NB: These excerpts are condensations from the Senate Report on Afghanistan - see original for exact wording.

ANSWERS ARE NEEDED:
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.


AFGHANISTANS “NEW GOVERNMENT”:
Whatever changes are made here are going to take many generations to effect, and any early reforms are unlikely to present Canadians with the kinds of successes that might easily be seen to justify our involvement in Afghanistan.

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

Afghans are used to killing– they have been in a state of war for most of the last two centuries.

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

Afghan government officials are notoriously corrupt at all levels. It is a pipe dream to believe that this deep-seated tradition will go away overnight.

If we aren’t willing to hang in for the long haul what will have been the point of our efforts?


MAKING A DIFFERENCE:
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.

NATO troops may see themselves as defenders - but are the Taliban more repugnant than foreign troops (who have been despised each and every time they have come to Afghanistan over the past two centuries)?

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

The death of many innocent people and the destruction of property are undermining efforts to portray our troops as “the good guys.”

Only when our military is seen to be there to assist rather than conquer, is there any hope that we can start being seen as a positive alternative to the Taliban.

Canadians we talked to strongly suggested that Afghans will always tell foreigners what they want to hear, which may have nothing to do with reality.

We met one Afghan police colonel who, said that the local population will simply wait until we disappear; that siding with the Canadians is a bad bet the way things are going; and that the incentives aren’t there to risk annoying those people up in the hills.

Unless the situation changes, most Afghans won’t have much trouble deciding which side to snuggle up to: the rich guys who aren’t foreigners; versus the foreign guys who can’t hide, who will eventually run out of time and patience, and who don’t pay big bucks.


WHY WE ARE INVOLVED:
...... To support our international allies;
...... To help one of the poorest countries in the world;
...... Because it was a training ground for terrorists who have disrupted our lives and economy.
...... We cannot let instability abroad ruin the prosperity of our country.


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

It is in our view doubtful that this mission can be accomplished given the limited resources currently being invested.

The kind of collateral damage and lack of developmental progress so far, (and the Taliban’s ability to retreat to and redeploy from Pakistan) makes success even more doubtful.

Ours is an enormously difficult task. Meanwhile, the task of our enemy is relatively easy - keep attracting disaffected people to their cause; use those people to disrupt reform; and persist for as many years as it takes for Canada and our allies to lose heart.

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.

If Canada is to give Afghans a better chance to live decent lives – then Canada and NATO must deploy more resources in Afghanistan and use those resources in a better way than we have done to this point. If this proves impossible, Canada should be prepared to consider withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan as soon as our current commitment ends.

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LINKS SECTION
Canadian Senate Report on Afghanistan – Condensed (4 from 10 pgs)
Canadian Senate Report on Afghanistan – Full Text

PRIVY COUNCIL REPORT:
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