"Afghanistan: General disarray"/"Afghanistan is at the crossroads while Canadians sleepwalk"/Update: A poem

Conference of Defence Associations' media round-up; excerpt:

...
The CDA returns to its readers after a busy hiatus. The Executive Director Colonel (Ret’d) Alain Pellerin and a number of defence stakeholders visited Afghanistan in October. They visited Kabul and Kandahar. Articles by General (Ret’d) Paul Manson and Tom Caldwell after the visit are linked below.

General (Ret’d) Paul Manson writes on how while Afghanistan is approaching a crossroads, Canadians are sleepwalking towards failure and that it is time for Canadians and the government to “wake up to the reality of Afghanistan.”
http://cda-cdai.ca/cda/commentary/afghanistan/sleepwalk021109

Thomas Caldwell for the National Post writes on his impressions from his recent visit to Afghanistan.
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2009/11/09/thoma...

And excerpts from Gen. Manson's article, sentiments we at The Torch have been expressing for some time:

...The media’s preoccupation with ramp ceremonies at the expense of analytical reporting of events in the field has distorted the picture, as has editorial pressure to focus on bad news while ignoring less newsworthy successes.

Canadians’ misunderstanding of the reality in Afghanistan can also be excused in that they have scarcely benefitted from a rational political debate about the situation. The silence from the Conservative Government on the issue has been no less than stunning, especially in regard to what will happen when the fast-approaching parliamentary deadline of July 2011 arrives. Strong convictions are held by many analysts (myself included) that the imposition in early 2008 of the 2011 deadline by Parliament was a serious mistake. For one thing it sent an unfortunate message, not just to our enemy, but to our 41 allies in the International Security Assistance Force, telling them that Canada is no longer interested in saving Afghanistan from a return to power by the Taliban. It is a dismaying message to the people of Afghanistan, who desperately want us to stay. It gives other nations whose own publics might be wavering an excuse for reducing or extracting their military forces, which inevitably imposes a heavy burden on the Americans, whose contribution already far exceeds that of its allies.

Moreover, following through with the mandate to withdraw our military contingent two years from now will largely wipe out the great credit that Canada and Canadians, civilian and military alike, have earned through our significant contribution to date. After years of being regarded as the bad boy of NATO, going back to 1968, Canada’s international stature has risen immensely because of our work in Afghanistan. It will be lost unless Canadians reverse the course.

But it is not simply a matter of reputation. Canadians must realize that our military presence in Afghanistan is not purely about aiding a nation that desperately needs our help, important as that may be. There is also a vital national interest at stake, about which most Canadians seem blissfully unaware...

...the federal government must reverse its misguided policy of silence on the question, at last showing real leadership instead of governing reactively in response to polls. Opposition parties must discard their crass partisanship in favour of the national interest, in such a way that Parliament can reverse the unfortunate 2011 deadline. The media must exercise their enormous influence to inform our citizens of the real issues, and Canadians themselves need to think beyond their own discomfort over casualties and the fond belief that this is someone else’s war.

It’s time for Canadians to wake up to the reality of Afghanistan.

General (Ret’d) Paul Manson is a former chief of defence staff (CDS) and past President of the Conference of Defence Associations Institute. He just returned from a five-day familiarization trip to Kabul and Kandahar, Afghanistan.

Update: Please read Primus' comment:

"Homage to a Government"
--Philip Larkin, 1969...