Bob Rae Afghanistan

With Canadian Liberal MP Bob Rae's articulate latest display of courage regarding the Afghanistan mission, we do hope that media pundits and political commentators of all stripes get the message: the values of defending democracy and human rights abroad ought to be something that transcends politics.

Yes, politics is and should be a factor. But let's remember why we got involved in the first place. An excerpt from Bob Rae's statement on Afghanistan:

No doubt there might be short term partisan advantage in playing to the gallery about its fatigue with the Afghanistan engagement. It is a difficult, frustrating, costly, and painful military and political conflict. It is hard to see a road to success, and hard as well to see much progress in the life and condition of the people. “Troops out now” would win much applause.

We went into Afghanistan with our NATO partners, with the full approval of the United Nations. It is one of the poorest countries in the world, ravaged by 30 years of civil war. Al Qaeda and other extremist groups have found a haven in the south of the country and the north of Pakistan.

Of course all issues are about politics. But some issues can transcend partisanship. In every other country in the NATO alliance there is multipartisan support for efforts in Afghanistan, a willingness to discuss options, in a climate of public candour.

Why should Canada be any different ? Our political culture is now all about trench warfare. Everything is supposed to seen through a partisan lens, and everything played to short term advantage. Anyone who asks “what’s best for Afghanistan ?”, or “what’s best for Canada, our role as a reliable member of NATO and the UN ?” is portrayed as some kind of poor sap who doesn’t “get” politics.

It’s called doing what you think is right, talking to the public about it, and worrying less about who gets credit. There’s something almost pathological about the state of our politics, to say nothing of political commentary, if we can’t have that kind of conversation.

Former United Nations’ deputy special representative in Afghanistan Christopher Alexander will join Liberal Foreign Affairs Critic Bob Rae and Najia Haneefi, founder of the Afghan Women’s Political Participation Committee, in a public discussion this Saturday about Canada’s future role in Afghanistan.

Other speakers include Afghanistan’s Ambassador to Canada Jawed Ludin, Toronto coordinator for the Canada Afghanistan Solidarity Committee Babur Mawladin and journalist Terry Glavin, a Solidarity Committee co-founder.

Macleans magazine columnist Andrew Potter will moderate a panel discussion with Alexander, Rae, Glavin and Haneefi that will focus on Alexander’s seven-point proposal for “ending the agony” in Afghanistan.

The event - at the Taj Banquet Hall, 4611 Steeles Avenue West, starting at 3:30 p.m. on April 17 - is one in a series of public events the Solidarity Committee is sponsoring across Canada to build support for a “new mission” in Afghanistan after 2011, when the Canadian Forces’ battle group is expected to be withdrawn from Kandahar Province.

“Canada’s brave soldiers did not go to Afghanistan to lose. Canada went there to win, and the job is not done yet,” Malawdin said. We want Canada to focus on democracy building, literacy and the advance of human rights, support for institutional capacity building and the training of Afghan security forces so Afghans can take over their own responsibility in the long term.”

Concerned about the paralysis in Ottawa on the Afghanistan question, the Solidarity Committee recently embarked upon a series of public events in cities across Canada in order to kickstart a national debate. Later this month, the Solidarity Committee will convene events in Edmonton, Calgary and Regina.

The Solidarity Committee began this initiative in Ottawa March 9 with the release of its “Keeping Our Promises: Canada in Afghanistan Post 2011 – The Way Forward” report. The report outlines a broad consensus in Afghanistan and Canada for a re-dedication of Canadian effort in entrenching Afghan democracy, institution-building and investment in education.   

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

Media Resources

“Ending The Agony: Seven Moves To Stabilize Afghanistan,” By Christopher Alexander.

http://www.cigionline.com/sites/default/files/Afghanistan_Paper_3_0.pdf

“Keeping Our Promises: Canada in Afghanistan Post 2011 – The Way Forward.”

http://afghanistan-canada-solidarity.org/casc-report-keeping-our-promises

Event Panel Bios

CHRISTOPHER ALEXANDER is the former United Nations’ Deputy Special Representative in Afghanistan. He served as Canada’s ambassador to Afghanistan from 2003 to 2005 and is currently the Conservative Party nominee in the riding of Ajax-Pickering.

BOB RAE is the federal Liberal Party’s Foreign Affairs Critic and serves on the House of Commons Special Committee on Afghanistan. A long-serving Canadian politician, Mr. Rae is a former Premier of Ontario ad is currently MP for Toronto-Centre.

HIS EXCELLENCY JAWED LUDIN was appointed Afghanistan's Ambassador to Canada in May,

2009, after serving as ambassador to the Nordic countries, based in Oslo. Prior to his diplomatic posts, Ambassador Ludin served as chief spokesperson for Afghan President Hamid Karzai between 2003 and

2005 chief of staff to the president from 2005 to 2007.

NAJIA HANEEFI is a founder of the Afghan Women’s Political Participation Committee and is the former head of Afghanistan’s largest women’s organization, the Afghan Women’s Education Centre (AWEC). Ms. Haneefi currently resides in Ottawa.

ANDREW POTTER writes on culture and politics as a columnist for Macleans magazine. He is a former philosophy professor and co-author with Joseph Heath of the best-selling Rebel Sell: Why the Culture Can’t Be Jammed. His new book is The Authenticity Hoax: How We Get Lost Finding Ourselves.

BABUR MAWLADIN is the Toronto Coordinator for the Canada-Afghanistan Solidarity Committee, Program Manager at Jane Alliance Neighbourhood Services, and chairperson of SEED for Relief of Poverty, a Canadian international NGO. He has extensive experience building schools and training centres in Afghanistan and Tajikistan.

TERRY GLAVIN is an author of several books and a journalist whose writing from Afghanistan has appeared in newspapers and magazines as diverse as Democratiya, the National Post, the online daily The Tyee and Vancouver Review. He is a co-founder of the Canada-Afghanistan Solidarity Committee.

Media Contacts

Jonathon Narvey, CASC Board Secretary
Phone (604) 230.2638  Email jnarvey@afghanistan-canada-solidarity.org