OTTAWA - Liberal Leader Stephane Dion says Canada must "remain engaged'' in Afghanistan but at the same time give its military the flexibility to deploy elsewhere.
In his party's submission to a panel studying Canada's role in the war on terror, Dion says a decision to withdraw from combat "does not represent an abandonment of Afghanistan.''
He repeated his position that Canada should notify NATO immediately that it will end its counter-insurgency operations out of Kandahar as scheduled in February next year.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has appointed a former Liberal cabinet minister, the hawkish John Manley, to head a blue-ribbon panel to study the issue and recommend a way forward in Afghanistan.
The panel is to report by month's end; Harper has said he will bring the issue to a Commons vote by spring.
Dion says any military role to which Canada commits must allow Afghans themselves to achieve a political solution to their problems.
He says Canada's efforts in Afghanistan should include diplomatic and development efforts and a "potential continued military presence.''
He says his Liberals are open to other possible military roles in Afghanistan, including training the Afghan National Army and police, protecting Afghan civilians or spearheading reconstruction efforts.
But Dion says the party "will not accept the simple re-branding of the current combat mission as a training mission.''
"Any new military role must be crafted in such a way as to ensure that other significant Canadian Forces deployments in other parts of the world are possible,'' he wrote.
Canada must also call for "an immediate, NATO-wide solution that ensures that detainees are not transferred into a situation where they could face torture,'' the submission says.
"This may require the construction and maintenance of NATO holding facilities completely under the control and supervision of NATO personnel.''
He said the Conservative government must show greater commitment to accountability and transparency with regard to the mission.
"They must abandon the practice of abusing the excuse of national security to withhold from the public politically embarrassing information,'' he said.
