Canada-Afghanistan Solidarity Committee co-founder Terry Glavin and Nasrine Gross, an Afghan-American writer, sat down with CPAC’s Peter Van Dusen to talk about the current Afghan detainee affair, and the future prospects for Afghanistan. Wait for the video to start and then skip to 23:40 to begin the interview.

As discussed in the video, the real story here isn’t the current treatment of detainees in Afghanistan, contrary to what is being framed by the media. Terry Glavin explains that much of the controversy is based on three year old allegations of prisoners before the agreement was overhauled.

Nasrine Gross says that although the detainee issue is an important one, there are so many more vital, urgent, and desperate issues that are far more worthy of our attention. And the real scandal in Ottawa right now isn’t the fact that the opposition are hung up on three year old allegations, nor that the Conservative government is ignoring the issue. No, the real trouble with Afghanistan is that absolutely nothing has been discussed, whatsoever, as to what Canada’s long-term vision for Afghanistan.

What legacy will we be leaving behind? If we’re not “cutting and running”, we should be leaving Afghanistan in a more secure, stable, empowered state than it was when we arrived. Afghan soldiers still need training. The role of our military continues to be extremely important in Afghanistan, yet neither our government nor the opposition seem to be interested in articulating this fact.

As Terry Glavin says, across the political spectrum you have people who are fed up with the detainee issue. This idea of creating special prisons, or some kind of extra-judicial oversight is ridiculous. We need a new conversation about Afghanistan that is respectful of Afghan sovereignty, and respectful of their democratic ambitions. Things aren’t going to change overnight. Not against the Taliban, and not for human rights.

Like it or not, the ISAF military presence is the key to any stable future for the country of Afghanistan. Canadians may not want to be a part of that future, but it doesn’t change the fact.

Related

The Torch links to that report by the Canada-Afghanistan Solidarity Committee. There’s another Terry Glavin interview at the link as well.