So you disagree, cont.

It's a funny thing: the most impressive argument against my view - expressed here - that Canada should not withdraw precipitously from Afghanistan comes from an American who usually restricts his comments here to energy issues. But his argument is a strong one, and I'm going to reprint it here (with the special bits highlighted by me) because I don't trust any of you to read it otherwise:

Gar Lipow said...

I think you are making a fundamental policy mistake here.

On your major point: you suport the Gerard Kennedy position that Canada should stay in Afghanistan support a different policy. The problem is Canada has zero influence on U.S. policy in Afghanistan. (Heck as a U.S. citizen I have zero influence on U.S. policy in Afghanistan.) If you stay there you are not supporting nor even doing anything to advance some other policy. You are supporting the current U.S. policy as actually executed under the control of George W. Bush. You can't expect a significant change in this in the next two years - not even in the unlikely even that the Democrats take back one or both houses. The Afghanistan war, unlike the Iraq war is still popular in the U.S. - based on most U.S. citizens knowing nothing about it, but assuming that unlike Iraq we are kicking bad-guy ass there.

Your second point is that Canada gave its word. My question there is: was this word given unconditionaly? If the U.S. decided to arrest every fifth Afghani male and sacrifice them to Moloch would you still be obliged to stay and help? Well, that is not quite what is happening, but it is pretty bad. The U.S. carries out the same policies of collective punishement and support of death squads we do in Iraq. As in Iraq we arrest huge numbers of people (a large percent of whom are innocent), hold and torture them without trial- releaseing some but not all. In addition Afghanistan has become one of the major centers for holding people kidnapped by U.S. or for the Europe in Europe, Pakistan, the Phillipines ect. I don't think your nation gave its word to suport anything like this. Given that you can't stop it or ameliorate it in any way, the NDP is right to advocate that you no longer be an accomplice. If you disagree, you would need argue I think either than the occupation of Aghanistan is not as much of a net horror as I am describing or that Canada's staying in will ameliorate what I am describing in some significant way.

It is, as I say, a strong argument, especially the bit about Canadian impotence in the face of American State Sadism. Given that I have mocked and ridiculed Blair's belief that he could steer America in the right direction by staying on Bush's team, it would be wrong for me to believe that Harper - obsequious as he is - can positively affect Bush's policies, even if he were so inclined.

I guess I have a number of questions to ask about Afghanistan for now. In no particular order:

1) Is there any further utility to military force, especially Canadian military force? (Always my first questions.)

2) Even if there is utility there, is it supporting an otherwise insupportable war, on the lines of Iraq? (Evidence trending towards yes.)

3) If an alternative strategy would be more useful or more prone to success, does Canada know what it is? Do we have the means to change the direction of NATO? (Possibly no on both counts.)

I should say that, even before these posts, I was coming to the view that some form of a) ceasefire with the Taliban and b) withdrawal of NATO troops was probably the best course we could hope for in the coming years. Given my oft-repeated admonition that if America is going to lose in Iraq anyway, we might as well leave now and save some lives, a similar application of that principle would seem to argue that we should get out of Afghanistan, now.

So why my learning disability? Well, two things I suppose. The first is that I have been pretty shamefully bad in keeping up on the news from Afghanistan and consider myself far, far, far less informed than I should be, so making any kind of decisions about that theater of war is not something I'm comfortable doing. The second is a bit less reasonable on my part, a bit more emotional. I really, really, really would like to be able to see the last five years having produced something - anything, really - not blackened and shamed by the Bush Administration. I think part of me was hoping - maybe irrationally so, I admit - that Afghanistan could at least be held up as an example of a positive accomplishment.