Canada may have painted itself into corner in Afghanistan
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By Matthew Fisher, Canwest News serviceMarch 12, 2010
One of the principal reasons Canada ended up in a shooting war in Kandahar was the Martin government dithered for so long about what to do in Afghanistan that when it finally made up its mind about what to do in 2005, all the soft spots in the north and west of the country were grabbed by European allies such as France, Spain and Germany.
History looks set to repeat itself.
As Canada retreats from its biggest foreign commitment in more than half a century, European allies whose role in Afghanistan the Harper government has often strongly criticized, have quietly volunteered for nearly 600 relatively safe, non-combat positions as mentors to Afghanistan's burgeoning security forces.
Everyone of those jobs would seem to be a perfect fit for Canada's relatively small but highly professional army and for a country that has grown weary of combat.
There have been 130 Canadian soldiers killed in Kandahar since the Martin government sent troops to the heart of the war in 2006. Over the past four years, Canada has spent billions of dollars fighting the Taliban.
Notwithstanding this loss of blood and treasure, or arguably because of it, the Harper government has confirmed a decision Parliament made two years ago to stop combat operations in Kandahar in 2011.
But the Harper government has gone much further than Parliament did, loudly stating that other than a few embassy guards, no Canadian troops would remain anywhere in Afghanistan beyond the end of next year.
It is a position complicated by the fact the government has declared its intention to continue its massive diplomatic and aid effort in Kandahar, without providing any hint of how the Canadians who do this work are to be protected.
At the same time, Ottawa has rejected a military training mission the Europeans have been signing up for.
The intent of that hugely ambitious program is to triple the size of the Afghan National Army to 300,000 and nearly double the size of the Afghan National Police to about 130,000.
Canada has been silent although NATO has declared mentoring is fast becoming its top priority and the best way for the alliance to achieve an orderly, rather than a premature exit strategy from Afghanistan.
Ironically, every one of the 200 Canadian mentors working closely with the Afghan security forces in Kandahar will be sent home at the very time when the need for such advisers is peaking as a result of a highly successful recruiting campaign backstopped by a steep increase in salaries for soldiers and police.
There are still about 700 NATO mentoring spots available, but most of them are expected to be spoken for by the time the traditional Afghan fighting season reaches its peak again this summer.
Military officers and civilians working for NATO in Kandahar and Kabul have said Canada has the resources to provide at least 400 experienced mentors and, if it did so, they would most likely be assigned work to a training academy, perhaps in Kabul, where they would be at low risk.
Hans Fogh Rasmussen, the NATO secretary general, and senior NATO commanders have publicly implored Canada to keep some forces in Afghanistan.
Behind their polite, well-mannered words has been a growing frustration at Ottawa's decision to cut and run at the moment when the war enters what NATO's top commander, U.S. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, has called a decisive phase.
The Dutch have announced that its troops are leaving, too. But their departure later this year is not regarded as a serious blow because they have had far fewer forces and have done far less fighting than Canada. The unspoken fear in Kabul and Brussels is if Canada walks away, other nations that have done far less may use this as a pretext to get out, too.
Despite what the Harper government has said, the expectation in NATO circles here is that Ottawa will eventually conclude it should continue to have some kind of military role in Afghanistan.
However, if as happened in 2006, the government waits much beyond this summer before putting up its hand, the soft spots will once again be taken and Canada's options will narrow greatly.
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By Matthew Fisher, Canwest News serviceMarch 12, 2010
One of the principal reasons Canada ended up in a shooting war in Kandahar was the Martin government dithered for so long about what to do in Afghanistan that when it finally made up its mind about what to do in 2005, all the soft spots in the north and west of the country were grabbed by European allies such as France, Spain and Germany.
History looks set to repeat itself.
As Canada retreats from its biggest foreign commitment in more than half a century, European allies whose role in Afghanistan the Harper government has often strongly criticized, have quietly volunteered for nearly 600 relatively safe, non-combat positions as mentors to Afghanistan's burgeoning security forces.
Everyone of those jobs would seem to be a perfect fit for Canada's relatively small but highly professional army and for a country that has grown weary of combat.
There have been 130 Canadian soldiers killed in Kandahar since the Martin government sent troops to the heart of the war in 2006. Over the past four years, Canada has spent billions of dollars fighting the Taliban.
Notwithstanding this loss of blood and treasure, or arguably because of it, the Harper government has confirmed a decision Parliament made two years ago to stop combat operations in Kandahar in 2011.
But the Harper government has gone much further than Parliament did, loudly stating that other than a few embassy guards, no Canadian troops would remain anywhere in Afghanistan beyond the end of next year.
It is a position complicated by the fact the government has declared its intention to continue its massive diplomatic and aid effort in Kandahar, without providing any hint of how the Canadians who do this work are to be protected.
At the same time, Ottawa has rejected a military training mission the Europeans have been signing up for.
The intent of that hugely ambitious program is to triple the size of the Afghan National Army to 300,000 and nearly double the size of the Afghan National Police to about 130,000.
Canada has been silent although NATO has declared mentoring is fast becoming its top priority and the best way for the alliance to achieve an orderly, rather than a premature exit strategy from Afghanistan.
Ironically, every one of the 200 Canadian mentors working closely with the Afghan security forces in Kandahar will be sent home at the very time when the need for such advisers is peaking as a result of a highly successful recruiting campaign backstopped by a steep increase in salaries for soldiers and police.
There are still about 700 NATO mentoring spots available, but most of them are expected to be spoken for by the time the traditional Afghan fighting season reaches its peak again this summer.
Military officers and civilians working for NATO in Kandahar and Kabul have said Canada has the resources to provide at least 400 experienced mentors and, if it did so, they would most likely be assigned work to a training academy, perhaps in Kabul, where they would be at low risk.
Hans Fogh Rasmussen, the NATO secretary general, and senior NATO commanders have publicly implored Canada to keep some forces in Afghanistan.
Behind their polite, well-mannered words has been a growing frustration at Ottawa's decision to cut and run at the moment when the war enters what NATO's top commander, U.S. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, has called a decisive phase.
The Dutch have announced that its troops are leaving, too. But their departure later this year is not regarded as a serious blow because they have had far fewer forces and have done far less fighting than Canada. The unspoken fear in Kabul and Brussels is if Canada walks away, other nations that have done far less may use this as a pretext to get out, too.
Despite what the Harper government has said, the expectation in NATO circles here is that Ottawa will eventually conclude it should continue to have some kind of military role in Afghanistan.
However, if as happened in 2006, the government waits much beyond this summer before putting up its hand, the soft spots will once again be taken and Canada's options will narrow greatly.
More on link
