About Us

Welcome to our blog. We are six students whose goal is to create a website to inform adolescents about the war presently going on in Afghanistan. We strongly believe that the Canadian government and troops should withdraw from this cold war.  Each of us will write a text that will help us elaborate on our strong arguments. First, Julien will explain the death toll caused by the Afghanistan war, Daphne will explain why this terrible war is illegal and Laurent will elaborate on the presence of important drugs in Afghanistan. Later on, Marc and Rowan will write about the shocking political and financial aspects of this important war. Finally, Federica will explain in great detail the horrible conditions produced by the Afghan war. We all agree that the Canadian involvement is only damaging and we hope that our blog will help raise awareness about the many consequences of this war. After over nine long years, it is time to put an end to it.

Casualties of the war

The casualties caused by the Canadian involvement in Afghanistan are outrageous. Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) fatalities now represent 58% of the deaths in Afghanistan each year, such as 309 fatalities. The real question is: even if they are not planted by the Canadian forces, is it the Canadian involvement which is, in some way, responsible for the planting of these explosives? In my opinion it is; the Canadian military presence is in some way causing stress and fear in the Afghan population which make people wonder about without any precaution.  IED may be one of the major causes of casualties in Afghanistan, but it surely is not the worst kind of death that happens in Afghanistan. Women get raped, their nose sliced, their ears, even legs and limbs for running away from their violent husbands. Yes, these kinds of casualties can be linked indirectly to the Canadian involvement. For example, if a husband just lost his parents or someone in his family or lives with bombs and air strikes exploding near him, even if he is not a naturally violent husband, he may translate his anger on his wife or family.  Air strikes executed by Canadians are killing entire families, sometimes leaving a child or a wife on his own. Such situations may also induce suicidal tendencies. If a child or a wife is left on his or her own, suicide in this country is an option, when you have no family and no rights and bombs are exploding everywhere. These links, that I made after informing myself about this difficult subject, are playing  an important role in the decision that I chose, that of being against the Canadian involvement in Afghanistan. To conclude this section about fatalities, what I think is essential to remember is that even if some of the casualties in Afghanistan are not directly related, we can  find a link to relate such deaths to the Canadian involvement in Afghanistan; if we do not put an end to this war, deaths will keep on reoccurring in growing numbers.

-Julien

Is Canada violating the law in Afghanistan?

The Canadian troops should immediately withdraw from the Afghanistan was as they could be charged for war crimes. Indeed, they have been using an aggressive role that could put them at risk of important criminal charges. Therefore, different experts in that domain have accused the Canadian troops of illegal forms of torture. These forms of harassment have sometimes led to death of innocent people as well as prisoners. In fact, some deaths of innocent civilians were caused by several bombings and other types of use of force from the Canadian and American troops. As it is said in this text, no international law or policy agrees and legalizes theses attacks. Neither The Charter, The Geneva Conventions nor other laws ever mentioned the Canadian right to use those types of military forces. It is time for the Canadian government to reevaluate their implication in the Afghanistan war and make sure their activities are legal as they could be accused of important crimes.

-Daphne

The important presence of drugs

Before the Canadian involvement in Afghanistan in 2001, the drug consumption was mainly Opium and it was frequent. The authorities are a big part of the consumption. Poppy, the base of Opium, is dreadful in this case considering the authorities consume it during work hours and normal citizens during their day-time activities. The fact that they consume drugs in the middle of the day affects their decision taking and judgment. Another sad fact is that they get their hands on this drug from the Taliban, the group whom they should actually be against. This is blatant proof and a loud announcement saying ¨We are corrupt¨. Don’t get us wrong, it’s not everyone that possesses farms of Poppy or bags of Opium in their house, but it’s a large majority. It amplifies into something extremely detailed, which is great because it captivates attention internationally. The only way to prevent this tendency to continue is with military help. Yet it seems that with time, they haven’t been able to stop it one hundred percent and it seems that they focus on other major points and generally they seem just to be there for war. Eight percent of the Afghan population turns to drugs in sticky situations. With the process of changing Opium (Afghans produce 90 to 95% of the worldwide quantity of Opium) into Heroin in Afghan laboratories, the revenues are bigger since it’s a more expensive drug, which gives the producers the taste of staying in this illegal industry. If the tendency continues, Afghanistan could become a Heroin factory. The people who get income from drug production and sale are using this money for other bad causes like armory and weapon buying. All this does is cause injury and deaths while partially solving the problem. This is a lose-lose situation for the Canadian troops.

