The Torch: Kandahar reality update, II

Further to this post, our outgoing ambassador to Afstan tells some truths:

Don't expect any miracles by the time Canada's military commitment to Afghanistan ends in 2011, says the outgoing Canadian ambassador to the country.

Arif Lalani, who has held the position for 15 months, said the mission is a difficult one and great challenges lie ahead.

But he said progress is being made.

"In 2011 I think Canadians should not expect everything in Kandahar will be fixed," Lalani told CTV's Canada AM on Thursday.

"I think it will look pretty much as it does now, but the key difference will be that Afghan institutions, Afghan army and police and government will actually be in charge and in the lead in building from what we helped them build together over the last few years."

He said Canada has paid a high price and the year ahead is going to be a tough one, but the Canadian Forces are headed in the right direction.

"We have to continue to do what we've been doing, which is build up the Afghan national security forces, provide basic humanitarian assistance and to work on border security," Lalani said...

I think this is also significant in the Kandahar context:

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff secretly convened a highly unusual meeting of senior American and Pakistani commanders on an aircraft carrier in the Indian Ocean on Tuesday to discuss how to combat the escalating violence along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

While officials from the two allies offered few details on Wednesday about what was decided or even discussed at the meeting — including any new strategies, tactics, weapons or troop deployments — the star-studded list of participants and the extreme secrecy surrounding the talks underscored how gravely both nations regard the growing militant threat...

And note this from just over a week ago--such high level military contacts between Pakistan and Afghanistan are very unusual indeed: