This is a Listen Up! guest post by Sally Barnes
I’ve been fascinated and excited by elections since I was a teenager many decades ago.
I’ve covered elections as a journalist, served as gopher, strategist and campaign manager in elections at all levels, and even ran as a provincial candidate once.
I have tremendous respect for good people in public life and the difficult job they do.
This election is different because within 48 hours I went from apathy to red hot anger.
Like most Canadians, I didn’t see the need for an election now—especially during a pandemic that continues to claim priceless lives and resources and threatens our future.
Over the years, politicians of all stripes have tested my patience and loyalty on issues ranging from separatism to free trade and women’s rights. But never before have they tested my patriotism.
I make no apologies for being a patriot.
I’ve always been proud of Canada and its reputation as a beacon of equity, civility, human rights, and hope in the world.
Alas, today, as politicians crisscross the country trying to out-promise each other and avoid gaffes that could provide fatal to their election chances, I stand ashamed of my country.
The question Canadians should be asking is, what the hell has happened to us?
As a young person, I was so proud of Prime Minister Lester Pearson and his world stature that won him the Nobel Peace Prize.
Prime Minister Brian Mulroney achieved international recognition for his leadership role in the fight against apartheid in South Africa, the release of Nelson Mandela, and the establishment of a democratic regime.
Because of our peacekeeping and humanitarian efforts over the years, people around the world are grateful to Canada for their freedom, security, and prosperity paid for with Canadian lives, courage, and generosity.
Alas, our stock in the world today can be measured by how we can’t even rescue two Canadians held in Chinese prisons on trumped up charges or win support for a seat on the UN Security Council.
Our best friend in the world—the United States of America—appears tone deaf when we go cap in hand asking for support and special consideration.
The debacle in Afghanistan at this moment has delivered another blow to our global reputation.
Today, we depend more and more on the U.S. for our national defense and foreign policy at a time when the Americans’ own reputation and democratic institutions are in jeopardy and the Chinese and Russians feed their lust for world dominance.
The U.S. blundered mightily in the way it pulled troops out of Afghanistan, underestimating how quickly the Taliban would take over and failing to ensure the safety of those needing to get out.
President Joe Biden looks inept and weak and it will take him a long time—if ever—to recover from this sordid mess he has helped create with us tagging along.
Since last April, Canada has known the August 31 deadline for the U.S. troop withdrawal. But we procrastinated and followed the U.S. lead in not allowing enough time to rescue Canadians and the thousands of Afghans who worked closely with our allies in the costly campaign to prevent Afghanistan from becoming a terrorist haven.
Now, Canada’s last plane to rescue those trying to escape death or torture and abuse has left Kandahar, abandoning the terrified women, men and children on the tarmac or hiding in their homes or safe places.
It is a national embarrassment and a humanitarian disaster.
As Canadians, we have a right and a duty to ask who in the federal government was managing the Afghan file when the decision was made on how and when to rescue our citizens and people who have helped us over the past many years.
Was it perhaps at a time when media and political frenzy was concentrated on allegations of sexual misconduct in our military? Government leaders scrambled to put out that fire, morale among the rank and file was in free fall, and our top military brass were falling and being replaced like bowling pins.
Early response to the pandemic was haphazard and slow (remember the Chinese vaccine deal that fell through) and was a major distraction from other issues.
Similarly, did election planning siphon off government time and effort that could have forecast and avoided the debacle in Afghanistan?
We can only weep at the sight of thousands of women, children, and men begging for Canadian help to escape certain abuse, torture and probable death at the hands of the evil Taliban (suitably referred to as “a gang of medieval psychopaths” by one columnist).
The women and men who for years have helped our military, diplomatic corps and humanitarian aid workers in Afghanistan cried out for help and according to all reports what they were given were promises, emails and bureaucratic documents to fill out.
While countries like Britain, French, Germany, and the U.S. sent buses and helicopters to transport their people to waiting planes, Canada closed its embassy and evacuated the staff.
Families with members ranging from infants to frail elderly stood for hours in lineups in blistering heat and waded in a canal filled with raw sewage, calling to Canadian military personnel and begging them to look at the useless documents they clutched in their hands.
Messages coming from the desperate are beyond belief in their horror, fear and desperation.
In earlier times the horror would be concealed. Today, cell phones provide the world with a window into this cauldron of misery.
