Toronto Star March 28, 2009
Obama retools Afghan war strategy
By Mitch Potter
WASHINGTON – The red-hot potato that is Afghanistan bounced back to Ottawa and other NATO capitals yesterday after U.S. President Barack Obama rolled out a sweeping new strategy that places the spiralling conflict at the heart of U.S. foreign policy for years to come.
Framing the effort to stabilize the region as a global struggle against Al Qaeda in "the most dangerous place in the world," Obama outlined a wide-ranging military, diplomatic and civilian surge that is expected to stretch far beyond the 2011 exit date for Canadian combat troops.
As details of the open-ended strategy circulated, it became increasingly clear that Obama, much like his predecessor George W. Bush, will be looking to allies, including Canada, to continue shouldering the shared burden for a campaign that now, more than ever, will proceed under U.S. leadership.
"It was easy to say no to Bush. But it is going to be hard for you guys to say no to Obama," said retired U.S. Army Gen. William Nash, a senior follow at the Washington-based Council on Foreign Relations.
"Canada drew its line in the sand a while back and said it needed more support, more helicopters. Well, now that's all covered. We've stepped up. I don't know if Canada can commit more, but we're hoping this will reduce the political heat and pressure for Canada to pull out," he said.
A senior Pentagon official yesterday put a fine point on U.S. expectations, telling reporters Obama and his team will be approaching next week's NATO summit in Strasbourg, France, with "some very clear requests" for expanded military, training, diplomatic, civilian and financial commitments.
"We are making very specific asks; we've been in consultation with them already and we expect many of those to come to fruition over the next month or two," said U.S. Defence Undersecretary Michelle Flournoy.
Ottawa's reaction was cautious but positive, with Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon issuing a statement congratulating the Obama administration for "what, on first examination, looks to be a very compelling, comprehensive and realistic assessment of the situation."
Cannon said Canada will be "thoroughly assessing the (U.S.) review and its implications for our own efforts" ahead of two key meetings next week, starting Tuesday with an Afghanistan conference in The Hague, Netherlands followed by the NATO summit in Strasbourg.
The hard promises in Obama's speech yesterday were threefold: another 4,000 U.S. military trainers are to deploy to Afghanistan, on top of a surge of 17,000 combat troops previously announced; that military footprint will be augmented by a much stronger emphasis on diplomatic and civilian capacity-building with the goal of demonstrating to Afghans that their corruption-plagued government is an entity worth supporting.
Finally, the U.S. will view the region as a single challenge straddling two (or more) countries, starting with a pledge of $1.5 billion a year for Pakistan to reassert sovereignty over its lawless and restive frontier with Afghanistan through a system of carrot-and-stick incentives.
As senior American policy-makers fanned out across Washington to build momentum for renewed international commitment, opposition politicians in Ottawa called on the Canadian government to adjust its sights accordingly by ramping up, diplomatically, as it ramps down, militarily.
"The question for Canada is where are we?" asked New Democratic Party foreign affairs critic Paul Dewar, during a scrum on Parliament Hill. "What's our role here? What I've heard from the government is we'll just continue on. We might get a dam built and some schools and we'll pick up and leave in 2011. I think that's not enough. We're going to have to put our cards on the table as to how we're going to contribute to a comprehensive approach."
American reaction to Team Obama's strategy was overall positive, with many analysts welcoming renewed emphasis on non-military efforts. But some questioned the breadth of the review and the apparent lack of focus on a reduction of drug cultivation.
"If you don't make the drug trade a top priority you don't get anywhere, in my view. And it worries me that Obama didn't mention that issue until three-quarters of the way into a 25-point plan," John Pike of GlobalSecurity.org told the Star.
"Overall I am troubled that we are still trying to do too much. Tell me `We are going to darken the skies with drones to take out terror leaders,' I can live with that. Tell me we are still going to force Western-style gender equality on the most backward place on the planet and I despair," said Pike.
In separate briefings for reporters, U.S. Special Envoy Richard Holbrooke and National Security Adviser James Jones said holding the corruption-plagued Afghan government to a higher standard would be paramount to U.S. efforts going forward.
The international community must proceed by "showing the Afghan people there is a better way," said Jones. "If you lose the people, you lose the struggle."
© Copyright 2009, Toronto Star
