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Departing Canadian Commander issues Corruption Warning to Afghans

by albertacowpoke | November 9, 2009 at 04:21 am

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Recent elections in Afghanistan revealed to most of us how corrupt and fraud ridden Afghanistan is. President Obama is in the midst of making a decision on Afghanistan strategy and a possible troop surge.

General Casey has joined the chorus of military leaders to send more troops to Afghanistan.

For the first time, to my knowledge, a military commander has warned Afghans publicly. Brigadier General Jonathan Vance, the outgoing commander of Canadian troops, warned that if the corruption doesn't stop and honesty and integrity and performance is not demonstrated by the Afghanistan gouvernment, NATO and specifically Canadian troops will not remain in the war torn country.

“The international community is going to demand honesty, integrity and good performance from all levels of government or we won’t stay,” Canada’s top commander in Afghanistan said.

“We have lost too many soldiers and spent too much of our people’s money to stay if there is not honest co-operation.

“Our public accepts us here and is deciding right now whether we will stay. Canadians, Americans, the British — everyone is wondering whether it is worth it to stay.”

Brigadier General Jonathan Vance is giving the same message to the leaders in Afghanistan as the one send by Senior US Administration officials.

Canada has lost 130+ soldiers in this conflict.

Brigadier Vance is handing over command of the Canadian contingent on November 18th.

“The international community is going to demand honesty, integrity and good performance from all levels of government or we won’t stay,” Canada’s top commander in Afghanistan said at one of several meetings he held last week in two of the notoriously volatile districts west of Kandahar City.

“We have lost too many soldiers and spent too much of our people’s money to stay if there is not honest co-operation.

“Our public accepts us here and is deciding right now whether we will stay. Canadians, Americans, the British — everyone is wondering whether it is worth it to stay.”

Vance’s words were little different than those delivered to Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s government recently by senior U.S. political leaders and by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

However, his message had a special resonance in Panjwaii and Zhari, where more than 100 Canadians have been killed since 2006.