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Brutal honesty meets 'prudence': Canadian and U.K. parliaments dissect the Afghanistan withdrawal – CBC News

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Some moments call for plain language. Evaluating the chaotic end to western involvement in Afghanistan is one of those moments. 

The Canadian and U.K. parliaments recently delivered committee reports on the war in Afghanistan and the tumultuous withdrawal of Western forces. Only one of them offers a searing example of the kind of brutal self-reflection that is supposed to be at heart of our democratic system.

“The international withdrawal from Afghanistan has been a disaster in terms of planning, execution and consequences for the U.K.’s wider interests,” wrote the British foreign affairs committee in its final report, released May 22, 2022.

“It was a betrayal of our partners in the country and, worst of all, undermined the security of the United Kingdom by encouraging our enemies to act against us.”

And that was just the first two sentences of a blistering 60-page report that unflinchingly dissected Britain’s evacuation efforts and the way Afghanistan’s allies left it to its fate.

Western military involvement in Afghanistan ended in August 2021 when allied nations, led by the U.S., completed their withdrawal.

The two-week airlift that removed Western troops from the country brought with it scenes of desperation and horror. In the early days, people desperate to flee Taliban rule flooded the airport tarmac in Kabul and some fell to their deaths after clinging to departing aircraft.

“The former head of the armed forces told us that the decision to withdraw was ‘strategically illiterate and morally bankrupt,’ while the former National Security Adviser has called it ‘a bad policy, badly implemented,” said the British foreign affairs committee report. “It is an act of strategic self-harm.'”

In this image provided by the U.S. Marine Corps, a Canadian coalition forces member walks through an evacuation control checkpoint during ongoing evacuations at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan on Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2021. (Staff Sgt. Victor Mancilla/U.S. Marine Corps/The Associated Press)

The U.K. committee report, endorsed by members of both the governing and opposition parties, went on to say that the decision to leave Afghanistan “damaged the reputation of the U.K. and its allies, and will affect the [U.K.] government’s ability to achieve its foreign policy goals for years to come.”

That kind of frank assessment seems absent from the Canadian parliamentary report.

In fairness, two former Canadian generals, other former members of the military and officials from humanitarian agencies delivered candid and clear-eyed testimony to Canada’s Special Committee on Afghanistan over the last several months.

‘Greater prudence’

But when it came time for a committee of Canadian parliamentarians to speak truth to power, the result was decidedly more restrained.

“Even if the exact point at which the Taliban’s ascendancy became inevitable could not have been predicted with certainty, the Special Committee believes that greater prudence — and, therefore, a more proactive approach — was warranted in response to Afghanistan’s clearly worsening trajectory,” reads the assessment of the Special Committee on Afghanistan — buried on page 38 of its 86-page report, which was tabled with little fanfare last week.

While the phrase “greater prudence” might sound like fighting words to the Ottawa bureaucracy, it’s likely cold comfort to the thousands of Afghans who believed in what countries like Canada were doing in Afghanistan and who have had to flee for their lives. Some of them are still on the run.

“Testimony underscored the peril facing those who were associated with the international coalition. Given the Taliban’s history and the long campaign it fought against coalition forces and the Afghan republic, the risks were known,” the Canadian parliamentary report said.

A U.S. Marine checks a woman as she goes through the Evacuation Control Center (ECC) during an evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport, Kabul, Afghanistan, August 28, 2021. (U.S. Marine Corps/Staff Sgt. Victor Mancilla/Handout/Reuters)

The call for “greater prudence” also may be a bitter pill to swallow for tens of thousands of military and non-military Canadians whose lives were forever altered by more than dozen years of warfare.

“The Special Committee acknowledges the complexities and danger involved with the operation of the air bridge from Kabul, and it commends those who made it possible,” the Canadian parliamentary report said.

“At the same time, it believes that, long before 15 August 2021, the risks associated with the Taliban should have compelled greater urgency and a more systematic policy and planning effort across the Canadian government to help people reach safety before it became much harder to do so.”

