What? No. Do you have any idea how stupid that is?
It's OUR Army, not the Afghan National Army. They have theirs, we have
ours, why on Earth would we bring people not of our culture in to our
Army? The only people that serve in the Canadian Forces, are Canadian
citizens. We have no problem working alongside other Nations, and this
is most certainly NOT about treating them as equals, they simply are not
Canadian, ergo have no place serving in the Canadian Forces. The same
goes for Americans, Japanese, French, individuals, if you're not of the
Commonwealth, sorry access denied.
Lets put that to rest right now. I served in Afghanistan alongside
members of the Afghan National Army. No one in the Canadian Forces are
leery of working next to Afghan soldiers, in fact they're some excellent
guys to have next to you.
With that all said and done, it does not change the fact that
non-Canadians should not be enrolled in the Canadian Forces, simply
because we're operating in a Country they come from. Doing so would pose several problems:
Diet - Afghans do not eat the same food as we do. Partly because
they're Muslim, and largely because their food is steeped in 1000s of
years of tradition. We cannot create a supply system to cater to two
different ethnic groups.
TRAINING - Do you have any idea how much money and time it takes
to train a soldier, and not just a soldier for garrison in Canada, but
one for combat? We're talking years here, years to get a man or woman up
to code, to be able to enter a combat environment and have a better than
average chance to survive. We simply don't have the time, resources, or
NEED to train Afghans on top of our own citizens to fight.
Work ethic - Afghans have a different concept than Canadians. We
work until the work is done, they work until they're bored with it, and
pick it up again later. That simply would not work between two distinct
groups of people.
LANGUAGE - Most Afghans speak Dari or Pashtu, most Canadians
speak English or French. See the problem? How can you effectively
incorporate Afghans in to the Canadian Forces when we don't even speak
the same language? Sure, currently small mentor teams in Afghanistan use
interpreters, but that simply does not work on a large scale level.
Equality - Bringing Afghans in to the Canadian Forces would
therefore entitle them to the same benefits as Canadians; medical care,
dental care, pensions, etc, something I doubt the tax payers want to pay
for.
In the end, it's a feel good idea (albeit a pipe dream of one), but simply isn't practicle. I worked my ass off to wear the Canadian uniform, they get millions of dollars payed out to them each year by our Country and others, and equipment supplied to them from multiple Nations. I, as well as others, have no problem with
the Afghan National Army serving alongside us, just like Americans, or
Dutch, or Brits, but Afghans who are not Canadian citizens have no place in our Army.
It's OUR Army, not the Afghan National Army. They have theirs, we have
ours, why on Earth would we bring people not of our culture in to our
Army? The only people that serve in the Canadian Forces, are Canadian
citizens. We have no problem working alongside other Nations, and this
is most certainly NOT about treating them as equals, they simply are not
Canadian, ergo have no place serving in the Canadian Forces. The same
goes for Americans, Japanese, French, individuals, if you're not of the
Commonwealth, sorry access denied.
Lets put that to rest right now. I served in Afghanistan alongside
members of the Afghan National Army. No one in the Canadian Forces are
leery of working next to Afghan soldiers, in fact they're some excellent
guys to have next to you.
With that all said and done, it does not change the fact that
non-Canadians should not be enrolled in the Canadian Forces, simply
because we're operating in a Country they come from. Doing so would pose several problems:
Diet - Afghans do not eat the same food as we do. Partly because
they're Muslim, and largely because their food is steeped in 1000s of
years of tradition. We cannot create a supply system to cater to two
different ethnic groups.
TRAINING - Do you have any idea how much money and time it takes
to train a soldier, and not just a soldier for garrison in Canada, but
one for combat? We're talking years here, years to get a man or woman up
to code, to be able to enter a combat environment and have a better than
average chance to survive. We simply don't have the time, resources, or
NEED to train Afghans on top of our own citizens to fight.
Work ethic - Afghans have a different concept than Canadians. We
work until the work is done, they work until they're bored with it, and
pick it up again later. That simply would not work between two distinct
groups of people.
LANGUAGE - Most Afghans speak Dari or Pashtu, most Canadians
speak English or French. See the problem? How can you effectively
incorporate Afghans in to the Canadian Forces when we don't even speak
the same language? Sure, currently small mentor teams in Afghanistan use
interpreters, but that simply does not work on a large scale level.
Equality - Bringing Afghans in to the Canadian Forces would
therefore entitle them to the same benefits as Canadians; medical care,
dental care, pensions, etc, something I doubt the tax payers want to pay
for.
In the end, it's a feel good idea (albeit a pipe dream of one), but simply isn't practicle. I worked my ass off to wear the Canadian uniform, they get millions of dollars payed out to them each year by our Country and others, and equipment supplied to them from multiple Nations. I, as well as others, have no problem with
the Afghan National Army serving alongside us, just like Americans, or
Dutch, or Brits, but Afghans who are not Canadian citizens have no place in our Army.
