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Afghan Mission

February 7, 2008

February 7, 2008 by Graeme MacKay

A column written in today’s Toronto Star (of all papers) sums up my view of Canada’s mission in Afghanistan. I cheered the columnist along to myself as I read it.

Canadian pettiness is showing
Feb 08, 2008
The Toronto Star – Rondi Adamson

The “deploy more NATO soldiers to Kandahar or we quit in 2009” threat contained in the Manley report strikes me as a sad reflection on current Canadian attitudes. It isn’t that more troops would not be desirable. But what if no NATO country sends us a military “partner”?

According to the report, in spite of the ongoing violence, the Afghan economy has been growing, millions of refugees have returned, more children (of both genders) are in school, child mortality rates are improving and infrastructure is being built.

Are we so small-time and penny ante in our world view as to dismiss the progress made? Do we tell the unprepared Afghan forces and population, “Sorry, you’re on your own”? Do we allow Afghanistan to again become a safe haven for Al Qaeda, again a threat to us and others?

I hope not, because another thing we would lose in the process is our reputation. I would argue that it has improved internationally due to our involvement in Afghanistan.

Far from the myth that most of the world used to view us as benign peacekeepers and now view us as pawns of the Great Satan, it is more likely that most of the world either never thought twice about us, or simply viewed us as an extension of the United States.

Now we are included in adult discussions and asked, in return, to behave like adults, responsibly and with integrity.

Instead we not our soldiers, but citizens and leaders behave like accountants with calculators in hand, tallying up every percentage, dollar, headline, slight or snub (real or imagined) and counting every sacrifice as a cause for indignation and (more) anti-Americanism, rather than as, well, a sacrifice.

Canadians like to believe they are broad-minded global citizens. But the pettiness on display when we complain about the “disproportionately” large load we are carrying in Afghanistan shows us to be self-absorbed, miserly and ignorant of history.

Venturing into the debate over “disproportionate” contributions is dangerous. A small number of countries (including Canada) carried a disproportionately great burden in defeating Nazism, fascism and the Soviet empire. Should those countries have not done so, crying foul instead?

Washington could point out that our military is disproportionately small, given our population and economy. In fact, for our military to be anywhere near proportionately the size of the U.S. military, we would have to double it.

It could also be pointed out that we have given disproportionately little in previous decades, in terms of NATO commitments and international conflicts. During the years leading up to 9/11, our armed forces were effectively defanged, making us unable to contribute proportionately to just about anything.

One of Jack Layton’s wishes is that we abandon Afghanistan in favour of “saving Darfur,” which, if it could be done, would necessitate doing things (invading, killing, getting killed) Layton objects to when done in Afghanistan. That aside, if we had a military proportionate to our size, we could contribute to both wars.

Many Canadians seem to have forgotten two things about Afghanistan. The first is that the 9/11 attacks were attacks on the West. Osama bin Laden himself said as much. This is our battle.

The second is that our military presence in Afghanistan has been authorized under international laws we purport to respect. The Manley report reminds us of this. It also offers a realistic assessment of what it calls a noble mission. Not rosy, not hopeless, but one that requires our continued and valuable (be it disproportionate or not) presence. Rondi Adamson is a Toronto writer.

Posted in: International Tagged: Afghan Mission, Afghanistan, commentary, NATO, Stephane Dion, Stephen Harper

November 22, 2006

November 22, 2006 by Graeme MacKay

This cartoon regarding the passing of a NDP motion in Parliament to give the last surviving veteran of the First World War a state funeral caused a bit of a stir. Here’s some feedback:

First a letter from a local reader of the Spec:

A not so favourable response following its printing in the Halifax Chronicle-Herald:

And my defence to one of the emails sent by people conveying their discomfort:

I think the whole state funeral discussion took on a macabre tone, but I decided I wasn’t going to ignore it. I mean, here we are with the last 3 soldiers standing (actually 2 since one dropped out because he’s live in the U.S. since 1924) and it has taken on this contest feel as to who’s going to win the privilege of a state funeral. I’m just surprised that it’s been made into this big public news event. Surely, they (the Dominion Institute) or Veteran’s Affairs could’ve raised the issue once we were down to the last veteran. With Jack Layton and the NDP sponsoring this as a bill, I just saw it as blatant political opportunism. They know they need to patch up things with the military, keeping in mind their cut and run policies, but especially after some in the NDP accused our soldiers in Afghanistan as “terrorists”. Maybe I’m not giving the NDP credit when it’s due, but I don’t buy that this was just a motion to “collectively celebrate the sacrifice of all WWI veterans”. There was more to it in terms of scoring political points for the NDP. It was smart, because who’s going to argue in the House of Commons not to have a state funeral for the last veteran?

Posted in: Canada Tagged: Afghan Mission, commentary, Feedback, Jack Layton, NDP, Remembrance Day, veterans

September 5, 2006

September 5, 2006 by Graeme MacKay

Saturday’s appearance of the above editorial cartoon coincided on a particularly brutal weekend which saw the deaths of 5 Canadian soldiers fighting alongside NATO troops in Afghanistan. Predictably, calls are again being made to get our troops out of the war and bring them back home. The loudest voice comes from Jack Layton who has seized the political opportunity to play the peace dove in this debate. You’d think following the overwhelming condemnation of his position in weekend editorials, columns, military circles, and even within his own caucus, Layton would refine his opposition and (while the word is still flying around) ‘nuance’ his words a little more keeping in mind Canada’s international obligations and long term strategy for defeating the Taliban in Afghanistan. The debate about Canada’s role in Afghanistan was settled months ago when Parliament voted to extend our mission there. And do we really need to be reminded on a daily basis why we’re in Afghanistan in the first place? Does Layton seriously see Canada sitting down and discussing a peace settlement with the Taliban over a cup of tea? Maybe…as I suggested back in April:

Today’s cartoon was the amalgamation of two previous cartoons. One is of the former Prime Minister, Jean Chretien, portrayed as a SeaKing helicopter, and another of Jack Layton who mixed politics and the deaths of homeless people during the 2004 federal election by blaming Paul Martin. Layton seems to have a good track record of twisting any sort of tragedy or misfortune just to make he and his party look good.

Posted in: Canada Tagged: Afghan Mission, commentary, Jack Layton, Jean Chretien, NDP, Taliban

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