Canada’s Debate

Afghanistan and Iraq have been in the news a great deal recently (and not without good reason), both in Canada and the U.S., but in every nation where troops are involved in either morass. The word quagmire gets tossed about quite a bit, and in this instance with good cause, and everyone is wringing their hands. Regardless of nationality, the discussion always seems to break down into a discourse of Should I stay or should I go? Equally universal is the response that this discourse generates: conservative types are generally in support of staying, and liberal-minded people are generally in support of going (or at least trying to figure out when to announce last-call.)

The more I watch this debate the more I am compelled to think that this is the real clash of civilizations (to borrow from Huntington, who borrowed from Lewis.) The “West” has always been an amalgam of left- and right-wing influences; dramatically pulling on each other and causing the whole show lurching back and forth, with the momentum carrying everyone forward (for the most part.) People may talk of the culture wars, and it’s not just happening in the States (they’re just losing more visibly) but the real battleground is not gay marriage, nor “reasonable accommodations” or even plain nationalism… it’s an internal struggle with the question: “what kind of nation do we want to be” and unlike in the past when there was a consistency of opposition, this question is being asked universally and within the “left” and “right.”

In Canada’s case, those of us who are opposed to militarism and generally in support of spreading human rights (as we see them) along with our meager development largess are in a conundrum: staying in Afghanistan tarnishes us abroad and wastes lives and money, but leaving en masse pretty much guarantees that the country returns to the bleak and backwards conditions that we found it in back in 2002, only worse. Staying means “guns on the ground” and leaving means abandoning a country full of woman and to oppression, torture and despair (not to speak of the men.)

At the same time those of us who say that Canada’s natural role is a peacekeeper and it is our duty to fight it out are faced with the stark realization that we are in a fight where bravado and good intentions aren’t enough, no matter how much we try to punch above our weight. If we are there to stabilize and restore Afghanistan then Canada’s mission became a non-military one the second the Taliban fell (albeit one which requires military support.) Any attempt to “fix” Afghanistan will require a massive infusion of time, manpower and actual development, all supplemented by military support; and the Conservatives among us need to decide (and quickly) if that’s the mission they signed on to support.