Pubdate: Thu, 17 Apr 2008 Source: Prince George Citizen (CN BC) Copyright: 2008 Prince George Citizen Contact: http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/350 Author: Rodney Venis BRIGHT SPOTS This week saw two rare pieces of good news in the war in Afghanistan. The first comes, like a German battalion, with multiple caveats -- Gen. Rick Hillier, Canada's top military commander and the single most powerful voice in support of the conflict, stepped down as chief of defence staff on Tuesday. Admittedly, Hillier's resignation is not cause to break out the back flips and pinatas. Canadian troops will have to endure the transition from Hillier's fiercely charismatic tenure and his replacement has some heavy boots to fill. There's also the unsavoury tang of politics surrounding his departure. Was the outspoken general -- whose unabashedly blunt assessments may have caused former defence minister Gordon O'Connor to be shuffled -- another black-bag collar by the thought police who run Tory communications? Was he disheartened by the government's intention to shift his troops' mandate from a combat role to a fuzzier "reconstruction" strategy? Or was his resignation a show of disgust over Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier's recent crude calls for the replacement of the governor of Kandahar, the notoriously violent Afghan province where Canadian troops serve? Yet, most hearteningly, the manner of his departure has at least alleviated those concerns. The Tories and the general part as friends, at least superficially, with both sides taking pains to mollify the other. The Canadian Press also pointed out the timing of his departure is the least politically-charged situation possible for a general beloved by the press as much as the troops, with Manley's report delivered, the parliamentary vote on the mission passed, NATO providing some help and the prospect of an imminent election on simmer. More importantly, though, it's the right decision for Hillier and the Canadian military. Canada's top generals usually serve three years and his tenure was up Feb. 5 -- Hillier deserves some relief from one of the most terrible burdens there is: commanding troops at war. He also leaves with the lustre of his legacy intact; hopefully he'll be remembered as one of the finest soldiers ever to serve this country. The second piece of good news is Bernier's aforementioned comments on Asadullah Khalid, the governor of Kandahar. Again, at first blush, the foreign minister's hamfistedness -- he publicly demanded Afghan president Hamid Karzai replace Khalid, a grievous diplomatic insult -- is both cause for his immediate resignation and yet another example of a Conservative foreign policy that seems to have been concocted in a backwoods' still. But not so fast. First, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, while saying he regretted Bernier speaking out loud (modern Tories don't do that), backed the gist of his minister's comments, indicating Canada is serious Khalid has to go. Second, it's a move that reflects the realities on the ground: while there's a grassroots movement to replace Khalid, who's been accused of personally torturing Taliban prisoners, he's all but untouchable since he's a Karzai, and American, favourite. In fact, according to the Senlis Council, Khalid got his job largely because the U.S. loves his hardline support of the other conflict in Afghanistan: the war on drugs. Khalid is unpopular because locals feel his harsh policies on destroying the poppy fields that produce heroin unfairly punish farmers doing whatever they can to exist in a war zone. Canadian troops are caught in the middle of this situation, where their work winning the hearts and minds of Afghanis is being jeopardized by the blind narcotics jihad the U.S. is currently waging in that country (to not much success: in 2007, 93 per cent of the world's opiates came from Afghanistan.) Calling out Khalid at least sends a message to Karzai that Canada isn't happy with the situation, and is also a not-so-subtle rebuke of the U.S.'s badly flawed drug policies in the region. Seen in this light, it's a vicious, underhanded diplomatic manoeuvre and, if intentional, one the Conservatives should be proud of. It's also a sign, by taking on the sensibilities of the U.S. and its Drug Enforcement Agency, that the Tories are finally willing to start playing with the hefty clay chips at the big boys' table when it comes to Afghanistan. And that might be the best news of all. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom