Recently there has been a considerable amount of opinion on Canada's mission in Afghanistan from a variety of sources. Secretary of State Clinton recently commented that she would like to see Canadian troops remain beyond the 2011 withdrawal date, military commanders in NATO have argued for the same action, and most tellingly, a vast majority of the bereaved families of the Canadian fallen have asked that Canada stay. However strong the arguments might be for the above perspectives, they should not infuence the action to remove combat troops from Afghanistan.
As an operation involing strong elements of counter-insurgency, political reform and economic development, NATO and Canada have largely failed to accomplish any significant movement towards sustainable peace, reform and development. This is no reason for packing up and calling it quits, in fact it normally inspires nations and political figures to redouble their efforts. But there are other nations belonging to NATO or it's allies who are as capable and maintianing the current security dimension in the region. Many countries within NATO have failed to carry the burden of combat and related threat-exposure, insisting instead that their soldiers remain in relatively peacful regions with strict Rules of Engagement (ROE) that prevent them from effectively entering combat. Still, there are more pressing reasons for Canada's withdrawal.
Currently, Canada has suffered 142 killed and many more wounded in the conflict in Afghanistan. While this number is relatively low considering the length, nature and ferocity of the militatry operations, it is still cause for national mourning. However as a nation, we as Canadians have been well acquainted with significant causalties. In the First World War, we lost roughly 67,000 killed, while for the Second World War that number stood at more than 45,000; both numbers are almost unrelatable to our current national view of military conflict. We have come a long way since the trenches of the Western Front, or from the landing at Dieppe and the invasion of Normandy (the latter two I have visited on multiple occassions). While some have suffered loss through the conflict in Afghanistan, we must not allow emotional appeals to constitute our foreign policy related to military intervention, or its continuance. That we remain to prevent the sacrifice of the deceased from a vain exercise is without reason. Having lost someone I love dearly in combat is not something I have had to experience and I understand the suffering and anguish of those that have. We must look past our grief, both personal and national, and come to an understanding of what is in the best interests of Canada: Afghanistan after 8 years is not.
Our military is drained of resources and personnel, to the point where we don't even have enough officers to train enlisted soldiers. Last fall I applied to the Canadian Forces in the hope of finding a position as an officer in the Army. My application wasn't even looked at however, on the basis that they were not hiring any infantry until at least the Spring; and this was at a time when political figures were talking about adding tens of thousands to the number of army, navy and air force personnel. The reason I was given? We don't have enough officers to train new recruits, because most of them are busy either in Afganistan, training to be deployed, or have just returned. Shame. Our military needs a breather and our political leaders need to find consensus on the real issues surrounding military intervention and conflict so that we can have sound direction from Ottawa.
But still, we have not hit the real reason why Canada should leave its combat role in Afghanistan: Africa. As a nation who once prided itself on intervention for the sake of peace keeping and protecting human life, we have somehow lost our way over the last decade and change. Somalia was a PR nightmare for Canada in the early 90's, a poorly equipped, politically constrained military found itself reeling from the torture and execution of a Somali boy. It was a deserved shame for our country and military. But then we continued to make mistakes. We disbanded the Airborne, a staple in manouvre warfare and of a sophisticated military. We failed to make the appropriate adjustments because of the difficulties in Somalia and we ALLOWED the genocide in Rwanda to occur, despite one of our brightest generals being present and asking for assistance. We continued this trend by allowing Sierra Lionne to spiral into bloody chaos, watching the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) become the world's deadliest conflict since WWII, and standing by deaf and dumb to the atrocities in Sudan and the Darfur region. So, why should Canada exit Afghanistan? Becuase the obligation should be Africa. Somalia is a hornets nest just waiting to extend itself into other regions of the globe, as it is already doing in East Africa. Sudan needs a strong, well-equipped military intervention to maintain a fragile and peace and prevent renewed violence (the AU troops there are seen as inept at even protecting themselves).
Canada should take a deep breath, study and learn from the vast amount of recent counter-insurgency and urban warfare experience (which is a blessing to have), mandate language and cultural training related to strategic hot-spots (like Sudan, the DRC and Somalia) and show some courage. Africa needs it. The people trapped in chaos, war and death deserve it. Who knows, we might even find ourselves in a region where people genuinely want our help if we take the right steps to get there. Because if we want to make the world safer and better for tomorrow, we have to realize that there is a very large continent that we're neglecting.
