Canadians: “Afghanistan Is A Lost Cause”
An extensive recent survey in Canada shows that a clear majority of Canadians consider the mission in Afghanistan “a lost cause”, and hints at a “deep public skepticism about the war on terror”.
Now that baffles me.
In the USA too the majority of the people are expressing their opposition to the continued engagement of their armed forces abroad. But the leadership in both the countries are riding roughshod over public opinion.
So what’s the difference between these democracies and the dictatorships in other countries?
Now back to the Canadian poll. Decima Research polled more than 2,000 Canadians last month just as Prime Minister Stephen Harper stepped up his efforts to promote the mission.
“Fifty-nine per cent of respondents agreed Canadian soldiers ‘are dying for a cause we cannot win,’ while just 34 per cent disagreed with that statement.
” An even larger majority said they would never fight in Afghanistan themselves under any circumstances – not even if they were forced to in some military draft.
“The online survey of 2,038 people was conducted Sept. 8-18 and is considered accurate to within 2.2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
“The doubts of respondents about Canada’s chances in Afghanistan paled in comparison to their downright dismissal of the overall U.S.-led war on terror.
“Almost three-quarters said the Bush administration had made the world more dangerous, 76 per cent said American policy had contributed to a rise in terrorism, and 68 per cent predicted the U.S. will eventually abandon Iraq without success.
“This public skepticism could have deep implications for Canada, both politically and militarily.”
I am not surprised. It confirms my earlier impressions formed during my three-month long stay in Canada in the 1970s about the non-aggressive and peaceful nature of the Canadians. And this can be attributed to their down-to-earth and non-arrogant outlook towards life.
I sound a bit partisan, maybe because my younger brother is a Canadian citizen!!!
16 Responses to “Canadians: “Afghanistan Is A Lost Cause””
Swaraaj- Having spent some very happy weeks in Canada-(Nova Scotia, Quebec and Montreal) I have to agree with your assessment of our Northern neighbors. They are peaceful, non-aggressive and down-to-earth.
But I hope for all of our sakes that you are wrong about Afghanistan, because to lose there would be to admit the GWOT is a colossal failure, and leave us no choice but to turn the US and Canada into police states.
I will comment that I was extremely impressed that the Canadian government managed to thwart a lethal terrorist plot in Quebec with no fear-mongering and very little fanfare. They have also not succumbed to panic by lowering their standards on torture or human rights.
I envy their approach, and hope our next president follows their excellent example. The current one is a hopeless cause. I’m afraid. We have much to admire and a lot to learn from the peaceful but stalwart Canadians!
Kim,
Do you know of any links to this plot?
Rudi- I was mistaken- the planned attack was in Toronto- not Quebec. It was fairly well-reported here, but in case you didn’t here about it Wikipedia has an account if you search on “2006 Terrorist Plot in Toronto”. Sorry about the confusion, I think I’m up past my bedtime, LOL!!
Kim – JihadWatch links to a Toronto Sun story about a terror plot in Montreal in 2004. The TS link is no longer active. A Google search turned up nothing on “terror Montreal chemical”. I wonder if this is just paranoid rantings by the JW and DW types.
Montreal has an large Arab population for over 30 years, my parents took our family to Montreal and the situation for Arabs in Montreal is similar to France. This community would be a “breeding ground” for terrorists but I have never heard of any real plots except the Millenium Plot.
I think you’ll find similar opinions when asking the average European citizen. We elect parties, not people. We care most about our own financial situation when we elect, secondly about war issues. If you are a socialist, you tend to prefer left-wing parties (logically). Left-wing parties here are mostly against the war, where right-wingers generally support the anti-terrorism war.
If I’d choose left wing, then I’d be shooting myself in the foot, financially. Plus I am opposed to left-wingers ideologies in which jobless people get so much financial support that it becomes less and less interesting to actively look for a job.
