Key softens NZ up to never-ending commitment to Afghanistan

The SAS must get out of Afghanistan as soon as possible, Green Party Co-leader Dr Russel Norman said today.

Prime Minister John Key has stated that ‘pressure’ from New Zealand’s elite SAS on the Government had resulted in their stay already being extended to March 2012. Mr Key intimated yesterday that the SAS wanted to stay longer.

“The Prime Minister appears to be softening the public up to the prospect of our SAS staying in Afghanistan for the foreseeable future,” said Dr Norman.

“During his current trip to the United States to sell the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement to Obama, Mr Key will come under considerable pressure to keep the SAS in Afghanistan past the designated pull-out date of March 2012.

“His statements that the SAS want to stay are entirely unhelpful in extricating New Zealand from the quagmire of Afghanistan.

“The SAS should also not be used in any way as a bargaining chip of the Government’s trade policy.”
“Mr Key should remember that New Zealand is not a military dictatorship where the wishes of our Defence forces override the Government,” said Dr Norman.

“It is absurd to suggest our foreign policy should be determined by soldiers.”