People in the know describe it as a three-layer system. a tripod, they say. Each leg of which holds equal weight and equal power. They are talking about the PRT (Provincial Reconstruction Team) in afghanistan which was made up of the Canadian Military, External affairs (with CIDa) and the Ministry of Foreign affairs.
External affairs and Foreign affairs each have one person. The Canadian Military has roughly 250.
In my month and a half in Kandahar, afghanistan living in the PRT compound, the only leg of the tripod that I witnessed functioning was the Canadian Military. Every day patrols left the compound to go to meet the citizenry, patrol the streets, give out radios, newspapers. all with one goal: to have a free and democratic election in afghanistan.
On July 29, Canadafreepress.com ran a story by Judi Mcleod. It centered around the NGOs not wanting any part of the new PRT being set up by Canadians in Kandahar. They believe that there is no room for the military.
The fact is, after nearly two months in country, without the american and Canadian military there would have been no election.
Canadian military patrols roamed the whole southern part of afghanistan, centering on its capital, Kandahar. They met with the governor, local mayors, chiefs of police and the all-important religious mullahs. One thing missing in all of these meetings that I attended was the presence of Foreign affairs and CIDa. Canadian military officers listened as the wants and needs of the local people were discussed.
I recorded many afghanis who were running for election. To a person, fast money was what they needed. They explained very specifically that after the election, if money did not arrive in their communities quickly, the new government would fail.
Just like here in Canada, hopeful candidates made promises to get elected. New schools, infrastructure, security, substations for the afghani police had all been promised. But in afghanistan there is one reality: if you promise, you had better follow through. There have been 30 years of broken promises, and the afghani population is not going to be very patient.
I watched the promises made and broken by CIDa in Sri Lanka after the tsunami. The people there are still waiting while they live in the Canadian Tire blue tarps given to them by the Canadian Military DaRT group nine months ago.
The single CIDa representative at the Canadian PRT left the day after the election to have meetings in Dubai. High-ranking meetings, I was told. No, the Canadian bureaucrats did not go and see what it was like on the ground in Kandahar. They flew to Dubai, the home of the only six-star hotel in the world.
If External affairs / CIDa and Foreign affairs do not get their act together quickly, get rid of the bureaucratic red tape and take on projects that the newly-elected government of afghanistan needs--and needs quickly--then the new government is in jeopardy of failing before it ever governs the country.
Canada Free Press columnist Garth Prtitchard, is an award-winning documentary filmmaker living in alberta.
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