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.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom