About us

The events prior to and post 9/11 in Afghanistan, are of a great interest to us, canadians. Our trio has recently taken a deeper look into Canada's involvement in that country, and have been able to conclude that we agree with our government's position. We strongly believe in and will support this position on our blog. We, Gregory, Éric and Dany, students of Collège Notre-Dame in grade 9, are using this blog to hopefully convince as many Canadians as possible about our position, as part of a school project. We also understand that Canada has been burning money, effort and lives since the beginning of its involvement in Afghanistan, although we think the advantages of Canadian presence there outweigh the costs. In our opinion, we have sufficient reason to support the pro position of this issue.


Welcome to our blog! We hope we will achieve our objective of persuading you.


Enjoy! !





Greg, Eric and Dany

About the mission: Canada's role in Afghanistan

Since the attacks on United States soil on september 11th of 2001, an American-lead alliance including Canada has been deployed in Afghanistan. The initial reasons for our participation were protecting our own national interests, assuming a role of leadership in international affairs and helping Afghanistan rebuild after decades of mayhem. However, the reason for the coalition's creation was to overthrow the Taliban, who are supporters of international terrorism, notably al-qaeda, who is responsible for the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks. From late 2001 to 2003, the Canadians' role was mainly to assist the Americans in patrol and anti-insurgency missions. In 2003, they took command of the new task force in charge of Kabul, the capital city. This operation ended in 2005, when it was determined that the democratic process in Afghanistan had been renewed and was on the right track. Following this, it was decided that Canada would take on a larger role in combatting Taliban insurgents in the volatile province of Kandahar. Since then, we have suffered almost 150 deaths and by 2011, the year we will be pulling out, this war will have cost Canadian taxpayers CAD $18,5 billion. Our current objectives using our aproximately 3000 soldiers stationed in Afghanistan and our financial and humanitarian support are, first and foremost stability, which englobes the training of Afghan forces, the purging of corruption and reducing the large scale production of opium by, in part, trading wheat for opium poppies. In additon, we are trying to sustain development in the country by building, offering services to the population, including its refugees, and providing employment opportunities. Finally, security remains one of our top priorities. This aspect encompasses combatting insurgents and terrorism and destroying their strongholds, and establishing intelligence agencies to monitor the hostiles trying to takeover the region. Today, there is large and fierce opposition to the presence of Canada and its alliance in Afghanistan, but our government has decided to stay until the end of 2011, providing financial and military assistance through federal funds and our current 2900 soldiers risking their lives for the continued pursuit of democracy.







Reference:





1.http://www.afghanistan.gc.ca/canada-afghanistan/splash.aspx

Opinion Post: Security Strategy

In the world, there are many problems related to rogue regimes and extremely different value systems. This type of conflict influences the vast plurality of countries around the globe and is very present in the Middle-East. Notably, the Taliban is a cause of this turmoil. Therefore, for the interests of the free world, countries like Canada and its close allies must intervene militarily. Islamis movements like the Taliban and its allies are, partly because of their very different values, hostile toward Western culture and states, and have demonstrated their strong will to attack western interests around them and abroad. Canada has a role to play in the prevention of such acts of terror. In this case, the best response is the military suppression of these terror groups, as they are not open to negotiation. Furthermore, we must remember the global conflicts surrounding the nuclear bomb. Pakistan, Afghanistan's direct neighbour to the East, possesses it. If the Taliban were left unscathed, it's rapid growth could easily enable it to overthrow Pakistan's government, as it already strongholds in that country's tribal mountain regions. The power over nuclear weapons in the hands of Islamist terror groups would immediately plunge the world into a deep security crisis. One way or another, the events following an immediate withdrawal of Canada's and its alliance's forces from Afghanistan could take centuries of recovery. Canada must remain until Afghanistan is ready to fight its own battles.





Greg Wise





Main source: Byers, M. (2006) Afghanistan: Wrong Mission for Canada Retrieved november 25th 2009, from The Tyee


web site: http://www.thetyee.ca/Views/2006/10/06/Afghanistan

Other links:
http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/PUB799.pdf
http://blog.canoe.ca/canoelive/2009/12/02/a_new_strategy_for_afghanistan

Opinion post: The Future

Canada has played a very important role in Afghanistan since the first attack of 9/11. We understand that this country has been burning money since the beginning of its involvement in Afghanistan. However, it is worth it to help this country. If we think cautiously, their only way to survive is to produce opium, which is a plant used to produce heroin, an illegal drug. We, Canadians, shouldn't just sit here and watch the Afghans die from hunger. We should help them until they're able to fight alone without the need of other countries across the world. In my opinion, if Canadians decide to withdraw, it is impossible for the Afghans to win the war. Their only chance would be joining the Taliban. Therefore, if this ever happens, the situation can be extremely dangerous because the Taliban might be a threat for western countries. Later, we won't be able to guarantee future world peace and security if we don't do something about it now. The circumstances in Afghanistan might not look that serious, but if we take a deeper look, very soon, it could be a disaster if we don't think warily. To conclude, we, Canadians, want our troops to succeed and to return home safely. What would be the point on withdrawing now given that we have already invested so much effort and so many ressources and lives? What about our soldiers who sacrifice their lives for the success of this mission? And now some people are saying that we should retreat... We have to stay.



Eric Vuong

Main source: Colin Kenny, Chair (2007) Canada in Afghanistan: Taking a Hard Look at a Hard Mission Retrieved November 25th 2009.

Web Site: http://www.parl.gc.ca/39/1/parlbus/commbus/senate/com-e/defe-e/rep-e/repfeb07-e.pdf

Other links:

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/02/10/f-afghanistan.html

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102984398

Protection aspect of Canadian involvement in Afghanistan: Drogues+ Justice

People must be in favor of the Canadian involvement in Afghanistan because of one main aspect: protection. The Canadian army has been in Afghanistan since the 9/11 attacks. They aren't there to only protect the city, but also to defend their drugs production and try to manage the justice established. Drugs production in Afghanistan ( the opium ) represents 95% of the world's production of that drug, which becomes very important to defend because without the presence of the Canadian army, Talibans could control very easily the manufacture which results in the control of almost all the world's drugs. The other side of the protection mission is to try to upgrade the justice level in Afghanistan . Canadians are trying to contribute with helping women with the illegality justice level between the members of the society issues , which means that women doesn't have rights in the society. If the Canadian armory wasn't in Afghanistan , Talibans would take possession of the territory and the drugs production manufacture , so the Talibans would be in control of the most universally sold product. So think about it , is it better to have volunteers of our country defending Afghanistan , or let a group of Taliban take the absolute possession of the country?



Dany Naaman

Sources:

http://www.opioids.com/afghanistan/index.html
http://www.presstv.com/detail.aspx?id=109291&sectionid=351020403
http://afghanistan.unifem.org/prog/GJ/index.php