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By Deborah Gyapong
THE AFGHAN people want peace, so the upcoming debate on Canada's Afghanistan mission should work towards a constructive plan, say Canada's Catholic bishops.
"Political and electoral considerations must take second place when it is a question of human lives and a people's future," said Winnipeg Archbishop James Weisgerber, president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), in a public statement February 13. "We would invite the members of Parliament to put aside any predetermined stances, recognizing that the truth will involve concerted efforts."
He added: "Diverse points of view need to be welcomed as contributions toward developing a detailed and constructive action plan, with peace as the ultimate goal."
Weisgerber referred to the bi-partisan Manley Commission report which recommended greater transparency. "More complete and reliable information from the government will help Canadian citizens better understand the objective, the questions and the conditions involved in the Afghanistan conflict, and also how to evaluate the engagement there of Canadian armed forces and humanitarian agencies," he said.
"This information is essential if all Canadians are to be involved in making decisions that can lead to real and lasting peace in that country."
The statement also refers to recent concerns about transferring detainees to Afghan authorities where they risk torture, the lack of support from other NATO countries, justice concerns about the war and the cost in human lives, Canadian and Afghan.
Weisgerber made three suggestions based on Catholic social doctrine: good faith peace negotiations involving all parties; a clear distinction between military operations and humanitarian aid; and the safeguarding of Canadian soldier's moral integrity, especially where prisoners might be tortured.
As the CCCB released the president's statement, Afghan peace expert Seddiq Weera appeared before the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, calling for a political peace process.
At a news conference, Seddiq Weera, who is an advisor to the Afghan government, warned that the "unresolved civil war" in Afghanistan is not going to end even if all the Manley Report recommendations are followed. What's missing, he said, is a political track for negotiating peace that will work on multi-levels and involve all the regions and ethnic groups in the country. "Fighting alone is not going to succeed," he said.
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Some Afghans, who do not share the goals of terrorists and Al Qaeda, are fighting with them because they have unresolved grievances with the ethnic groups now holding government power. Those grievances need to be addressed, he said. The Taliban needs to be broken up and isolated, and those who feel "unjustly excluded from the political scene" need to be brought into negotiations, he added.
The military option alone "might be creating more support" for Al Qaeda, he said. For example, all the various ethnic groups have warlords, but the Pashtun's warlords are being called terrorists. Issues of language, government structure and inclusion need to be addressed, he said.
He recognized however that fears of re-integrating the Taliban are valid. He also warned that premature withdrawal of NATO troops would allow the civil war "to come back in full force."
"Staying in Afghanistan is very right," he said, noting he was not, however, "advising peace through war."
In a February briefing, Project Ploughshares' senior policy advisor Ernie Regehr also called for a comprehensive peace process and more efforts to solidify the peace that already exists in northern areas of the country.
"That is not code for giving in to the Taliban's demands and accepting a return to the extreme human rights violations," Regehr wrote. "A comprehensive peace process is required to address the fundamental conflicts and grievances that remain unaddressed in Afghan society."
In a detailed critique of the Manley Report, Regehr called for the end of Canadian participation in the counterinsurgency in the southern part of the country.
The House of Commons is expected to vote on an Afghanistan motion some time in late March. It is based on Manley Report recommendations and would extend the mission "to the end of 2011." It will be a confidence motion that would trigger an election if it fails to pass.
The Tories and the Liberals have been negotiating possible amendments that indicate a growing convergence. Neither party has been eager to fight an election over the Afghanistan mission. The NDP and the Bloc want Canadian troops out of Afghanistan immediately.
-- Courtesy of Canadian Catholic News; please do not reprint without permission.
February 20/2008
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