban.
"It's a very difficult challenge and I think what the Liberal party has consistently said is we didn't go there with the promise we were going to stay there forever. This is not a forever mission," he said.
Rae said Canada should focus more on finding political solutions and increasing stability in Afghanistan, as well as working on development and diplomacy. He added that other NATO nations also need to step up and do their part so Canada can back away from its combat role.
On Monday, Harper said Canada's work in Afghanistan should be reviewed on progress towards benchmarks within two to three years' time.
Any extension of Canada's mission will need Liberal support in Parliament to pass. Dion indicated a possible deal if some conditions are met, including rotating Canadians out of the volatile Kandahar region within the next three years.
"(Harper) should push for the principle of rotation," Dion told reporters. "If we don't have this principle, I don't see how this mission will work for the long haul."
But some Liberals, including defence critic Denis Coderre, suggested they would not risk an election on the issue.
"Personally, I wouldn't go to an election on Afghanistan," he said.
While a full response to the Manley report is weeks away, Harper said he would be leading a diplomatic effort to secure more support from NATO allies at a key meeting in Bucharest, Romania in April.
He thought the report would give him "tremendous ammunition" there -- and he gave a warning.
The government will introduce a motion this spring seeking support of the House of Commons for the mission, which is set to end in its current form on February 2009.
