NDDN Committee Report

STUDY MANDATE

The mandate adopted on May 16, 2006, by the House of Commons Standing Committee on National Defence stated:

GENERAL

Joint Task Force Afghanistan (JTF-Afg) is the most combat capable, best trained, best equipped and best led formation of its size and kind that Canada has ever fielded. It has been strategically relevant, operationally effective and tactically decisive.

Other reports on Canada’s mission in Afghanistan have tended to be pessimistic and some have called for and end to Canada’s role in the country. Your Committee knows Canada is better than that. Canadians have never shirked from their responsibility to help those in need, nor has Canada ever failed to take operational leadership when it was necessary to do so. Difficult challenges will not deter our national will. Our military history is the story of Canadians going abroad to fight in the national interest of Canada and on behalf of others who could not defend themselves. From Vimy to Visoko, from Kapyong to Kabul and from Paardeberg to Panjwayi, Canadian military missions, despite the difficulties, have accomplished the job they were sent to do.

Canadian diplomatic, development and military personnel in Kandahar were unanimous in telling us that they were clear on what they had to do, that good progress was being made and that now was not the time to waiver. They, more than most, know success is achievable. We agree. That is why this report takes a positive, but realistic and sober view of Canada’s military accomplishments and prospects in Afghanistan.

We are realistic and know that the job is not yet over, and that what remains to be done requires the dedicated work of brave Canadians. Canadian soldiers will still have to fight Taliban insurgents. Diplomats will still have to mentor an immature Afghan democracy. Development officers and aid workers will still have to provide resources and support to destitute Afghans throughout the countryside. Therefore, our report presents a realistic, constructive critique of Canada’s mission in Afghanistan. Our findings result in clear and achievable recommendations that, if implemented quickly and energetically, will help Canada fulfill its role in the United Nations-led international development effort and its leadership role in North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) military operations designed to create a secure environment throughout Kandahar province.

To spend Canadian blood and treasure abroad is one of the most important and weighty decisions to be taken by government. Parliament has a central role to play in such decision making. The Committee therefore felt the full import of its duty to examine the Canadian Forces mission in Afghanistan.

The Committee’s first lesson was that Canada’s mission in Afghanistan is a noble endeavour, but an exceedingly difficult and complex one.

The international mission in Afghanistan can be successful with more work. The NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) efforts to help Afghan security forces establish a secure environment have been successful in a majority of the country and are currently making progress in the southern and eastern provinces. The Committee fully understands the challenges facing ISAF in 2007, but we think the appropriate approach is to get on with doing what is necessary to overcome those challenges and not simply dwell on how hard it is going to be. We applaud all ISAF pre-emptive operations that have effectively nullified any expected ‘spring offensive’ by Taliban forces, this year.

Consider that NATO is the most powerful and successful alliance in the history of the world and the world’s best peacekeeping force for the last half of the 20^th century. It brought peace to Europe after two World Wars. It imposed peace on the post-Cold War Balkans. It has never failed in any undertaking. Now, in Afghanistan, NATO is engaged in its first out-of-area operation, in another effort to bring peace and stability to a troubled country. NATO will succeed here too.

However, our confident attitude does not prevent us from appreciating the dangerous and significant challenges standing in the way of a peaceful and stable Afghanistan.

While we recognize that the existence and future of the Canadian Forces mission in Afghanistan is entirely a political decision, we found it necessary to keep in touch with sources of ‘ground truth’ to ensure our deliberations and findings did not become so political, so academic or so unconnected to practicality as to be unhelpful. Along the way, the Committee’s work was grounded by candid views offered by serving men and women of the Canadian Forces and their families. We wish to make particular note of our visits to Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Edmonton and CFB Petawawa where we were able to meet with many returning soldiers, some of them injured, and their spouses. Together they provided the Committee with a special insight into the effects of the mission that no amount of second-hand testimony or academic research could have given us. Most importantly, as a culmination to our study, we were pleased to visit Joint Task Force Afghanistan at Kandahar Airfield. It allowed us to judge all that we had heard against the reality on the ground.

Other witnesses appearing before us, particularly those having recent experience in Afghanistan, were also of great value. Testimony from a wide range of academics, diplomats, along with defence, international development and women’s advocates provided important benefit to our work. Military officers returning from Afghanistan, who served in senior military headquarters or who worked in the fledgling Afghan government brought novel insight into the larger issues at play. We were also grateful for the informative contributions of Ministers Mackay, O’Connor and Verner.

Given the sometimes life and death issues inherent in the mission, your Committee has worked hard to maintain a non-partisan approach to this study. We tried to look at the issues objectively and come up with realistic recommendations that, if implemented quickly and energetically, will improve the quality and effect of Canada’s defence effort in Afghanistan and therefore enhance the overall mission.

FUNDAMENTAL FACTORS

Throughout our study we were constantly reminded of three fundamental factors that continue to shape Canada’s Afghanistan mission.

GOVERNMENT POLICY BACKGROUND

Government international policy describes the Canadian ‘whole-of-government’ approach in Afghanistan as being an effort that integrates civilian, government and military resources, to offer a broad-based contribution to the international effort to rebuild Afghanistan. While the term might be novel, the idea is not. Nations have always applied all elements of national power when engaged in any serious effort abroad, particularly one in which important national interests are at stake.

THE REPORT

Given the complexity of Canada’s mission in Afghanistan, the Committee felt that it was important to explain general aspects of the mission as a whole and offer a description of the Canadian Forces operations, to correct public misperceptions of what our soldiers are doing. Canadian troops are doing much more than simply fighting the Taliban. In fact, they are doing much more than either the government or the media have
reported. The first chapter presents the context of the mission. The second chapter is devoted to an examination of the Canadian Forces mission. Chapter 3 focuses on the issues specifically identified in our study mandate:

a.      The duration of the mission;

b.      The state of personnel;

c.      The state of equipment;

d.      The relationship between combat operations, development and reconstruction;

e.      Military involvement in the delivery of humanitarian aid, development or reconstruction;

f.        Balance;

g.      Criteria for assessing mission effectiveness; and

h.      Mission success and other international obligations.

Not surprisingly, the Committee identified other important issues in the course of its work and they are addressed in Chapter 4. They include:

a.      Informing Canadians and Parliament;

b.      The Afghanistan-Pakistan border;

c.      The status of women in Afghanistan;

d.      Poppy crop eradication;

e.      Detainee handling and transfer;

f.        Contributing to the training of the Afghan National Security Forces; and

g.      Sharing the burden.