From the Government of Canada's main website, comes this affirmation of our nation's purpose in having Canadian armed forces waging war in Afghanistan. It provides a rather thorough explanation of...
Why We Are There
defend our national interests
We have a national interest in a secure and self-sufficient democratic state that never again serves as a terrorist haven.
ensure Canadian leadership in world affairs
Nation-building takes time and requires sustained support. Abandoning Afghanistan prematurely would have consequences for Canadian interests, international security and Afghans themselves.
help Afghanistan rebuild
Much progress has been made to date; but the work on the ground must continue. With the full support of the Afghan government, Canada is helping the Afghan people bring stability to their country, strengthen governance and reduce poverty.
The same page also offers some heartening data concerning some of the changes we've been able to accomplish by having our troops fighting in that nation for the last five years:
157,000 individual Afghanis receiving loans as part of Canada's commitment towards microfinance to Afghans.
63,000 former Afghan warriors disbanded as part of the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) program, to which Canada is the second largest contributor. These former guerilla fighters have turned in their weapons in exchange for training in peaceful trades such as farming and teaching. And speaking of teaching...
4.8 million Afghan children are back in school, including over one million girls, who were banned from even attending school while Afghanistan was under the bloody rule of the Taliban.
These stated objectives are entirely in keeping with Canadian principles and ideals: to help people help themselves, to make trading partners out of potential enemies, and to balance self-interest with public service.
In this mission we are opposed by the brutal forces of the Taliban. One thing is clear about the deadly enemies we face in our war in Afghanistan: they are not shy about revealing their blow-by-blow battlefield tactics to us, along with their overall war aims. There’s a fellow named Qari Yousaf Ahmadi who pops up regularly in news reports out of Afghanistan, credited as a “spokesman” for the Taliban. (note that the media make no attempt to label his role for the Taliban with the Politically Correct tag "spokesperson"; even the media understand the unrelentingly misoginist workings of the Taliban).
To understand our enemies war aims, all we have to do is listen to them :
…a Taliban spokesman is vowing to step up attacks against Canadian and other NATO forces in Afghanistan.
"We will increase the attacks against NATO, Canadians and other foreign supporters in the south (of Afghanistan)," Qari Yousaf Ahmadi said in an interview with The Canadian Press.
The threat comes after four Canadians died and 10 were injured in intense fighting on Thursday with Taliban insurgents.
More suicide attackers from across the war-torn country have converged in the south to carry out strikes against non-Muslims, Ahmadi said.
"We have got more suicide attackers, so of course suicide attacks will be increased."….
The Taliban has recently stepped up its resistance to what it terms foreign occupying forces in southern Afghanistan.
Ahmadi said the insurgents would not single out one nation in their promised assaults.
"It is not a war among Afghanistan, America, Canada or the British," he said through an interpreter.
"It is a war between Muslims and non-Muslims. And I am sure that we will defeat them very soon."
The Canadian exit strategy for Afghanistan: enable a sustainable nation, one inhospitable to islamic terrorists.
The Taliban's exit strategy: kill all non-muslims, as well as any muslims who may help them, hoping instead to have Afghanistan reclaim its previous role as a home for islamic terrorists.
Where is the middle ground, between these two objectives? Where is the "peaceful, neutral" position, that critics of Canada's military presence in Afghanistan insist we place ourselves, by removing our troops?
Are we to negotiate a quota of non-muslims, along with a mutually-agreed-upon number of Afghan muslims attempting to rebuild their shattered nation, that the Taliban are to be allowed to massacre?
We must eliminate the Taliban for there to be any chance for peace in that region. We cannot negotiate a middle ground between life and death, growth and decay. Can we?
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