Canadian Senate Report on Afghanistan: Excerpted

Here are some excerpts from the text – with link to condensed and full texts

FROM: Excerpted: Senate Report on Afghanistan
http://www.vivelecanada.ca/article.php/20070214213339638

Anyone expecting to see the emergence in Afghanistan within the next several decades of a recognizable modern democracy ... is dreaming in Technicolor.

Chris Alexander (former Ambassador to Afghanistan) said it would take 5 generations of effort to make a difference in Afghanistan.

Canadians need answers to the following five questions:
...... 1 - What precisely is Canada’s role in Afghanistan?
...... 2 - What will define success for Canada in Afghanistan?
...... 3 - What are the realistic chances of achieving that kind of success in Afghanistan?
...... 4 - What costs are Canadians willing to pay to achieve success? ($30M/month - exclusive of salaries.)
...... 5 - Is Canada’s mission to Afghanistan currently being deployed in a way that gives Canada the best chance of achieving success?

Our troops deserve more than patriotic bumper stickers. Our troops deserve thoughtful assessments from honest and impartial observers as to:
...... 1 - why Canada is in Afghanistan,
...... 2 - what we can expect to achieve there,
...... 3 - what we cannot expect to achieve there, and
...... 4 - how best to proceed to try to ensure that the benefits outweigh the costs.

If our only mission is to distract the Taliban while our allies make progress on other fronts ... this hasn’t been properly explained to Canadians.

The Committee was impressed by the optimism of Canadian troops and their leaders ... but ... we found it hard to square that with reality.

Where Canada is trying to have its biggest impact – in Kandahar – life is clearly more perilous because we are there.

CIDA has a number of projects underway, but no one was able to show us. Journalists say they have seen some evidence of useful programs, but these appear to be limited.


AND LINKS TO:
Canadian Privy Council: Vast majority of Afghanis struggle for the "bare essentials of survival"
-The bleak forecast of the heavily censored report is at odds with recent claims by other Canadian officials
-It says the vast majority of the population still struggles for the "bare essentials of survival," just as they did in the days of the Taliban