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“Yes we can” change our mission in Afghanistan

An Open Letter to President Barack Obama
Dr. Keith Martin, Member of Parliament
January 29, 2009

Dear President Obama,

Long after you have left the White House the world will remember the famous words you used to bring a nation to its feet, and to signal the beginning of a new era for the American people: “yes we can.” It is with this same spirit of fortitude and courage that I suggest to you that, “yes we can” change our mission in Afghanistan, to finally forge, as you noted in your inaugural address, a hard earned peace in this tortured country.

Canada has learnt numerous hard earned lessons in Afghanistan, many paid for with the blood of our soldiers. What I know for certain is that despite the heroic efforts of our troops, an alarming number are returning home in coffins, innocent civilians are still being killed, and the Taliban’s strength has not dissipated, but has increased.

Conditions on the ground have changed significantly from the time Canadian troops first deployed to Kabul in 2003. With your intention to wind down the US mission in Iraq and increase America’s troop strength in Afghanistan, it is critically important that we change our strategies to adapt to these new realities. If we do not do this, your troops and ours will die in increasing numbers, and the mission will fail.

There are six key areas in which, under your leadership, the US can pursue strategic changes to the mission.

First, we must work together to ensure that Afghanistan has a well trained, adequately paid, and well equipped police force, army, correctional system and judiciary. All four of these security pillars are crucial to the nation’s stability. Corruption and incompetence in these areas have left civilians feeling insecure, pushing them towards the Taliban as their best possible source of protection.

Second, the US should call for a UN working group which must include Pakistan, India and Iran. The insurgency is being organized and funded from bases outside the country, especially from Western Pakistan. Adopting a peacebuilding strategy in Afghanistan that ignores the roles these external actors play is doomed to fail.

Third, the poppy eradication program is a failure. This product is a key economic driver of the Afghan economy. Any strategy to terminate its production must provide a feasible and equally lucrative opportunity for farmers to generate capital. The United States and Canada could establish opportunities for poppy farmers to direct their opium to companies that manufacture legal narcotics. We could also promote the substitution of poppies with an alternative crop that grows well in similar conditions. The plant Artemisinin, which is used to produce a vital, anti-malarial medication of the same name, is one such crop option.

We must also acknowledge that there would not be a supply of heroin if there wasn’t a demand from our countries. We have to get our own houses in order and reduce our own demand by making new, effective therapeutic initiatives, like Vancouver’s NAOMI Project, available to individuals struggling with drug addiction.

Fourth, Afghanistan needs an Afghan led tribal reconciliation process that can address the complex inter- and intra-tribe conflicts that have beset the country for decades. These conflicts are rarely discussed, but continue to destabilize huge swaths of the country.

Fifth, civilian deaths as a result of NATO missions, coupled with the perception that the war has offered few tangible benefits to the average Afghan, is causing our troops to be seen increasingly as occupiers, and not as partners in peace and security. The US should commit to providing more effective humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, aid that is focused on meeting people’s basic needs, and economic development. Building human capacity, and “bricks and mortar” infrastructure projects will send a clear, positive message to the civilian population of our true and honourable intent.

Lastly, corruption is a cancer that destroys the soul of a nation. Afghanistan’s governmental structure, at all levels, is riddled with corruption. A starting point for a US-supported battle against this blight would be the establishment of clear eligibility rules for candidates who seek office, together with the capacity to enforce these rules. This would exclude the crooks and thugs who are destroying the country, and our efforts, from within.

Mr. President, you came to your office amidst a rising sense of hope, felt around the world, that you were the person to tackle some of the most difficult challenges the US and the world faces. As you review your nation’s strategy in Afghanistan, I ask that you consider the hard lessons that Canada has learned and adopt those solutions that will give your troops and ours a chance for success, and this beleaguered country the prosperous and stable future it so justly deserves: a nation where al Qaeda and other terrorist movements can never again find refuge.

Sincerely,

Dr. Keith Martin, Member of Parliament
Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca

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