Afghanistan is honourable, despite troop losses

11th January 2010

By PETER WORTHINGTON

There's nothing like a dose of reality to shock people out of fantasy.

In a way, this is what happened when four soldiers and Calgary Herald reporter Michelle Lang were killed by a Taliban roadside bomb near Kandahar.

It immediately put on the back burner the wearisome dispute about Taliban prisoners captured by Canadians possibly being tortured or mistreated when they were turned over to Afghan authorities.

Why are we, in Canada, so worked up about what happens to those who are killing our people in Afghanistan when all we are trying to do is bring, peace, security, stability to the country?

The reality is that Canadians are not overly concerned about the fate of Taliban or al-Qaida prisoners. As long as Canadian soldiers are not doing the abusing, what Afghans do to each other is not high on our list of concerns.

It's the media and political opposition and professional humanitarians who keep the agitation going, not the Canadian people, whose sons and daughters are constantly at risk while trying to help the Afghan people.

Afghanistan is not Somalia where, to the dismay of the country, Canadian soldiers were culpable in the torture-death of a young thief.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has prorogued Parliament until March, in part to nullify the opposition's fixation on whether Afghanis tortured or mistreated other Afghanis, and whether generals and government politicians knew this was happening.

What nonsense. Of course they knew. Who doesn't know that being abused is the fate of losing or being a captured enemy in that part of the world?

Instead of running from trouble, as proroguing Parliament looks to be, the PM might have been more candid and said what most Canadians probably feel -- that we are concerned how our soldiers treat prisoners, not about how Afghanis treat prisoners conditioned as they are by centuries of cultural vengeance.

And polls in Canada are misleading. Ask any Canadian if he/she approves of torture, and the answer will be a resounding "No." Asked if we think Afghanis should torture prisoners, we would also say "No."

But ask if we are concerned that people caught trying to blow up or kill Canadian soldiers may be treated roughly by Afghanis, most Canadians would likely answer that they deserve it.

As of this writing, 140 Canadians have been killed before their time in Afghanistan since 2002. That statistic has prompted the Globe and Mail's John Ibbitson to ask: "Is the Kandahar commitment turning into a failure or can it still be rescued?"

Is he saying that success hinges on whether or not Canadians get killed? A better question might be whether any mission is worth risking Canadian lives.

Put in perspective, 140 killed in Afghanistan since 2002 compares with some 36,000 Canadians who committed suicide in that time frame, 24,000 who died in traffic accidents and nearly 4,000 who drowned.

Any unnatural death is an individual or family tragedy. But soldiers are a bit different. They are serving their country, know the risks involved and do what is required of them. Like police and firefighters, theirs is an honourable role.

Who knows if Afghanistan will succeed? But it is a worthy cause. The way Afghanis treat Afghani prisoners is a relatively low priority --- or should be.