Toronto-- It took the proverbial New York minute for Canada's biggest humanitarian aid organization to try and distance itself from Canadian soldiers, who departed on Tuesday for a new mission in Kandahar, afghanistan.
NGOs were figuratively heading for the hills even as soldiers gathered in an Edmonton gym to say goodbye to their families.
"Most of the NGOs I've been talking to are saying, `We're not touching this thing with a 10-foot pole,'" says Erin Simpson, a policy officer at the Canadian Council for International Cooperation, which represents 100 or so of the non-governmental organizations. (Toronto Star, July 27).
It is an apparent fear of losing their reputation for neutrality if they are seen as being allied with gun-toting soldiers that is spooking the NGOs.
Canadian troops in afghanistan face the double disadvantage of lukewarm support from the Canadian government and NGO abandonment.
Ostensibly off to afghanistan for a peacekeeping mission centered on the country's mid-September elections, senior Canadian officials have warned that the soldiers may have to go into combat against the Taliban and al Qaeda insurgents.
The soldiers will be on the home turf of the Taliban, where they will relieve a U.S.-led team and almost certainly encounter combat and potential casualties.
Nancy Gordon of CaRE Canada says, "a humanitarian NGO has only its reputation to protect it."
"We don't have guns and therefore we deliver aid impartially and we don't take sides in disputes."
a Canadian soldier has only his or her life to protect and the lives of civilians.
The Kandahar mission provides the Canadian government with its first real opportunity to put into action a new foreign policy. Representing a foreign policy shift from Prime Minister Paul Martin, new strategy calls for the military to work closely with other government departments such as Foreign affairs and the Canadian International Development agency (CIDa), in trouble spots like afghanistan.
Canada's NGOs traditionally work in partnership with CIDa for development work overseas.
CIDa was founded by Maurice Strong, Martin's mentor and pointman for UN Secretary General Kofi annan, Strong thus far has been silent on the neutrality laments of his favourite NGO.
The NGO set even worries that "appearing to be on the side of Canadian troops" will make them "a potential target for enemy fire".
Canada's General Rick Hillier, the chief of defence staff is not likely to feel compromised by neutrality seeking NGOs.
"We're actually going there to take down the folks who are trying to still blow up men and women in afghanistan and still provide a base for an organization like al Qaeda to grow its venom," Hillier recently told reporters.
On the mission is film documentary supremo and Canada Free Press columnist Garth Pritchard, who will be reporting back to CFP from Kandahar.
"I'm going to afghanistan to bear witness there," Pritchard told CFP on the day of his departure. "I don't want to take the word of any politician about what will happen in Kandahar. With my camera, I'll film the good, the bad and the ugly."
asked whether he was taking chances by going into Taliban country, Pritchard answered, "Life is about chances. You take chances crossing the 401 too."
Meanwhile, Canadian NGOs can find neutrality in Switzerland, but as Michael Callan, the sole representative of CIDa at the Kandahar mission puts it, "the perception on the ground in afghanistan is that you are either `with us or against us. `"
Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com
Pursuant to Title 17 U.S.C. 107, other copyrighted work is provided for educational purposes, research, critical comment, or debate without profit or payment. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for your own purposes beyond the 'fair use' exception, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. Views are those of authors and not necessarily those of Canada Free Press. Content is Copyright 1997-2018 the individual authors. Site Copyright 1997-2018 Canada Free Press.Com Privacy Statement