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Canada withdrawal from Afghanistan

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Canada has been a major contributor of troops to Afghanistan. Correspondent Anita Elash reports on reaction today to President Obama’s speech on an Afghanistan strategy.

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MARCO WERMAN: I’m Marco Werman, and this is The World, a co-production of the BBC World Service, PRI and WGBH-Boston.  When President Obama unveiled his new strategy for Afghanistan last night, Canadians were listening closely. They were waiting to hear exactly when the White House planned to begin its drawdown of American troops. And that’s because Canada has vowed to pull its soldiers out of Afghanistan by 2011. Today, Canadian officials stood by that pledge, as correspondent Anita Elash reports.

ANITA ELASH: Canada’s contribution to the mission in Afghanistan has been a hot potato for politicians here. So this morning, Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon didn’t waste any time saying how happy he was with President Obama’s announcement.

LAWRENCE CANNON: Canada welcomes the additional military and civilian resources the United States will deploy to Afghanistan particularly to the south. We are pleased that the objectives of the U.S. policy are complementary to Canada’s own priorities.

ELASH: Analysts here said that by announcing the start of a withdrawal in 2011, President Obama has done Canada a huge favor. It has twenty-eight hundred troops in Afghanistan. They’re in Kandahar, one of the most dangerous parts of the country, and they’ve had the highest casualty rate of any army deployed there. As more and more Canadian casualties are brought home, Canada’s commitment to Afghanistan has lost most of its support.  International Security Expert Roland Paris said the deployment shattered the Canadian image of itself as a nation of peacekeepers.

ROLAND PARIS: Part of the shock for Canadians is realizing that the mission that Canadian troops have been involved in was not a peacekeeping operation, but it was a war-fighting, counterinsurgency mission.  And as that realization dawned on many Canadians that contributed I think to a sense that this isn’t really us, this isn’t really our role in the world.

ELASH: The Canadian government decided last fall to end its mission in 2011 at the same time as the U.S. now plans to start its withdrawal. But even with public sentiment on its side, Roland Paris says Canada would have had a hard time following through on its promise to withdraw if President Obama had insisted on staying.

PARIS: Canada has faced a very significant commitment of money and of troops and of blood to the Afghanistan mission so far, and given the contribution and the sacrifice that Canadians have made, it might have seemed strange for the government of Canada to say we’re just going to quit.

ELASH: Part of the new U.S. deployment will see extra troops sent to help the Canadians re-establish security around Kandahar. Roland Paris says that should make their mission more effective and possibly less dangerous. If the new strategy succeeds, that could make it possible for Canada to extend its mission in Afghanistan beyond 2011 if it’s needed.  But perhaps in a more traditional Canadian role as peacekeepers. For The World, I’m Anita Elash in Toronto.

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