You Wanna Know Why We're In Afghanistan?

If you, as a blogger, truly support our troops in Afghanistan, then I strongly suggest you bookmark this link. It's the Canadian Forces page summarizing the Afghanistan operations.

A lot of the critics of the Afghan war keep complaining that the government's never fully explained just exactly what we're doing in that country. This page lists the why:

• Defend Canadian interests at home and abroad by preventing Afghanistan from relapsing into a failed state that provides a safe haven for terrorists and terrorist organizations;


• Provide the people of Afghanistan with the hope for a brighter future by establishing the security necessary to promote development; [and]


• Help the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and its people to build a stable, peaceful and self-sustaining democratic country.

To paraphrase: we're trying to turn that nation-state into a responsible nation that won't breed the type of terrorists who lauched 9/11.

As you can see, the Forces actually have three operations happening in Afghanistan. Op ATHENA is the one currently making the headlines; it's our contribution to the NATO contingent that's patrolling the country. Op ARCHER is the group of 35 personnel training the Afghan Army to take over for NATO when the time is right. And Op ARGUS consists of 15 people tasked to help the current Afghan government in its administration.

When answering critics of the Afghan campaign, it always helps to have some ammunition, and this page provides a good amount, albeit couched in PR language. Still, information is information, and the strategic aims of the Afghan campaign are certainly clear. (The actual tactics, of course, will be a subject for another day.)

(Cross-posted at The Phantom Observer)