An Afghan fantasy?

Now that our elected representatives have at last debated our mission in Afghanistan, albeit toothlessly, it is long past time to ask whether the goals of the mission coincide with reality. Assuming our intentions are honourable (And what else would they be, we are Canadians, right?), we must still ask if they are doable. If they are not, the presence of our troops in that country may ultimately do more harm than good.

The stars are not well-aligned. We are involving ourselves in one of the poorest and least-promising countries in the world. A country racked with war for decades. A profoundly conservative Islamic country, often hostile to Western values. A country plagued by renegade warlords. A country whose economy runs on the drug trade. And our troops face a local resistance inspired by divine imperative. A resistance that can retreat at will into sanctuary across the border. And, ominously, a resistance increasingly allied with drug dealers, the prime movers of the Afghan economy.

And we plan on stabilizing this nightmare? Is this even vaguely realistic? Colour me skeptical. I suggest we start aligning our intentions with the facts. If we don't, the now rarely heard words "quagmire" and "Vietnam" may become a chorus.