Washington File

It's completely ludicrous to suggest that we have anything to win in Afghanistan. I cannot believe the hypocracy of Stephen Harper when he talks about bringing democracy to this region. Let's face it. Canadian soldiers are in Afghanistan for one reason and one reason alone-- to appease George Bush for Canada's refusal to enter Iraq which was clearly then as it is clearly now-- an illegal war.

The big question now is how we get out of Afghanistan-- and Harper has no clue. All we will do in Afghanistan is dump in billions and billions of Canadian money through arming our troops and equipping them to "do the job".
And the rhetoric from Harper will get louder and louder as they will need the equipment because you cannot have development without the security. Did Harper ever stop to consider that there is an endless supply of suicidal bombers who are far more devoted to their cause than the number of tax paying Canadians for this war? And by the way-- what guarantee does Canada have that the current Afghanistan government will hold. Maybe that will be the next issue-- Who's next?

According to what I've read on CBC, Canada has to date spent over 8 billion dollars on our military adventure in Afghanistan and about 100 million on humanitarian aid and infrastructure. These figures do not include the billions more that have been spent by the US and it's other allies for the phony war on terror that has displaced over 100,000 civilians in a nation that dared to demand proof that Mr. bin Laden was responsible for the 911 attacks before handing him over to American vigilante justice. To date the US justice system has yet to indite Mr. bin Laden of this great crime. Yet there we are, spending billions to kill insurgents, all of whom are labeled Taliban.

The Taliban may be a particularly distasteful bunch of misogynists, yet before the bombing and invasion that closely followed the destruction of the twin towers, Afghanistan had internal peace and to their credit, had virtually eliminated poppy cultivation.

The precursor of the Taliban were the mujahideen, armed and supported by the very same run amok superpower that is now killing and destroying and trampling international law to bring freedom and democracy to the Afghan people.

Or so we are told when in fact this war on terror has far more to do with pipelines and oil than it ever did with protecting citizens in cozy North America from terrorist attacks.

If Canada were to stand up for what is right, we would immediately withdraw all of our troops from that theatre of war. We would spend the savings for humanitarian aid and reconstruction through appropriate UN agencies. We should stand up to our southern masters and say just say no every time they tell us to step on up to the bar to kill their supposed enemies. After all, we are a nation of peace keepers...are we not?

Infrastructure is the most important part of a nation - without communication, a nation simply doesn't exist.

Afghanistan has never been a single, unified country except on maps: for convenience's sake the rest of the world has negotiated with whoever was running Kabul, then let that leader deal with the warlords in the outlying regions.

What Afghanistan needs is to be Marshall Planned: money and resources have to be poured into it to bring that infrastructure into a usable condition, if not fully modern.

The current White House keeps pitching for Iraq to be a stable bastion of democracy, but they blew it when they overestimated the costs of war and reconstruction. Afghanistan should have been their choice.

Show the Afghan people how their nation could be - build schools, roads, communication networks, power plants. Let them compare that to the oppressive, misogynist, xenophobic state many of them lived under. They will be able to see what they would be fighting for.

In the long term, the only way for the country to change is if the people want it to. And there's nothing we or any other group outside of Afghanistan can do about that.

is there any reconstruction going on?
Are we sending any cranes any water purifying plants, civilian engeneers, teachers?

does anyone believe this is a war from which we won't be humiliatingly ejected just after the Americans pull out in and leave it to NATO troops.
IS there a strategy/ . THE Soviets had 100,000 Afghan troops, well equipped and understanding the Taliban, plus all the Soviets, 9 years later and a terrible defeat.

What is the government thinking?

Also we do need a count of the wounded or at least a feature on the topic .
If we feel we need to support our troops lets support the not just the healthy ones
Otherwise we are betraying those who are truly paying the price.
What is the benefit for limb-loss in the Canadian military?
It's ghoulish, but let us understand the hell of war and what is it that we have undertaken.

Fred Lorenz, your conflation of Muslims (a religious group) and Arabs (an ethnic/cultural group) reveals your woeful ignorance of these matters and undermines your credibility. Afghanistan is not part of the Arab world - it's not even close.

We can support the troops and criticize the Prime Minister at the same time, without hypocracy.

I have many friends in the military and support them 100%. I pray that they will come home safely and believe that their actions in Afghanistan are righteous. They are following orders and fighting for a cause in which they believe.

However, I believe that Stephen Harper is a far-too-right Prime Minister. The mission in Afghanistan should be more tuned toward training Afghan security forces and rebuilding a war-torn country than to fighting an all-out war. Yes, the Taliban needs to be beaten back and defeated, but it is our role, I believe, to assist the Afghans in doing so. Otherwise, the minute international troops pull out, the Taliban will take over again.

John Cunningham...it is possible to support the troops without supporting the war.

