They've Been Doing It Since Way Back

One pundit argues against Canada's proposed training mission in Afghanistan because Afghans already know how to kill each other.

Here’s an argument against extending Canada’s Afghan mission that you haven’t heard before, courtesy of the Toronto Star’s Thomas Walkom. He says sticking around to train Afghans how to fight is pointless because, as the country’s been engulfed in war for 30 years, everybody there already knows how to fight. It is a country where “every male over the age of puberty is a potential fighter and where Kalashnikovs are common household items,” writes Walkom. High marks for originality Mr. Walkom, but isn’t serving in a professional force a bit different than taking pot shots at the next town over?

The Montreal Gazette’s L. Ian MacDonald applauds the idea of extending the Afghan mission, saying Parliament should pass a resolution to stay on when it reconvenes next week. Doing so is “the least we can do for Canadians in uniform, especially in the season of the poppy, when we honour their service and sacrifice.” In Afghanistan of course, it’s always the season of the poppy. As MacDonald notes, illegal opium is the biggest component of the country’s backwards economy, the government is corrupt, and warlords still rule the countryside. Still, he contends the war is worth fighting, “especially when the Taliban are considered as the alternative to” Hamid Karzai’s government. As noted in this space yesterday, commentators are showing a stubborn unwillingness to acknowledge the very real possibility that Karzai will make peace with Taliban, and the two will become allies, not alternatives, defended by a Canadian-trained army.

The Globe and Mail editors say the biggest impediment to success in Afghanistan might be Michael Ignatieff (don’t forget Taliban Jack!). “After giving principled, vocal support for an ongoing presence in Afghanistan,” writes the Globe, “(Ignatieff) has dissembled, asking a series of questions about government plans that obscures his own policy. His support is essential for the mission to have any chance.” Smart money says Iggy wouldn’t dare hold back support for the plan, even though Harper’s about-face on extending the mission has robbed the Liberals of one of the few policy ideas that differentiated them from the Tories.