Canada's military mission to Afghanistan began soon after the 9/11 attacks on the United States in 2001.

Although Canada had provided some limited humanitarian aid to Afghanistan prior to that point, about $10 million a year, many people believe that our military commitment was made as an alternative to joining the Americans in Iraq. We could rationalize a multilateral (NATO) engagement with al-Qaeda but not an illegal invasion of Iraq by U.S. led “coalition forces”.

At a conference on Afghanistan in Tokyo in January 2002, Canada made a major commitment to assist in the reconstruction of the war-torn country. Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs says Afghanistan is now "the single largest recipient of Canadian foreign aid." So far, according to Foreign Affairs, Canada has allocated a total of $616.5 million to Afghanistan for the period 2001 through 2009.

In February 2002, a battle-ready group from the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry was sent to Kandahar for six months to assist the United States and other NATO forces in their offensive against Osama bin Laden and elements of the Taliban and al-Qaeda in the rugged southern regions of Afghanistan.

From August 2003 to December 2005, Canada's military commitment was largely based in the capital, Kabul, as part of the International Assistance Force. The military objective was to provide intelligence and security to allow "rebuilding of the democratic process," something which eventually would lead to elections in the fall of 2005.

In July 2006, Canada assumed a military role in the southern part of the country, with more than 2,000 soldiers based near Kandahar. For six months ending on Nov. 1, 2006, Canada also held the command of one of the main military forces in the area, called Multi National Brigade for Command South.

In May 2006, members of Parliament voted to keep Canadian soldiers there for two years longer than previously planned. At least 70 Canadian soldiers have now been killed in Afghanistan. By the spring of 2007, the natives were getting restless. Liberal Leader, Stéphane Dion and Bloc Québecois Leader Gilles Duceppe called for the government to notify its allies that Canada will not extend its mission leading NATO troops in southern Afghanistan, past February of 2009. The NDP have demanded an immediate withdrawal.

Last Sunday, Defence Minister Peter MacKay said in a television interview that Canada has signalled to allies that they cannot count on our troops fighting in the Kandahar region past 2009. Mr. MacKay added that Parliament will vote on Canada's future role in Afghanistan after 2009.

A spokesman for Mr. MacKay, Dan Dugas clarified later that the Defence Minister had really meant that Canada has not sent a new signal to NATO, but rather that allies know that the current mission ends in 2009 and that a new vote must be held in Parliament to decide what Canada will do after that. Mr. Dion says Mr. MacKay's indication that our allies have been advised not to expect an extension of the Kandahar mission is an effort to suggest that it will end in 2009 - but without saying so unequivocally.

On Wednesday, Public Works Minister Michael Fortier (the unelected Senator from Montreal) said that all options remain open, including the possibility that the House of Commons will vote on a different mission for Canada in Afghanistan after 2009.

"Any renewal of the mission in its current form or another form will be subject to the approval of the Parliament of Canada," Mr. Fortier told Radio-Canada television.

On Thursday, NATO's top generals arrived in Canada for a meeting to map out Afghan strategy amid growing strains in the alliance over the increasingly bloody war in that country. The protracted battle to put down the Taliban insurgency has the Netherlands questioning their deployment of combat troops in the region.

General Ray Henault, chairman of NATO's military committee and former chief of Canada's defence staff, said the alliance has not received formal notice from Ottawa that it intends to end its combat commitment as scheduled in February 2009. He said the alliance anticipates there will be changes but has not begun the formal process of scouting out replacement nations.
The General said he hopes Canada will stay because progress is being made, but he also said there's no way to say when NATO will achieve it's objectives in Afghanistan. He sounds a lot like George Bush and his good news stories about Iraq.

The more immediate concern for NATO is the decision expected within weeks by the Netherlands, which has combat troops, helicopters and aircraft operating in Uruzgan province, north of Kandahar. The Dutch are expected to say whether their forces will remain in Afghanistan - a decision that could trigger a domino effect if they decide to leave.

The Australians, who are not members of NATO have about 1,000 support troops and combat engineers in Afghanistan but say they will not stay if the Dutch decide to leave. Such an exodus combined with the reluctance of Germany (they’re begging Canada to stay), Italy and France to commit their combat forces to fighting the Taliban could make a tenuous situation even more dangerous.

Canada has steadily increased its involvement in Afghanistan since the fall of 2001. According to Canada’s Department of National Defense, “Afghanistan is not, nor has it ever been a traditional peacekeeping mission. There are no ceasefire arrangements to enforce and no negotiated peace settlement to respect”.

The question today, is whether or not we are making a difference and whether or not the battle of reconstruction can ever be won?

Canada prides itself in being a peace-keeper. Fighting a war without a foreseeable outcome makes us uncomfortable. That’s not reason enough to cut and run but maybe its justification for a change in role.

W.E. (Bill) Belliveau is a Shediac resident and Moncton business consultant. He can be contacted at bill.bellstrategic@nb.aibn.com Atlantic Insight is a published Blog inventory of opinion articles published weekly in New Brunswick's print media as written by W.E. (Bill) Belliveau, who is a resident of Shediac, New Brunswick, and small business owner, operating his Moncton-based marketing consultancy, Bell Strategic. He can be reached by e-mail at mailto:bill.bellstrategic@nb.aibn.com