Life as a Canadian soldier in Afghanistan

Posted By BRENNAN CRUSE

Posted 1 year ago

Imagine lying in the middle of the desert with the sound of bombs all around you, and terrified to death that someone is going to see you lying there. And if they do, knowing that you will have to be quick to fire your gun because if you don't, then they will fire at you. Imagine knowing that you could die any minute, that you could just be driving along and a bomb explode, blowing you to pieces. And imagine, wondering every day of your life if you'll ever see your family again.

Remember the 9-11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center back in September of 2001? Well, in response to these attacks, the president of the United States launched an invasion of Afghanistan to capture Osama bin Laden, the terrorist leader that was behind the Sept. 11 attacks. And then, in January of 2002, Canadian troops were sent to Afghanistan to perform a peacekeeping mission. Yeah, that's right, a peacekeeping mission. That was what we were sent there for.

Now, seven years later, and after losing 108 of our Canadian soldiers, I would say that our job in Afghanistan, one of the most unforgiving places on earth, is far more than a peacekeeping mission. When the Canadian government agreed to support the United States by sending our troops into Afghanistan, they thought it would be a sprint, not a marathon. They thought it would all be over in two months. And even now, they keep changing the date that they say we will pull our troops out -- at first they said we would be out of there in 2007, then it was 2009, now they're saying 2011. I wonder what's next. The news from A f g ha n i s t a n has never been assuring, and Canadian troops in A f g ha n i s t a n face the dangers of war daily. Currently, we have 2,700 Canadian troops posted in Kandahar City, one of the most dangerous locations on the planet.

What are our Canadian troops doing over there? Well, their job is to help the Afghan military stabilize their country. What this means is that our Canadian soldiers are training the Afghan soldiers to protect their people from the Taliban terrorists. The problem is, these terrorists are hiding bombs all over the place, and thousands of innocent people have lost their lives, and more die, every single day. Roadside bombs and suicide bombers are everywhere. Suicide bombers are convinced that they will go to paradise if they kill the foreign soldiers.

Even after seven long years of training, the Afghan military still are not trained. The number of attacks is on the increase, and the number of Canadian soldiers dead continues to rise. Just in December, we lost seven more Canadian soldiers.

Canadians in Afghanistan are unable to move among the local people unless they are armed and battle ready. They can't trust their safety to the Afghan army, even though they have been training them for years.

When is it all going to end? When are our Canadian troops going to come home at last? How are we ever going to get out of there, when the terrorist attacks keep happening? Do you really think that we will ever be able to stabilize a country that has never been strong enough to stabilize themselves? I don't mean to sound like we shouldn't help other countries, of course we should. But come on, enough is enough.

And, on a more personal note, my uncle, Casey, is one of those soldiers over in Afghanistan. Every day for him is like a lottery ticket, you never know what's going to happen, whether you're going to win or lose, live, or die. My uncle's military vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb two weeks ago. His Afghan interpreter was blown to bits, he said it was like raining body parts. His best friend had both his eardrums blown out. My uncle was lucky that all he got was an injured back. This time anyway.

When Canadian soldiers die in Afghanistan, they are flown home on military planes and begin a procession down Highway 401, now called the Highway of Heroes. Canadian people stand on the bridges all along the highway and salute our fallen soldiers. The family gathers at the military base to say one last goodbye to their loved one.

I sure hope my family never gets that call to say goodbye.

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