ERIC MACFARLANE
Opinions Writer

Over the last nine years, Canada has spent between 10 and 19 billion dollars on its combat role in Afghanistan. Thousands of troops have deployed and over 150 have paid the ultimate price, as have a diplomat, a reporter and two aid workers.

Every spring, Taliban and foreign insurgents emerge from Pakistani and Afghan mountain hideouts with renewed vigour and numbers. And every spring, our newspapers and news channels are filled with the same stories of IED incidents, rising casualties and declining morale. Like most Canadians, I am growing weary of Canada’s current role in Afghanistan. I do, however, believe that the Canadian Forces should play a role in Afghanistan beyond 2011, by training the Afghan National Army and police service.

Departing Afghanistan outright would constitute an abdication of responsibility. The mission is sanctioned by the United Nations and Canadian personnel are there on the invite of the Afghan government. The Canadian Forces have spent the last five years trying to build trust and establish security in communities that depend on their protection. Diplomats and NGOs are actively trying to bolster democracy, and countless volunteers and CIDA employees are trying to bring infrastructure, health and education to the citizens of one of the most dangerous and impoverished countries in the world.

With these humanitarian goals in mind, we cannot simply leave Afghans with a security, democratic, legal and infrastructural void. A prosperous nation like ours has a responsibility to help build the institutions which will fill this void after the last troops have departed. I empathize with those who oppose violence, but if they are allowed to return to power, you can be sure that the Taliban will tear asunder the democratic and human rights — particularly for women — that Canadian Forces have helped to establish.

An extended training role would keep Canadian Forces out of the fray while empowering local forces to prevent such an atrocity from taking place.

Let’s also not forget that we are a committed member of NATO, which includes the United States and a number of European states. This alliance has been, and will likely continue to be, a crucial element of Canada’s security interests at home and abroad for years. We may not agree with American foreign policy pursuits, but the U.S. remains our most reliable ally and largest trading partner (by a long shot). Since the U.S. has repeatedly asked us to stay, maintaining a role in a training capacity would clearly be a boon to Canadian-American relations.

Many other NATO members have also encouraged us to stick around, not to mention the Afghan government. It would be diplomatically imprudent to ignore our international partners.

We also have to consider the viability of other alternative roles for the Canadian Forces if we were to leave. A good portion of Canadians would like to refocus our military efforts on peacekeeping, and I am certainly among them — but not at the expense of pre-existing commitments.

Additionally, peacekeeping carries a number of challenges which were altogether absent in previous missions. For starters, soldiers from less developed countries are increasingly adorning the blue helmets as the UN only gives about $1,000 a year per soldier — far lower than what a soldier abroad costs Canada.

Then there is the unfortunate truism that there is no peace to keep in Afghanistan, that it must be made in increasingly hostile environments like Congo. I am not suggesting we should avoid peacekeeping, but we can’t lie to ourselves about the contemporary nature of such missions.

Staying in Afghanistan, even in a training role, will not be an easy decision for Canadians to make, nor an easy mission for Canadian Forces to undertake should they be asked to do so. There is a great deal at stake and no certainty of success. Nonetheless, we should not turn our backs on Afghan citizens, NATO, and the United States, nor pretend that violent fundamentalism poses no threat to the Canadian way of life.

I don’t like the idea of fighting an American war any more than the rest of you, but cleaning up after them might be the best thing we could do. Our time for fighting will soon be over, but we should continue to help Afghanistan establish its institutions and security.

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image: Canadian Forces