We have unfinished work

It is now clear that Canada’s next foreign military mission will be training Afghanistan’s military and police. But we will also be continuing on in our role in helping the population reconstruct a nation. It was part of our original mandate that morphed into a full battle group based in Kandahar. The battle group was a departure from the historical non-confrontational peace keeping missions that had been part of Canada’s history that began with the United Nations involvement in the Korean War.
We like to see ourselves as policemen, maintaining peace between two opposing factions, but even on many of our missions around the world, some of our peacekeepers have died as I was reminded listening to Cross Country Check Up on Sunday. Our soldiers, police officers, airmen, seamen have been involved in crisis’s in Cyprus, the Middle East, Haiti, Bosnia, the Congo, Cambodia, Viet Nam, El Salvador, Somalia, Rwanda and Angola to name a few.
We continue to have troops in countries besides Afghanistan around the world. And we also have NGO’s who provide services to nations and people throughout the world.
When Canada asked John Manley to do an independent review of Canada’s role in Afghanistan, he returned with a recommendation that after 2011, Canada would have to continue to provide aid and assistance so that the people of Afghanistan.
The Manley Report said that, “Canadian objectives in Afghanistan are both honourable and achievable.” The panel members went on to say that, “The aim there is not to create some fanciful model of prosperous democracy. Canadian objectives are more realistic: to contribute, with others, to a better governed, stable and developing Afghanistan whose government can protect the security of the country and its people.”
As the expected withdrawal date has come closer, more have asked what Canada’s role will be. Peter McKay and Prime Minister Harper have now explained that we will be trainers. The risks to our soldiers will be reduced, but not eliminated.
Our forces have had success in the country. Journalists, who worked outside the safety of military bases in the radio broadcast, spoke that residents of the country were well aware of the contributions of Canada’s military forces and government assistance to the country.
Our Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust has rebuilt schools, trained judges and lawyers, trained police officials. Our government programs have assisted in health related initiatives such as immunization of children to eliminate polio, and the donation of medical supplies.
Our nation committed to repairing the Dahla Dam and irrigation system, which will secure water to the majority of Kandahar’s population and stimulate agriculture and economic growth.
The United Nations has recognized Canada’s nation building work in Afghanistan, as have the people of the country. To abandon the work that our soldiers and government officials have put in place would be disastrous. We have unfinished work. We have schools left to build, teachers to train, court workers to develop and a nation of people who can be free to choose the type of government that they wish to be lead by.

–Jim Cumming,
Publisher