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A year of living dangerously

JULIAN SHER

Globe and Mail Update

Latest comment posted at 11:02 PM EST 01/01/08

The road from Baghdad to Kandahar ...Read the full article

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  1. 20 20 from Canada writes:
    I'm glad the CBC is sending in some independent investigative journalists rather than managed "embeds" that regurgitate to us the lines that the military feed them.

    The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have made the world a more dangerous place. George Bush has invoked the possibility of World War III. Pakistan has been dangerously destabilized in very large part as a result of the past six years of foreign military operations in Afghanistan.
  2. Interested Observer from Canada writes: But there is no escape for the citizens of Kandahar or Baghdad. And no escape for the rest of us from the consequences of our military blunders and political blindness.
  3. The J Curve from Canada writes: Iraq is a different story in that it's already an economically well-developed nation, in comparison to Afghanistan.
    Afghanistan is quite like what you see in middle Earth scenes in medieval/fantasy movies. There's so much more work to do there, and the talibans sure ain't helping.
  4. Shawn Bull from Canada writes: 20 20 from Canada: Nothing in your post is factual. Just anti-American. Nice try though.

    I support the war effort in Afghanistan and would like to see France, Italy and Germany take more responsibilities in fighting the war as the Canadians do rather than stay in the safe areas of the country.
  5. Richard Roskell from Canada writes: Ah yes, if only the Euros would get in the fight. And if only America hadn't dropped the ball and gone into Iraq. And if only Osama bin Laden had been captured. And if only the Taliban would just lay down their guns. And if only Afghanistan wasn't awash in weapons and explosives from previous conflicts. And if only NATO wasn't short about 40,000 soldiers. And if only the warlords, war criminals and druglords weren't running the government. And if only Pakistan was more stable. And if only the Afghans would just democratize, change their ancient culture, depose the warlords, stop producing opium, treat their women as equals, send their kids to school, and in pretty much every other respect stop behaving like Afghans... things would be much better.
  6. L Harder from Canada writes: The whole adventure mismanaged from the beginning at tremendous human and financial costs. Afghanistan may have been manageable, but once Iraq was invaded, the political climate completely changed and all good will lost. The standout blunder of our times.

    Nato needs an exit strategy.
  7. A good Canadian from Canada writes: Who is everyone going to blame for the ills of the world after Jan 09?
  8. A good Canadian from Canada writes: If only....

    Yes, if only we would have sat on our hands and did nothing.....how different would history read now?

    It is easy to sit at home, comfortable and warm behind your computer screen and demand action. Is it not as easy to critisize those who must make difficult decisions and make sacrifices to enact those demands? Must be nice to have 20/20 hindsight, while fellow citizens where our flag on thier shoulder are working, fighting and dying for your country and the demands you make upon it.
  9. Richard Roskell from Canada writes: You make a reasonable observation about hindsight, agC. However, in my case I've been relentlessly criticizing the path chosen by Canada in Afghanistan for years. Even if you couldn't see the danger, I could; even if you over-estimated the chance of success, I did not.

    Criticism of the Canada's policy notes past mistakes, but is largely based on current events and likely trends.
  10. Gary Thomson from Surrey, BC, Canada writes: Julian Sher chose to go to these messed up, dangerous places. She has made a seemingly rational decision in which her risks are outweighed by her perceived rewards. Our soldiers did not chose to go to Afghanistan, they were sent. The seemingly rational decision weighing the risks and benefits was made by others, from their safe comfy offices in Canada. The risks are very real; they are the lives and limbs of our loyal soldiers. The benefits are some abstract political gain for our leaders jockeying for position at the trough of American favour. We can't win, our allies are cowards, and the Afghan gov't we are supporting is unworthy of our brave soldiers' sacrifices. Their is not sufficient public support in Canada for our gov't to be able to pledge extending our commitment. Bring our soldiers home in 02/09. Quit playing politics with our citizen soldiers, lives.
  11. The J Curve from Canada writes: Good point Gary Thompson.

    The brave soldiers are always 'pawns' in a political game.
    But to keep saying how brave they are sure doesn't solve any problem.

