Obama and Afghanistan/Pakistan IV: Paper trail

The White House releases the White Paper that guided today’s Af-Pak strategy announcements. Canada’s foreign minister responds:

"There are many elements of the plan set out in the review that Canada and Canadians would recognize from our own transformation of the mission in the past year, including an integrated military-civilian strategy complemented by a considerable increase in civilian staffing, a focus on benchmarking and an emphasis on more effectively building capacity of the Afghan Army and Police...

"We have said consistently that success in Afghanistan will never be achieved through military means alone. That is why Canada is investing significant effort on our areas of priority, bringing capacity building to Afghan National Security Forces, promoting governance and the rule of law, increasing access to basic services and supporting economic growth."

ALSO BY INKLESS WELLS: Obama and Afghanistan/Pakistan Part I, Part II, Part IIIALSO AT MACLEANS.CA: An exclusive photo gallery from Pakistan’s dangerous Swat Valley