Royal United Services Institute of
Vancouver Island (RUSI-VI)

What every Canadian should know about Afghanistan

By Shelley Lipke

How much does the average Canadian know about what Canadian troops and civilians are doing in Afghanistan?

After years as a defence analyst and involvement with Afghanistan, retired air force Brigadier-General Don Macnamara is baffled by the lack of public knowledge among Canadians, and wants to educate people on what is not being covered in the media.

BGen Macnamara was deputy-director of strategic policy planning when the Russians invaded Afghanistan in 1979; thus he visited the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area and mujahedin camps in 1982, and again in 2006 and 2008 with a group of defence analysts.

"The situation in Afghanistan affects Canadians more than just our troops being there, our own Canadian security depends upon it," said BGen Macnamara at the Union Club's speaker's luncheon on Nov. 17.

"It's in a nasty neighbourhood," he added, referring to the six nuclear armed countries surrounding Afghanistan..

Bordered by Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, China and Iran, Afghanistan has a 30-year history of war beginning with the 1979 invasion by the Soviet Union. It has evolved into a multitude of problems. Al Qaeda, Taliban, drug (poppy growing) interests, warlord power interests, highway robbers, kidnappers and common criminals; all play a daily part in Afghan society.

"Imagine a circumstance where there is simply no income, and no way to feed your family, people get desperate and resort to kidnapping for ransom. When order, security and economy collapse, people do what they need to survive, and threats are an imminent part of life," said BGen Macnamara.

About the size of Manitoba, but with the population of Canada, Afghanistan has many problems. A literacy rate of 42 per cent affects the population that is trying to pick up the pieces following years of warfare, to rebuild their economy.

"It has many issues, but has already made significant progress since our involvement," said BGen Macnamara.
Canadians have been involved in over 20 UN and other missions in Southwest Asia (from the Nile to the Indus) since the end of the Second World War. Since 2001, as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, Canada played a role to rid the country of Al Qaeda, and to track down Osama Bin Laden. Then in 2003, Canadians provided security to Kabul and assisted the return of the government, and in 2005 the mission took on a security-governance and development assistance role in Kandahar province, as part of the NATO International Security Assistance Force, explained BGen Macnamara .

"In 2006 when I visited Afghanistan it was a pile of rubble, but when I went back in 2008 the change was dramatic. Businesses were thriving, and people in cities showed no sense of insecurity," he says, attributing the success in Kandahar to the work of the Canadian Forces security force and the provincial reconstruction team.

British, Canadian, American and Dutch/German troops are helping the situation and have each established a Provincial Reconstruction Team in Southern Afghanistan. The Kandahar team involves 500 military and civilian Canadians, and is doing so well it's now being used as an example for all other reconstruction teams in Afghanistan.

Plus, the 2,500 Canadian soldiers and civilians are helping rebuild the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police to strengthen the country's security.

"From the beginning, our goal has been to establish security in the country so Afghans can live in peace and prosperity. Without security we can't help people," said BGen Macnamara.

In addition to strengthening security, Canada is providing humanitarian aid, strengthening health care and providing basic services to rebuild the economy. Canadians have provided for Afghan children vaccinations for Polio.

"A total of 7 million children have now received vaccinations through our polio eradication program. From January to September 2008, 20 new cases have been reported in the southern region, demonstrating a compelling need for the campaign. Canada is prepared to meet this challenge."

Canadians are also active in other areas, such as Bamiyan Province north of Kabul. A Canadian NGO, inspired by Flora MacDonald, and thanks to Canadians who purchased photocells at Canadian Tire, has helped several villages get electricity so people can read and go to school in light or darkness, said BGen Macnamara.

The Government of Canada, following the Manley report, has set 2011 as the year our troops leave Afghanistan. "We only have another three years there to provide security, but we are going to stay there a long time on the civilian side contributing to both governance and development."

BGen Macnamara spent 37 years in the Royal Canadian Air Force and Canadian Forces, and spent the last half of his military career teaching strategic planning and analysis. He is still active in teaching through the Canadian Forces College in Toronto, where he was appointed Honorary Colonel. He serves on the Air Command Advisory Council and Board of Governors of the Royal Military College. (BGen (Ret) Macnamara is a director of RUSI VI.)

? LOOKOUT CFB Esquimalt, Dec.1, 2008 ...(*)Afghanistan