Excellent reporting is coming from Canadians here at home like Kevin Newman, a retired and highly respected journalist for both Global and CTV networks, who covered Afghanistan for years. He remains in close contact with Afghans and his writing for The Line, an online news provider, has been bone chilling.
Newman maintains “Canada has been slow to act, risk-averse and selfish,” by relying too much on its neighbours for help while turning its own back on thousands who have been loyal to us.
Retired military officials and diplomats are also providing much-needed comment and insight.
Retired Canadian General Rick Hillier, former chief of the Canadian Defense Staff and commander of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, didn’t pull any punches as he watched the disaster unfold in Kabul.
“We should be ashamed as a nation…we have not shone greatly during this whole episode,” Hillier told the CBC’s Katie Simpson in blaming “bureaucratic bungling” for our shameful performance.
Hillier confirmed other reports that instead of trying to round up and transport people to safety, Canadian officials emailed complex documents that families were told to bring with them to the airport. Access to the airport was near impossible and dangerous and is now the target of suicide bombers.
Hiller described Canada’s efforts as “cluttered by bureaucracy, paperwork, inefficiency and clumsiness” and said the documentation was so complicated that he himself would have trouble understanding and completing it.
Meanwhile, the nightmare continues for abandoned families—little girls who will be “married” to Taliban warriors, little boys who will be welcomed and groomed into the cult of terror—and a generation of innocent people whose trust and belief in Canada has been shattered.
They helped the Canadians who were helping them build a better life and combat international terrorism. They had every reason to think we would protect them for their service.
It is a scar upon all of us that things didn’t work out that way—not only for the 40,000 Canadians who served in Afghanistan and the 158 families who lost a son or daughter, but for all of us whose taxes paid for the fight and share the shame of how it ended.
We couldn’t have saved everyone but we could have saved far more than we did.
Among issues that deserve a full hearing in this election campaign, this one cries out big time.
Who is responsible? Who, if anyone, will be held accountable?
In election ads, the prime minister assures us he has our backs.
We sure as hell didn’t have the backs of our Afghan friends when it came payback time for their sacrifice and trust in us.
Sally Barnes has enjoyed a distinguished career as a writer, journalist and author. Her work has been recognized in a number of ways, including receiving a Southam Fellowship in Journalism at Massey College at the University of Toronto. A self-confessed political junkie, she has worked in the back-rooms for several Ontario premiers. In addition to a number of other community contributions, Sally Barnes served a term as president of the Ontario Council on the Status of Women. She is a former business colleague of Doppler’s publisher, Hugh Mackenzie, and lives in Kingston, Ontario. You can find her online at sallybarnesauthor.com
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As “Canada will be judged by our response or lack of it. Certainly abroad and surely here at home.”
So will all the other NATO countries that were a part of the Afghanistan withdrawal.
It is indeed a travesty, but one Canada does not bear alone.
Mr. Markle, I will be bold enough to suggest that the social Conservative base of the electorate could care less about Muslim Afghans, either civilians or army translators. All one has to do is check out the comments attached to this article, such as — look after those at home first (meaning Canadians) & why can’t the Afghans look after themselves?, why can’t they fight their own battles?!
The appearances and rhetoric of the SH years of governance (as he was reflecting the position of his party followers) -belies much interest in the Afghanis. However, the lag in action from the JT government is now a great talking point from the same party.
Good one Allen Markle, I really like your comments.
Leaders of one or the other party, whichever is in power, are always blamed by some of the zealots of the opposing political persuasion for everything bad that is going on, especially just before the elections. That makes their opinions politically motivated and opinions much less balanced and much less worthy.
I am surprised that the current PM is not blamed for the wildfires and other adverse effects of climate change and for the Covid 19 pandemic continuous advance.
As far as the rapid advance of the Taliban in Afghanistan is concerned: everyone in the world was surprised, the Taliban included. Afghanistan army, although well-armed and trained by the western forces, showed no willingness to defend their own country against the Taliban insurrection. As much sorrow I feel for the civilian Afghanistan population, I must admit that in my opinion, the USA president Biden was right to end western involvement in the forever war. The West should have never been there in the first place, 9/11 and Osama Bin Laden notwithstanding. If the USA and its cohorts had never ever interfered in conflicts overseas, the revolutionaries of the Middle East would not turn into terrorists and would not bring the war to the USA soil and Europe.
