Hi Mogz.
Did we declare war on Afghanistan? I never heard the speech where we declared war on Afghanistan. I thought we were suppose to be there to help them, not destroy them. Or did you forget that?
We're not at War against Afghanistan, we're at War against the Taliban, and yes we did declare War on them, back in the fall of 2001. A week later troops flew out of Edmonton bound for Afghanistan. Of course we're not there to destroy Afghanistan, we aren't at War with them as I said just a few moments ago.
No, rather our mission has been to help with creating stability in Afghanistan so that they could make a peaceful transition towards a new stable democratic government. Hence a peacekeeping role. I’m not sure why you are having trouble with the term ‘peacekeeping’. Peacekeeping doesn’t omit the possibility of combat, but for our mandate with Afghanistan, ‘combat’ isn’t the objective. Again, we are suppose to be there to help them, not fight against them in a general sense. You realize the difference I hope.
Actually our role, as defined to me when I sat at the Lecture Training Facility at CFB Edmonton with 600 other soldiers, was to and I quote:
You are leaving this great nation to promote the security of Canada by stopping the Taliban from ever regaining a foothold in Afghanistan. While that does indeed remain our first and foremost object, we mustn't forget the needs of the Afghan people. We are lucky in being Canadians. We enjoy a freedom and prosperity that Afghans can hardly fathom. While you're over there you must do everything you can to help these people. Only by destroying the Taliban and aiding the people of Afghanistan can we fully restore order to a nation that has long since forgotten the meaning of the word. By doing so we will ensure security for our nation for generations to come.
Our mission, as I said, was never peacekeeping. We have never worn the blue beret in Afghanistan, waved the U.N. flag, or been confined by U.N. Rules of Peacekeeping Engagement. We deployed in 2001 as a combat force and have maintained a combat initiative ever since. I have nothing against peacekeeping, but being a soldier, I accept that there are times that peacekeeping either does not work or can not work. In Afghanistan it is impossible to maintain a peace that doesn't even exist. Afghanistan is a warzone. Having been there, been shot at, had my camp mortared in the middle of the night, I fully understand what we're doing over there. Unlike Bosnia in the late 90's and early 21st Century, people in Afghanistan are trying to kill us. With regard to peacekeeping not omitting combat, yes it does eleven. U.N. Peacekeepers are not combat soldiers. When a Country deploys soldiers to a region in aid of peace, they deploy with minimal weapons and heavy armor. The rules of engagement are dictated by the U.N. and not able to be broken. I have friends who served in Rwanda and were forced to watch Hutus butcher Tutsi women because they
COULDN"T engage. Yes we are there as one aspect of our deployment to help Afghans (and we do), but our chief mandate is to close with and destroy militants, hence we Canada just launched a major operation in to the mountains near Kandahar consisting of hundreds of troops.
Some articles you should read:
http://tinyurl.com/ft8nd
http://tinyurl.com/ew5od
Your comparison to World War II is way off. We run a closer risk to being in a more Vietnam situation if things spiral downward.
I never compared Afghanistan to World War II. I pointed out how disgusted I am with Canadians who lack the stones to stand up for their own safety and well-being.
If the population appears to be fighting against us, then we become an oppressor. A military occupation that tries to impose it’s will. Since you like to reference history, look up the military occupational attempts on Afghanistan by other countries and notice how much of a failure they were. And remember, the USA wanted to bring democracy to Vietnam and give support to the population that was pushing democracy. We all know how that ended.
Once again you show an utter lack of understanding of the Afghanistan mission. The population isn't fighting against us (the vast majority of insurgents are from outside of Afghanistan). First and foremost we have been invited to remain in Afghanistan, in fact today the President of said nation publically thanked all Canadians for their funding and their sacrifice. I served around 8 months in Afghanistan and I never had a problem with the people of that nation. Many were happy to see our LAV roll up and couldn't wait to talk to us. Children would run from their houses screaming "Hello Canada HellO!". I sat with a baker in a small village once for almost 20 minutes while he explained to me the history of his family and how they'd fought the Russians. Afterwards he had his son bring out loaves of bread for us to take back to the camp. My section commander told him that he didn't need to offer us anything and he said he knew he didn't
HAVE to, but he wanted to. He said that because we were there his children had the chance to grow up free and without fear of Taliban law. He thanked each of us personally and every time my section returned to that village he always rushed out to greet us, it was like he was an old friend. You cannot compare the attempted Russian occupation of Afghanistan to what we're doing there. First as I said we have been invited, the Russians weren't. Secondly we aren't at War with the average Afghan, we are at war with a small group of Afghans that have oppressed their people for years. In short the people there appreciate us and everything we've done for them.
As for a debate, we are a democracy. What example does it send where we won’t allow a debate about these issues while at the same time we are in a country trying to create a democracy? The only thing truly ‘weak’ is to not having the courage to practice the principles we espouse on others.
We are not a true democracy. Yes we have democratic process, but the every day Canadian is not a part of the decision making process. I have always maintained that a debate is pointless, not forbidden. I think debating something that has been going on for over a half decade now is pointless and a waste of time.
911 was also not carried out by a country. It wasn’t an act of war by one country against another. Rather it was carried out by a small group that was part of a small organization who was clever at blowing things up to make a political statement. Afghanistan was the target however because country’s leadership allowed itself to harbour those who perpetrated 911.
Ignorance must be bliss. That small group you speak of was the
GOVERNMENT of Afghanistan. They didn't simply let Al-qaeda operate in their nation, they funded them outright. If the Canadian Government goes out and blows up some major target in the States, that is seen as the action of our nation. The same goes for Afghanistan. we moved in in 2001 to take out a rogue Government that outright attacked us (Canadians were killed on September 11th you do realize). Afterwards through a democratic election, Afghans chose their leadership. We are there to hunt down the remnants of the Taliban to ensure they never resurge. Get your facts straight.
imposing a different political system on a country is a different matter all together. The population has to really want it for themselves.
We imposed nothing upon Afghanistan. They defined their Government and layed out the rules for the election. We simply provided security.