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20090920/Afghanistan_drugs_column_090920/

http://www.globalenvision.org/2008/04/08/fix-afghanistans-drug-problem 

-Laurent

The shocking political aspect of this tragic war

Canada has sent lots of troops to Afghanistan. One of its six priorities is political reconciliation. However, this form of cooperation has somewhat failed because there is no reconciliation with the Taliban. This effort only includes the organizations that agree to renounce to violence, respect human rights and accept the government’s legitimacy. This rules out many organizations including the Taliban. To end the violence, we must talk with the terrorists and try to make an agreement. There isn’t much to reconciliate with the organizations that Canada is currently talking to. That explains partially why Canada is spending only 14 million over three years compared to the 355 millions used to help advance Afghanistan’s capacity for democratic governance. Canada is spending a lot to help improve the Government of Afghanistan’s capacity to communicate with its citizens. That goal is hard to achieve when the population doesn’t know who to trust so Canada has spent more money trying to reassure and make itself appear as a friend. Canada has also spent money to help the afghan government to encourage dialogue. All the work mentioned before is about Canada’s approach to reconciliate. In general, political reconciliation is useless and costly because the Canadian government refuses any dialogue with the Talibans.

http://www.afghanistan.gc.ca/canada-afghanistan/progress-progres/benchmarks-reperes/priorit6.aspx

http://mostlywater.org/canada_fighting_imperialist_war_afghanistan

-Marc

The financial aspect of the Afghan war

The Canadian army’s involvement in Afghanistan has had many impacts on Canada. One of these impacts is the price that Canada has to pay to fund the army. The government must pay for food, water, weapons, medical supplies, the soldier’s salary and many other expenses. At the beginning of our involvement, the government estimated that the war would cost Canada 4 to 7 billion dollars. Since 2002, our involvement has cost Canada 8 billion dollars. Furthermore, members of government estimate that by our withdrawal from the war in 2011, the total cost of our involvement may surpass 18 billion dollars. Imagine what that money could be used for in Canada. That amount is equivalent to 1500 dollars per Canadian household! The cost of the involvement by the military was extremely underestimated. For all the Canadian population knows, the governement could have made another mistake in their estimation which could result in a raise in Canadian taxes. The financial consequences of our mission are very serious. Throughout the mission, Canada’s goal has been to protect the Afghan citizens and improve their society, yet it is having a strong impact on Canada. Canada must withdraw the army from Afghanistan in order to stabilize the Canadian financial situation.

-Rowan

The terrible conditions lived in the Afghanistan war

The conditions of the Afghan war are miserable. Each day, home and villages are bombed and torn to pieces. Families have to move quickly and only bring the minimum, they find shelter in abandoned houses or they camp outside. Millions of children live in the streets and have to beg for money to eat and many of them starve to death. Every day, many Afghans lose their family and all their belongings, they're left with nothing and because of what? This is because of the raging war between the Canadian forces and the Taliban attack every hour of the day. We all know that the life condition of the Afghans is miserable and the Canadian soldiers’ condition is too. Many soldiers live in tents or in bunkers and troops are forced to respond to Taliban attacks many hours of the day. Soldiers have to protect villages and are at risk of Taliban traps and bombs that could be waiting for them anywhere. Many soldiers have already lost their lives. Their presence in Afghanistan does not seem to help the Afghan conditions either! Every day Afghans and Canadians are put at risk, I think and hope that we can end the Canadians involvement in Afghanistan.

-Federica