The involvement of the west abroad has been always instigated to safeguard the interests of the Big Capital of the West, disregarding the wellbeing of the civilians and the armed men and women of the invading countries as much as of the invaded.
Not relevant what so-and-so or somebody else might have done in Afghanistan. It is relevant what much the same bunch of bureaucrats, now serving new masters, did do. You will have to search future history books to find out if the party in charge of the Canadian response in Afghanistan was liberal or conservative.
If the deficiencies in the Canadian with-drawl in 2014 were so obvious, why would the ‘build back better’ not have started then?
Provincial and former federal governments have little influence on International happenings. Bob Ray being the exception.
But Canada will be judged by our response, or lack of it. Certainly abroad and surely here at home.
Mr. Mackenzie; your emphasis concerning this issue is predictable. What would SH have done, I wonder, given his anti-Muslim immigration leanings and Kenney’s comments about not owing Afghani translators or Afghani people anything (after all, those translators were paid for their work and told they should expect no other support). What has changed, other than an opportunity to make political points?
One key theme to this issue is preparedness and there are far too many examples in our current Provincial governing party and in former Federal Conservative governments where lack of preparedness has been very deficient, sometimes resulting in travesty for Canadians.
People will have their own opinion as to whether the 20 year war in Afghanistan was worth it. But it is difficult to defend the Trudeau government for their failure to have and execute an effective plan to repatriate Canadians and Canadian supporters well before a deadline set by President Biden more than 6 months ago. There are still more than a thousand people with Canadian connections, which puts them in danger from the Taliban, that remain in Afghanistan and want to leave. In wartime the maxim is “No one is left behind”. It is to our shame that this was ignored.
Due to its geographic location, Afghanistan gas been in turmoil for 180 years as Britain and the USA sought to block Russian attempts to overtake India. The word Taliban means “Students”. The Taliban is made up of men who were brainwashed since they were little boys with the most extreme religious training. They are trained to want to die for their cause. Moderate Afghans fear the Taliban because they want to live.
A book called “Losing the Long Game” by Philip Gordon a former US National Security Advisor details how and why the US failed at attempts at regime change in Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya. It takes 50 years to achieve the necessary underlying cultural change. The only places the US stayed for 50 years were Europe after WW2 and South Korea.
“President Biden is vowing the U.S. will never again use its military to impose regime change abroad, as he sought to slam shut the door on the Afghanistan War. Mr. Biden defended the chaotic retreat from Kabul – arguing that prolonging the withdrawal would have put American troops in unacceptable danger – and lamented the enormous cost in lives and money of a failed war. In future, he said, the U.S. will only take part in “targeted, precise” military operations to protect its own immediate interests, such as using air strikes to kill accused terrorists. Costly, open-ended occupations have served only to weaken the country against adversaries such as Russia and China, he contended.”
A sad situation for sure.
Like a lot of you I’m less than thrilled with Justin’s performance. In his defense I suppose one could point out that most of his “errors” have been due to what a grade 5 teacher might call “honest mistakes” in one of their students. This said, Trudeau seems to have made a lot of such mistakes.
But then, a day or so ago the Tool in charge of the Conservatives biggest issue was banning puppy mills! Here we are, Afghanistan, global climate disasters, racial tension higher than ever and a growing lack of food and shelter that anyone can afford. Instead of things getting better they seem to be going backward and he is worrying about some pet dogs??? At least Nero could play the fiddle (according to legend)
Who indeed do we vote for in this unwanted election?
The one hope I have is that Canadian’s learned how to count better than our southern neighbors so maybe, perhaps, we might actually get a “result” in a day or two and not a ” steal” with lawsuits on the side like they did in the USA.
Right on Alan Holt !!!
I am more than a little distressed with the bloodying of our troops., tagged to the shirt-tails of our southern neighbor and ally. But we need an ally; the world is a mean and lonely place to walk alone. And if not them, who then?
When we withdrew our troops in 2014, there were people still in Afghanistan who had served with us as our contractors; who had offered us their assistance, which we had accepted. They could have, should have left with us, but it is difficult to say goodbye to your home and country. I know this because my wife did just that, not because she had to, but because she chose to. It was still upsetting.
When Afghanistan was collapsing, it was failing at great speed; our politicians and bureaucrats where out of their depth and their reaction was glacial.
