Canada Afghanistan 2011

For several weeks now, politicians, analysts, senators and others have been talking about the need to discuss Afghanistan post-2011. After all, what was the point of all that sacrifice if it looks like we may just withdraw everything after 2011, very likely before our objectives were achieved? A big part of the problem is that those objectives were never discussed by our politicians in a consistent manner. From the Toronto Star, here's historian Jack Granatstein:

“It’s simply extraordinary the way the government and the opposition and to a substantial extent you guys (the media) have just sat on your hands as if the issue is so difficult, so x hot that no one has the courage to raise it,” he said in an interview.

“We’ve spent so much money, so much blood and I think done substantial good and now we just appear to be tossing it away,” he said.

A little later in the story, Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff also presses this point:

“There has been discussion for a long time about civil, humanitarian work, all kinds of stuff, but let’s be clear what that might be. Canadians are entitled to know exactly what the Canadian presence after 2011 should be,” Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff said after Clinton’s comment.

“Our party is willing to have a debate about that. But it’s the absence of any clarity from the government on this issue which is the question,” he said.

But what Ignatieff is saying is actually part of the problem. Yes, there does need to be a debate. But why wait for the government to enunciate a clear position? Why not simply clarify the Liberal position on Canada's role in Afghanistan post-2011? What exactly would you like to see, Mr. Ignatieff?

Do you want to see Canadian Forces trainers providing tactical training to the Afghan National Army? Do you want to have us provide strategic consultations with NATO and the Afghan government based on our extensive experience in Kandahar? What about some security for our civilian aid projects, so that our humanitarian workers don't need to rely on Mongolian troops to protect them from Taliban hit squads? All of these seem like rational, sensible ideas. Are you on board with them? Aside from the army, what do you see for Canada's other priorities in Afghanistan, such as  in democracy and justice institution building?

We're still waiting for all the parties to start staking out their positions. This is long, long overdue.

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

Do Afghans want a Canadian role in Afghanistan post-2011? "Absolutely," says Afghanistan's Ambassador to Canada Jawed Ludin.

NATO wants you to stay. The Americans want you to stay. But if the Canadian troops leave Afghanistan (Kandahar) there is no question they will be missed by Afghans more than anyone else. It is there where they've served and they've fought and some of them have laid down their lives...

If Afghans had the choice, We would like to see Canada remain in the picture strongly as it has been, but mainly focusing on reconstruction and training of the Afghan troops, police and the army...

For you and for the US, it may be a question of your security and international commitment. For us, it's a question of life and death. A question of our future.

Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai's strategy of negotiating with the Taliban to help keep his nation "united" appears to be having the opposite effect. From liberal NGOs and Afghan women's groups to the warlords who still hold sway with large segments of the population, Karzai is facing opposition that may plunge the nation into a deeper crisis. Terry Glavin reports from Afghanistan:

The godfather of Afghanistan's warlords is throwing his weight behind growing opposition to President Hamid Karzai's negotiations with the Taliban.

"There is a limit to the patience of the people," said Bernahuddin Rabbani, 70, a former Afghan president.

"Beyond that limit, no one can be patient any more."

He fears a return to the fratricidal warfare that preceded the Taliban's ouster if Mr. Karzai attempts to cut a Western-backed deal that betrays Afghanistan's embryonic democracy.

"As I read history, when a nation's problems become this complex and they are not solved, that could result in violence and revolutions and other unwanted things," he said.

"Water is very soft, but if you put it under pressure, it will explode."

An impromptu alliance of Afghan democrats, women's rights leaders, reformers and MPs has sprung up in defiance of Mr. Karzai's "peace at any cost" approach.

His policy of detente is also forging a rare consensus across the political class, uniting pro-democracy Pashtuns with former northern warlords.

Mr. Rabbani's involvement is bound to give the anti-appeasement opposition a sharper edge. It was only with his blessing that Mr. Karzai became president of the interim government in 2002.

Also, events in recent days have boosted the opposition's belief a sellout is not necessary. Opponents point to successes in capturing Taliban leaders.

Mr. Karzai's latest Taliban reconciliation scheme was concocted in response to the flagging resolve for a long-term effort among NATO countries. 

 The Canada-Afghanistan Solidarity Committee is leading a national consultation among Afghan-Canadians and leading, credible experts on strategies for development, diplomacy and defense in Afghanistan.