C7

Michael Staples

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The media, in covering the war in Afghanistan, is often criticized for focusing on the negative and ignoring the good things being accomplished.

Enlarge Photo

AP

Afghan National Army soldiers carry a stash of opium they seized from a bus in Afghanistan's Farah province on Saturday. Many Afghan soldiers and police have been trained by Canadian Forces personnel in an effort to make the country’s security forces more self-sufficient.

That may be true to a certain extent, but it's also pretty difficult to do anything else when roadside bombs regularly kill our soldiers.

If that's not bad enough, there's a group of crazed enemies who are content to blow themselves up and take as many innocent people with them as they can.

There's no doubt that a steady diet of bad news from Afghanistan affects public opinion.

An Oct. 16 Angus Reid Global Monitor poll revealed backing for the mission is eroding in both Canada and Great Britain.

Fifty-nine per cent of respondents in Britain oppose the military operation - up six points since July, while in Canada, overall support for the mission stands at 37 per cent. That's down six points in three months.

The United States, however, is the exception, where public backing for the military commitment remains stable at 54 per cent.

At least 1,445 soldiers - including 869 Americans, 221 Britons and 133 Canadians - have died in the war on terrorism, either in support of the U.S.-led Operation Enduring Freedom or as part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) led by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), noted the poll.

Whether you support this country's mission in Afghanistan or fall on the opposition side, troops from Canada and other allied nations are quietly doing a lot of good work in that country.

Canada's fifth quarterly report on our engagement in that country, released in June, showed accomplishments in several areas.

"The Dahla Dam project advanced through key planning phases, and approximately 369,000 children were vaccinated against polio in June," Stockwell Day, minister of international trade and minister for the Asia-Pacific gateway and chair of the Cabinet Committee on Afghanistan, said in releasing the report.

Other report highlights include:

* Under a Canadian-supported project to clear landmines and other explosives, training began for 80 locally recruited de-miners in Kandahar, and an additional 270,000 square metres of land was cleared.

* As a result of the mentoring work of the Canadian Forces, there is an increased capacity on the part of the Afghan National Army in Kandahar to plan and conduct operations.

* Five schools have been built so far this year, and 28 more are under construction.

* One hundred teachers were trained under Canadian programming.

* Work on the Dahla Dam and canal system is on track, with a new bridge being used regularly by Kandaharis.

* A police training and mentoring program was expanded to include a major increase in Afghan National Police recruitment.

* Canadian civilians and soldiers supported Afghan preparations for the Aug. 20 elections.

* Trained and mentored by the Canadian Forces, the Afghan National Army in Kandahar continued to demonstrate increasing capacity to plan and conduct operations.

* With the arrival of U.S. army and marine reinforcements, the Canadian Forces concentrated their counter-insurgency operations in Kandahar City and surrounding villages. The objective is to stabilize the provincial capital and nearby villages.

According to the report, Canada has six clear priorities and three signature projects related to our engagement in Afghanistan.

They are to enable the Afghan National Security Forces in Kandahar to sustain a safer environment and promote law and order; to strengthen Afghan institutional capacity to deliver basic services; to provide humanitarian assistance for the most vulnerable people; to enhance border security by facilitating Afghan-Pakistani dialogue; to help advance Afghanistan's democratic governance; and to facilitate Afghan-led political reconciliation.

The signature projects are the Dahla Dam, education and polio eradication.

There can be no doubt that lots of good work is happening in Afghanistan.

But the question we have to ask ourselves is whether the price we're paying to make it happen is too much.

Michael Staples covers the military for The Daily Gleaner. He can be reached at staples.michael@dailygleaner.com.