Two views of our Afghan mission

Compare and contrast:

1) Zijad Delic

Canadian Muslims want input to government
The Ottawa Citizen

Published: Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Re: This snub is no surprise, Jan. 11 [Ottawa Citizen editorial].

It is unfortunate that the Citizen editorial chose to ignore exactly why the Canadian Islamic Congress and its president were reported in the news pages ("PM accused of ignoring Muslim concerns," Jan. 9). It is our deep and growing concern over the current federal government's lack of a coherent, independent foreign policy.

Why do Canadian Muslims care about what is happening on the ground in Afghanistan? Just like other citizens, Canadian Muslims value human life and the place and image of Canada in the world as an honest broker of peace and justice. Our once-shining reputation in this area has become sadly tarnished in recent years.

As the Canadian Islamic Congress's) national executive director in Ottawa, I have met several high government officials, including one cabinet minister, and have clearly communicated our concerns about Canada's domestic and international issues. The current government, however, has failed to engage the community at any meaningful level. My hope is that Stephen Harper will pay more attention to all Canadians, as long as he occupies the prime minister's office.

Until recently, Canadian Muslims were not a significant voice in this country's political discourse. Today, when they try to engage more proactively in the civic and democratic process and express concerns and views about their government's domestic and foreign policies, they become instant targets of right-wing media bias.

It seems that some Canadian media prefer to keep Muslims on guard, or off-balance, at all times. Please, let us relax on occasion, so that we can help ourselves to grow as informed and committed Canadians. With or without your help, we want to contribute our full potential to the well-being of Canada. We hope that the Citizen will aim its editorial barrage at the message, not the messenger.

Zijad Delic,

Ottawa

2) Colonel (Ret'd) Mike Capstick

Our mission is about helping Afghan people

The Ottawa Citizen

Friday, February 01, 2008

Re: Our mission is to help Afghans, not wage a war, Jan. 31.

Imam Zijad Delic is wrong on several points about Canada's mission in Afghanistan.

He is right that the Afghan mission is about helping the Afghan people. Every Canadian soldier, police officer, development official and diplomat on the ground understands that. They also know that development and the maturation of nascent democratic institutions is impossible without security.

The inaccurate part of Mr. Delic's letter is his claim that military operations are "... characterized by search-and-destroy raids and large scale offensives..." This is wrong.

The large-scale operations of 2006 and 2007 were successful in defeating massed Taliban threats to villagers in rural areas of Kandahar province and in keeping Kandahar City secure. Current Canadian military operations concentrate on training and mentoring Afghan security forces, establishing police and army posts in remote areas and in providing basic security to Afghans who have had none for three decades.

No Canadian military professional believes that more soldiers and "bigger and more expensive tanks" will, on their own, defeat the insurgency and Mr. Delic's characterization of Canadian thinking this way is misleading.

The UN, NATO, Canada and, most importantly, the Afghan government, all understand that governance and economic and social development are of even greater importance but simply cannot take root without security.

The Manley panel highlighted some serious and valid issues with the implementation and co-ordination of the strategy that can be fixed with leadership and political will. At the same time, the panel was eloquent in its contention that Canada's continued support to the Afghan-led state-building effort is both worthwhile and the right thing to do.

Canadians should focus on overcoming the challenges identified by Mr. Manley and ignore ideologically driven arguments that misrepresent the facts.

Mike Capstick,

Calgary

Colonel (Ret'd)

Mr. Capstick was commander of the Canadian Strategic Advisory Team for Afghanistan in 2005 and 2006