Remembrance Day Reading on Afghanistan

Some of CASC's founding members have been writing to remind Canadians of what has already been accomplished in Afghanistan and where we are headed. Some excerpts:

How will we be remembered in Afghanistan? by Terry Glavin

Years down the road, there will be all sorts of clever people who will be happy to tell us that our soldiers should never have been sent to Afghanistan. That’s why it will always be handy to remember what it took a British House of Commons defence committee to point out, back in 2007:

“If Kandahar fell, and it was a reasonably close run last year, it did not matter how well the Dutch did in Uruzgan or how well the British did in Helmand. Their two provinces would also, as night followed day, have failed, because we would have lost the consent of the Pashtun people because of the totemic importance of Kandahar.”

Don’t remember? Don’t be hard on yourself. You sure didn’t hear it from any Canadian parliamentary committee.

If all Canadian soldiers ever did was win the Battle of Panjwaii in 2006, it would all have been worth it.

We asked: How will you remember Canada? by Lauryn Oates

Lotfullah Najafizada, 24
Journalist at Tolo TV, Kabul
“Canada has made a huge sacrifice in Afghanistan in the last decade. It has helped the Afghan people during a very tough time. We would remember Canada’s support and assistance not for 10 or 20 years, but for many, many decades. Canada has a reputation as an honest and supportive friend in Afghanistan."

Afghan women more visible in public life by Lauryn Oates

Taliban rule, following the three decades of war, kept women and girls shut out of schools for five years.

 

Since those first post-Taliban days, striking change has swept over Afghanistan. Canadian investments in education and rebuilding programs have helped hurry along the drive for learning and training opportunities.

Women have been accessing micro-credit programs like the Micro­- finance Investment Support Facility for Afghan­istan (MISFA), supported by the Canadian International Development Agency. The charity Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan has been training teachers, running adult-literacy classes and opening village libraries.