Abandoning Afghan allies shameful
I find it absolutely abhorrent that Canada and other countries have waited so long to try to get their Afghan allies extracted from Afghanistan.
It has been apparent for many months that the Americans were going to completely withdraw from Afghanistan, yet various governments did not immediately start extraction of their Afghan interpreters, allies, their family members, etc.
Over that period, it appears that everyone just sat on their hands and said, “When the time finally comes, we'll then move forward with extractions.”
And what has happened? Due to a swift takeover of the country by the Taliban, these Afghan allies and their family members are now trapped forever and probably will be subject to Taliban retribution.
It's an appalling situation, which will no doubt be repeated over and over in other countries in the future.
Why?
Because it doesn't affect average Canadian, Australian, British (and so on) citizens in their dayto-day lives, and so is not high on a government priority list.
Instead, governments worry about getting re-elected, skirting the various world-impacting crises facing mankind and simply offering incentives to placate the general populace.
William Donaldson, Stittsville
Trudeau dropped ball on helping Afghans
Knowing for more than six months that U.S. forces were withdrawing from Afghanistan and that many Afghans who had assisted Canada have not had access to documents or the internet for months, Justin Trudeau failed to establish alternative methods of identification for these interpreters, guides, cooks and others.
And there were alternatives. For example, if, say, three members of our military vouched for specific individuals, these people could have been assisted to get out in May and June when travel was much easier. Instead, we waited too long to try to make the process for entry into Canada easier.
What is now happening to Afghans who helped Canada is shameful.
Michael Hider, Rockland
Everyone should have freedoms we enjoy
I wish there were a coalition of countries that would now go into Afghanistan and rid the country of every single Taliban individual. What's happening to innocent and vulnerable people should not be allowed anywhere.
A short while ago, Japan hosted people from countries around the world at the Olympics. It was wonderful and gave me the sense that it was bringing the whole world together.
Now the world faces an evil force taking over Afghanistan, and citizens are left to fend for themselves. I believe that people all around the world feel devastated by this.
How lucky we are here, and I wish every individual had the potential to have the same freedom we have.
Jeanette Mather, Kanata
Afghan fiasco will determine how I vote
I am very upset that our Liberal government has made the criteria for our Afghan allies to come here so convoluted and difficult.
The government knew this would be a problem before our soldiers left Afghanistan, so where were the movers, shakers and planners?
They seemed unable to get their act together to help the Afghan allies who assisted our soldiers and without whom our troops most likely would have been in a much more dangerous situation than they already were.
If a large number of these people are still stuck in Afghanistan and do not make it to safety, my ballot in the federal election will definitely reflect those circumstances.
Joan Scott, Ottawa
U.S. diplomacy must be closely examined Re: ‘Canada has no plans to recognize the Taliban’, Aug. 18.
The debacle in Afghanistan is a colossal failure of American diplomacy and foreign policy. Originally intended as a war on al-Qaida after 9/11, 20 years of fighting by American and allied troops, with death and devastation, has not earned the West one iota of progress. How dire the situation of the Afghan people is.
Given the internal strife in U.S. politics, American diplomacy must be seriously questioned by all governments, including Canada's. The Trump presidency's solution to the poor and desperate from Latin America was to build a wall, encasing people in their despair. He also increased the embargo on Cuba, which included an embargo on importing the syringes necessary for Cuban people to get their COVID vaccines. Why is our government mute on these things?
Not recognizing the Taliban regime is all well and good, but what about helping the people who desire freedom from religious Taliban strictures, who strive for the opportunity to join the world's people in constructive, fruitful harmony without worry of harm or oppression? Carl Hager, Gatineau
Plug nose, recognize Taliban government
After the Communists under
Mao Zedong took control of China in 1949, it took many countries 20 or more years to recognize what was, in fact, the legitimate government of China. Pierre Elliott Trudeau was persuaded to recognize the obvious, for which he deserved praise. Today we have a similar situation in Afghanistan: a new government not to our liking is now in charge. Despite protests from many, the Taliban do have a good measure of support with Afghanistan. How else can we explain the collapse of the mighty Afghan army and the lightning speed of the Taliban victory?
Let's be a little more sensible this time and move forward with recognition of the situation in Afghanistan. We don't recognize governments because we like them; we recognize them because they represent their nation. By early acceptance of the status quo we will hopefully acquire some small measure of respect from the Taliban and be able to have some small measure of influence. David Polk, Blackburn Hamlet
Perhaps it’s time to try olive branch
This week we all watched the sudden fall of Kabul to the Taliban, which once again proved that throwing in billions of dollars to prop up a corrupt Western-backed government just does not work. Perhaps now might be the time to change the playbook.
Instead of treating the Taliban as pariahs and not recognizing them, why not try holding out an olive branch to see if we can work with them? Canada already maintains diplomatic relations with nations whose values differ fundamentally from ours, and we have been forward-thinking in the past. In 1959, we and Mexico were the only two countries in the hemisphere not to break relations with Cuba in the years that followed the Cuban revolution.
Ed Storey, Nepean
Speaking of corrupt governments ...
Re: Analysis: Afghan mission was doomed to fail, but Canadian leaders refused to listen, Aug. 18. David Pugliese writes about the money sent to Afghanistan by Canada, the U.S. and other western nations: “Tens of billions of dollars of international reconstruction and security aid flowed into the most corrupt nation in the world ...” In the paragraph just before, he mentions the “Afghanistan Papers, documents that revealed high-ranking officials knew the war couldn't be won, but lied to the public.” That is, they were sending young people to get killed in a war that they knew couldn't be won.
So which government was the most corrupt?
Murray Citron, Ottawa