Afghanistan: It’s Time For Canada To Move On
It seems like a long time ago now. When Canadian troops were sent to Afghanistan many of us were hoping to get rid of the bad guys and help secure Canada against terrorism. Over several years Canadians have distinguished themselves in that far-off land and many have paid the ultimate price. Of course as Canadians we are eternally grateful.
There certainly are many contradictions along the way when it comes to Afghanistan. If you look through history you will know that Afghanistan has been a graveyard for many Western societies that for whatever reason decided to go there. In recent memory many of us could remember a time when Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan and then subsequently left it admitting defeat. Now, after nine years since the first troops from the United States were sent to Afghanistan many Western powers are growing weary of their commitment there. The latest controversy in this country is Prime Minister’s Harper’s reneging on getting Canadians out by July 2011.
There may be a wide debate on whether Prime Minister Harper is reneging on that promise or not. I know I was one Canadian who was looking forward to everybody coming home in July of 2011. Needless to say, that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen now. For whatever reason the Canadian government has decided that at least 950 Canadian personnel will stay on in Afghanistan until 2014 in a support role. I was hoping collectively as Canadians we could put it all in the review mirror.
The whole post-2011 in Afghanistan for Canadians is still not clear. However, from what I can put together the government is saying the training mission will stay within two important aspects, which Parliament voted on a couple of years ago. That is none of these troops will be in combat roles and they will not be in Kandahar where much of the heavy fighting since 2001 has been carried out. These Canadians will be training the national Afghan army and training some Afghan police. Yes, it is a noble cause, but then again where and when will it end?
I say that for one specific reason. In this world there are all kinds of troubles in all kinds of places. Since 2001, Afghanistan has been the country of choice for the western world’s strategic attention. There was even considerable understanding among the populace because everybody could understand that was the country that gave comfort to Al Qaeda. Those were the people who took those towers down in New York and we could put one and one together. However, my problem is the world is full of bad problems, broken countries and suffering people. Why should Afghanistan get so much of our attention nine years after 911 when people in Africa and parts of Asia have their own particular problems with human misery? The ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is always my prime example.
There is always somebody else that has a great need. For instance Canada recently turned down an opportunity to send peacekeepers to Congo. If you have read about that conflict you will know that there has been at least 5 million deaths in that conflict over the last 10 years. Rape is a weapon of war and it continues to this day. If there ever was an injustice in this world it is in the Congo. Canada should be there, but we are not there. We are in Afghanistan and it looks like that’s the way it’s going to stay until 2014.
So today it is Afghanistan, yesterday it may have been the Congo and who knows where it might be tomorrow. It is quite obvious from the words of our Prime Minister as well as his body language that he didn’t much want to stay in Afghanistan past July 2011. It is true that Canada has paid a disproportionate price in our contribution within the Afghan conflict. I’m sure he believes that but the pressure from our NATO allies looks to have been strong enough to persuade him to some compromise. The Liberal Party of Canada looks to be on board but the NDP and the Bloc are against that. They want the House to vote on the issue and there will be a bit of a dustup.
That will surely play out over the next few weeks and at the end of the day I’m not sure if there will be any impact politically. At a certain point Canada has to put Afghanistan in the rear view mirror. Yes, there were commitments made, lives lost and mistake after mistake. There even have been some great triumphs. Simply put, it’s time. Canada needs to move on.