The Globe and Mail - March 1, 2006
By Colin Kenny
So the Globe and Mail reports that Prime Minister Stephen Harper is thinking about visiting Canada’s 2,300 troops in Afghanistan. Is this a sign that Canadians are finally going to get some political leadership on Canada’s controversial military presence in Kandahar?
If so, it’s about time.
When 62 per cent of people Canadians polled on whether Canadian troops should be in Afghanistan (Globe and Mail, Feb. 24) say no, it doesn’t take a political science professor to tell you that the government has a controversy on its hands
Former prime minister Paul Martin tried to avoid getting Canadians exercised about Afghanistan by pretty well staying mum on the issue.
Mr. Harper has followed the same course. Under both prime ministers, explanations of what we can hope to accomplish in Afghanistan have been skimpy. They have also been fobbed off to defence ministers and, more recently, to military personnel themselves.
That’s a cop-out. Defence ministers shouldn’t be the only ones carrying the ball on issues this profound.
Steven Harper was elected on an integrity platform. When he got elected he decided that Canada would stay there. Once he made that decision, 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 the rationale that 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 who 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 fueled by heroine poppies, and there are a lot more of them blooming now than there were 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. Diplomat Glyn Berry was killed by terrorists in January. Since then the only Canadian official in charge of aid in Kandahar has also 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 as to what he hopes to accomplish in Afghanistan. But neither former prime minister Martin nor Prime Minister Harper has articulated the case as to why we are there, what we hope to accomplish, and how we intend to measure victory – or at least some measure of success that would allow us to leave some day.
So far I have heard two estimates as to 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 kids home.
Mr. Harper, you should take this on. You should not only go to Kandahar, you should articulate intelligent arguments as to why we are there. If they are reasonable, thoughtful arguments, Canadians will get on side.
That, Mr. Prime Minister, will make you both responsible and accountable. Which is what the No. 1 job in the country is – or should be – all about.
Senator Kenny is the former chair of the Senate Committee on National Security and Defence. He can be reached via email at kennyco@sen.parl.gc.ca