Failure and futility in Afghanistan

      100 young lives wasted and for what. This is the price of ignorance and arrogance, of good intentions gone wrong. Having to make a decision to support an illegal war in Iraq and /or a questionable one in Afghanistan, the Chretien Gov't chose the latter, where they had the cover of NATO and the limited legitimacy it offered. Martin and later Harper continued the mission, even though it was evident that they were supporting a Karzai ( Pashtun ) government that lacked legitimacy even with the Pashtuns in the south, as well as the Hazaras, the Uzbeks and the Tadjiks elsewhere. Failure to understand the cleavages in a country is a recipe for disaster. Failure to learn from history dooms you to repeat the tragedy of history and failure to understand the terrain of a country lead to military defeat. Canada and NATO are guilty on each count and thus the inability to make headway and the resulting quagmire.

      Arrogance contribute to the fiasco. Having superior military fire-power does not mean that victory is assured. No miltary can defeat the will, and the determination of a people nourished with religious fanaticism. You cannot win victory from the air. The Soviets learnt this too late in their invasion of Afghanistan, and the Americans failed to learn from their Vietnam nightmare and are paying a heavy price on the ground in Iraq. The British who had tried to subjugate the Afghanis in the 1840s, used to say that you cannot buy an Afghani, you can only rent one ( one lesson taught to them by the Afghanis, which they seem to have forgotten, was the slaughtering 0f 9,999 of a contingent of 10,000 in 1840 between Kandahar and Jallalabad, leaving one alive to take back the message....Stay Away. Even Alexander was defeated at the Battle of Multan. Ethnocentrism/ Euro-centrism/ racism blind those who use it. None of the massive military machines..planes, tanks , humvees , armored carriers etc., have worked. The miltary option has failed. It is time to accept this. Negotiations with the diverse ethnic elements is the solution ( Isolate al Queeda and the foreign jihadists... the Afghanis would love to fight them ).

      Good intentions, if not carefully thought out can be disastrous, as is the case here. Building schools ,roads, hospitals and ensuring that girls are treated with respect and are educated , are all noble goals, but when you alienate a nation, by trampling on their values, you are doomed to fail and if anything, make the situation worse. Let's start over, but this time let us do it properly. Let us educate ourselves about Afghanistan. Learn their history, appreciate their values and beliefs, study the cleavages and know the country. Co-opt leaders who are willing to work with you. Use the Jirga Loya to create a collegial council to govern the people.Kazai has to go. He is tainted and not trusted

      Walk respectfully amongst them, and perhaps, these young lives woukld not have been lost in vain.