Back in 2001, the shock waves had barely abated from the horror of September 11th when George Bush announced his intent of invading Afghanistan to overthrow a regime openly committed to terror attacks on the West. The Taliban had gone from being the plucky rebels fighting the Communist hordes of Russia to being despotic overlords responsible for evil deed after evil deed.
But inspite of the propaganda, and whatever other agendas may have been pursued, it seemed at the time that the Taliban were something that the world should be concerned about. The people of Afghanistan, for whom survival has been an iffy proposition for the last twenty years, needed help badly. The country needed basic infrastructure rebuilt, educational facilities created, and some sort of hope for a better future.
It seemed like the perfect country to begin a sort of Marshall plan for the developing world. Where the original served to rebuild Western Europe in order to curb the spread of Communism, in Afghanistan hope for a better future would be the best deterrent against terrorism. Terrorist organizations don't just form overnight, or on the whim of one person.
Rather they require a generation of disaffected and despairing people, and opportunistic zealots who can give the masses something to live for. In the Cold War it was supposedly about economics and ideology; freeing the proletariat against free elections. Now it just feels like hatred in both directions and to hell with issues or causes.
But there are ways to make terrorism less attractive to the majority of people, just as there was a way to make Communism unattractive back in the 1940's. Give people hope for the future. Help them rebuild their houses, improve their irrigation systems so that their crops have a better chance of success, build roads so that their produce can get to markets. Instead of investing money in bombs to drop on them, invest in their industry so that jobs can be created. Show you care by investing in their people by rebuilding the local schools that had been destroyed.
Sure there will always be those who are dissatisfied, but they exist in every society – witness the bombing in Oklahoma City if you require any proof – but if we do our best we can at least remove popular support from their cause. Without grassroots popular support it becomes harder for groups like the Taliban to vanish into the villages of the backcountry because they won't be welcomed or supplied.
Article comments
1 - sfontaine
I cannot begin to count the ways that this article has it wrong. Maybe by declaring that Canadians are trained for peacekeeping (as someone who has gone through the training, and will be doing so more in the future I can tell Mr. Marcus that the training is centered on killing the enemies of Canada first and foremost) or by declaring that our Defence Minister knows nothing of the soldiers in the field, or of service and duty (Minister O'Connor is a former Brigadier General in the Canadian Forces, starting off as a Lieutenant in the Armour Branch).
To debunk this entire flawed article would demand an article all itself, and this isn't coming from a partisan supporter of the war, but a Canadian who has found many right out factual faults with this article.
2 - Perry
ya know, having been in Afghanistan for two years you would think i could just ignore this type of journalism. I've been here as part of both the presidential and parliamentary elections, neither of which were 'shams'. The work of dedicated international staff with local counterparts and most importantly the people of Afghanistan made both elections possible while meeting international standards.
our military was never 'trained for peacekeeping', our soldiers are trained to kill and fight wars, always have been. they are doing lots of killing right now so that development and infrastructure building can proceed safely. how else can that happen but with a secure stable environment? (you must have really cringed when i said 'killing'..)
try coming here to get an idea of what is really happening and then you might have something interesting to write. as a proud ex-soldier, i am here contributing to a better Afghanistan for the sake of the good people here and for the safety of all Canadians, you should try it sometime.
3 - SphinxMontreal
Funn how not one Canadian politician has explained to the public what exactly it is that Canadian troops are doing in Afghanistan. Yeah, they all use the feel good catch phrases like protecting democracy and buliding a better world, but this provides no specific information.
This article sheds some light on a multibillion dollar industry in Afghanistan that may play a role in what is going on there globalresearch.ca
4 - Kel
I have to agree with the first 2 post, I am not sure where Mr. Marcus get's his facts but I think most Canadians back this mission. I am far from a Conservative supporter but on this issue I do back them. Canada is apart of NATO and this is a NATO mission, and for anyone that calls for us to pull our troops out is crazy. Instead of showing no support it's time that all show them the support they need to help them finish this mission. When family's of the fallen soldiers public say that their son/daughter knew full well what their mission was and ask the rest of Canada to support the troops only goes to show that it is people such as yourself that dis-respect the rest. When you write your next article it should be what your views are not what you think the rest of us are thinking.