The current War in Afghanistan officially began on October 7, 2001, when the United States launched Operation Enduring Freedom in response to the attacks of September 11th. The then-stated aim of the mission was to find Osama Bin Laden and to find and destroy Al-Queda. And, finally, to remove the Taliban government which gave protection and safe harbour to the terrorists.
The American and coalition forces were able to defeat and depose the Taliban government within a few weeks, but have never found Bin Laden or destroyed Al-Queda. The war grinds on.
We as Canadians have invested heavily in Afghanistan, both in blood and treasure. Since 2002, 129 Canadian soldiers have died as part of the Afghan mission. In 2008, Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page reported that the mission would cost $14 to $18 Billion by the time it ends in 2011. That works out to about $1500 for every household in Canada.
As we all know, the people of Afghanistan recently participated in a vote. Current President Hamid Karzai is the 12th President of Afghanistan. Mr. Karzai was made Chairman of the Transitional Committee in December 2001. In 2002, he was named Interim President, and in 2004 he was elected President.
Governing has been difficult for President Karzai. He is surrounded by warlords who have their own armies. It is speculated that some of these warlords and maybe some senior officials in the Karzai government are involved in the heroin trade. As Canadians, we read on a regular basis of the interference from Pakistan, and media reports tell of safe havens for the Taliban on Pakistani soil. We hear horror stories of schoolgirls being attacked and brutalized for attending class. Indeed it appears to the outsider that in general very little has changed for women in Afghanistan.
Anyway, everyone keeps trying to build infrastructure and institutions in order to make Afghanistan a stable member of the international community. Without a doubt, it is in our interests to do so.
The whole Afghan mission is now in jeopardy, at least in my opinion, due to the recent Presidential elections. President Karzai's main challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, and his supporters have claimed massive fraud in the voting. So far it looks like Mr. Abdullah may be correct. The Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) is investigating more than 2,500 allegations of fraudulent activity. Media reports talk of fictitious voting stations and ballot box stuffing by the thousands. In fact, the ECC called on Afghanistan's Independent Elections Commission (IEC) to conduct an audit and recount because of "clear and convincing evidence of fraud in a number of polling stations." This does not bode well for Afghanistan's future.
Given the scale of this controversy, the best result might be a mandatory runoff between the two top vote-getters, Mr.Karzai and Mr. Abdullah.
All of us have too much at stake to allow the election to turn into a fiasco.
