Therefore ... we should stay in Afghanistan

[The Bread Guy]

It appears that both Harper and Dion have surrendered their principles – to one another. 

Whatever it takes to stay in power, or avoid an election you can't win, respectively.

 

[MarkOttawa]

Whom to believe?

The Ottawa Citizen?

Liberals to support Afghan extension
Dion applauds Tories for compromises
http://www.canada.com/components/print.aspx?id=0a732db0-4866-43bc-9b56-9dfd9f5b2cb4

The Toronto Star?

Motion on Afghan mission hits snag
Liberals deliver ultimatum on ending combat operations
http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/306883

Our ace media at it again. In fact I think the Star's headline is more accurate--if the Liberals stick to their guns (as it were), which they likely won't given recent precedents.

See also:

The "C" word
http://toyoufromfailinghands.blogspot.com/2008/02/c-word.html

Mark
Ottawa

 

[MarkOttawa]

A post at The Torch:

Afstan: Haroon Siddiqui is economical with the truth/MND tentative
http://toyoufromfailinghands.blogspot.com/2008/02/afstan-haroon-siddiqui-is-economical.html

Mark
Ottawa

 

[sgf]

Two interesting articles that I have recently came across. The first is from the UK, The Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/feb/29/afghanistan.terrorism

and the second is from todays Globe

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080301.wcanukafghan0301/BNStory/Afghanistan/home

 

[GAP]

To expand on sgf's post.....4 pages long....pretty comprehensive

The ugly truth in Afghanistan
GRAEME SMITH AND PAUL KORING  From Saturday's Globe and Mail March 1, 2008 at 12:28 AM EST
Article Link

KABUL AND WASHINGTON — When managers from all the major humanitarian agencies in Kandahar gathered in a high-walled compound to swap war stories last month, it wasn't the tales of kidnappings and suicide bombs that caused the most worry. Nor was it the reports of insurgents enforcing their own brutal laws and executing aid workers.

"The scary thing was, no foreigners attended the meeting," a participant said. "Everybody had evacuated."

Most aid organizations quietly withdrew their international staff from Kandahar in recent weeks, the latest sign that the situation here is getting worse. It's now almost impossible to spot a foreigner on the city streets, except for the occasional glimpse of a pale face in a troop carrier or a United Nations armoured vehicle.

At least the foreigners can escape. For many ordinary people the ramshackle city now feels like a prison, with the highways out of town regularly blocked by Taliban or bandits. Residents have even started avoiding their own city streets after dark, as formerly bustling shops switch off their colourful neon lights and pull down the shutters. There is rarely any electricity for the lights anyway, partly because the roads are too dangerous for contractors to risk bringing in a new turbine for a nearby hydroelectric generator.
More on link

 

[sgf]

Today there was a discussion in the Globe and Mail with  Paul Koring, who took some questions from various people. Heres the link

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080303.wkoringdiscussion0303/BNStory/International/home/?pageRequested=1

This is part of the interview

Tom Morgan, from Canada: I am a supporter of the Afghan mission and believe that any progress in development and stability does require a combat role for Canadian forces. It's hard to build a school when opposing forces are shooting at workers and burning it down once work is complete. However, any mission is subject to improvement, and changes in policy and direction may be required. My question is: Why is the Afghan government not able to take a more active role in security and fighting the Taliban? The Taliban were able to control the majority of Afghanistan and defeat opposing forces without the benefit of substantial support from the international community. From what I understand, the majority of Afghans do not want a return of Taliban rule and prefer an environment where they are able to send their daughters to school, watch movies, listen to music, fly kites, etc. The Afghan government receives money, training, weapons, logistic support, information on Taliban locations and active combat support. Why are they not able to achieve the success of the Taliban?

Mr. Koring: Good question. And I don't know the answer. Every time I go to Afghanistan I try and get some idea of the progress of the Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police. Every time, senior Canadian officers and Afghan commanders assure me (and try and provide examples) of the improvement in the Afghan army and how much, more capable they are. But, frankly, the grim reality on the ground suggests the opposite, that the ANA, even backed by NATO and U.S. forces now operates comfortably in less territory than a year ago. My guess (and that's all it is) is that the army, despite training and effort and weapons, is a long way from winning the "hearts-and-minds" battle. It may be that many, maybe most, Afghans now expect the Karzai government to fall once the Western troops propping it up go away.

F.T. Ward, from Canada: I am concerned that the failed Western policy of providing local security forces low pay, poor equipment and truncated training is continuing. For example, police training courses in Afghanistan are usually four weeks long compared to the six months to one year we would expect for a well-educated and literate Canadian police recruit, who is not expected to fight insurgents on graduation. Have you seen any evidence that NATO is moving toward quality and not just quantity?

Mr. Koring: I think there is greater effort and focus on training but little evidence yet that it is actually having much impact. The police are used (at least in Kandahar) as a sort of second-tier military, manning checkpoints or being left in outposts. Their equipment, training and morale all remain sub-standard. Even with a near-doubling of their pay rates, a policeman can make in two or three days picking opium during harvest season what he might make in a month otherwise. It's no surprise that many of them disappear at harvest time. Corruption remains rife. There are "good cops" but it will take a long, very long, time to build a credible, honest, well-trained police force that can earn and keep the respect of the population in a country where no such force has ever existed and where most recruits are illiterate or with only minimal education. If creating real and respected Afghan institutions, including courts, police and army is the aim, then the time frame is decades.

 

[31C]

+1

Thats a real good link. Probably the most concise discussion on the Afghanistan context I have heard to date. Some things need to be said about the mission and suprisingly this rep of the media said them.

 

[GAP]

Afghan villages struggle in Taliban's orbit
Monday, March 10, 2008
Article Link

Khakrez, Afghanistan - "Why are you giving them bread and raisins, if the Taliban find out they'll kill us?" an old man snaps as his son serves refreshments to British Gurkha troops patrolling their village in Afghanistan's southern Kandahar province. Cautious residents of Hajikal say this is the first time foreign soldiers have visited the dusty spread of mud compounds, parched fields and orchards that yield meagre harvests of wheat, grapes and pomegranates.

Usually it's Taliban fighters who stop here and across the region for sustenance, demanding food and dishing out beatings to reluctant hosts, according to the locals.

"They live in the mountains at night and they come to the villages during the day," says another man.

Elsewhere, people claim they have to provide shelter and let the Taliban offer prayers in the mosque before they head west to fight the British in Helmand province, north to harass the Dutch in Uruzgan or east through the US and Romanian zone in Zabul to reputed safe havens in Pakistan.

The war in Afghanistan shows no signs of abating, and more than seven years after the Taliban regime was toppled by US-led forces it's unclear how much of the hospitality the insurgents receive today is given willingly or under duress.

"The Taliban have been here for a long time, we are here today and will be gone in a week," says Gurkha intelligence officer Lalit Gurung. "The locals know that and know they have to support the Taliban."
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