Basically, the consensus is that we screwed up and we should get out of there.
But the opening line near the beginning is chilling:
"BRUSSELS–As Canadian and other NATO troops in Afghanistan nervously await the widely expected Taliban spring offensive, there are two distinct views on what the best course is for the future."
If popular anger against trigger-happy Western forces (see below) and the corrupt Karzai government has gotten worse over the winter, it stands to reason that this spring offensive will be worse than last year's fighting.
Even if Canadian soldiers avoid being blown away by US fighter-pilots on speed, they might still suffer casualty figures larger than ever.
Obviously, this won't faze Stephen Harper's fan base. They're on record as being totally uninterested in Canadian casualties until they've reached at least 5,000 soldiers. But the rest of the voting public (the sane majority) will not look to kindly on the government's that put Canadian soldiers into a slaughterhouse for no good reason.
This Canadian Press report on our efforts to train Afghan police ought to help us understand the choices of Afghan peasants and the reasons for the Taliban's resurgence.
"There are some parts of Afghanistan where the last thing people want to see is the police showing up," said Brig.-Gen. Gary O'Brien, former deputy commanding general of police for the Combined Security Transition Command - Afghanistan.
"The police (in some areas) are corrupt. They are part of the problem. They don't provide security for the people. They are the robbers of the people."
Assuming we really care about these issues (our police training in Haiti has yielded a miserable harvest for many years running) the fact of the matter is that we're right now being associated with a brutal and corrupt regime.
That has genuine ramifications for the here and now and for the spring offensive.
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