Word on the street is that the war can’t be won.
Last week, in an interview with the BBC, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev warned NATO against making the same mistakes Russia made in the Afghanistan.
“Victory is impossible in Afghanistan,” he said.
In fact, in a recent Angus-Reid poll, only six per cent of Canadians said they foresee a clear victory by U.S. and NATO forces over the Taliban.
Mission impossible, it seems.
Which is not surprising given that our own prime minister made similar comments to CNN more than a year ago. “We are not going to ever defeat the insurgency,” Stephen Harper remarked. “My reading of Afghanistan in history is that it’s probably had an insurgency forever of some kind.”
The two leaders are as far apart on the political spectrum as Ottawa and Moscow, but they do have at least one thing in common: both have seen their country’s troops endure decade-long deployments in the Afghan desert, with waning support from the people at home.
In the most recent poll on public support for Canada’s mission in Afghanistan, more than half the respondents – 55 per cent – oppose the war.
And it looks like those people will get what they want. Harper is resolute in the decision to withdraw Canadian combat troops from Kandahar Province, even in the face of increased diplomatic pressure from NATO to extend the mission.
The U.K. has already committed to staying until at least 2014, when it is speculated the Afghan security forces will take the reigns from NATO.
As with the precedent set in Germany, South Korea and Iraq, America’s construction of permanent military bases ensures that an American presence will be felt in the region for the foreseeable future.
In Afghanistan, post Canadian pullout, NATO’s war will be ongoing.
With the upcoming summit in Lisbon this month, perhaps it is time to honestly represent our national position on the issue to our allies.
If we truly feel that the war is unwinnable, as Harper has said, we should not be acting indifferent about a continued military presence in the region.
But far from being indifferent, Canadians are simply confused. More half the respondents polled said they felt that both the media and the government have provided too little information about the conflict in Afghanistan. As well only 53 per cent said they have a clear idea of what the war is all about.
Pretty pathetic numbers considering our politicians have had almost a decade to convince us that there is a reason we are fighting in the Muslim world.
There is one thing our government has chosen to be clear on: Canada’s July 1 pullout of troops is on track and according to Gen. Walt Natynczyk, chief of the Canadian defense staff, we will be fully withdrawn by the end of next year.
But that seems to be the only thing about our mission in Afghanistan that is apparent.
If military action isn’t working, then we need to find another way to help Afghanistan and perhaps it starts with being clear about our aims and intentions post-2011.