28 June, 2011 CAMP PHOENIX, KABUL, AFGHANISTAN Warrant Officer of Canadian Contribution Training Mission - Afghanistan shows a soldier from the Afghan National Army (ANA) how to dispose of a Unexploded Ordnance (UXO). Operation Attention is the Canadian Forces participation in NATO's Training Mission in Afghanistan (NTM-A) - the international effort to assist the Afghan National Security Forces as they transition to full responsibility for security throughout Afghanistan in 2014. (Photo by Master Cpl. Rory Wilson, Canadian Forces (c) 2011 DND-MDN Canada)MCpl Rory Wilson
The 950 Canadians taking part in the NATO training mission in Afghanistan are doing more than helping a war-torn country build a reliable security force. They are investing in Afghan society by teaching officers literacy and numeracy skills, by including women in their ranks and by promoting ethnic integration. This form of nation-building could be Canada's greatest legacy in the country.
Of course, the obstacles are many. "We have no other option than to build an army and police for Afghanistan. We are on the right road and going at the right speed," said Major-General Michael Day, a Canadian and deputy commander for the NATO training mission. "But 1,001 things could speed us up or slow us down." To build an army of 320,000 by the 2014 NATO withdrawal is a daunting task – especially while also waging a counter-insurgency campaign against the Taliban. Moreover, there is the challenge of poor infrastructure, corruption, a cultural chasm and a society that excludes women and has extremely low rates of education. Generations of young people have only ever known a country at war.
Nevertheless, the standard by which success should be measured is not a cessation of terrorist attacks, but an improvement in the Afghan National Army's ability to deal with these incidents. The army is seen to have handled last month's Kabul attack on NATO's diplomatic compound and the U.S. Embassy better than it managed the attack on the Intercontinental Hotel just three months earlier.
Another positive sign is the unabated flow of Afghans who want to join the army, with about 4,500 to 6,000 new recruits a month, according to Maj.-Gen. Day. There are 254 women soldiers, and a female officer cadet school run by a female Afghan major.
This reflects not just a desire to earn money and get an education, but also an appetite to contribute to lasting peace and security in a country which for so many years has known only conflict, stalled progress and a lack of hope for change.