Canada’s Mission in Afghanistan
| 3/26/2009 | Posted by Patti under Afghanistan, Canadian News |
This week, as we’ve done all too often since 2002, Canadians received and honoured more war dead from Afghanistan. Sitting at the Legion prior to heading to the bridge I heard the question asked that is asked so often there: “Why are we there? Those people have been fighting for thousands of years, we’re not going to change them”‘
The speaker knows we are there as part of our commitment to both the UN and NATO and in part as a friend and ally of our American neighbours. He, like thousands of other Canadians, want some understanding that this mission isn’t just about our soldiers dying in numbers greater than our allies. It’s an extremely valid question as we prepared to go to the bridges to honour four more fallen Canadians, a total of eight in just three weeks.
One thing we need to remember that makes the NATO mission in Afghanistan different from past wars in that country. We are not fighting the Afghan people, we are fighting FOR the Afghan people. We are fighting to allow them to form a free society with a democratic government. It will not likely be exactly as we have but that is ok, they are different culture to us. Freedom can translate many ways.
I’ve supported this mission in Afghanistan. I’ve believed in the importance of first removing the Taliban from power, and then helping the country to build an infrastructure which will allow it to stand on its own two feet. I’ve understood the mission would take years, money and most precious of all, blood.
I’ve been frustrated at having to search hard to find what our government should be providing — ongoing reports on the efforts and progress being made. If not for having opportunity to learn of the commitment our soldiers who have served there have felt about the mission, I’d have thought that it was all a sham and our troops should be home or on other more productive missions elsewhere in the world.
Finally, the government has released a website devoted to Canada’s mission in Afghanistan. I spent some time on the site yesterday and came away from it rather proud of what our troops are enabling. When you read the site, you need to be mindful that none of what Canadians and others are doing in Afghanistan could happen without the military establishing at least a minimum of security.
We take for granted in Canada the presence of police, roads, water, electricity, justice system, the right to register and vote, schools etc. In Afghanistan, security had to be established so that infrastructure and institutions we take for granted to even start to be constructed.
Have a look at the site, it’s good to see some real information on what Canada is accomplishing.
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