Hope In a Time of War

It's like something put away in a cupboard, to be dealt with another time.  But for our troops in Afghanistan there is no such luxury.  Nor is it for Afghan community leaders (including women), NATO commanders or world leaders.The conflict in that remote part of the world, and from whence the 9/11 attacks and ongoing security risks find their origin, continues unabated and uncompromising. With Canadian troops due to leave the region next year, it's like the struggle in which Canadian soldiers have performed with distinction, some paying for it with their lives, has receded from memory.  This is natural in a Western country where domestic issues have received primacy, but it doesn't make the matter any easier for our soldiers.So, it's with a measure of hope that we learn of certain little victories that are emerging that could lead to something more fruitful.  On the ground, and in NATO circles, a certain cautious optimism is being expressed.  Efforts to equip Afghan leaders to assume more of their responsibility for their own security and welfare have begun to pay off to a modest degree.  Indeed, if this doesn't occur on a more permanent basis, it will merely confirm what others fret over, that Afghanistan is mired in a conflict that will never end.  The federal government's Afghan policy has always insisted that the prerequisite for any negotiations or advancements in Afghanistan must be rooted in the basis that the Taliban must renounce violence, accept the Afghanistan constitution and lay down their weapons.There are now signs that some broader peaceful dividends are underway.  The recent "surge" of some 30,000 American troops has pushed the Taliban back far enough that two dynamics are now at play at the same time.  The first, as emerged last week, is that secret talks are being held with certain Taliban leaders to come to terms with the Karzai government and respect the constitution of the country - the Canadian prerequisite.  Top secret in nature, positive signals are emerging that many of the Taliban leaders are recognizing the ongoing futility of the conflict and are willing to engage on a more peaceful basis.  Canadian forces are playing their own pivotal role in this regard by providing safe passage for some of these leaders from their Pakistani bases into Afghanistan itself for the peace talks.  As in Iraq, the surge has been successful in creating a security zone in which the Taliban have been beaten back, making peaceful dividends possible, at least temporarily.The second sign of hope involves development.  A more secure and peaceful environment in the southern region where our troops function has emerged.  This especially pertains to the education component.  More schools are rapidly being constructed, or repaired, and young students have taken advantage of the peace to head back to class.  Much has yet to be done on the issue of schooling for girls, but for the present at least things have moved in the proper direction with a momentum that hasn't been sensed before.  My own discussions with development workers on the ground confirm this advancement.In all the complexity that is Afghanistan today, we have gotten used to thinking that it's a drawn out war that will never see an end.  That may well be.  But recent efforts with the Taliban, the success of many of the peaceful talks, and the more positive environment for development should at least provide us with a modicum of encouragement that hasn't been there for years.  Our troops are in the thick of it, and on the edge of it, protecting a fertile ground for peace and development. Canadians have gotten used to praising our soldiers while disliking the war.  Yet at this moment in time, our troops are verging on a promise of peace and we should celebrate their accomplishment - it's what they journeyed there to accomplish.  It might well prove temporary, but for the moment at least, Canadian men and women have transcended an environment of distrust and war and achieved some remarkable hope in a time of pessimism. Regardless of one's view of the war, this accomplishment must be recognized and acknowledged.