    It's like heaping praises to the bravery and determination of the kamikaze pilots in WW2. Sure they made the ultimate sacrifices, but did the sacrifice win the war??
  12. siren call from Canada writes: A good Canadian from Canada writes: Who is everyone going to blame for the ills of the world after Jan 09?
    ...............

    If America doesn't change her foreign policy, if she doesn't grasp the essentials of running an economy in peace mode ...

    Then whomever the corrupt and privatized Diebold machines tell Americans won the election.
  13. Geoffrey May from Canada writes: Shawn Bull, Good Canadian ,It is not Anti American, or unfair to lay most of the blame for the disasters in Afghanistan and Iraq on the Bush administration.Yes , greater international pressure could have been applied to attempt to dissuade the Bush administration from launching it's disasterous War on Terrorism .At the those who urged such a course of action were citicized for being Anti-American
    The Bush administration freely chose to soveriegn nations in violation of international law . THey freely chose the military strategy , freely chose to work with warlords.
    The historical record is clear that Canada sent troops to Afghanistan, believing that such action showed support for the US administration , without tying Canada to the Iraq mission.The situation in Afghanistan never entered into the decision.
  14. LUCIEN ALEXANDRE MARION from Gatineau Qc, Canada writes: THANK YOU Julian Sher for sharing with us what you lived and felt in this reality from Bagdad to Kandahar. Merci
  15. Benjamin Sharma from Toronto, Canada writes: Hey, if it were easy & if things were going smoothly, our guys wouldn't be needed over there.

    I'm glad that the United States, Britain, and Canada are doing the heavy lifting, and I'm glad that we also have foreign correspondents who are willing to take risks in order to report the state of things on the ground.

    2007 may have been a year of living dangerously, but it went a heck of a lot better than we thought it would at the end of 2006.

    It was a good year, on balance.
  16. Interested Observer from Canada writes: Benjamin - a good year by what standard? I doubt the 7,000 dead Afghan's families think so.
  17. Gary Thomson from Surrey, BC, Canada writes: Benjamin Sharma: Your post is an example of what I fear most about our invlovement in Afghanistan. You aren't risking your life doing any 'heavy lifting', hell, on balance, you, and the vast majority of citizen's aren't doing squat for the war effort except cheer on the soldiers from the sidelines. I don't want Canada to turn into a nation where its citizens do not share the dangers and costs with the soldiers it sends overseas for political reasons. Where soldiers are considered some sort of expendable lesser beings. If we are going to get involved in violent struggles that are not vital to out immediate national interest, then let's pay these men and women the $ our citizens would expect to receive in similar circumstance. Start paying our soldiers in harm's way $10,000/mth in tax free danger pay. No, even more! Pay them till it hurts; pay them with an income tax surcharge. Pay them till people are lining up to enlist. Or bring them home, 'cause the greedy citizens who salivate at a two hundred-some-odd dollar tax cut, while acclaiming the sacrifices our soldier citizens are making, make my skin crawl. I'm betting a two hundred-some-odd dollar tax surcharge would soon enlighten them to the 'cost' of war. They may not empathize with their fellow citizens being killed, wounded and traumatized, but seeing their own hard cold cash paying the price will get their attention.
  18. Western Canadian from west of Winnipeg, Canada writes: Perhaps Mr. Harper and the Generals from Ministry of Defense will digest this G&M article so the so called progress in Afghanistan will take a different meaning for them.
    Just recently Mr. Harper has expressed frustration and puzzlement from the fact that majority of Canadians are against his policies in Afghanistan
  19. siren call from Canada writes: Mr. Harper and Mr. Bush believe they preside over nations as foolish and greedy as are they.

    On the one hand we are told that this fight against terrorism is so all consumingly important, no expense, no lives, no privacy can be spared.

    On the other hand -- cuts to consumption taxes and a President who advises his populace to go to Disneyland.

    What, even in the midst of the war on terriers and environmental degradation, neither leader can come up with anything even remotely useful like a Victory Garden?
  20. Benjamin Sharma from Toronto, Canada writes: It's a volunteer military, which is the tradition in Canada.

    Heck, Canada didn't even send its draftees overseas during the Second World War -- they had to sign up for that duty.

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