Canadian military wrote Afghan president's speech: NDP

Afghan ambassador denies allegation as 'laughable'

Last Updated: Tuesday, September 25, 2007 | 3:29 PM ET

CBC News

The federal New Democratic Party says it has proof that the Canadian military effectively wrote the Afghanistan president's speech to Parliament last year in what it calls an "elaborately staged political stunt."

The accusation on Tuesday by NDP defence critic Dawn Black resulted in a vehement denial from the Afghan ambassador in Ottawa, who called the idea "laughable."

NDP MP Dawn Black says she has documents that indicate Afghan President Hamid Karzai's speech to Parliament last year was an 'elaborately staged political stunt.'
(Fred Chartrand/Canadian Press)

At a news conference, Black released documents that suggest a team of military advisers prepared the initial draft of Afghan President Hamid Karzai's speech delivered on Sept. 22, 2006.

Black quoted a situation report from Task Force Afghanistan that was obtained through access to information as saying: "Team prepared initial draft of President [Karzai's] address to Parliament 22 Sep."

Black said Gen. David Fraser reports in the documents that "key statistics, messages, themes, as well as overall structure [of the speech] were adopted by the president in his remarks."

"What Canadians heard was not the voice of the Afghan people, but the talking points of the Department of National Defence," Black said. "It was an elaborately staged political stunt."

'Verges on being insulting'

No one from the Canadian government would comment on the allegation Tuesday.

Afghan ambassador Omar Samad declined an interview with the CBC, but denied that Karzai's remarks were scripted for him when speaking to other reporters.

"I can say something simple and say it's laughable and I could say something a bit more serious and say it verges on being insulting," Samad told the Canadian Press.

He acknowledged it's possible that Canadian diplomats may have asked for input but, if so, only as part of the normal planning process prior to a state visit.

"I have no knowledge of that, but it is customary. Diplomatically, governments talk to each other at all levels," said Samad.

Samad said he and several other Afghan advisers, including the president's chief of staff, prepared their own versions of the remarks and the final speech went through several drafts edited by Karzai himself.

Karzai's speech took aim at NDP

In the speech, Karzai thanked the families of soldiers killed in combat and painted an optimistic, but not rosy picture of his country's future.

He also took aim at NDP Leader Jack Layton's opposition to the war, saying those who believe the mission was weighted too heavily toward combat and not enough toward reconstruction were wrong.

The NDP plans to call for an emergency debate on the issue in the House of Commons when Parliament resumes in mid-October.

"There has been speculation about the resources that the Department of National Defence is pouring into trying to sell this mission to the Canadian people," Black said.

"I never thought that the Canadian military would go this far. This raises serious concerns about the independence of the Afghan president and origin of his recent comments to Canadian media in Kabul."

Black said she will also seek an investigation by the Commons defence committee into the military's communications campaign.

With files from the Canadian Press