Download or read book Canada in Afghanistan written by Peter Pigott and published by Dundurn. This book was released on 2007-02-28 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It has been said that Canada is a country with too much geography and too little history. Afghanistan has too much of both. As the war escalates in Afghanistan, more Canadians are asking what we are doing there. For a country that has specialized in peacekeeping, this war is a shock one that we have not yet comprehended. As the casualties mount, Canadians will want to know why we are there. Canada in Afghanistan introduces readers to Afghans and their culture, gives historical background from our involvement since 9/11, and covers operations casualties and the results. Also included is an examination of a new strategic experiment the provincial reconstruction team and the technological advances used in this war. Cautionary predictions conclude the book. Canada in Afghanistan is an introduction to what is happening in Afghanistan and what we can expect through 2009.
Download or read book The Politics of War written by Jean-Christophe Boucher and published by UBC Press. This book was released on 2017-10-15 with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When the Canadian government committed forces to join the military mission in Afghanistan following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, little did it foresee that this decision would involve Canada in a war-riven country for over a decade. The Politics of War explores how, as the mission became increasingly unpopular, Canadian politicians across the political spectrum began to use it to score points against their opponents. This was “politics” with a vengeance. Through historical analysis of the public record and interviews with officials, Jean-Christophe Boucher and Kim Richard Nossal show how the Canadian government sought to frame the engagement in Afghanistan as a “mission” rather than what it was – a war. They examine the efforts of successive governments to convince Canadians of the rightness of Canada’s engagement, the parliamentary politics that resulted from the increasing politicization of the mission, and the impact of public opinion on Canada’s involvement. This contribution to the field of Canadian foreign policy demonstrates how much of Canada’s war in Afghanistan was shaped by the vagaries of domestic politics and political gamesmanship.
Download or read book Canada as Statebuilder written by Laura Grant and published by McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. This book was released on 2021-08-18 with total page 437 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Canada's statebuilding efforts in Afghanistan are not well documented. After fourteen years of significant investments in humanitarian causes, there are still questions about the impact of these projects and whether they delivered as promised or fell short. In Canada as Statebuilder? Laura Grant and Benjamin Zyla analyze over one hundred and thirty Canadian-led development projects in Afghanistan to illustrate that Canada has a limited capacity to effectively run humanitarian efforts in unstable, insecure, or inaccessible environments. Canadian or Canadian-sponsored development projects were ambitious and highly productive in terms of outputs in the short term, especially in the areas of security, women and gender, health, and education. However, when their outcomes and overall impact are assessed, the authors argue, Canada's record is less impressive. Their analysis contributes to evidence-based discussions of one of Canada's most important foreign policy activities in recent years. Reflecting on Canada's engagement in Afghanistan, Canada as Statebuilder? asks whether Canadian peacekeeping efforts in the region were ultimately worth the economic and human resources invested.
Download or read book First Soldiers Down written by Ron Corbett and published by Dundurn. This book was released on 2012-04-28 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For many in Canada, the April 18, 2002 tragedy with Alpha Company signaled the true beginning of Canada's lengthy combat mission in Afghanistan. This story recounts what happened that evening through archival material and the recollections of troops.
Download or read book Empire s Ally written by Gregory Albo and published by University of Toronto Press. This book was released on 2013-01-01 with total page 465 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The war in Afghanistan has been a major policy commitment and central undertaking of the Canadian state since 2001: Canada has been a leading force in the war, and has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on aid and reconstruction. After a decade of conflict, however, there is considerable debate about the efficacy of the mission, as well as calls to reassess Canada's role in the conflict. An authoritative and strongly analytical work, Empire's Ally provides a much-needed critical investigation into one of the most polarizing events of our time. This collection draws on new primary evidence including government documents, think tank and NGO reports, international media files, and interviews in Afghanistan to provide context for Canadian foreign policy, to offer critical perspectives on the war itself, and to link the conflict to broader issues of political economy, international relations, and Canada's role on the world stage. Spanning academic and public debates, Empire's Ally opens a new line of argument on why the mission has entered a stage of crisis.
Download or read book Afghanistan and Canada written by Lucia Kowaluk and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Traces Canada's military involvement in Afghanistan in the hope of finding an alternative to continuing war.
Download or read book A Line in the Sand written by Ray Wiss and published by D & M Publishers. This book was released on 2010-10-02 with total page 426 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 2007–08, Dr. Ray Wiss, a former infantry officer, served with the Canadian Forces at forward operating bases in Khandahar's Panjwayi valley, the area experiencing the most intense combat in Afghanistan. He spent more time in the combat area than any other Canadian physician, and his successful first book, FOB Doc, was the diary of his time “outside the wire” during that tour of duty. Captain Wiss's experience in Afghanistan convinced him that this conflict was a rare example of a moral war. When asked to return for an even longer tour of duty in the combat zone, he readily agreed. Once again, he kept a diary, writing with passion about the efforts, sacrifices and achievements of those Canadians who served with such distinction. Illustrated with over 100 colour photographs, A Line in the Sand tells us about virtually every kind of soldier fighting in Afghanistan: the bomb technician, the engineer, the combat medic, the “grunt” as well as about the Afghans, from whom we are seemingly so different yet with whom we share so much. It is an impassioned insider’s view of the war in Afghanistan and a convincing testament to why it matters.
