Our troops deserve political leadership

[Edward Campbell]

Here are some very, very good words from Senator Colin Kenny published in today’s Globe and Mail.  His comments are reproduced here under the fair dealing provisions of the Copyright Act.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060301.COKENNY01/TPStory 

Our troops deserve political leadership

COLIN KENNY

So, The Globe and Mail reports that Prime Minister Stephen Harper is thinking about visiting our 2,200 troops in Afghanistan. Is this a sign Canadians are finally going to get some political leadership on our controversial military presence in Kandahar?

Paul Martin tried to avoid getting Canadians exercised about Afghanistan by pretty well staying mum on the issue. Mr. Harper has thus far followed the same course. But let's not forget that Mr. Harper was elected on an integrity platform. Once he decided that Canadian troops should remain in Afghanistan, he had an obligation to take personal charge of the file. Why? Because there can be no more profound commitment from any government than to put the lives of its young people on the line.

Right now, most of what Canadians are hearing in support of Canada's presence in Afghanistan is coming from soldiers -- from General Rick Hillier, Chief of the Defence Staff; from Brigadier-General David Fraser, commander of the multinational brigade in Kandahar for the next nine months; and from ordinary soldiers in the field.

Since when do the people our politicians send to danger zones have the responsibility of mustering the support of Canadians for their mission? That's a job for the politicians who sent them. It is an important job that hasn't been getting done since we first went to Afghanistan.

There are real challenges in Afghanistan. The insurgency is being fuelled by heroin poppies, and there are a lot more of them blooming now under the Taliban. Our opponents -- warlords, drug traffickers and religious radicals -- are both relentless and patient, comfortable on their own terrain.

The civil institutions that might counter them are frail, and so far I have seen little evidence that Canada's supposed 3D approach to rejuvenating the country -- defence, diplomacy and development -- has been offering much more than defence. Senior diplomat Glyn Berry was killed by terrorists in January. Since then, the only Canadian official in charge of aid in Kandahar has been removed. Of the 2,200 troops we have in Afghanistan, only 250 are on the provincial reconstruction team. Proposed CIDA projects for Kandahar have been put on hold since Mr. Berry's death. That means Canada is down to one "D" in Kandahar, and military force alone isn't going to turn this part of the country around.

Like other Canadians, I would really like the Prime Minister to make the case for what he hopes to accomplish in Afghanistan. But neither Mr. Martin nor Mr. Harper has articulated what we hope to accomplish and how we intend to measure victory -- or at least some measure of success that would to allow us to leave one day.

So far, I have heard two estimates of how long it is going to take to turn Afghanistan around. Major-General Andrew Leslie was quoted last August as saying it would take 20 years. And Chris Alexander, our former ambassador to Afghanistan, told me it would take five generations to turn Afghanistan into a civil society with a workable state. Are Canadians up for this long a haul?

Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor talked in general terms about why we are in Afghanistan in his speech to the annual meeting of the Conference of Defence Associations Institute last Thursday: Canada is committed to NATO. Canada is not a nation that shies away from its responsibilities. The Canadian Forces are making a real impact in Afghanistan.

That's fine, but we need some deeper analysis of what we are likely to gain there, at what cost, and how we will measure success and eventually bring our young men and women home.

Mr. Harper should take this on. He should not only go to Kandahar, he should make an intelligent case for why we are there. If his arguments are reasonable and thoughtful, Canadians will get on side. That will make the Prime Minister both responsible and accountable. Which is what the No. 1 job in the country is -- or should be -- all about.

Senator Colin Kenny is the former chair of the Senate committee on national security and defence.

Army.ca used Sen. Kenny’s words to take former PM Paul Martin to task for his (and his government’s) Lack of Leadership in an editorial, here: http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/33760.0.html  We should hold PM Harper to, at least, the same standard.

I agree with Sen. Kenny that, ” Canada is not a nation that shies away from its responsibilities …, despite the best efforts of Pierre Trudeau and Jean Chrétien to create and then cultivate a timid, self absorbed, neutralist (anti-Western) Canada.  Trudeau and Chrétien and the millions upon millions, maybe tens of millions of Canadians who bought into their cowardly vision were and are wrong; that’s not what Canada is.  The few tens of thousands of members of the CF – regular and reserve – and the few hundreds of thousands of, maybe even a few million Canadians who understand and support our real, traditional (think Louis St Laurent), active, world leading foreign and defence policies are right. We need to speak out.

 

[RangerRay]

Here's a start:

http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/40439.0.html

 

[mainerjohnthomas]

We sent troops to Afghanistan because it was the source of an attack against the people of North America, and we take seriously our responsibility as an ally.  We took part in the overthrow and removal of a terrorist sponsoring regime, and are now committed to cleanup and rebuilding efforts.  We undertook the same responsibility in Europe after the Second World War, a task with a cost beyond all prewar economic comprehension.  The US undertook the same responsibility in Europe and Japan.  These regions are now stable and allied; strong economies and stable govts.
      We tried winning the war and walking away during the First World War, and left the rebuilding to others.  Instead of investing the time and effort to help a broken enemy to rebuild into a productive and stable state, with a tradition of cooperation and understanding with their former foes, we let them lapse into economic collapse, until the most vicious of the dogs fighting over the scraps of the failing German state rose up and lit a fire that would consume a whole generation of the sons of those who had survived battling over those same fields decades ago. 
    If we walk away from Afghanistan now, the same warlords and madmen will squabble over the wreckage until another version of the Taliban arises, and again strikes at our cities.
    If Canada wants to make a difference, let it be in Afghanistan.  Let us make this one country a nation again, rather than a terrorist training ground and drug warehouse.