FOR ALL THE WRONG REASONS

By RAdm (Ret) Ken Summers

During the time of the recent Iraq war, I was surprised and puzzled by the Canadian decision to opt not to join our traditional allies, the United States and Britain, in Iraq but rather to commit some eight months into the future, to sending a large force to Afghanistan. Moreover, it was not to Kandahar with its large supported base in order to permit the US to re-deploy their forces to Iraq, but rather it was to Kabul to relieve the German forces and assume the leadership of the International Security Assistance Force.

On review by the CF, it was evident that we could not mount a true brigade HQ and subsequently had to request other NATO nations to help out with aspects of the HQ. This strange Afghan decision, with little if any consultation with the CF, as you are aware led to the resignation of MGen Cam Ross.

Intrigued by this decision, I sought the reasons for the Canadian decision and have come to the conclusion that they were ones of political convenience.

One perhaps surprising reason was the Quebec election. Had Canada committed to joining in the war in Iraq, the federal government believed they would be giving the PQist Bernard Landry an issue that would be of significant benefit to the PQ in that election. The federal Liberals, and the PM, in particular, waged a career long campaign against the PQ. The PM deeply wanted them out of power in Quebec when he retired. Thus the decision to go to Afghanistan was timely politically and personally for him.

A second reason stemmed from Canada’s less than ideal political relationship with the US. Rather than provide modest support to our neighbours to the south, Canada played the ‘always popular’ UN card and continued to pique the US at every opportunity.

Quite clearly there were ongoing discussions with the leaders of France and Germany and indeed, the statements by our PM were almost verbatim with those of France’s President Chirac. Grabbing at the decision to go to Afghanistan prevented having to openly decide the question of whether our forces would join our traditional allies by instead, supporting the UN diplomatic efforts of continued resolutions without the means to enforce them.

A reason that became evident as the Iraq war neared, and assuming that Canada had decided to join the coalition, was what we would reply to the US should they ask us what we had to offer in addition to our ships, that were already doing yeoman service in the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf. I believe that the government realized we had little else to offer. Our CF-18 aircraft did not have the long sought after laser-guided systems that permit precision-guided munitions to be used.

Aircraft dropping dumb bombs were not desired or required for Iraq. All the Air Force could offer would have been a limited number of Hercules aircraft from an already tired and overworked fleet of aircraft.

Recall that our desirable Army units had just returned from Afghanistan with distinction and needed a much-deserved break. The Army simply did not have the numbers of those trained soldiers to replace that capability. Any unit we could have sent would have had to be "twinned" with a US or British force for support. But even if we had decided to join our allies, how would we have gotten our forces there?

The decision for Afghanistan was made so late that had we opted for Iraq, Canada had no way of getting our battle group there. Our inherent sealift and airlift capability were inadequate to say the least. And, our allies were already more overly committed trying to get their own forces into theatre.

The decision to opt for Afghanistan meant not having to reveal the results of a decade of government under-funding of Defence. To avoid this revelation was simply political expedience. A debate on the government’s performance on Defence was not what the Liberal government wanted and was to be avoided at all cost.

Well, all that is hindsight. The decision was made to go to Afghanistan and we have sent well-trained soldiers from the Royal Canadian Regiment under the superb leadership of Gen Andrew Leslie. They are acquitting themselves exceptionally well under the most difficult of circumstances. We have now lost two soldiers, and realistically, we can expect to lose more. Their work in Afghanistan is important for Afghanistan, for Canada, and for the world, and they will do it in the finest traditions of the Regiment, the Army and the CF.

But, I guess I am still bothered by the fact that, notwithstanding their efforts, they are there for all the wrong reasons. _

RAdm Ken Summers is a RUSI of VI member.

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