Download or read book Adapting in the Dust written by Stephen M. Saideman and published by University of Toronto Press. This book was released on 2016-01-27 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Canada’s six-year military mission in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province was one of the most intense and challenging moments in Canadian foreign affairs since the Korean War. A complex war fought in an inhospitable environment, the Afghanistan mission tested the mettle not just of Canada’s soldiers but also of its politicians, public servants, and policy makers. In Adapting in the Dust, Stephen M. Saideman considers how well the Canadian government, media, and public managed the challenge. Building on interviews with military officers, civilian officials, and politicians, Saideman shows how key actors in Canada’s political system, including the prime minister, the political parties, and parliament, responded to the demands of a costly and controversial mission. Some adapted well; others adapted poorly or – worse yet – in ways that protected careers but harmed the mission itself. Adapting in the Dust is a vital evaluation of how well Canada’s institutions, parties, and policy makers responded to the need to oversee and sustain a military intervention overseas, and an important guide to what will have to change in order to do better next time.
Download or read book Report on Canada s Priority Number One in Afghanistan written by Canada. Parliament. House of Commons. Special Committee on the Canadian Mission in Afghanistan and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 35 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Beyond Afghanistan written by James Fergusson and published by UBC Press. This book was released on 2016-07-22 with total page 371 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For over a decade, Canada’s participation in the war in Afghanistan dominated media headlines, government discussions, academic studies, and the public international security debate, often to the exclusion of issues that have traditionally shaped Canadian approaches to security and defence policy. Now that the mission in Afghanistan is over, what issues should define Canada’s international security agenda? This collection of essays, written by leading observers of Canadian policy, seeks to answer this question by investigating how Canada will likely respond to new threats and security challenges in light of the experience gained in Afghanistan. Topics include the future place of NATO in defence and security policy; emerging regions of concern and interest; and nuclear weapons and arms control, including missile defence and the military use of space.
Download or read book Fighting for Afghanistan written by Sean M Maloney and published by Naval Institute Press. This book was released on 2011-09-15 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fighting For Afghanistan is the third book in the Rogue Historian trilogy, taking Maloney’s story into the conflict in 2006, when the Taliban-led insurgency threatened to overwhelm the U.S.-led coalition in southern Afghanistan. This shift to near-conventional warfare, as opposed to the small-scale guerilla attacks and urban terrorism in Kandahar, caught everybody by surprise and forced a small, under-equipped Canadian battle group, supported by a Canadian-led multinational brigade consisting of American, British, Dutch, forces, into a desperate series of battles to protect the city and to prevent the collapse of British forces in neighboring Helmand province. The author arrived on the ground just as the situation spun out of control and he was able to capture, at all levels from infantry company to battle group to brigade headquarters, exactly what happened. This book explains the difficulties in balancing security and development, the challenges of operating in an austere, alien environment, and the human cost of counterinsurgency warfare in Afghanistan. Fighting For Afghanistan takes the reader through all of the moving parts and planning and then depicts how it played out on the field of battle. During the course of the action, the author became the first Canadian military historian to go into combat since the Korean War. The battles around Kandahar City in 2006 were the turning point in the Afghanistan war and this book is the first to explain events in detail from all three levels. This is the only account that shows the scope of the fighting in the south in this time period. Because of his close proximity to the action, the author was nearly killed on several occasions that summer during the fighting and he brings the intensity of this experience to his writing.
Download or read book War Human Dignity and Nation Building written by Gary D. Badcock and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2010-08-11 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Canada’s involvement in Afghanistan is the longest martial conflict in its history precipitated literally overnight by a world changing event in the 2001 9/11 attack in New York City. In 2010, the Afghan “Mission” remains front page news for Canadians, even threatening to undermine the Federal Government due to the so-called “Detainee Scandal.” The human cost (Canadian and Afghan), financial burdens and impact on the self-perception of Canadians as a peace keeping “Middle-Power” are immense and likely will form a watershed in Canadian history. And yet, the “Mission” remains little scrutinized by faith communities, and further, left as a non-conversation for many and the domain of a nebulous foreign policy and largely toothless Manley Report. This volume is the first such major attempt by the Centre for Public Theology to bring together theologians, philosophers, faith leaders, NGOs, politicians and other academics from sociology, politics and peace-keeping in order to dialogue about the impact of the Afghan “Mission.” These papers form much of the conversation of a conference held in May 2009 at the Centre for Public Theology. The papers offer reflections on the Manley Report, investigations on the theological and philosophical issues at play in Canada’s response, interaction with Canada’s shift from “peace-keeping” to “war-fighting” and the new NATO mandate, thoughts on the role of Islamic nations and analysis of the role of the Abrahamic faith communities in this wider Canadian conversation. The Centre for Public Theology is a federally funded research centre housed at Huron University College whose mandate is to bring into conversation academics, NGOs, media, Government and the public on issues of public policy and life with a particular attention to the role of religion in Canadian life. Its founding motto is “intelligence, not advocacy.” It is not an advocacy or lobbying centre, instead seeking only to facilitate dialogue across boundaries. Its webpage can be found at www.publictheology.org.
