Why we are in Afstan
And why many Canadians, with a blinkered view of reality, will not want us to stay there. Richard Gwyn makes some excellent points in the Toronto Star.
...
For us to decide either to leave, literally the day after tomorrow, or to slide out at the first moment available to us, namely next February when our current one-year commitment ends, would have been unconscionable,
We'd be abandoning our allies, both those in Afghanistan itself and those in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, namely Britain, Holland, and the United States.
We'd also be abandoning all the aid workers in Afghanistan, who cannot do their jobs without security.
There's no doubt whatever, though, that political pressure is going to build on the government to get our 2,300 troops out as soon as decently possible...
There is a strong pacifist sentiment in this country. It's strongest in Quebec for historical reasons.
But it's widespread; it explains why, until quite recently, Canadians had come to regard our military as a kind of police force that went around the world handing out sacks of flour and in the meantime helped out at home during ice storms.
Those days are long gone. They're never going to come back...
Almost all wars now are civil wars (as in Afghanistan) rather than the traditional inter-state wars.
In Afghanistan, the mission isn't to prevent a war between nation-states but to build a nation-state, from virtually nothing.
This has to be a long-term project. It can't be done, by many allies as well as ourselves, in under five years.
The attempt to do this may fail, of course. It's excruciatingly difficult.
To win, the enemy, the Taliban, does not need to win militarily. It only needs to kill enough people, both Afghans and the foreign troops, until it has won politically.
Political victory for the Taliban will happen when and if public demand in Canada forces the government to opt out of the mission.
It would happen also if and when Afghanistan becomes ungovernable by its own government. This, if it happens, won't be a victory for the forces of pacifism or those who believe our soldiers really only need to hand out sacks of flour.
It will be a victory for the forces of darkness, of hatred, of those who refuse to accept that all people everywhere have the right to a chance at a decent life...
Cross-posted to Daimnation!
...
For us to decide either to leave, literally the day after tomorrow, or to slide out at the first moment available to us, namely next February when our current one-year commitment ends, would have been unconscionable,
We'd be abandoning our allies, both those in Afghanistan itself and those in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, namely Britain, Holland, and the United States.
We'd also be abandoning all the aid workers in Afghanistan, who cannot do their jobs without security.
There's no doubt whatever, though, that political pressure is going to build on the government to get our 2,300 troops out as soon as decently possible...
There is a strong pacifist sentiment in this country. It's strongest in Quebec for historical reasons.
But it's widespread; it explains why, until quite recently, Canadians had come to regard our military as a kind of police force that went around the world handing out sacks of flour and in the meantime helped out at home during ice storms.
Those days are long gone. They're never going to come back...
Almost all wars now are civil wars (as in Afghanistan) rather than the traditional inter-state wars.
In Afghanistan, the mission isn't to prevent a war between nation-states but to build a nation-state, from virtually nothing.
This has to be a long-term project. It can't be done, by many allies as well as ourselves, in under five years.
The attempt to do this may fail, of course. It's excruciatingly difficult.
To win, the enemy, the Taliban, does not need to win militarily. It only needs to kill enough people, both Afghans and the foreign troops, until it has won politically.
Political victory for the Taliban will happen when and if public demand in Canada forces the government to opt out of the mission.
It would happen also if and when Afghanistan becomes ungovernable by its own government. This, if it happens, won't be a victory for the forces of pacifism or those who believe our soldiers really only need to hand out sacks of flour.
It will be a victory for the forces of darkness, of hatred, of those who refuse to accept that all people everywhere have the right to a chance at a decent life...
Cross-posted to Daimnation!
posted by Mark, Ottawa at 12:58 p.m.
1 Comments:
Gwyn's arguments would only have validity if Canada were the only nation in Afghanistan. Since we aren't, they're not. And peddling the notion that Afghanistan's fate is wholly dependant on Canada is foolish.
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