Stick With It In Afghanistan

A Canadian Senate committee whose members recently visited Afghanistan are suggesting Canada withdraw its troops from that country if other NATO countries don't step up the table and commit more of their soldiers to actual action.

France and Germany were particularly singled out for their refusal to release troops for service in more volatile parts of Afghanistan.

I can't really blame the Senate committe on national defence for coming to their conclusion. After all, it's the lives of Canadians in Afghanistan that are of prime concern to Canadian politicians and Canadians. And, it's absolutely true that Canadians have served in some of Afghanistan's most terrorist-ridden and violence-prone areas. Several dozen have died in the effort.

What is very sad is that Canada would suggest abandoning Afghanistan because countries like France and Germany are morally bankrupt when it comes to actually showing some backbone.

It's equally sad that one of the reasons Canadians would cease their commitment to Afghanistan after 2009 is because of very diverse opinions on being there in the first place. Too many Canadians seem to equate Afghanistan and Iraq. There is no comparison.

Afghanistan is one place where western intervention actually serves a purpose. Over the past 30 years, it's been ruled by warlords, Russian invaders and islamist fundamentalist crazy fucks. There are few people in Afghanistan today who've known anything but war, poverty and strife in their lifetimes. Now, it's a country making slow progress but in one key area it's made huge strides: educating people. Once you educate people and give them the ability to acquire knowledge and think for themselves, you will not stop progress.

In fact, if people would slow down for a second, they might realize there's some progress being made in a lot of areas. Al-Sadr just fled Iraq for Iran, which not only rids Iraq of the lead figure in blowing people to bits but also makes Iran's claims they had no involvement in Iraq's "insurgency" ring completely hollow.

Iraq also closed its borders with Syria and Iran, at least temporarily, another indication the Iraqi government may be feeling the heat.

North Korea might finally be brought to heel on its nuclear program. Apparently, the midget maniac finally ran out of Courvoisier and decided the sanctions were too tough.

The palestinians might also be feeling the pinch of sanctions. No one in their right minds actually believe the palis are serious about making peace with Israel, but at least Hamas isn't running their show anymore. A few well-placed assassinations in hamas headquarters and the situation could improve...

Meanwhile, Canada should really hold steady in Afghanistan. We need France and Germany to act more like Canada not for Canada to act like euroweenies. The world has enough of those already.