Download or read book The Unexpected War written by Janice Gross Stein and published by Viking. This book was released on 2007 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book reveals tough realities about how public servants and politicians dither and avoid hard decisions in Ottawa and about how our senior public service needs a deep shake-up.
Download or read book Shaping Commitment written by D. Craig Hilton and published by Strategic Studies Institute. This book was released on 2007 with total page 26 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Release of Canada's first ever National Security Policy (NSP) in 2004, followed by the International (Foreign) Policy Statement and Defence Policy Review in 2005, have publicly articulated Canada's principal security interests for the post-September 11, 2001 (9/11) world. Nevertheless, the realities of Canada's present engagement in Afghanistan have highlighted a gap between stated national security and foreign policy goals on one hand, and the Canadian military, diplomatic and development effort in theater, in the other. National interests and values, articulated within the NSP and the International Policy Statement, are insufficient to frame the context for such a complex endeavor. Only a clearly defined strategy based upon rigorous analysis of ends, ways, and means and assessment of risk can enable informed national and political debate, provide the required guidance for campaign planning among government departments, and determine Canada's preferred stake in the wider international arena, including the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT). Recommendations are provided with respect to resolving Canada's strategy gap in both the immediate and longer term.
Download or read book Canada in Afghanistan written by Owen Schalk and published by James Lorimer & Company. This book was released on 2023-08-29 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How and why Canada went to war in Afghanistan, what Canadians were doing on the ground, and why the effort failed to achieve any of its aims – military, humanitarian, or diplomatic Canadian leaders then and now claim great success for Canada’s role in Afghanistan from 2003 to 2014 and beyond. Though 151 Canadians were killed in combat, the Canadian military played a key role in fighting the Taliban. Canada built schools, restored a major dam, and advised a government on elections and economic development. Yet within hours of the final withdrawal by US troops in 2021, the government collapsed. The Taliban returned to power. Why did Canada send our military to fight the Taliban and occupy Afghanistan? Why was the mission a failure? And why have Canadian governments failed to analyze the reasons for this failure? In this book, independent scholar Owen Schalk offers a history of Canada’s role in Afghanistan. He discusses why Canada’s efforts, and those of the US and others, failed. And he shows how the Canadian media did not report accurately on the war and misinformed the public during the war and afterwards. Owen Schalk provides an incisive, illuminating account of Canadian involvement in a war that cost lives and many billions.It’s a story that Canadian officials would prefer not be told.
Download or read book Combat Mission Kandahar written by T. Robert Fowler and published by Dundurn. This book was released on 2016-08-06 with total page 347 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seven soldiers. Seven military specialties. Seven stories. What was it like to serve in the combat mission in Afghanistan? Journalists’ reports from 2006 to 2011 could only give brief glimpses of the reality on the ground for Canadian soldiers. This book reveals the full story of what happened to seven soldiers, ranking from corporal to captain, who were deployed during Operation ATHENA, Phase 2. The operation became known as “the combat mission” as Canadian battle groups engaged in a deadly multi-year war of counter-insurgency in Kandahar province. Each of the seven soldier’s experiences covered in Combat Mission Kandahar highlights a facet of one of Canada’s longest, most complicated, and challenging operations.
Download or read book Outside the Wire written by Kevin Patterson and published by Vintage Canada. This book was released on 2010-06-25 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A remarkable collection of first-hand accounts written by soldiers, doctors and aid workers on the front lines of Canada’s war in Afghanistan. Visceral, intimate and captivating in ways no other telling could be, Outside the Wire features nearly two dozen stories by Canadians on the front lines in Afghanistan, including the previously unpublished letters home of Captain Nichola Goddard, the first female NATO soldier killed in combat, and an introductory reflection by Roméo Dallaire. Collected here are stories of battle and the more subtle engagements of this little-understood war: the tearful farewells; the shock of immersion into a culture that has been at war for thirty years; looking a suicide bomber in the eye the moment before he strikes; grappling with mortality in the Kandahar Field Hospital; and the unexpected humour that leavens life in a warzone. Throughout each piece the passion of those engaged in rebuilding this shattered country shines through, a glimmer of optimism and determination so rare in multinational military actions–and so particularly Canadian. In Outside the Wire, award-winning author Kevin Patterson and co-editor Jane Warren have rediscovered the valour and horror of sacrifice in this, the definitive account of the modern Canadian experience of war.
