Canada's objectives in Afghanistan

[lazye]

1. What National Interest
2. Leadership, are we vying for a superpower postion
3. It is a nomadic waisteland, nothing to rebuild only blank cheques to write.
   
    I have quickly read through some posts and with all due respect what is the intention of Canada remaining in Afghanistan any longer?  Simply put, the whole operation was to negate negative  trade impacts from Canada's unwillingness to commit to Iraq, and rightly so.
Get them out of Afghanistan now, it is needless.
Pakistan acknowledged the Taliban for years and traded intel with the US, it is no place for Canadians.

 

[from darkness lite]

Lazye:

You probably don't care, but here goes from one who has served in Kandahar:

The majority of people there still want the west there, the alternative is an organization that executes school teachers in front of theirclass for, horrors, teaching girls;
I, and the majority of soldiers I know, believe in this mission (no I'm not a victim of propaganda, I probably know more about world affairs than you);
Afghanistan used to be the place to visit in southwest Asia before the Soviets decided to visit, and was known as the bread basket of Asia. Given time and reconstruction, it can be again;
I'd risk my life there again in a minute!!

If some of Canada's "socially advanced" individuals of today were around in 1940 (six months into a 6 year war) I can just hear the screams, "Out of Europe, fighting Germany is a lost cause!"

 

[redleafjumper]

+2 to from darkness lite.  I get tired of these trolls who sign on to our boards to make a critical post just to stir it up and then never hang around to explain or defend themselves.

You made nice concise post with a clear message - truth always works better.  And by the way, thanks for going over there, and thanks for coming back.

 

[cplcaldwell]

Oh a troll! Yippee! time to put on my jack boots and tune up the banjo!

Well layze, thanks for coming out.

Our "National interest" is to destroy a terrorist organization that has proven time and time again that it is willling to kill our citizens and those of our allies. In addition we are there to ensure the eradication of the Taliban as a viable force.  This terrorist organization crossed the line from bother to nuisance when it demonstrated its ability to kill over 3,000 non combattants in one strike.

In addition to ensure that this organization had no home the regime that had given it refuge was removed. The destruction of this Taliban government was affirmed by UN Security Council resolutions and General Assembly votes in the fall and winter of 2003. In order to ensure that the terrorist group did not re-emerge in this country and that the regime remained defunct a multinational alliance resolved that it would be best to pacify the country and rebuild its national institutions, this institution had its gensis in the UN and in a conference of concerned European nations. It was sanctioned by the UN and later transferred to NATO.

As to "Leadership", perhaps we are operating as our 14 or so other allies in Afstan, as 'middle power' position and not 'super power' position. To that end it would appear that by gaining currency with the super power we my be able to temper its actions by having earned a seat at the table.

It's actually not a "nomadic wasteland", most of the population is sedentary. To be sure pastoral agriculture is practised but most people have something that resembles more a house than a yurt. As to it's urban environment, as late as the 1960's Kandahar and Herat were required stops for the global hitch hiker (some would submit on account of the excellent hashish, but hey, what the heck eh?)

As to the negation of "negative trade impact", could you loosen the tin foil hat a bit and provide one shred of proof for that please?

As for Pakistan "acknowledging the Taliban for years" so what? To wit, non sequitur. The RCMP has acknowledged the Mafia for years, does that make Hamilton no place for Canadians?

Anyway, please stay, I hope you do and that you learn something and share your views, but please don't bait us, and this post was baiting, buds, I've only just got my library put back together after my last troll reaction.

 

[warspite]

lazye... how to say this. You obviously believe that we shouldn't be at war, that it's just a waste off time, life, and money and nothing I can say will change your mind... but also let me say this. Someday you and all yuppies like you will see why you're wrong... and I only hope that it won't take the loss of innocent Canadians to show you why.

Look around you, is this a loving caring world where everyone gets along and sorts out their differences with long debates about morality and how we should all get along. No it is not. Open a history book and take a look. People have been fighting and killing for centuries. The only way Canada can endure, is to be stronger than those who oppose it and all those that would wish to destroy our way of life (and by the way those people do exist) and to hit those people right between the eyes before, during, and after they try to mess with us.

But like I said you've obviously decided that harmony we prevail and that we can safely stay in Canada and nobody will come knocking... you know... why do I even bother explaining...

 

[Teflon]

Here's a good argument to use on the "nay sayers" from Lorne Gunter in today's National Post:

http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/issuesideas/story.html?id=720744f6-1f37-48e7-b815-52ff96d2b6d2&p=2

The right war - for now 

  Lorne Gunter, National Post
Published: Wednesday, September 06, 2006

And it still is, at least for now.

The second solid reason for us to have troops there, fighting, is that al-Qaeda still remains a threat to the West, and, yes, even to Canada. Al-Qaeda may have less clout than it did before 9/11, but it still had its fingerprints on bombings in Bali, Madrid, Mogadishu and last summer in London. And it is implicated in last month's scheme to blow up 10 airliners over the Atlantic.

Al-Qaeda remains very dangerous. And if we are not fighting them in Afghanistan, they almost certainly will be attacking us here.

Moreover, if the Taliban are permitted to regain control over even part of Afghanistan, there can be no doubt they will invite al-Qaeda back in to begin training and plotting again.

So while it is difficult to see Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan, they are there fighting in the right cause -- at least until al Qaeda and the Taliban are subdued.

lgunter@shaw.ca

 

[maniac78]

This mission is EXACTLY what Canadians should be doing. If defending a democratically elected government from terrorist attack is not worth fighting for what is? I 100% support this mission and I 100% support our troops.

 

[Reccesoldier]

Lazee a much better man than I summed up people with your constrained and ostrich like view of war, I thought I might share it with you...
Please take this to heart

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself." J.S. Mill

 

[Teflon]

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself." J.S. Mill

Here Here

Better words then I could muster also Reccesoldier!