- Reaction score
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What's it all been about?
Canada’s Afghan legacy unclear (usual copyright disclaimer)
http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2011/03/12/17593981.html
Mark
Ottawa
Canada’s Afghan legacy unclear (usual copyright disclaimer)
http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2011/03/12/17593981.html
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - The Canadian mission in Afghanistan is ending, and in about four months, the majority of Canada's soldiers will come home.
Now that the Canadian Forces have spent almost 10 years marching on Afghan soil and evading homemade bombs, it's time to assess the situation.
The danger in this country has never been more difficult to detect for allied troops. Coalition soldiers continue to travel the roads hoping to evade a detonation which would pulverize their convoys.
Media from all over have descended upon this country to report on the reality of this mission. What will remain when all foreign soldiers leave?
In Kandahar, many hope to leave and turn a page. At home, families who are also in combat - but from a distance - hope for an end without any more tragedy.
During the course of Canada's involvement in Afghanistan, Prime Minister Stephen Harper succeeded Paul Martin, who took over from Jean Chretien, the man in charge when the country decided to enter the war.
What have Canadians citizens remembered about this oft-criticized mission?
Since Canadian troops landed in Afghanistan in 2002, 158 Canadians have lost their lives: 154 members of the military, two humanitarian workers, one journalist and one diplomat.
These people shouldn't become a banal statistic or another face in a mosaic.
After the summer, Canada is scheduled to have 950 soldiers and support staff left in Afghanistan until 2014 to help train the Afghan army.
The majority of soldiers will be stationed in the capital, Kabul.
No soldier is supposed to stay in Kandahar, the most volatile Afghan province, where close to 3,000 Canadian soldiers have been stationed since 2005. The Forces insist that fighting against the insurgency is ending. So far, the war has cost Canada $7 billion.
According to retired colonel Michel W. Drapeau [the media's go-to guy for someone ex-military to be critical of the CF], the goal of Canada's mission in Afghanistan, particularly in Kandahar, has never been clear.
"Was it a mission to destroy or neutralize the Taliban?" he asked. "Was it to control the territory, to render it safe for the local population, or was it to gain time to allow for the Afghan authorities to take control of their own security?"
The results of the war are not clear either, he said.
"I don't know if we lost the war in Afghanistan, but I know that we didn't win it," he said. "In fact, I have a hard time quantifying what we won in this conflict."
However, Drapeau said the Afghan war has restored the Canadian Forces in the eyes of Canadians and Canada's allies. The Forces have regained their reputation, he said.
Mark
Ottawa