Canada’s Continuing Role in the Occupation of Afghanistan
Recent opinion polls indicate that the majority
of Canadians are opposed to the presence of 2,300 Canadian troops in Afghanistan,
with a growing majority calling for their immediate withdrawal.The Harper government, however, has made
support for the Afghan mission one of the cornerstones of its foreign
policy.Prime Minister Stephen Harper,
Foreign Minister Peter MacKay and Defence Minister Gordon O’Connor have all
made high-profile visits to the troops.
Canadian troops have been on the ground in Afghanistan
for close to five years.While the
Canadian mission was originally scheduled to end in 2007, the Conservatives,
with support from the Liberal Party and some members of the BQ and NDP, voted
in May to extend the mission to 2009.
NDP Leader Jack Layton has recently tried to
capitalize on the growing tide of public opinion against the Afghanistan mission by stating that with
Canadian casualties growing (32 soldiers and one Canadian diplomat have been
killed in Afghanistan
since 2002) it is time to withdraw.The
Bloc Quebecois, sensing the Conservatives’ vulnerability on this issue in Quebec, has also begun
to openly call for the withdrawal of Canadian troops.The Liberal Party remains divided on the
question.
On October 7, 2001, under the pretext of
apprehending those responsible for the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, American and British forces
launched their assault on the people of Afghanistan.Targeting major cities, 50 cruise missiles
were launched from ships and submarines, while hundreds of tons of bombs were
dropped throughout the countryside.The
British and U.S. attack was coupled with a ground assault led by the forces of
the Northern Alliance which was controlled by warlords from the north of the
country and, at the time, was acting as the U.S. proxy army in Afghanistan. This
initial attack was neither sanctioned by the UN Security Council nor was it
accompanied by a formal declaration of war.In other words, the aggression was in complete violation of
international law and constituted an act of international terrorism.
Members of the Canadian elite paramilitary unit
J2T2 were deployed to provide assistance to British and American troops within
a week of the assault.In November, then
Defence Minister Art Eggleton officially announced the deployment of 2,000
ground troops, along with naval forces. This announcement coincided with the
Bush administration stating that it would not abide by the Geneva Convention on
the treatment of prisoners of war for captured suspected Taliban fighters, but
rather declared them to be “enemy combatants”.Under questioning in the House of Commons, Eggleton stated this would
not present a problem for the Canadians as they would not be apprehending
suspects but rather providing on the ground assistance.In January 2002, published photographs of
Canadian elite paramilitary troops (J2T2) with blindfold captives made it clear
that Eggleton lied to parliament.
In April 2002, two U.S.
pilots attacked a Canadian military training exercise near Kandahar, killing four soldiers.The Canadian public was outraged and the
2,000 ground troops were withdrawn.However, in December, as it became clear that the Americans were close
to launching an invasion of Iraq,
2,000 Canadian ground troops were again deployed in Afghanistan.
Since that second deployment, the number of
Canadian troops has steadily increased to the 2,300 currently stationed
there.According to the Harper
government these troops are assisting with the “rebuilding” of Afghanistan.However, in reality, the Canadians are solely
engaged in fighting Taliban guerillas, who have regained control of most of the
country over the last two years.The
Canadian International Development Agency, which was charged with providing
assistance to redevelopment efforts, pulled out of Afghanistan in 2005, citing
security concerns.