Earlier this year, The Senlis Council called Canada’s foray into Afghanistan a “suicide mission”. Today, the Council, which is a security and development policy group based in the U.K., says that the mission in Afghanistan is failing. An excerpt from its press release:
The Taliban frontline now cuts half-way through the country, encompassing all of the southern provinces, including Kandahar where over 2000 Canadian troops are deployed. Senlis Afghanistan reports that five years after the 2001 US-led invasion, a humanitarian crisis of starvation and poverty has gripped the south of the country and that the US and UK-led failed counter-narcotics and military policies are responsible. The subsequent rising levels of extreme poverty have created increasing support for the Taliban, who have responded to the needs of the local population.
Taliban’s return to power is a direct consequence of the flawed approach that the US-led international community has taken in Afghanistan since 2001
“When you first came here we were so glad to see you. Now we have lived with you in our country for five years and we see you tell a lot of lies and make a lot of false promises,” says a former Mujaheedin commander from Kandahar quoted in the Report.
The latest report from the Council also references Canada, with a section that seems straight out of the playbook from Jack Layton and the NDP:
Canada faced with pivotal role in Afghanistan
Canada has a vitally important role to play in Afghanistan. The high level of expertise that Canadian troops can contribute is critical to reconstruction in Afghanistan, but should be used in a radically different way to stem the vicious circle of violence in the country. Canadian troops would have more of a positive impact if involved in stabilisation and humanitarian poverty relief.