The War in Afghanistan is often forgotten in America against the backdrop of the violence in Iraq and the almost daily list of casualties from that war. In Canada, however, Afghanistan and the war there have taken center stage in Canadian foreign policy and defense issues.
Canada, like the rest of the NATO allies, rushed to help the U.S. in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, joining the American military in liberating Afghanistan from the Taliban and its al-Qaida allies. As the warfare in Afghanistan starts to ratchet up again this spring/summer, Canada, which does not support the war in Iraq, is facing increasing casualties and is looking at those European NATO allies who they feel are not doing their part to help out with combat duties in the war.
2,500 Canadian troops serve in Afghanistan, and the government recently extended their mission until 2009. 54 Canadian troops have perished since 2001, which is quite a few, considering that Canada is more used to seeing her soldiers in peacekeeping roles than in actual combat. The last major war with Canadian involvement was Korea, over fifty years ago.
So, what is the solution to the issue of the other allies, those with troops there, but who decline major combat roles, (see previous post on Dutch forces in Afghanistan)? With hindsight, it is clear that the U.S. and the Allies should have put more combat forces in the fight early in the war to truly smash the Taliban, not just drive them back in to the mountains and over the border to Pakistan. Hindsight is nice, but it does not solve the problem. NATO should make a concerted effort to flood Afghanistan with combat troops, engage in a major offensive that does not end with the beginning of winter, and truly pressure Pakistan to end the Taliban’ s presence over the border. Canada is right…the other allies need to step up in order to win this war.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/23/world/americas/23canada.html
Jeremy
December 28, 2007 at 4:35 pm
I hate to break the news but the Netherlands are working side by side with the Canadian Armed Forces and are putting more effort to support the Canadians as we have a close and friendly history with each other, also Iam a member of the armed forces and Canadians who disagree with the war should not jump to conclusions. We are doing combat roles and assisting the people of that nation to learn,help women recieve their rights,building-roads,schools,bridges.also.If you look up facts and know history you will also know that Canadian Peacekeepers were involved in intense violence during the late 80’s to early 90’s in a place called Medak Pocket (Bosnia)I wish people would get the facts right before starting a website such as this without the proper information
History Guy
December 28, 2007 at 7:06 pm
Jeremy,
I am not sure how you read my post on Canada’s war in Afghanistan, but I intend no disrespect to Canada or the Canadian military. You are right that I should have included more detail on Canada’s peacekeeping combat roles, but Afghanistan IS Canada’s largest combat operation since Korea. It is well-documented that the vast majority of actual combat in Afghanistan is waged by the Americans, British, AND the Canadians. The Dutch, French, etc. generally avoid major combat. All of the allied forces engage in nation-building activities like the ones you mentioned, including, of course, the Canadians. The nation-building, humanitarian actions of the allies were not the emphasis of the post I wrote.
Oh, and as to your comment on the Medak Pocket, the battle that took place in September of 1993 in the Croatian region known as Krajina; yes, the Canadian army proved itself made of much sterner stuff than other UN/NATO forces, such as the Dutch. While the Dutch decided to not fight, and allowed the infamous Srebernica massacre in Bosnia to occur, the Canadian military fought the Croatians to a standstill. While the Canadians could not prevent a massacre in the nearby Serb villages, at least they tried; our friends the Dutch did not.
Canada is doing her part to help the Afghans resist the Taliban and al-Qaida. I wish the other NATO allies had the same resolve and the same clear vision of what needs to be done, as exemplified by the U.S., the UK, and Canada.
Kyle
November 3, 2008 at 4:39 pm
I am doing a project about september 11th, and I need some info on how Septmeber 11th put Canada into the afghan war – any thoughts? and go canadian military. I am from a little town, Simcoe, just south of toronto. I am proud to be canadian