“Afghanistan, What Role Will Canada Play in its Future”: a Talk by Major General Andrew Leslie
By: Arthur Menzies
On September 30, 2004 the Foreign Service Alumni Group met in the home of Tudy McLaine to hear a talk by Major General Andrew Leslie. Major General Leslie served as Deputy Commander of the NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and senior officer of the Canadian contingent of 2000 in Kabul, Afghanistan from August 2003 to February 2004. ISAF’s main mission is to assist in providing security to the government of President Hamid Karzai, who was re-elected in national elections a few days after the talk.
General Leslie informed us that President Karzai faces formidable challenges in his quest to unify Afghanistan. Afghanistan is made up of 32 provinces, physically divided by steep mountain ranges with very poor roads, and the population speaks four main language groups (which are shared with neighbouring countries). Warlords with private armies provide security in important sectors and some finance their control by overseeing the cultivation of opium poppies, which are reputedly exported through Uzbekistan and Russia to Western Europe.
During the Russian occupation of Afghanistan from 1979-1989, many Afghans fled to refugee camps in neighbouring Pakistan. Boys were enrolled in Quran schools known as Madrasas where a fundamentalist interpretation was memorized. Graduates had no employable skills and became easy recruits for Taliban extremists, led by Mullah Usama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda terrorist movement. He also established training and indoctrination centres in Pashtun villages along the mountainous frontier between Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier Province and Afghanistan.
After the terrorist attacks of 9/11/01 on the World Trade Centre in New York, NATO invoked Article Five of the North Atlantic Treaty, declaring that an attack on one member of the alliance (the United States) was an attack on all member countries. US forces led an attack on Al Qaeda and the Taliban government of Afghanistan, applying what Major General Leslie described as overwhelming military striking force from the air and from heavy armour on the ground. American soldiers are still on the ground in Afghanistan, as 10-15 thousand were left behind when US troops were transferred to Iraq in the autumn of 2003. Their mission in Afghanistan is to try to flush out Al Qaeda and any regrouping Taliban.
Major General Leslie explained that the role of ISAF and the Canadian forces was to assist the Afghan Government; a mission he saw would be best served by lightly armed patrols trying to win friends with the Afghan people in their patrol areas. He had had the opportunity to establish a friendly cooperation with the Canadian Ambassador, Christopher Alexander, as well as a number of non-governmental aid providers. Major General Leslie also had warm memories of the Afghan people and their desire for personal safety and development, a goal that will involve a long process.