By Frank Bucholtz - Langley Times

Back in 2007, MP Mark Warawa arranged a town hall meeting on the Canadian mission in Afghanistan.
It was a very good meeting. A lot of very useful, non-political information was presented, and the reasons behind Canada being there as part of a United Nations mission became much clearer to most members of the audience.

Fast forward two-and-a-half years. Our troops are still in Afghanistan, although they are scheduled to pull out in 2011. There is still a lot of friction between the Taliban and the current Afghan government, which is being accused of corruption on a number of fronts.

While many ordinary Afghans are receiving more education, the country remains desperately poor. Education of girls is often conducted in a clandestine manner in certain parts of the country.

Al-Qaeda, which was responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and had strong support from the Taliban government of Afghanistan at the time, remains very active and frequently has its operatives moving back and forth between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The risk of terrorism remains, although for many people it is no longer top-of-mind.

Here in Langley, Pte. Garrett Chidley was mourned just a few months ago after he lost his life in Afghanistan, just before the end of the year. Master Cpl. Colin Bason, an Abbotsford resident with many connections to Langley, lost his life in 2007 while serving there with the Royal Westminster Regiment reserves.

For me, the Afghanistan war has become far more personal in the past year. A young man who often spent time at our home as a boy, playing with my children, is serving there with the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry — a combat unit based in Edmonton.

He has been back home on leave once since his tour of duty started, and is scheduled to be back again soon.
Is our mission there helping Afghans? I think it is. However, it has indifferent support among many of them — perhaps because they cynically believe that the country will be split up between warlords, as it has been for much of its history, as soon as the last troops leave.

Canada has been right to put other members of the United Nations on notice that our combat role there is to end after 10 years. It makes no sense to leave this mission open-ended, when progress has been so maddeningly slow.

Yet at the same time, is it in Canada’s interests to leave the country and see it again become a hotbed for terrorists? Does that not have the potential for an even worse scenario?

I don’t know what the answers are, nor do most of us. The politicians in Ottawa certainly don’t have the answers, and I’m not sure the military brass do either.
The one thing I am certain of is this. The young men and women who are serving in Afghanistan are doing something that is much greater than any one of them. They are serving our country in a hot, dusty, faraway place, and they are doing so because they believe our way of life is worth defending.

They deserve our support and gratitude.