War scares most Canadians and so it should. War involves death, which means someone looses a son or a daughter, a husband or a wife, a brother, a sister, a friend… a Dad or a Mom. Canadians also have a hard time understanding the situation on the ground in place where cities are named “Kandahar” or “Kabul” because even with all of the different forms of media we have, a large portion of the news we receive focuses on the deaths of our own nationals and the various political sparring matches that take place between the leaders of the Conservatives, Liberals, and the NDP.
The debate over whether we Canadians should maintain a military presence in Afghanistan or undertake a complete troop withdrawal in 2009 is at a critical juncture and the Canadian public are an important determining factor. John Manley’s recent report recommended that Canadians stay in Afghanistan provided additional troops are committed and that much needed medium-lift helicopters are secured which would reduce fatalities arising from roadside bombs. But that is not all Mr. Manley said… He also urged Prime Minister Harper to do a better job of explaining the mission to Canadians.
I remember when the mission began. I was against it. I thought that we were pandering to the demands of the Americans, worse, I felt like we went into Afghanistan instead of going into Iraq. I thought we were striking some sort of deal to avoid Iraq. I remember hearing people talk about going into Afghanistan to support our American neighbours after the atrocities of September 11. I had no idea how horrid the Taliban was, and what kind of existence most Afghans endured under that regime. I heard snippets of the news and people talking around the water cooler–repeating the slogans of their preferred political leader. Whether my opinion at the time was “right” or “wrong” is now moot. One thing I can say is that I was largely uninformed and ignorant at the time. I had a bit of information but mainly a visceral “no” feeling and relied a lot on unsubstantiated, one-sided arguments on either side.
In the Winter of 2007, while I was doing a Masters in “national and sub-national aspects of development” focused on access to credit etc. I was hired to be a Rapporteur for a day at a conference where some spokespeople from NATO were going to be discussing the Mission. It was my job to take notes basically, and I did. Around that same time, I also had the privilege of hearing a woman from DND, who had been stationed in Afghanistan for over a year, speak about the situation for women and children in terms of day-to-day life. The dangers of walking to school, the barriers for women who start businesses and so on. The bottom line seemed to keep coming back to the security situation. The message was, without a secure environment, without the protection of NATO forces (largely populated by Canadian troops), the “development situation” or in lay terms, day-to-day life stuff like going to the market, walking a kilometer to school, will not improve. Even with NATO presence, these routine activities may still not be safe, especially in certain areas, but our troops are providing the necessary protection in many cases that allow Afghans to get back to the business of life.
“The hard truth is than an ISAF retreat from Afghanistan before that country’s own forces can defend its security would most likely condemn the Afghan people to a new and bloody cycle of civil war and misrule — and raise new threats to global peace and security,” the panel says. Manley has asked Mr. Harper not to sugarcoat the realities to Canadians. I agree with Mr. Manley. We all need to understand more about the Mission to make an informed decision either way.
I am confident that if more Canadians were provided with more comprehensive information on the situation as it stands today–the costs and the benefits of staying or leaving–that public sentiment would turn more in favour of the position forwarded by Mr. Manley and his committee. There have been 77 military deaths in Afghanistan. The majority of those deaths have been caused by roadside bombs. Hey Canada, let’s get those transport helicopters so we can protect our troops, lets use the diplomatic means necessary to get more troops support–so we can meet our commitment.
Maybe every country needs to do the kind of soul searching that Canadians are doing right now. Coming of age to me means taking the time be informed, to understand facts, arguments, costs and benefits: and to take responsibility for that which one is responsible for. There are times when I hear Canadians hearkening back to the debate over whether we should have made the decision to enter Afghanistan in the first place to support an argument about what we should do today. This debate should have no bearing on what we do today. We went in, we made a commitment, it is interesting to debate history, but not relevant to the decision that sits before us today. In taking the decision to go in, Canada and the international community became responsible for Afghanistan. Let’s weigh the facts and consider the issues of the present moment, even if it is tough, even if it scares us, before making our decision. Let’s come of age.
I don’t want to see anymore lives lost, but I know if we leave, the death toll will not fall, it will be a blood bath. The politicking needs to stop and Mr. Layton needs to realize that not all left leaning Canadians think that an immediate withdrawal is ideologically sound or responsible.
Afterthought: When I read articles like this one, I often think, “well fine” but where do I start to inform myself? I will add some links to this blog but also I recommend starting by reading a book I recently read, “The Kite Runner” its a fast read because it’s excellent and you can’t put it down. While telling a great story, it taught me more about Afghan culture, history and politics. I understood a lot more about Afghanistan after. I think it’s always easy to turn a blind eye out of ignorance. What’s that saying, “Ignorance is bliss”?
