Mission of Folly

(Letter from the Annapolis County Spectator)

Mission of Folly - Why Canada Should Bring Its Troops Home From Afghanistan, by James Laxer, is a must read for anyone interested in Canada's Afghanistan mission (it can be downloaded free in three minutes at www.straightgoods.ca/PDFs/JamesLaxer/Mission-Folly.pdf).

James Laxer covers the crucial factors in unusual ways.

We know for instance that the Taliban have easy access to Pakistan at the border: Laxer explains why this is and why it has not been stopped. He then asks, should Canadians risk their lives in a situation where a major ally is playing a duplicitous role?

On the human rights front, Laxer tallies the offenses of the forces which have invaded Afghanistan in recent years and finds no good guys.

Certainly not the US with its notorious display of rights abuse at Guantanamo where "enemy combatants" captured in Afghanistan have been detained illegally and tortured. But then, this war never really was about human rights. It was, and is, about establishing American dominance in the Middle East and in Central Asia through the use of military power.

This war is a civil war, like Iraq's, with the West lined up on the side of various tribal groups, mainly the Northern Alliance - no strangers to horrendous human rights abuse - to wipe out terrorism and poppies.

But both have increased. Does it make sense, asks Laxer, to send Canadian troops into such a conflict?

Most NATO countries have answered by declining to participate in NATO's combat missions in Afghanistan and their commitments are not expected to continue beyond the withdrawl of American troops. But it apparently makes sense for Stephen Harper who sees our mounting military casualties as the "price of leadership that comes with playing an increased role in global affairs." It fits too for Michael Ignatieff, awed that the most powerful military force in the world can bring "free markets, human rights and democracy" (note the order) to such countries as Kosovo, Bosnia, and Afghanistan.

What to do? Withdraw of course, the military component, and increase reconstruction assistance to Afghanistan to the level of our current military spending there. We owe them that. Withdraw and pursue a more independent foreign policy, not one that is "hopelessly compromised by support for the failing global policies of the Bush administration."

One that will once again increase our POSITIVE influence in world affairs.

To this end Laxer, political scientist, proposes establishing a Canadian School of foreign policy to reflect the challenges mounted by cultural and political movements within our country against American domination. It would promote the survival of a sovereign Canada within North America based on the values to which Canadians are committed.

Laxer tasks the second tier, non-nuclear countries such as Canada with reconstituting under the UN a "Responsiblity to Protect" mandate to be engaged in clearly defined cases of humanitarian catastrophe. The resulting "layer of power" could arguably lead to...a safer world!

Judy Kennedy

Granville Ferry

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