Sada-e-Watan
Sydney ™
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Prime Minister Julia Gillard opens annual Parliamentary
debate on Afghanistan
(Pakistan's High Commissioner to Australia Abdul Malik Abdullah’s reaction on PM
Julia speech)
According to the leading Sydney Newspaper daily Telegraph of Tuesday 22 Nov 2011,PAKISTAN reacted angrily to the Australian Federal Government's demand that it do more to fight extremism - reminding Australia that it had lost more than 41,000 people to the war against terrorism.
Kicking off the annual parliamentary debate on Afghanistan,Prime Minister Julia Gillard accused Pakistan of not doing enough to combat terrorism, particularly along the border with Afghanistan.
But Pakistan's High Commissioner to Australia Abdul Malik Abdullah said there was no other country that had done more.He said his country lost 10,100 troops compared with coalition losses of 5500 as well as 31,000 civilians.
"How many more Pakistani lives have to be lost before we are doing enough?" Pak High Commissioner asked.
We are doing whatever is possible within our capacity."Abdul Malik Abdullah said in Canberra.
Despite growing public opposition to the war, both Ms Gillard and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott pledged to finish the job in Oruzgan province and to remain until 2014 and beyond if necessary.
The Greens have again demanded a specific withdrawal date and Greens MP Adam Bandt will move a motion in parliament calling for a date.
Retired Major-General and coalition commander in Iraq Jim Molan described the Greens' push as "moronic and defeatist".
"If we set an early date for withdrawal it will embolden the Afghan Taliban,the Pakistan Taliban and al-Qaeda throughout the world," Mr Molan said.
Ms Gillard hinted that Australian forces would begin to draw down before President Hamid Karzai's December 2014 deadline as parts of Oruzgan came under Afghan security control from late next year.
Prime Minister Hon.Julia Gillard speaking at the annual parliamentary debate on Afghanistan