To question or surmise what would have transpired had the situation been in different hands is moot, but this IS what is happening in the hands of this administration.
We are blessed to live in Canada, miles from the turmoil and torment of Afghanistan or any other torn and tortured country and we cannot rewrite what has been done. I know our troops performed admirably, although I will question the integrity of our Defence Minister, Harjit Sajjan (Operation Medusa, Afghanistan, 2006)
If our stock in international circles has taken a hit, in my opinion it would be, not because we withdrew, but because we broke a trust. And please, I don’t need to hear one more ‘Sorry’.
I would suggest the major issue was the inability or lack of desire of the Afghan population to defend their own country from the Talisman.
In spite of immense sum of money, significant new infrastructure such as highways, armaments, etc, the army melted away and gave up. That is the issue.
I agree with you Jacquie. The current administrations in Canada and the US cannot be held to blame for the situation in Afghanistan. If it was so easy to predict what would happen when the US pulled out, then I think more countries would have been prepared – but as far as I know, nobody was prepared. It is very easy to look back and think that we should have known what would happen.
Many experts are currently debating whether there even was a better way to handle the extraction. Even in retrospect. Seriously, show me one country that “shone” during the evacuation of Afghanistan.
Maybe I am wrong about this, but I also do not understand the logic that makes us responsible for the safety of the Afghani people who helped us *** while we were helping them ***. Did they put themselves at risk by trying to help their own people? It sounds like the answer is yes, but why do we have to bear that responsibilty? Did we put our soldiers at risk by helping them? Yes, as Sally mentions, more than 40,000 of our troops particpated in the Afghan mission and 158 lost their lives. (https://www.warmuseum.ca/learn/canada-and-the-afghanistan-war/)
I don’t think we can blame Trudeau (or the upcoiming election) for even a fraction of this tragedy. Maybe we should blame the Taliban? Or maybe we should blame the Afghani government and people who did not resist the Taliban? It sounded like a lot of government forces just gave up and turned over their weapons to the Taliban. I don’t know if this is true, but just based on the speed at which the Taliban retook the country, it sounds like it is probably true to me.
A lot of it comes down to the simple fact that you cannot help someone who is not ready, or does not want, to be helped. The Afghani government and people are (for the most part) clearly not ready or willing to fight the Taliban. What else do we need to know? It seems to me this is the current reality.
And I can hardly blame our current goverment for this tragedy.
I am not saying we shouldn’t help, I am just saying that a miltary presence is probably not going to help solve the real problem. I think immigration and education are one of our most powerful tools to help countries like this – and Trudeau has certainly done more about this than any other pm I can think of.
That being said, I have to agree with Sally that there is far too much bureaucracy in all levels of our government. Each year things seem to become less and less efficient and lack more and more common sense. It is a disgrace that we were requesting huge documents to be filled out during the evacuation.
The Afghan situation is very sad, however, I am amazed that all comments blame JT. World intelligence was obviously very poor. All nations USA, UK, France, etc. all missed the warnings. Obviously some folks that are stranded have passports, how long have they had them? What were they waiting for – hoping that they did not leave their country ever. I watched an activist who has been in Canada for 10 years complain the JT had not “got her parents out” She has had a lot of time to sponsor them in Canada.
Yes, there has been many errors in the fight, perhaps the biggest one is that we were there to start with – not JT’s decision. The Middle East has been fighting for over 2000 years – Read the Old Testament and the the prophets.
Perhaps we need ALL politicians to show some action and not a lot of talk. We have more than enough problems in Canada. I can not accept the BILLIONS of dollars that all parties are promising.
I give credit to JT who has spent a lot of money on vaccines and I am proud that Canada leads the way in first dose vaccinations – DF also need credit for continuing to partially mandate masks but we need more action.
I would like to see more balance in media news. I am very shaded with the media creating news and highlighting one incident. Example: Nations have have successfully evacuated 100,000 plus people but emphasize is on all on those not evacuated Some good news with bad! Remember 900 people died in Florida of Covid – 19 last week and 125++ in Afghanistan Lots of warning for FL. not necessary deaths
It is a beautiful day in Muskoka Enjoy
Thank you Sally for taking this on.
Are you as glad as I am that the Harper Conservatives are not currently in power, especially concerning Afghanistan?
