True North is dedicated to the concept of Canada as a family. A sometimes turbulent and unruly family. But a family nevertheless. We sometimes air and resolve our differences with much tumult and shouting but mostly it’s all in good faith for common cause. At least we hope it is.
It’s in this spirit that we have devoted this issue to the matter of Canada’s involvement in Afghanistan. Some 66 of our brave young men and women have laid down their lives there. They deserve our respect.
We offer today a statement of condolences by General (Retired) Ramsey Withers regarding the death in Afghanistan of Captain Mathew Jonathan Dawe, one of the six Canadian soldiers killed in action on July 4, 2007. We also tender our own condolences on behalf of True North readers. We sincerely regret the violent end to the lives of young Canadians who were dedicated to the letter and spirit of our democracy.
Also in the line up is a statement by the Conference of Defence Associations advancing the argument for Canada’s role in Afghanistan. It is a dispassionate document that provides links to positions positive and critical on the subject.
We have Lt.-Gen. Ray Crabbe (retired) a former deputy chief of defence staff who says that not time but the achievement of goals in Afghanistan should be paramount in deciding our future role in that beleaguered country. And then we have a three pieces that provide us with a background on Afghanistan, a profile of the current president, and a brief NATO statement justifying NATO’s role.
True North wants to provide all sides of the argument as fully and as fairly as possible.
Personally, I don’t think there can be any justification for our military presence in Afghanistan. We went there in a healthy spirit of 9-11 solidarity to help consolidate the American invasion. The Americans went there ostensibly to capture Osoma bin Laden. Once there, and with NATO and the UN involved, the U.S. virtually turned its back on that regime change and attacked Iraq. A bloody disaster if ever there was one. Now Canadians, among others, are holding the bag.
A key problem is that Washington is led by a bunch of amoral bullies that have gone regime-change mad. Bush and Cheney are itching to bomb Iran, and who knows who else may be next as these dangerous delinquents look feverishly about. But regime change has never worked.
Even Genghis Khan who established the largest land empire in world history, avoided regime change whenever he could. His policy was to approach a target and say, “Give us ten per cent, and go about your business in peace.” If the target accepted, then they were left alone to do business as usual with enough Mongols hanging around to make sure the ten per cent bargain was kept. On the other hand, if the target said no, the Mongols took umbrage and were quite prepared to slaughter any offender above the height of an axle.
In what Churchill called the sinister 20th century, millions died when Nazi Germany tried to foist regime change. After kicking the Nazis out of Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union tried to impose regime change there. In Western Europe the allied armies were cheerfully welcomed because the populace rejected the regime change that Hitler wanted to impose. The Soviet Union lost in its bid to impose regime change on Eastern Europe.
The moral is that you can pulverize a country with weapons of minor or mass destruction and you may kill a lot of people and cause a lot of property damage but you won’t win.
Regime change has got to come from within.
In some of the pieces you’ll find below, there are arguments made that we must restore democracy to Afghanistan. Restore democracy? They’ve never had democracy! What we’re trying to do there is impose our way of life on them. And it won’t take. For us to try, is to exercise extreme and blind arrogance that offends the deep historical roots of these people. The extent of our cruel and mindless approach to the problem was illustrated when NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, while visiting Quebec recently, compared the Taliban with the German Nazis. On serious examination very little could be more silly.
Maintaining an armed presence in Afghanistan is a waste or money, materiel, and worst of all, a terrible waste of young lives
Our approach to Afghanistan was developed on a justifiable whim of compassion. We should take a cold shower and get out now — just like Taliban Jack says.
Looking forward
Carl Dow
Editor and Publisher
True North Perspective
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