To John Cunningham,

The topic is rebuilding Afghanistan not "supporting the troops". I think your point is clear but if you care to offer an opinion on a real strategy for the nation I would enjoy hearing something besides overly dramatic "hero" worship and Layton bashing.

Military operations are never easy but they often have the advantage of clarity of purpose and the knowledge that they are usually not going to go on for 20+ years.

The healthy, progressive and lasting development of a nation is completely the opposite. It is a messy business full of competing economic, political and social theories as well as cultural barriers, misunderstandings and a fair amount of trial and error. The end goal may be somewhat clear but the best route to achieve it is almost never straightforward and as we have seen in many other countries, it is a process that takes decades, not a few short years.

If we want to build a world where groups like the Taliban are not easily able to capitalize on illiteracy, powerless citizens, etc to seize power then we have to be ready for the long haul as well as a few mistakes along the way. However, for Afghanistan and many other nations, simply keeping troops in the country for a few years is only a small portion of the solution.

As unglamorous and unsuited to 30 second news pieces this may be it is nevertheless a reality that needs to be accepted or we will again find ourselves in a parallel situation in the future. I wonder if we will have the foresight to make a genuine and lasting effort and to not repeat our past mistakes.

We as Canadians should be proud of our troops and support them 100%.
It is hard for me to understand how can a so called "leader" like Mr. Layton can question the mission Canada has embarqued on in Afghanistan.
Perhaps it is time for Mr. Layton to leave his comfortable and expensive air conditioned office in Ottawa and spend a few days with our brave soldiers in Kandahar.
In that way he could understand the heat our troops have to endure, breath the same fecal matter loaded dust those courageous men and women are breathing everyday, sleep at night waiting for the next rocket attack on them. Then and maybe then he would be able to understand that you don't talk to the Taliban, you fight them and kill them.
Then and my be then again, he will give our troops the credit and respect they deserve and have earned.
Mr. Layton should stop playing politics on the back of our heroes in uniform. They deserve better than that.

The west lost its only major opportunity to "win" the war against the Taliban when America took its eye off the ball. With little willingness or ability from America to refocus its efforts against those whose carried out the 9/11 attacks and those whose protected them, those who suffer most at the hands of the Taliban (namely women), are unlikely to be able to hold onto the gains they have made. Those gains, after 5 years of fighting, are essentially limited to Kabul and its surrounding area and parts of the north (I stand to be corrected)...my understanding is that Kandahar is still essentially a war zone. And we still haven't captured Osama...

Our troops have unfortunately been placed into a battle zone, where the resolve of the enemy is strengthened by actions beyond their and our governments control (US foreign policy). They and their families deserve our respect and best wishes, I certainly give them my support, but do not think that our fight in Afganistan is winnable with the current level of NATO focus...and yes, I do recognize that this is coming from some guy sitting in his office who has never stepped foot in Afganistan.

I’m frustrated and am slowly drowning in my despair – is every one blind or are we all just being “Canadian” (and not wanting “to hurt some ones feelings”)?

Our politicians rushed us into Afghanistan before giving us – the people - an option, nor evaluating the long-term consequences of that action. However we’re there now, and must make the best of it, or our soldiers will have and will give up their lives in vain.

My perception of people immigrating into Canada is that “most” of them adopt (and subscribe mostly) to our kind of “democracy” (with some attempt to change our laws – “sharia law” comes to mind as an example) but most will abide by our principals.

Afghanistan (and Iraq) is a different story. Muslims in the Arab world haven’t experienced “Democracy” as we know it – they don’t appreciate how it’s supposed to work and will follow their religious leaders (or warlords)

Islam and “our Democracy” is basically incompatible. We assume that we are all equal (in the eyes of the law) Muslims have a problems with “gender” in more ways than one (as an example). In Canada too, Church and state are kept apart, not so in many Arab states where in some church IS the state.

To succeed in Afghanistan, we (Canadians) must first convince the people (in that region) that no one is above the law (including their leaders). Build up trustworthy law-enforcement and their juditionary system. Train teachers to “teach without bias” (in regard to gender or religion). Most of all, we must make them realize that Shia or Sunni, their God is the one and the same and both are committing a crime taking each others lives in His eyes - and civilized law.

Why are we pussyfooting around that – we got a lot of “convincing” to do. Tanks, jets or candie aren’t going to accomplish that.

As a Canadian soldier who has served a tour in Afghanistan I couldn't agree more with Gen Jones'assessment: the solution in Afghanistan will never be achieved by military means alone. Our comanders, NATO and Canadian, are clear on that. In fact, I don't know any of my fellow soldiers, of any rank, who would foresee a solely military resolution. A unilateral military effort is certainly not the message that the Canadian Forces is trying to send. What we do realize is that a strong and determined military effort must form a part of a coordinated international effort on diplomatic, economic and social fronts to help Afghanistan rebuild. We soldiers cannot do it alone.