Expect it to take at least "four to five years" before Canadians can realistically consider whether and how to pull our 2,300 peacekeeping troops out of Afghanistan, the Afghan ambassador to Canada said yesterday.
Canadian and other international troops might have to extend their Afghan mission as much as another 10 years, Omar Samad said in a speech at the McGill University Faculty Club.
About 35,000 U.S., British, Canadian and other peacekeeping troops from a total of 35 nations are stationed in Afghanistan. These forces should leave, until the U.S can ensure the soldiers; who are being used in roles that are above their nations set mandates. A peace keeper by definition is someone who enters a hostile territory after it is deemed under control by a stable entity, with the mission to rebuild.
Until the Americans can ensure Canada that their mission to eradicate Afghanistan's international status as a breeding ground and base of operations for "radical, extremist Islamists" including Osama bin Laden, is complete; we should not be used as the international branch of the U.S Army. We are a sovereign nation with an independent army.
American President Bush started his crusade against this perceived common evil as soon as he took office. Just because he believes in his delusions that the worlds threats all come from one source, which he dubbed 'Al Qaeda' is completely wrong. There are terrorists cells in some fifty countries and most of them have had nothing to do with Osama bin Laden, including Iraq.
Bush has decided on his own that any nation that has anti-American ideology is somehow connected to this organization. He has taken the term 'Al Qaeda' and applied it as a synonym to mean 'terrorist'. This only trivialize's the real threat, and the real needs of the people that this one particular terrorist group has caused.
To get back to the issue, that is Afghanistan. Samad believes that his nation is "at the crossroads" in its development toward becoming a stable nation, this is true, but it will take decades longer to rebuild a country that has been ravaged back to the stone age, than he or the U.S believe.
Years of Soviet occupation eroded the countries beliefs and infrastructure allowing Islamic extremism to flourish. Afghanistan cannot be developed and its economy cannot be rebuilt without an active international peacekeeping force on hand. I agree, but at what cost and by whom. Samad and Bush feel that it will take at least four or five years to rebuild their security institutions. He added that the job is halfway done, having begun in 2001. In that time period they have only managed to secure a few military bases, their is no effective Afghan army ready to take over control of the country, nor will their be even in ten years.
Only then can their be discussions about the presence of foreign peace keepers to help a stable Afghan security force, until then Samad and Bush need to work on a realistic timeline. Until that time comes Canada needs to pull back from the front lines and concentrate on what we do best. Rebuild lives, not go on witch hunts with misguided voodoo doctors(Bush).
On Monday, Canada headed in the right direction when, during his first foreign visit as head of government, Prime Minister Stephen Harper pledged to Canadian troops that Canada would not "cut and run" from the peacekeeping mission, whose current mandate expires in February.
But the next day, Harper told Afghan President Hamid Karzai his minority government's desire to keep our troops in Afghanistan can't be guaranteed if opposition parties in Parliament resist.
So what are the prospects for a more rapid withdrawal of Canada troops? My personal opinion is one of guarded optimism, hopefully Harper will not prove his critics right by becoming another Bush patsy.
In a related story, anti-war protesters took to the streets of downtown Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal on Saturday, joining worldwide demonstrations marking the third anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. The Toronto protest was organized by the Coalition to Stop the War, which is campaigning against the Iraq invasion and ongoing occupation of the country.
Protesters waved placards and chanted as they marched from the U.S. consulate to the downtown core. The also waved signs protesting Canada's 2,200-strong presence in Afghanistan and speakers called on the Canadian government to focus on issues closer to home, such as poverty and homelessness.
According to one group of Canadian anti-war protesters, Canada's involvement in Afghanistan is our equivalent to the American invasion of Iraq. Group spokesman Jo Wood says that Canadian troops stationed in Kandahar are not there as part of a peacekeeping mission, but instead represent a contribution to George W. Bush's 'endless' war against terrorism.
I disagree on one point of this group, they request that Ottawa grant asylum to American army deserters. No, unlike Vietnam, the American soldiers stationed around the world are there because they chose to. They knew of the dangers of war and just because they have second thoughts, Canada should not be a safe haven for deserters. The old adage applies "do the crime, do the time".
This issue will remain a hot topic for a long time, according to a recent poll conducted by Strategic Counsel, 55 percent of Canadians approve of the Afghanistan mission, while 41 percent are opposed.
To all our brave men and women in Afghanistan I say onto you kudos for your devotion. It's time to put on a pot of 'Hortons brew and put out a box of Tim Bits and bring our beacons of Canadiana home safe and sound.
Later,
Kenaz
