15 September 2009

Economy to dominate Harper's meeting with Obama

This article is excerpted from the 15 September 2009 edition of “globeandmail.com”.

…. The economy, the inevitable No. 1 issue for both leaders, will dominate the hour-long meeting [between Prime Minister Harper and President Obama on 16 September]. But the elephant in the room will be Afghanistan and the cracks in international resolve to back the mission….

It's hardly surprising that Mr. Harper's PMO does not want to play up discussion of Afghanistan's future,… The war is unpopular, deeply so in Quebec, and election fraud has soured that more. …

That political pressure alone is one reason some experts believe Mr. Obama will in fact question Mr. Harper about Afghanistan behind closed doors. The U.S. President will ask Mr. Harper how he neutralized the issue with a 2011 exit date,…