Canada in Afghanistan
Is Canada worth dying for?
By Arthur Weinreb
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Last Friday the National Post ran a series of letters to the editor concerning Canada's role in the war in Afghanistan. The letters offered various viewpoints and were interesting; but not as interesting as the title that the Post chose for the group of letters – Is the Afghanistan cause worth dying for? Even though the word cause was added it seemed like the wrong question. What we should be asking for is whether or not Canada is worth dying for.
Both Germany (at least the former West Germany) and Japan prospered after they were defeated in World War II. The countries that emerged from the ashes of that conflict made Europe, Asia and the whole world much safer. The German and Japanese people were much better off after their countries were turned to rubble and then rebuilt than they were under their previous brutal dictatorships. But back then, none of the Allied forces talked about putting their lives on the line to benefit the "German cause" or the "Japanese cause". These soldiers didn't risk or sometimes make the ultimate sacrifice for some faraway people in a faraway land. They did what they did for their country; in this case, Canada.
But that was then and this is now. We live in a world of globalization and internationalism and more importantly, in an age of political correctness. Every other country and culture is as important as our own. It's even politically incorrect to believe that the men and women who are risking and sometimes paying with their lives are doing what they are doing for Canada and the protection of its citizens. They're not really fighting a war; they're helping the Afghan people.
If there is a clear purpose to why Canada has troops in Afghanistan, politicians refrain from stating it. The objectives in World War II were clear; to defeat the enemy in order to protect our way of life. We still have that objective but no one will really say so in such blunt terms.
Defeating the enemy, the Taliban, is not as important as our exit strategy. Getting the job done, assuming that we even know what that job is, pales in comparison to the real question – when are the troops coming home? This is consistent with today's society when the key issue to any job is what time do you get off work. Putting in time for NATO and going through the motions are more important than achieving actual objectives. Pulling the troops out is more important than what the troops are actually doing. The date when Canadian troops will leave that country is the key issue in the war and will be a key election issue if our troops are still there when Canadians next go to the polls. This date is today for the NDP, February 2009 for the Liberals and whenever it is the most politically advantageous to the governing Conservatives.
Our political leaders lack the will to frame the war in terms of killing the enemy, the Taliban in order prevent Afghanistan becoming an uncontrolled base that will be used by terrorists to attack the West and yes, that even includes Canada. So instead of talking about winning and defeating the enemy, we talk about rebuilding and helping the Afghan people. That's the politically correct thing to do. It ceases to matter that our soldiers risk their lives to build a school that the Taliban end up tearing down anyway. It makes the powers that be, feel good about themselves and that's really what it's all about.
It's really not surprising that the war is always framed in terms of Afghanistan and the Afghani people rather than Canada and Canadians. It's no wonder that the National Post headline made it seem that this war is all about Afghanistan that has nothing to do with Canada.
The question that we should be asking is whether Canada is worth dying for? Perhaps we're too afraid to ask it.
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