America Alone?

A reader writes:

You quote Coll:

"Look, there's no chance that the Obama administration or the international community is just going to pull the plug on Afghanistan and walk away".

Sorry to break the news but Canada is walking away, the government has committed to no troops left in Afghanistan by 2011. The Canadian public has lost all faith in the mission, and an overwhelming majority of the population wants us out of there. The conservative government floated a trail balloon about some kind of non-combat role last week, which was shot down by the public right away.

With an election in the cards next spring, at the latest, and the conservatives cusp of majority Harper will not let Afghanistan become the wedge issue that stops him from getting a majority.

The mood in Britain is not exactly gung-ho either.