He made his comments Sunday after the death of a Canadian military trainer — the first since the training mission began earlier this year — who lost his life after his convoy was attacked by a suicide bomber.
Nearly a year ago, when Harper committed Canadian troops to a three-year training mission in Kabul, he predicted it would pose "minimal risks for Canada".
But speaking to reporters Sunday at the end of a Commonwealth summit, Harper had a different message.
"I've always been clear there are still risks involved in this mission," he said.
"Any mission in Afghanistan involves significant risks."
"We've not only had the loss of soldiers in Afghanistan, we've had the loss of civilian personnel as well. Any presence in Afghanistan, as I know from my own travel there, is fraught with risk. So there will remain risk to our defence personnel."
Harper said he expects the number of casualties from the current training mission will be "significantly lower" than when the troops were in combat in recent years.
"But that said, I don't think anybody in the military is unaware of the fact that risks still do remain."
The death of the soldier, Master Cpl. Byron Greff, is likely to put the political spotlight on that decision.
When the Conservative government reversed itself under U.S. pressure and agreed to keep military trainers in Afghanistan once the military combat mission was complete last summer, the opposition NDP warned that the risks were being downplayed and that there would be casualties.
But Harper said the trainers were needed to ensure Afghan military forces were ready to take on the task of fighting the Taliban insurgents, and that the previous loss of Canadian lives in the war had to be "honoured".
Harper was in Australia this weekend, attending the biennial meeting of Commonwealth leaders, when news broke of the suicide attack on a military convoy in Kabul which killed 17 people, including Greff, an Edmonton-based soldier.
Harper offered his condolences to Greff's family and friends.
"It does remind us of our men and women in uniform, wherever they serve, undertake risks to their lives every single day. That never should be forgotten."
Earlier, Harper's office released a prepared statement offering condolences on behalf of the government.
"Master Corporal Greff paid the ultimate price serving his country. His life and death serves as an example of the bravery and outstanding dedication of Canadian Armed Forces members on this mission."
Harper added that Canada and its allies "in this UN-sanctioned, NATO-led mission are helping the people of Afghanistan rebuild and redevelop their country after decades of war and turmoil."
He said the federal government is "particularly proud of the incredible work being performed by our Canadian Armed Forces members in Afghanistan."
"We are committed to supporting them as they forge ahead towards the international goal of creating a lawful, democratic and self-sufficient Afghanistan."
Greff, of the 3rd Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, was among the hundreds of military trainers in Afghanistan. He was travelling between a training base and headquarters in Kabul when a car packed with explosives rammed into the armored bus in which he was riding.
His death is the first of the Canadian military trainers assigned to stay in Afghanistan. That decision was controversial when it was announced in early November of 2010.
At the time, Harper was attending the G20 summit in Seoul, South Korea. For months, his government had been under pressure from the Obama administration — including a public admonition by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton — to extend its military commitment in Afghanistan beyond the scheduled July, 2011 close-out.
In early 2010, speculation had been building the Canadian military would, indeed be used in a different non-combat capacity after 2011.
But in an interview at the time, Harper firmly ruled out those types of options.
"We will not be undertaking any kind of activity that requires a significant military force protection, so it will become a strictly civilian mission," Harper said in January, 2010.
"We will continue to maintain humanitarian and development missions, as well as important diplomatic activity in Afghanistan. But we will not be undertaking any activities that require any kind of military presence, other than the odd guard guarding an embassy."
Then, on Remembrance Day several months later, Harper revealed to reporters travelling with him in Korea that he had changed his mind.
He revealed he was reluctantly deploying nearly 1,000 military trainers to Afghanistan for three years because he didn't want the past "sacrifices" of Canadian soldiers to be in vain.
"I do this with some reluctance but I think it is the best decision when one looks at the options."
Harper said other NATO countries would like Canada to continue its combat mission in Afghanistan, where more than 150 Canadian soldiers had lost their lives.
"I've been very clear that is not an option Canada will consider," said Harper.
"And look, I'm not going to kid you, down deep my preference would be, would have been, to see the complete end to the military mission. But as we approach that date, the facts on the ground convince me that the Afghan military needs further training."
Harper added that once he realized the training was necessary, he felt it was required to protect the hard-fought victories of the Canadian military.
"I don't want to risk the gains that Canadian soldiers have fought for and that they have sacrificed in such significant numbers for by pulling out too early if we can avoid that."
The prime minister said he believes that a smaller mission that just involves training will present "minimal risks for Canada." At the same time, he said that will "truly ensure" that Afghan forces are able to assume responsibility for their security.
Back in Canada, that decision had the support of the Liberals, who were then the official Opposition.
But the NDP, then led by now-deceased Jack Layton, was firmly opposed to the move.
In a hard-hitting speech, Layton warned the government's decision to leave trainers in Afghanistan would needlessly put the troops' lives in jeopardy and lead to a "mission creep" in which they are drawn back into battle.
Layton said that the prime minister's choice of words for the new military exercise — a training mission — was pure semantics.
"Every Canadian knows what a thousand pairs of boots on the ground means," said Layton. "This is a major military mission."
"And even if we trusted Mr. Harper, even if we believed his wide-eyed claims that our soldiers will be safely sequestered in classrooms in Kabul, this would still be the wrong mission for Canada."
Layton had a glum prediction: "We will suffer more casualties - if not behind the wire, then when mission creep inevitably takes Canadian soldiers back outside the wire."
Origin
Source: Ottawa Citizen
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