How much time does General Natynczyk have left?
Canada's Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Natynczyk has now twice caused embarrassment to the Harper Conservatives. First by stating that the Forces will be pulled completely out of Afghanistan by the 2011 deadline imposed by parliament causing the Harper Tories to go into full out spin mode in order to save face for their non-pullout pullout. Then this week the CDS provided further fodder for the opposition by basically backing one part of Richard Colvin's testimony that prisoner transfers were halted on several occasions due to concerns about treatment, again sending the Harper Tories into full on damage control. Herein lies General Natynczyk's problem. Stephen Harper allows no dissension amongst his party or the civil service. This means that Canada's top general is now on very thin ice since he's now called out the Harper Tories on their plans to keep our forces in Afghanistan past the pull out deadline (want to bet that if Harper had a majority the pull out resolution would be rescinded) and to some extent has now fueled the fire that is the Afghan prisoner issue. Harper's government has fired civil servants for less and I don't think that the CDS has any special protection that would prevent him from suffering the same fate.
It really comes down to this. For all the Harper bluster about supporting the troops, it really is about Harper looking tough and nothing about the troops at all. By having our forces overseas fighting someone, Harper gets to thump his chest and tell the world and his supporters how tough he is despite never serving a day in uniform himself. So to have his top general contradict this image, it probably is causing a bit of panic in the PMO. This means, I suspect, that at some time in the future, General Natynczyk will be asked to retire early as the good ship Harper can't afford to have a loose cannon on deck.
Harper's intentions in Afghanistan
This also has the Harper Tories telegraphing their true intentions in Afghanistan. From their spin on the general's words it is clear that the Tories have no intention on pulling the troops out by the deadline. I suspect that at this point one of the reasons that Harper wants a majority for is so he can reverse the parliamentary resolution that requires the troops to be returned home, though Harper's not one to let the law stand in the way of what he wants. What someone needs to do is ask Harper if he would rescind the requirement to return the troops by the end of 2011 if he had a majority government, not that anyone could ask him such a question. No matter, the Tory response to the CDS' plans for returning the troops by the end of 2011 tells us that the Harper government has no intention of doing so.
As for torture, given the attitude of Harper supporters in various internet forums and the Harper government's unwillingness to provide transparency on the issue, I would suspect that the Harper Tories don't have a problem with torture, as long as it's a government they support doing it. This in itself is a scary prospect given that if the Harper Tories are unconcerned about torture and mistreatment abroad, they would also be unconcerned about it here at home as well. This means that the Harper government would have no problem with our security agencies either directly or by proxy using torture on Canadian citizens. Doesn't that just make you feel safe in your own country?