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Afghan people forgotten during conflict
Commentary by Caezer Ng
Each time my friends return
to Canada from Afghanistan,
they come back a bit different
than what they were before their
departure.
Keeping up with the latest
news stories on what goes on in
that Asian country gets tiring after
a while. It has become a
chore, but yet it is a necessary
one.
War is personal, I have read,
and that is all too true.
The conflict in Afghanistan is
like a Chinese finger trap. Panic
and undue care will entangle unsuspecting
victims. The federal
government has indicated they
will withdraw the bulk of the
troops by 2011, but is it in the
best interests of the people who
live there?
It has been eight years of Canadian
involvement.
During that time it has caused
over 100 Canadian military casualties
and many more Afghan civilian
ones. It has also destroyed
countless homes and caused
chaos in Parliament here over
alleged torture of detainees and
deportation of Canadian citizens
who have been found not guilty
of convicted war crimes.
The situation has also fanned
the flames of racism. War is indeed
dirty, but is it worth it in the
end?
Decision makers cannot always
afford to tread as lightly as
some Canadians would have
liked. The mess in Rwanda in
1994, when no one came to the
rescue of 600,000 people, was
partly due to the indecision of
the world’s major powers.
Some sacrifices are worth taking,
my friends say. A few are in
Afghanistan, either stationed as
soldiers or living as citizens.
Some have went there twice because
they believe this is the
right thing to do to help local
people. At ground level, many of
these people have said they want
to see an end to Taliban rule.
They come home as different
men each time, torn and mentally
exhausted.
Time has been the only medicine
for them.
An Afghan friend of mine who
studied in Canada returned to
her home country. She loves Afghanistan
because it is her
home, but she equally relishes
any opportunity to fly back to
Canada. It is quiet here, so this
country offers a greater deal of
stability. A cloud of doubt and
doom casts a dark shadow over
her whenever she walks into a
plane because there is never a
guarantee of a safe return to
Canada.
All she wants, she says, is
what everyone else wants – family
time in peace.
“Only “If I’m still alive then”
she would always say in one
form or another, turning the subject
into some joke. She does this
to blunt the sharp pain of what
may come.
In the end, it seems like no occupation
is the best occupation,
whether it is by the Western
forces or Taliban. Both are
pushy, but the American-led one
appears to be the best solution
so far.
However, the case for the West
has not always been a positive
one, especially when reports of
local civilian casualties are published.
The end to people’s lives
in those papers have not been
pleasant, to say the least.
Policy makers need major improvements
in how they treat civilians
and even alleged terrorists
in Afghanistan. In times of
war many laws do get thrown out
the window because it can become
a road block to military victories.
It is difficult to differentiate
friend from foe in Afghanistan,
because the situation is mired in
guerrilla tactics and espionage.
The war may not end soon
enough, but Canada needs to
make a stronger effort when it
comes to connecting with the
Afghan people.
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