One of Canada’s top military men talked realities of war with university students yesterday, including recent casualties and the country’s past, present and future in Afghanistan.
“Conditions are becoming extremely ripe for the success of the Afghan government and its people,” Brig. Gen. Jonathan Vance said, before speaking with students at Grant MacEwan University.
The 27-year Canadian Forces General recently returned from Kandahar, where he says Canada’s role, rather than being diminished, is being enhanced.
He says he’s optimistic about Afghanistan’s future, and the local military and government will have secured their roles in the war-torn country by the time Canadian troops pull out of the region in 2011, after which the NATO?alliance will remain.
“It will still be the responsibility of the Afghan government and people to put in place extension of services and improve the quality of life, such that people see the government as their champion,” he said. “The Taliban and all other actors that make up this terribly complex and dangerous environment will simply start to become irrelevant.”
