Expert: Canadian Afghan mission disappointing

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – An SFU professor who went to Afghanistan to help reform its political system calls the nine-year mission there a big disappointment. He’s making that conclusion, as Canadian soldiers officially leave the war-torn country.

Doug McArthur of SFU’s School of Public Policy says the mission failed in its three main objectives: namely to increase security for ordinary citizens, to kick start development, and to introduce better governance.

He says too much effort was put into combat. “Canada’s mission, while full of good intentions was misguided. They handled it as a seek-and-pursue-and-destroy war on the ground and that wasn’t going to bring safety and stability to the country.”

He questions whether the nearly-decade long war was a worthwhile effort. “There’s been some things done with schools and hospitals, but not nearly as much as everybody had hoped. A lot of money was spent, but a lot of it was spent on security around development projects rather than on the projects themselves. A lot of money drifted away into corruption,” he explains.

And he feels very badly for Afghans, who had such high hopes when the mission began. He says the war has alienated them, and has driven them to turn to the Taliban to fight off what’s perceived to be hostile foreign forces.