Canada's Afghanistan role moves to civil-military unit

Canada's Afghanistan role moves to civil-military unit
22.08.2005 KANDAHAR -- Canada's mission in Afghanistan is moving to its next phase of operations -- the development of the Kandahar area -- with the arrival this week of police officers and government development personnel.

The provincial reconstruction team, known as PRT, is a new venture for Canada. It incorporates about 250 soldiers along with RCMP officers, aid and Foreign Affairs workers.

What makes it different is the cohesive working relationship that will have to be developed among the elements of the team.

"We'll be working closely with them to try to syncronize the development," Maj. Sanchez King, head of the PRT's civil-military co-operation unit, said of the Mounties and government workers.

"This way, we hope that we'll get the best bang for the buck."

Until now, Canada's soldiers in other parts of Afghanistan have been involved in aid projects, but only in a co-ordinating role with non-governmental agencies and the Canadian International Development Agency, CIDA.

For the military, the goal has been winning over local residents with aid in the hope of making their area of operations less hostile, while providing help to people who desperately need it.

"Normally, when we do a mission, we're doing it on behalf of the (military) commander," King explained. "We're trying to make the environment more operationally friendly."

The 250 Canadian soldiers are already in Kandahar and patrolling the area. This week, the other elements of the team will start joining them.

Under a PRT, the focus is on reconstruction -- with security a vital but secondary concern.

"What that means is we've got to spend more of our time working together with these agencies to try to synchronize the efforts," said King. "Rather than working alone, we have to work together."

The Canadian team has a budget of $4 million to spend on development projects during the next 18 months. Officials say the United States also is prepared to pay for Canadian-conceived projects in the Kandahar region through USAID, the American government's foreign aid agency.

Overall, Canada has committed about $618 million to Afghanistan since 2002, the most ever spent on any one country.

Almost one quarter of that amount has gone to President Hamid Karzai's government, even though it's classified as aid money.

"It is new for Canada to take this approach," acknowledges Chris Alexander, Canada's ambassador in Kabul.

"It shouldn't be the approach in every country," he said. "But in Afghanistan . . . you needed to put some blood in the veins. You needed to reinflate (government) structures."

The Afghan government is accountable for the money, through the World Bank, although some critics question whether Canada should be using aid money to directly prop up another government.

Alexander argued that the cash has been put to good use.

"All of the research and evaluation to date . . . have shown that this choice has been the right one," he said.

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