After 12 long painful and difficult years Canadian forces have left Afghanistan. We lost more than 150 service personnel. Hundreds were dreadfully wounded physically Others were horribly wounded mentally.
The original aims of an Afghan war were to catch some bad guys and help the country so that the people could stay away from the bad guys. And yes, we wanted to establish a democracy with all the institutions we have. We also hoped to leave some infrastructure for the citizens to use. Has this happened? Our form of democracy and institutions were completely foreign to the Afghans. Their culture and history did not contain any experiences which would allow them to practice democracy.
As time went on we could see that the opposition to western forces was much bigger than had been estimated. It became a matter of hanging on and not getting beat up badly. Some of our allies pulled out much earlier in the war. This created a greater challenge for those who were left.
Canada paid a huge price for participating in the Afghanistan war. It was something we could not afford. Many of our other projects were put on hold and will probably never be built.
The war was entered into with more bravado than good sense. The enemy proved to be much tougher than was thought. The PR job with the locals was poorly done or not done at all so we upset people rather than get them on our side.
I did not want to see us get involved in the Afghan war. We would be interfering in a country more than anything else. Yes, the Taliban were evil to their own people. It will only be a short time before the Taliban are back.
So it is with mixed feelings that I see our troops come home. Our troops were brave and suffered extreme hardship and they should be honored and remembered for their efforts. I'm appalled at our government's treatment of the veterans. Steven Harper's government has cut a number of extremely important veteran services. It's cowardly on the part of our government to expect troops to serve and when they are finished neglect them.
I hope that this situation will never happen again. We should have learned that certain operations are completely useless.
there is no winning here.
ReplyDeleteVery true.
DeleteWe in the USA thank the Canadians for their sacrifice and service.
ReplyDeleteWe had a purpose for going into Afghanistan, to root out terrorists after 9/11, but then we abandoned the job there when we wrongly stumbled into Iraq. The prolonged involvement in both countries became a costly failure from which we are still trying to extract ourselves.
It was very costly in many ways. I hope that it can be resolved financially.
DeleteThe intention of all the countries involved are good, but as you said, it is not long before the evil forces are back on their own ground. A sad situation.
ReplyDeleteAs the first commenter sid no one wins.
DeleteI agree with both Linda and Theresa. It's an awful thing that so many young people have suffered for a cause that will continue to haunt us for decades. I'm glad for the ones who came home and feel exactly the same about the treatment of our veterans here in the US.
ReplyDeleteHere, many of the service people went for 3 or 4 terms as our armed forces is very small.
DeleteThe answer is very simple - no-one has triumphed in Afghanistan - history will show that - maybe, just maybe, they, the combined forces (NATO) under US Command,may have come to their senses???
ReplyDeleteA waste of good men. All they had to do was blockade the Country - no-one in, no-one out.
Corruption is rampant in the bloody place. I doubt if ever that Afghanistan will be on the list of places to visit by tourists!
Re: Your question on the last comment I made - simple answer - support your country - why buy oranges for example from Florida when we have oranges produced here.
I should imagine that tropical fruits - coconuts, papaya ( called paw-paws here), pineapples are NOT grown in Canada, so you have to buy the imported produce.
That's fair enough.
Do you buy from Supermarket shelves in the meat department - Australian, Argentinian or European beef, when Canada has excellent beef produced there????
Each trade agreement is different and some are pretty weird. We don't have foreign beef as far as I know. We do have foreign honey. Most of our honey comes from New Zealand and I think Australia. We have lots of honey here but they undercut our price.
DeleteYes it was a total waste of lives, money and time.
ReplyDeleteWe helped to reign hell on a country because Pres Bush lied and his best pal Stephen Harper wanted to shine in his eyes, so said, "Sure, I'll send our peace loving troops" out to protect and kill. We always have been a peace loving Nation, long known for this and our kind acts. I feel sorry for the families that lost family and the broken soldiers that came back to discover that the same Stephen Harper broke their programs so they could and still have not repaired physically and mentally - and still this same great leader of our country belittles the Veterans.. I think Red, that the losses for all countries that participated do not right the outcome. The situation will probably happen again if under his rule because its all about greed and who makes a buck. Thanks for a great post.
ReplyDeleteWe have to get rid of this evil guy.
DeleteI agree totally with Linda above. We thank your men and women for their service. Let us all learn from this. We can force a nation into democracy.
ReplyDeleteWe need calmer heads all the way around.
DeleteI, too, hope this situation never happens again. I am glad that they are coming home.
ReplyDeleteI hope things do improve in Afghanistan but I'm not optimistic.
DeleteSad to solve problems with violence, but it has continued for centuries.
ReplyDeleteYou could finish your statement and say it will probably continue for more centuries.
DeleteIt's hard to think that so much blood and treasure went for nothing, because as you say it's only a matter of time before the Taliban returns.
ReplyDeleteI am glad your boys are coming home, I hope your country takes better care of it's Veterans than we do here in the USA.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately veteran's programs have been cut here as well.
DeleteWell said, Red! I totally agree!
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteI'm in agreement with you. War never really solves much.
ReplyDeleteAfghanistan is a good example because historically many countries have got into big trouble in Afghanistan.
DeleteDuring those years, I lived in fear that my son would be sent to Afghanistan. I saw too many come home on the Highway of Heroes.
ReplyDeleteYou must have been terrified during that whole time. My son was in the forces for the first Iraq war. I was worried as it was not clear what might happen.
DeleteI totally agree with you.
ReplyDeleteThe whole thing was futile and hugely costly, in lives and materials. The history of Afghanistan should have made that clear from the beginning.
You hit the nail on the head about Afghanistan's history. Many countries have come to grief in Afghanistan.
DeleteThere have been a few good wars (WWII) for example. Many bad wars. Then some really dumb ones. Afghanistan was dumb. Iraq ever dumber. Kill a few mad terrorists you can clearly identity fine. Invading countries in wars of choice and creating enemies by the millions is the height of stupidity.
ReplyDeleteI could not agree with you more, Red.
ReplyDeleteYes, I'm glad they are coming home. They have a warrior tribal culture, and there was no way to combat that.
ReplyDelete