Canada in Afghanistan

[Lang]

Derek,

Thanks for that.

I think you are very optimistic to believe we can ever "get the job done" - to do so will require decades of involvement and huge numbers of garrison troops to keep any form of organised government and society on the "right" track.

We are not trying to get rid of a bad government (Hitler and numerous other dictators or juntas) in Afghanistan, we are trying to create a new society.

We have an even money shot in Iraq because Iraq had a relatively well educated well organised and functioning country under Hussein and all we had to to do was get rid of the evil to reveal the acceptable base system like we did in Germany and Japan in the 40's.

As for Afghanistan becoming the world's terrorist training ground - once we finish there we will have to follow them across the border to the other 'stans and even into our ally Pakistan (where they operate now in any case). We have to find some other way to to solve the Islam/West divide or our soldiers are going to keep being killed in Central Asia for the next hundred years.

I certainly don't know the answer and I don't think anyone else does but we sure have to come up with one.

Lang