“In 2015, O’Toole was a minister in the Harper government that was opposed to immigration from mainly Muslim countries. [there was] the anti-Muslim platform of the Harper Conservatives put forward during the election of 2015. Even if O’Toole is sincere in his belated desire to bring refugees to Canada, there are large segments of his party that must be opposed to such a move…Certainly, Trudeau’s government didn’t act soon enough in this situation, but if history is any indication, it is highly unlikely O’Toole’s party would have acted at all on behalf of the Afghani people”(Letters to the editor, Toronto Star, August 30, 2021).
In addition, you may wish to check out Jason Kenney’s previous statements under the Harper government and his waffling position on helping the Afghani interpreters. He danced around any commitment to these helpers to our Canadian forces, let alone the Afghani people themselves. Kenney did receive criticism from Canadian combat veterans at the time, saying that the honourable thing to do was to rescue these interpreters under threat from the Taliban.
Canada’s reputation is sullied, as is that of Denmark, Germany, France, Great Britain in this instance – all have pulled out and been able to accept Afghan refugees in limited numbers. However, my speculation is to question what would have this situation looked like under Harper?
There are so many important government files: pandemic, Indigenous issues, wild fires, climate change, mental health, etc.
If raising the Canadian flag is helpful to you during these singular times, by all means, do so. This symbolic act of flag-raising seems important to you – perhaps as a form of resilience and recovery.
Nancy, I wholeheartedly agree with you re building safe, geared-to-income rental housing/units for the people (there are many) who cannot afford the outrageous, out-of-reach, prices of homes and rental units.
I usually enjoy Sally’s columns. But not this one. I’ll start with the Hillier and ask, why, if he was such a great guy and so good as a military man, didn’t he do something about the rampant abuses in the military. Then, I have to wonder why we are responsible for the Afghan people. Even though I despise what’s going on in the Middle East I know that we have limited ability to change the culture there. If we didn’t get our own people out, then the outrage of the righteous people here would have been so much more. I think the privilege of being a citizen is to make sure that others are taken care of. This might start with building rental housing geared to income for people living in the streets here. I’m sure there are many abuses being suffered right here. Right now. Just like being in an airplane emergency. Put your own oxygen on first, then help your neighbour.
Sally: Commentary sure sounds great when a pro does it. Powerful and succinct.
I don’t think it is the politicians that are so much at fault here as the bureaucracy; safe in an air-conditioned office back home, while the foot soldier faces the unfriendly world they have been sent to.
The bureaucrat is set for life should they choose to remain in the service, sometimes, regardless of their performance or efficiency. The soldier; not so much.
If we, through our government, choose to put our soldier in harms way, then we better get out the platinum card when it comes to their care and maintenance in the field and when they come home broken or bent. By the same token, if someone offers their assistance and we accept that offer, should we not assume some responsibility for their welfare?
I know a family that got free of Afghanistan in 2013, a couple years after the Canadian withdrawal. It wasn’t easy for them then so what can it be like now for those we are about to abandon?
In our town, I am aware of one of our young men who is about to enlist; about to put his faith and his life in the hands of our military. At this time! He is displaying much more respect for us than we may deserve. I know your parents are proud and as a Canadian, so am I.
May all our gods and saints protect you.
This fiasco is entirely Trudeau’s fault. He has led this government for so years. Everyone knew that the withdrawal from Afghanistan was coming and that our allies there would need help. Instead of enacting a plan, Trudeau squandered the time, concentrating efforts on escaping sanctions for scandals such as the We charity payouts to his family. I think that up until now Canadians have been able to tolerate this unserious fool because the stakes weren’t very high. Now that lives are being lost, with no realistic plan to help save others, we all are now understanding why it’s a bad idea to have such an unqualified person as prime minister. Let’s correct this on September 20th
Great article Sally! Things have happened very quickly in the Afghanistan situation! What really sums it up, we had months if not years to bring our helpers to Canada, that being interpreters, and family! They stood up to the taliban and we need to help them! Unfortunately for some it is to late! JT has talked out of the side of his mouth since becoming PM, and i use that term lightly, well most countries are bringing them home we sent night mares of requirements to the interpreters, go here go there and wear red! Like waving a red blanket at a bull fight! Flags flying at half mast for countless months, really i do understand there is a major point to be made and concerns over the residential schools and it to is shameful!!!!!! Yes we as Canada have lost our way! Canada is back, NOT!