Point being, that I consider myself slightly centre-right but oppose both the Iraq &the Afghanistan war. Then what should I choose in this democracy? There are no options.
Joey,
What is your reason for opposing the war in Afghanistan?
Canadians were against going into Iraq.
Everytime an American politician says that Iraq is the front line of the war on terror Canadians scatch the heads and ask “Then why are we in Afghanistan?”.
Stephen Harper pulled a quicky vote to extend the mission, which many viewed as a political stunt to try’n make the Liberals &NDP look bad.
If this Mission is so important so vital it’s a shame politicians tried to use it to score a couple of cheap political points, this has no doubt turned up the public’s cynicism about the mission and politicians in general.
Masharaff’s comments last week regarding the deaths of canadian soldiers will only add to the Canadians questions regarding their troops in Aghanistan.
corvus,
If I’m reading your correctly, you’re saying that Candadians thought the mission in Afghanistan was important, but because politicians in US and Canada moved on to Iraq, and didn’t continue to seriously pursue Afghanistan, then the conclusion is that Canadians now believe that it’s wrong to support the Afghanistan mission? That doesn’t seem logical to me, but please tell me if I’m missing something or misinterpreting your comments.
Rudi try this-it was uncovered in June of 2006. CNN.com Toronto Terror Plot Foiled –Canada June 3, 2006
The Canadians are kind of like the Europeans in Afghanistan: they have no real commitment. They’ve always been half-hearted about the mission there.
Aside from the United States, the West has entirely wimped out. Europe will be the first to experience the fallout from not having dealt more aggressively with Islamic extremism. All those people who think the Islamic extremists wouldn’t attack, if not for Iraq, are in for some nasty surprises in the years to come. Europe will undoubtedly be hit by extremists repeatedly in the future. Countries who had no involvement in Iraq will be hit and the left will be at a loss to explain it. They cannot comprehend that there might be a link between ordinary Islam and Islamic extremism.
Tommy
You’re wrong in so many ways I can’t even begin to address your post
C Stanley
I didn’t suggest it, the polling data did and Canadian politicians never moved on to Iraq , they stood their ground on that one.
I think it’s safe to say Canadians have watched how the US gov’t used 9/11 to create fear and push a war on a false pretense. They have a healthy cynicism that Stephen Harper and his government might try some of the same tactics so they are asking questions of their government. Questions they should ask and have every right to.
To all you wingnuts out there, a Canadian soldier died due to US friendly fire and the only US press to cover it was Sports Illistrated(sp). This wasn’t the first FriendlyFire incident, yet the Canadians didn’t comeout in a lather about bailing on the GWOT. (What have you sacrificed Tommy boy?) The reason, he was a Olympic athlete. It was covered here by the Canadian blogger. Look at Newsweeks cover in the US Leibwitz, versus Afghanisatn in the rest of the World.
The Bush administration and most of the public don’t have a REAL vested interest in theGWOT, it just fits in their rhetoric. If we had a draft and War Tax, I think the GWOT would have no support. People like Frank Schaeffer, John StMcCain and Jim Webb have a personal investment in the GWOT, most of the others invest their HOTAIR around the watercooler or risk a broken nail at the keyboard.
Tommy said :
Countries who had no involvement in Iraq will be hit and the left will be at a loss to explain it.
Although I agree with your basic premise, I think the left will continue to repudiate logic and blame President Bush. From this point forward, All future terrorism will be blamed on the Iraq war.
C Stanley, rather than those opposed having to explain why a war does not make sense, those in favour should convince us why it does make sense.
What are we going to achieve there? Are we planning to find OBL? We won’t. Are we going to kill or torture all Taliban? Are the Afghan people unde greater threat than the people in Darfur or in many other countries in Africa? C’mon, let’s spend our defense money wisely.
MichaelF
Please explain the logic you’re referring to?
Is it based on relative facts? Or just a polarized opinion?
Some one tell me that your website is very good !I do think so!