The general atmosphere of war-weariness then, is reasonable, given nearly a decade of conflict. And while I won’t dip into Bush-era rhetoric about “losing our resolve,” we have been committed to a final year and a half in Afghanistan, and with that in mind, we must persevere. Our mission objectives have evolved since we first touched down; they’re currently laid out as follows:
“Canada is focused on a targeted set of objectives in keeping with proven Canadian strengths and consistent with Afghan objectives and the efforts of the international community. The first four priorities focus primarily on Kandahar. Canada is helping the Government of Afghanistan to:
· maintain a more secure environment and establish law and order by building the capacity of the Afghan National Army and Police, and support complementary efforts in the areas of justice and corrections.
· provide jobs, education, and essential services, like water.
· provide humanitarian assistance to people in need, including refugees.
· enhance the management and security of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
Nationally, Canada is helping to:
· build Afghan institutions that are central to our Kandahar priorities and support democratic processes such as elections.
· contribute to Afghan-led political reconciliation efforts aimed at weakening the insurgency and fostering a sustainable peace.
As Canada transforms its engagement in Afghanistan, our Kandahar-focused programming will comprise up to 50 percent of our total effort, and more and more funding will be directed toward efforts to benefit the people of that province.”(1)
No matter who you ask, on paper, that seems pretty decent. These objectives are why men and women join the Canadian Forces -- to assist. To help. If these Winter Olympics have taught us anything about our own culture, its that we are a passionate, diverse and empathetic nation. There’s nothing hawk-ish about our intervention in Afghanistan, despite claims from the extreme left. Nor is there anything neo-colonial about our endeavours there. At least there shouldn’t be. Military intervention isn’t necessarily synonymous with empire. For example, a sincere, coordinated effort in Rwanda could have made a difference in nearly 800,000 lives.
But we’re right to be suspicious. It’s a difficult balancing act -- invading a country to assist it -- which is why international observers should be given full disclosure as to what, precisely, is happening at ground level. To quote Robert Fisk, war represents “a total failure of the human spirit.”(2) But its easy to judge from an armchair how ineffective we’ve been, or how international diplomacy has failed before it was even given a chance. In hindsight, there are a million-and-one different scenarios which could have taken place instead of military intervention. None of which are helpful to us now. Afghanistan and countries like it represent a humanitarian catastrophe for which we are at fault. We are paying for the sins of our fathers, and while we may be far removed from any direct responsibility, our complicity and ignorance is criminal.
It’s irresponsible to continue raising our children in a world of limitless prosperity next to a world of such desperate squalor. In certain cases, military intervention is a viable option. And we can debate the positives and negatives about the operation in Afghanistan when all is said and done, but while we’re still there, we have an opportunity to do some good. Victory in Afghanistan will not be measured by the body count of Taliban “insurgents,” but in the decades that follow, whether a secure state was created, with sustainable growth. It will be measured in the growth or decline of literacy and infant mortality rates, to say nothing of their dismal position on the international corruption index(3). Neither should an Afghanistan failure be measured in the body count of Canadian and ISAF soldiers. In that sense, a failure in Afghanistan only represents a failure on our part. Our fallen soldiers, indeed, even our soldiers who have merely been in theatre, have fought and sacrificed for nothing only if we refuse to get involved in our government.
We have a year and a half left, another three troop deployments and approximately 2900 soldiers willing to assist. Afghanistan still has the potential to be a beacon of success in the under-developed world. With stability, educational and health services, better policy and governance (there and here), additional international aid and support after the pullout (including infrastructural engineering and building repair), agricultural development and trade protection, perhaps the closing years of the latest Afghan war will be seen as an example of how to do things right, in a decade with plenty of examples on how to do things wrong.
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References:
1. http://www.afghanistan.gc.ca/canada-afghanistan/priorities-priorites/index.aspx?menu_id=15&menu=L
2. http://www.amazon.com/Great-War-Civilisation-Conquest-Middle/dp/1400075173/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268256871&sr=8-1
3. http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2009/cpi_2009_table
