Diary: Canada Wasting Lives In Afghanistan

To date Canada has lost almost 80 soldiers in Afghanistan, and over 250 have been wounded. No telling how many will eventually be diagnosed with problems relating to exposure to depleted uranium and other toxic substances, or how many will suffer significant psychological disorder. The US has lost 480 killed over the same period, but has more than ten times the troops in the country than Canada does. If the Americans were losing troops at the same per-capita rate as Canada their losses would be over 800.

This tells us that either the Canadians are not as good at soldiering as the Americans, or that on average they are pulling much tougher assignments and carrying more weight. Having personal knowledge of both militaries I can tell you that it is not the former. If anything the Canadian soldiers as a group are probably better than those in the US Army.

The main point, however, is why are we there in the first place? Besides wasting Canadian lives in a needless war we are blowing over one million dollars a day on the fiasco. Money that could well be used at home to deal with any number of domestic problems that go unsolved for lack of funds. The answer is that we are there to appease the Americans and to provide opportunities for Canadian and other companies that make a profit off of war. Is that what Canadians really want, to serve as spear carriers for the Americans and fodder for arms dealers and military suppliers?

Not only are we carrying the can for the Americans, they don't even appreciate it. Just this past week the US Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, said that the NATO forces in southern Afghanistan (read Canada, Britain and the Netherlands) were ill prepared for the fight while at the same time praising American troops in eastern Afghanistan. The Dutch called the Americans on the carpet for Gates' remark, and the British complained, but not so Canada. Peter MacKay, Canada's Minister of Defense, apologized for Gates'. One wonders which country Mr. MacKay and his government really work for.

The fact of the matter is that the situation in Afghanistan continues to get worse, not that should be a surprise to anyone with an elementary knowledge of history. The Taliban are resurgent, averaging 500 attacks per month in 2007, an increase from 400 per month in 2006. The fault of this is not the ability of the troops that are fighting in southern Afghanistan, but the fact that they are fighting a war that can't be won and should never have been started. All that the insurgents need to win against NATO is determination and refusal to quit. History has proven that when it comes to repelling foreign invaders the Afghans have both.

The Americans won't accept this, at least not with the present government, for whatever reason, and so scapegoat their allies to shift the blame for their mistake. In addition the Americans are committing more troops to the fight, a good thing, said the Washington Post, implying that non-US troops were not up to the task. A good thing for Canada for sure, since if Canada's government doesn't roll over again for the Americans and send more troops at least it will be Americans paying a bigger price for American folly and not Canadians.

The Afghanistan NGO Security Office (ANSO) in Kabul recently reported that the so called defeat of the Taliban in 2001 was more of a strategic retreat than a defeat, and that in the past year the Taliban have again seriously rejoined the fight. It went on to say that the consensus among informed individuals is that what we are seeing now is just the beginning of a war, not the end of one.

Despite the futility of the mission it is reported that John Manley, who was asked by Prime Minister Harper to chair a special panel on Afghanistan, will recommend that Canada extend its commitment in Kandahar until 2011. Given the closeness of Harper and his government to that of George Bush and the Americans, such a recommendation would be no surprise. It would also be a death warrant for an untold number of Canadian soldiers for no other purpose than to suck up to the Americans. Canadians should be seriously asking themselves why they are tolerating this. Their soldiers deserve better.