[R-G] Canada, U.S. should leave Afghanistan: Bacevich

[Anthony Fenton]

Canada, U.S. should leave Afghanistan: expert

Updated Sun. Jan. 11 2009 3:34 PM ET

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090111/afghan_colonel_090111/20090111?hub=TopStories

A retired American colonel and prominent academic is calling for U.S.  
president-elect Barack Obama to reconsider his plans to expand his  
country's military mission in Afghanistan.

Andrew Bacevich, a foreign affairs specialist at Boston University,  
said the U.S. and allies like Canada should start to withdraw from the  
war-torn country because it "simply does not make sense" to stay.

Appearing on CTV's Question Period Sunday, he said the original  
objective of the mission was to make sure the region does not become a  
breeding ground for Al Qaeda terrorists, who could then have a safe  
haven to launch attacks on the West.

Bacevich said that now the Taliban has been forced out of power, there  
is really no need for Western countries to stay in the country and try  
to make it into a modern democracy.

"Our interests there are very limited. As long as Afghanistan is not a  
sanctuary for terrorists that have the aim and capability to attack us  
in the West, we don't really care that much about what happens in that  
country," he said.

"We don't have to create a modern, coherent, Afghan nation-state in  
order to achieve those limited interests. The great defect, I think,  
of Western policy over the last few years is to assume that we have to  
create a modern Afghan nation state where none has ever existed."

Obama has said he wants to refocus America's military attention on  
Afghanistan as the U.S. plans to reduce its military presence in Iraq.  
He has suggested that as many as 30,000 more U.S. troops could head to  
Afghanistan within the year.

Bacevich said that doesn't make sense during the current economic  
crisis, especially when the U.S. is projecting a deficit topping $1  
trillion. He said the U.S. and other Western nations can fight  
terrorism without being in Afghanistan.

"We're in the midst of the worst economic downturn in this country  
(the U.S.) since the Great Depression, and that economic downturn is  
affecting Canada (and it) will continue to affect Canada," he said.  
"The truth is that we don't have the money to sustain misguided  
foreign policy initiatives."

Bacevich added that it is "incumbent on us to spend our national  
security dollars wisely."

He said the bulk of the burden in Afghanistan is being carried by the  
U.S., Canada and Britain, because NATO is not the cohesive  
organization it was during the Cold War.

"I would go back and emphasize that Canadian power and, I think,  
Canadian political will is limited. But it's time for those of us on  
this side of the border to recognize that American power and American  
will is also limited," he said.