Now this is Prime Ministerial.

Say what you will but I am pleased that one of Prime Minister Harper’s first official trips abroad was to pay a surprise visit to our troops stationed in Afghanistan. Taken from a report by the Toronto Star.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan—Prime Minister Stephen Harper is on the ground in Afghanistan today to give a high-level boost to the Canadian troops facing an increasingly perilous mission around Kandahar. "These are a great bunch of men and women who are doing a tough job," Harper said yesterday as he emerged from a Hercules aircraft that brought him into Kandahar Airfield after a top-secret, weekend flight halfway around the world.

"I believe Canadians are always behind our troops wherever they go and I think the more they understand about the mission and all the things they're doing ... the more support they'll have for the work we're doing here." This is no flying visit — Harper slept last night in VIP barracks on the base and will be dining in the lunch tent and mixing with the soldiers from the camp most of the day today.

The Prime Minister actually flew the Hercules briefly before it landed in Kandahar yesterday. He pronounced the view of the Afghan countryside "desolate" but said it was "exciting" to be in the country. No prime minister in recent memory has spent this much time at ground level or at the front lines of a Canadian military operation. Gen. Rick Hillier, chief of defence staff, was on hand to greet Harper as he landed in Afghanistan and said Canadian troops will be giving the Prime Minister a rousing and grateful welcome as he moves around in their midst in the camp. "Darn right," Hillier bellowed when reporters asked if the troops would be glad to see Harper.

"Every soldier, sailor, airman, airwoman you talk to here is excited about their mission," said Hillier. "They're proud to be here. They believe they're doing something fundamentally good. They're delighted to represent our country and they're doing the kind of professional job that I know our Prime Minister will see ... in the next hours and days."

This is also Harper's first trip abroad as prime minister and the symbolism is intentional. The Canadian mission in Afghanistan is growing more controversial as the troop commitment — and the danger — has grown in recent weeks.

I have had to give my head a few shakes whenever I hear mentioned the allegedly growing controversy concerning the Canadian forces deployment in Afghanistan. Where were you people in October 2001 when Canadian forces were committed to their first deployed in Afghanistan? Five years later and now you have finally come up with something to say? If after five years you think there should be a debate now; let’s at least frame it right.

We are not in Afghanistan as a result of some Cheney/Bush oil consortium demand. We are in Afghanistan as a direct result to our NATO commitments, and furthermore, the mission is sanctioned by the United Nations. The debate cannot be about whether or not Canadian troops should be deployed in Afghanistan but whether Canada should continue to honour its NATO commitments. But I suspect that is one debate Jack Layton would not want to lead. For all those with early one set Alzheimer’s or incredibly poor memories read this piece at the Torch to clear the air.