OTTAWA -- In candid testimony before Parliament Tuesday, John Manley and Derek Burney, members of the independent panel on Afghanistan, said progress there has been hampered by what Mr. Manley called the American “folly” in Iraq.

But Mr. Burney, a former Canadian ambassador to Washington, said that with all the U.S. presidential candidates viewing Afghanistan as the “good war,” the United States can be re-engaged to make a difference on the ground there.

On the eve of a parliamentary vote on Canada’s future in the war-torn country, Mr. Manley warned that the international commitment to Afghanistan has been inadequate and that unless NATO comes up with more troops and equipment, “Afghanistan could be lost -- again.”

Mr. Manley, the former Liberal cabinet minister, and MR. Burney were testifying before the Commons foreign affairs committee, days before the House of Commons votes on extending the military mission to 2011.

The key recommendations of Manley’s panel have been adopted by the Stephen Harper government. The prime minister has told NATO and its partners in the International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF, that Canadian troops would withdraw its troops from Afghanistan next February if the alliance cannot find an additional 1,000 combat troops in the south. Canada has also committed itself to finding transport helicopters to minimize the risks to soldiers from roadside bombs.

“We’re trying to highlight for the other countries in ISAF, which is more than NATO, that this is not going well. And it requires a greater commitment,” Mr. Manley told the all-party committee of MPs.

Mr. Manley said the Taliban was able to take its time and regroup after being driven from power in late 2001.

“They waited until the attention of the international community, particularly the West, was distracted by what I’d call the folly in Iraq,” Mr. Manley said. “Before we knew it, we had an all out insurgency on our hands partly because of neglect.”

Mr. Burney echoed MR. Manley’s assessment of the impact of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. “There’s no question that the commitment in Afghanistan has been distracted by events in Iraq, by the No. 1 player in the military mission and the civilian mission.”

But Mr. Burney added that it is encouraging that, “in the eyes of the aspirants for the presidency in the United States today, from either party, this is the good war.”

“It seems to me that some of the distraction of NATO and the reluctance of NATO is a bit of a reflection of the distraction in Washington about the priority Afghanistan has had. I don’t think that that’s going to be a problem going forward.”

The chief of the Dutch military said Tuesday he is confident that Canada will receive the extra troops and equipment it needs to remain in southern Afghanistan.

Gen. D.L. (Dick) Berlijn said he is also hopeful that Parliament will, as expected, vote later this week to extend to 2011 the Canadian Forces’ participation in the Afghan war.

Gen. Berlijn said it would be “a very bad turn of events if Canada would leave” Kandahar when the current commitment expires next February.