Mohammed Azhar Ali Khan

Thousands of Canadians joined Governor-General David Johnston and Prime Minister Stephen Harper when they gathered at Parliament Hill in Ottawa at a National Day of Honor ceremony to salute the 40,000 Canadians who served in Afghanistan.



Canada was involved in the Afghan war for 12 years, its longest military engagement ever. And this was not even Canada’s war. It was pushed by the United States to join in its war in Afghanistan and its invasion of Iraq.



Canada refused to join the US in attacking Iraq. It teamed up with the US in Afghanistan because the US is an ally through a bilateral treaty and through the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and because the United Nations Security Council supported the US position.



The US asked its allies to help because it claimed it had been attacked by Afghanistan. Osama Bin Laden had masterminded the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the US from his Afghan sanctuary. When the Taliban refused to hand over Bin Laden, the US attacked.



Originally all Canadian political parties and the public supported the country’s war effort, which began in 2001 and involved land, sea and air forces. But disillusionment crept in when the war seemed to become an unending one. The war cost the lives of 158 soldiers, one diplomat, one journalist and two civilian contractors. Canada suffered higher casualties per capita than any other NATO country.



Canadian troops in Afghanistan were killed not only by the Taliban, but by roadside bombs and by US bombs when they were mistaken for Taliban. Even Afghan troops, who were being trained to fight the Taliban, occasionally attacked NATO soldiers.



Canadians were disheartened by the corruption in Afghanistan, to which the US contributed through CIA aid to Afghan warlords. The US aim, at least during the George Bush presidency, was not to strengthen the central government but to arm and aid the warlords and encourage them to fight the Taliban and possibly capture Bin Laden.



The Afghan government and the US gradually concluded that negotiations with the Taliban might be the only way to avoid an endless war.



As Adnan Khan wrote in the Toronto Globe and Mail: “Canada’s men and women in uniform, from frontline grunts to officers, all told me during the time I spent with them: negotiations are the only way. From very early on, Canadian soldiers caught on to the reality of Afghanistan: the Taliban represent a significant segment of Afghanistan’s population. Defeating them militarily is impossible. Serious efforts need to be made to reach out and find alternate solutions.”



As public opinion turned against the war, Canada turned its attention to what it does best: promoting human rights and development.



It began training and working more closely with the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police in 2007. Several Canadian departments joined to help. Canadian aid, which before 2001 amounted to some $10 million a year, jumped manifold, making Afghanistan the largest recipient of Canadian aid.



Most prominent among Canadian efforts were eradication of polio, improvement of education, especially for women, and helping Afghan farmers and the poor by building roads, improving irrigation and refurbishing the Dhala Dam. Canada built more than 50 schools, and from fewer than one million, the number of students went up to more than six million, basic health care rose from 10 percent to 85 percent, child mortality dropped and Canada spent more than $60 million to help eradicate polio.



Canada also announced that it will end combat operations but will train the Afghan army and police before its forces are withdrawn.



Canada paid a high price for the war. Though fewer than 200 Canadians were killed, more than 2,000 suffered injuries. One out of four soldiers returning from duty in Afghanistan developed serious mental health problems. The suicide rate in the military doubled and is now three times as high as in the general public.



Ali Mirzad, president of the Afghan Jaffari Association, thanked Canada in a moving speech in Ottawa. He said that when all hope was lost Canada provided “the light at the end of the tunnel.”



But he added with sadness: “When the institutions of peace have been barely solidified, when the seeds of democracy have been barely planted, the departure of foreign troops and the increase of insurgencies is an unfortunate reminder of the darkness ahead. As Afghans put behind a decade of corruption, and the rule of narco-terrorism, we look to the future with careful optimism and calculated pessimism. It is indeed a grotesque sign of disrespect and an abhorrent act against humanity when savage barbarians that sacked, pillaged and spilled the blood of millions of innocent Afghans are today either sitting in the country’s senate or enjoying absolute freedom with impunity. When a country adopts laws to preclude any type of prosecution of criminals, responsible for crimes against humanity and genocide, the very beliefs and ideals of that country are jeopardized.”



Canada sympathized with the Afghans and tried its best to help. It could not be expected to do much more in a complex and tragic situation.

 

— Mohammed Azhar Ali Khan is a retired Canadian journalist, civil servant and refugee judge.