The shaky video pans from right to left, looking down at the village with mountains in the background, and then turning to the green valley with destroyed buildings in the foreground. A man was talking, and two words were highlighted before the video clip and the weird music began to play: Masum Ghar.
The video uploaded last week allegedly showed Taliban Combatants surveyed occupied territory in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. One of the people who saw it was the retired Corporal Matthew Lulov, who spent some time in the 13 Years’ War in Masum Ghar. Afghanistan.
Now an Ottawa City Councillor, Lulov is one of those veterans who have struggled with emotions because the Taliban, inspired by the withdrawal of American troops, poured into Afghanistan and seized large areas of territory from the Afghan army-including many Canadians who shed blood And money is used to prevent what is happening now.
“When you see an image where we used to firmly control the area that has just been flipped, it looks very dim,” Luloff said.
“Seeing the Taliban in places like Sperwan Ghar and Masum Ghar is heartbreaking.”
In recent days, veterans, some of whom are still wearing uniforms, have expressed their pain and sadness about what is happening in Afghanistan on social media, including the lieutenant colonel. Michael Blanchette, commander of the 2nd Royal Canadian Regiment.
He tweeted last week: “Tell me your opinion on the inevitability of this matter-it’s stinging.”
Retired sergeant Michael Blois has toured twice in Afghanistan and is now a lawyer in Barry, Ontario. He said that the Taliban seized the territory where Canadians fought and died, which has caused uneasy questions about the war, especially for those veterans who continue to pay the physical, psychological and emotional costs for continuing to serve there.
“There are always questions about demand and whether the cost is worth it,” Blois said in an interview. “For many soldiers, I think maybe they avoided it and never thought about it. Now, it’s on your face. You have to think about it.”
The Taliban’s recent victory in Kandahar coincided with the 10th anniversary of the end of Canada’s combat mission in Afghanistan. However, although Secretary of Defense Harjit Sajjan and Secretary of Veterans Affairs Lawrence MacAulay recognized the Canadians who performed the mission and the subsequent three years of training, they did not mention the current situation.
The U.S. military handed over a key air base to Afghanistan for the first time in 20 years
A total of 158 Canadian soldiers and 7 civilians were killed during the war. The war started after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, DC in 2001 and continued until the end of the training mission in 2014.
When asked about Afghanistan last week, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that Canada helps thousands of girls go to school and Canada remains committed to supporting this war-torn country. However, he did not mention the threat posed by the Taliban, nor did he mention how the world will protect the results achieved.
At the same time, the federal government is facing increasing pressure to relocate dozens of Afghan interpreters working with Canadian troops and diplomats, but as the Taliban continue to occupy the territory, they are now in danger.
“At least 115 former translators, cultural consultants and local employees and their families will be threatened by the Taliban,” wrote retired major generals David Fraser, Dennis Thompson and Dean Milner, all of whom had commanded the Canadian military in Afghanistan. In a letter to Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino on Thursday.
“If they are found, they may be imprisoned or worse, because they serve to support our mission. Many Canadian veterans have connections with the Afghans who served with them, and their stories are distressing. These people are being detained. Think of them as’comrades in arms’ and their plight is affecting these veterans-just like all Canadians.”
Retired Corporal Chris Dupee served in Afghanistan in 2008-09 and now runs a clinic called Cadence in the Greater Toronto Area to serve veterans who have suffered psychological injuries. He talked about the urgent need to help translators and other people who are in danger to help the Canadian military.
“When they are here to figure it out,” he told the Canadian media. “This is the importance of these boys and girls.”
Mendicino spokesperson Alexander Cohen said that the government had previously relocated more than 800 Afghan interpreters and family members in two projects in 2009 and 2012, and was working hard to help others working in Canada and hoping to come. People here.
At the same time, the debate about the costs and benefits of the Canadian war in Afghanistan continues.
Blois accused the politicians of “putting us on a mission we can never succeed, and all the veterans present bear this emotional burden. Because we are the ones who pay the physical and psychological costs. Politicians, this It’s the parliamentary vote. I think they have started their lives.”
Dupe is more optimistic, believing that Canada and its allies have provided Afghanistan with 20 years of security after decades of tyranny and war, including the Taliban rule before 2001.
“This means there are a generation of educated people out there who will keep this fight going,” Dupe said. “So I believe, please rest assured, the Taliban will not have a good time, it will not be as easy as before.”
Nevertheless, he admitted that some veterans are in a difficult time.
“I know a lot of people, they don’t want to think about it.”
Although Lulov said his heart is with those Afghans who now find themselves under Taliban rule, “we don’t know how this will develop over time,” adding: “In the peace they must experience In the small window, I am proud to be part of it.”
© 2021 Canadian Press
