The Torch: Afstan: Government's March 2009 quarterly report

Just released--slowly, slowly:

Kandahar still dangerous despite more Afghan forces

Although strides have been made to build up the Afghan Army in Kandahar, the province remained a dangerous place where terrorists continue to target the country's government, a federal government report released on Wednesday found.

In addition, a majority of residents in the province did not find that security had improved.

The quarterly report on the status of Canada's mission in Afghanistan also found that:

* Canadian Forces have been discovering more improvised explosive devices and disrupting insurgents from accessing them.
* Canadian efforts to create jobs remain in the preliminary stages, leaving many Afghans jobless.
* Canadians have only opened five schools in Kandahar despite their intentions to build or renovate 50 schools in the province by 2011.

Releasing quarterly reports was one of the recommendations given in the Manley Report to help inform Canadians about the mission.

John Manley, the former deputy prime minister, said the results of the update, which covered January to March 2009, meet the expectations set out in his report.

"I think reporting, benchmarking our progress is really very important. We're spending a lot of money of course, but also a lot of lives in Afghanistan. And Canadians should know whether we're achieving anything for doing that," he told CTV Power Play's Tom Clark on Wednesday [video here]...

Afghanistan remains dangerous, progress slow: government report
...
Ten Canadian soldiers were killed in the three-month period examined in the report. Since the mission started in 2002, 118 Canadian soldiers and two diplomats have been killed.

The report says there has been little progress on government-funded development projects in Afghanistan:

* Roughly $50 million worth of repairs to the Dahla irrigation dam have yet to begin and none of the promised 10,000 jobs has been created.
* Canadians intend to build or renovate 50 schools in the province by 2011, but to date only five have been opened, while another 25 remain in the planning or construction stage.

The report does point out some success, including progress in establishing an Afghan army presence in Kandahar.

However, only six per cent of Afghan police units are capable of operating on their own, according to the report.
'There is a monetary cost and a human cost'

RCMP Supt. Paul Young, who spent a year in Afghanistan mentoring the chief of Kabul's police force, says the number of Canadian police officers working in Afghanistan will increase this summer [as will the US training presence].

He says corruption is a major problem faced by Afghan police.

"It's a decision that every police officer, when they go to work every day in Afghanistan, individually has to make," he said.

With the Canadian economy in the midst of a recession and the government staring at a budget hole of between $85 billion and $172 billion over the next five years, Day was asked whether the country could still afford everything it had promised in Kandahar.

"There is a cost to this; there is a monetary cost and a human cost," he replied.

Day says the mission must be followed through to its conclusion.

"We can't really afford not to continue. The cost of terrorist attacks can very quickly surpass anything that is spent by ourselves and others in providing security in Afghanistan."

Documents released by the Privy Council Office last winter suggested Canada could spend as much as $13 billion on the Afghan mission, but the parliamentary budget officer suggests the figure could be much higher.

Canada's combat role in the NATO-led mission is due to end in 2011.

As for the costs, a post of mine at Dust my Broom:

Sticker shock: Cars vs. wars

Neither the Globe and Mail nor the Ottawa Citizen ran a story on the report today. Excerpts from the government news release:

...
Through Canadian mentoring and training efforts, the ANSF have demonstrated marked improvements in Kandahar:
The highest capacity milestone was maintained by the Afghan National Army Brigade Headquarters and one battalion, while the second-highest milestone was reached by four other battalions.
A literacy project was launched and facilities were upgraded for Afghan National Police in Kandahar.
Consistent with the international focus on the region, Canada brought together Afghan and Pakistani officials in Dubai, where they adopted an unprecedented joint border management plan. [I have it on good authority that this "Dubai process" has indeed had some success with further meetings, with Canadian staff help, in the region since the first in "neutral" Dubai; such practical things as coordinating times border posts are open are being dealt with - MC.]
...
Afghans completed voter registration for presidential and provincial council elections in August—a major event in building capacity for democratic governance and an example of security success for ANSF. In Kandahar, 300,000 more Afghans have been registered to vote....
Continuing Afghanistan’s national polio vaccination program, more than 350,000 Kandahari children were vaccinated in campaigns led by UN agencies, though many children were missed as a result of a lack of security in some areas....
Canada continues to work closely with its U.S. partners, coordinating civilian and military activities to deliver crucial governance, reconstruction and development work in Kandahar.
Advancing the rule of law is one of the central elements of Canada’s mission in Afghanistan. Canada’s efforts continue to be guided by our six priorities as we help Afghanistan rebuild a viable country that is better governed, more peaceful and more secure.
The fourth quarterly report on Canada’s engagement in Afghanistan can be found at http://www.afghanistan.gc.ca/canada-afghanistan/documents/r03_09/index.aspx.

One section:

Priority 1. Enable the Afghan National Security Forces in Kandahar to sustain a more secure environment and promote law and order.

Update: An interesting observation by milnews.ca in a topic at Milnet.ca:

Note which Minister is NOT named in releasing this report, and which Minister was added from the previous update.
Third Quarterly Report on Afghanistan Released

Government of Canada news release, 4 Mar 09
Release link - .pdf report - alternate .pdf download - .html report

Ottawa, March 4, 2009 — Today, the Honourable Stockwell Day, Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway and Chair of the Cabinet Committee on Afghanistan, and the Honourable Beverley J. Oda, Minister of International Cooperation and Vice-Chair of the Cabinet Committee on Afghanistan, released the Government’s third quarterly report on Canada’s engagement in Afghanistan. This report covers the last quarter of 2008 and outlines the challenges and progress that has been made in achieving our goals in that country...