The Pros And Cons Of Canadian Involvement In The Afghanistan War

Canadian involvement in the War in Afghanistan has been the conflict that the current generation has grown up watching on television and reading in the papers. Canadian engagement began in early 2002 and just recently the last Canadian forces have withdrawn. This paper will look at a brief history of Afghanistan, development of mission goals, CAF operations, and challenges facing the mission. The primary purpose of this paper is to determine the goals of Canada in the Afghanistan War, and to determine if these goals where successfully completed. In late 1979 the Soviet Union launched an invasion of Afghanistan, for the next ten years the country would be occupied by Soviet forces. The wheels began to roll in Russia after Hafizuallh Amin came

In 2007 the Canadian Government released a document outlining thirteen problems facing the CAF and the mission in Afghanistan. Problem one is the warrior culture in Afghanistan. For the roughly the last two centuries the country has been in a state of war, which has developed a tolerance to killing, and being killed in Afghan culture. Problem two and three are the advantages that the locals have over NATO forces and the disadvantages that the visiting NATO forces have as being foreigners. Problems four and five are related to how limited time, difficult geography, and easily accessible safe heavens happens the effectiveness of the CAF. Problems eight, ten, eleven, and thirteen all deal with the cultural aspects and societal effects on attempted reform. If a negative view is perceived of the CAF, and corruption still dominates Afghan politics no progress can be made. Problem seven is that we are fighting a rich enemy, who has the ability to easily bribe and recruit the large majority of the population. Problems nine and eleven deal with the civilian cost of the war, and how it is too high. Also if Afghanistan is the test for the newly reform NATO, it is truly testing the alliance to its limits. The report also outlines what criteria needs to be used to identify the success of the CAF when dealing with these problems. Stability needs to be created in Kandahar Province to allow for economic and political development. Improved governance and crackdown on corruption needs to occur to counter many of these problems. The Canadian military mission in Afghanistan officially ended in March of 2014. 158 Canadian solders lost their lives over the twelve year conflict and war has estimated to have cost taxpayers nineteen billion dollars. Critics and scholars began to debate if the cost of the War in Afghanistan was worth it, and if Canada was successful with its goals. Understanding the historical context of