No excuses

It’s a typical Canadian approach — polite and understated — to a humanitarian catastrophe.

The Canadian House of Commons committee report dwells on the “machinery [of] government” and its systemic failures while pointedly avoiding passing judgment or pointing fingers — a sharp contrast with the tone of the report out of the U.K.

“There were systemic failures of intelligence, diplomacy, planning and preparation which raise questions about machinery of Government, principally the National Security Council,” said the U.K. Parliament report. “The U.K. government failed effectively to shape or respond to Washington’s decision to withdraw, despite having had 18 months’ notice.”

The U.K. report adds that even if other allies struggled to predict the speed of the Taliban takeover, “the fact that this came as a surprise to many, including the militants themselves, does not excuse the U.K.’s failures, but rather makes it more urgent to identify where its intelligence-gathering, analysis and planning fell short.”

You find no such blunt stock-taking in the Canadian report.

In fact, the Canadian special committee suggested that Global Affairs, the Department of National Defence and Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada appeared to have taken steps to insulate themselves from criticism.

“Some departments have conducted an internal lessons-learned exercise or after-action review,” said the Canadian parliamentary report.

“However, the results of those exercises were not communicated to the Special Committee, and it was not clear that a formal, comprehensive and whole-of-government review has been completed.”

When the U.K. committee found itself being stonewalled — notably on questions related to the evacuation of a British charity for homeless animals from Afghanistan — it didn’t hesitate to call out the British Foreign Office in its final report over a lack of transparency.

“The FCDO has repeatedly given us answers that, in our judgment, are at best intentionally evasive and often deliberately misleading,” the U.K. report said.

Federal law interfering with aid delivery, MPs hear

Aside from examining the evacuation and resettlement of Afghan refugees, the Canadian parliamentary committee heard from humanitarian groups saying federal anti-terror legislation stands in the way of delivering aid to Afghanistan — where the economy has collapsed and more than three-quarters of the population will soon be below the poverty line.

The Taliban is on Canada’s list of terrorist entities and the prevailing view is that indirect payments to Afghanistan in any form would risk violating the Criminal Code.

Canada is alone among its allies in not carving out an exemption for charitable work.

It’s here that the Canadian Commons committee came closest to an admonishment.

“The Special Committee wants to communicate that it does not believe that Canada taking its own policy, regulatory and legislative steps to facilitate legitimate humanitarian action would equate to legitimization of the Taliban,” said the Canadian report. 

“The Special Committee, as noted, appreciates the complexity of this situation. However, it is concerned that many months have passed since the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, while the needs of the population are known to be dire.”

An Afghan man carries food supplies in a wheelbarrow during a distribution of humanitarian aid for families in need in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022. (Hussein Malla/The Associated Press)

That’s an understatement. As many as 23 million people in Afghanistan now face the possibility of starvation.

International Development Minister Hajit Sajjan told the committee earlier this spring he could not provide a timeline for addressing the issue but assured MPs that Global Affairs Canada “is working with Justice and Public Safety to figure out the best step to move forward.”

While Canada is debating its next actions, the U.K. parliamentary committee — in a flash of goodwill in an otherwise scalding report — praised the government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson for sending representatives to Kabul on two occasions and for taking “any opportunity that presents itself to sit down with” the Taliban at the ministerial level outside of Afghanistan.

Johnson, the report said, has decided that there is “no point” in the U.K. “standing on the sidelines.”

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Mitchell throws two TD passes as Ticats earn important 37-21 home win over Redblacks

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September 14, 2024

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HAMILTON – It remains faint but Bo Levi Mitchell and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats still have a playoff pulse.

Mitchell threw two touchdown passes as Hamilton defeated the Ottawa Redblacks 37-21 in the CFL’s annual Hall of Fame game Saturday afternoon. The Ticats (4-9) earned a second straight win to move to within six points of the third-place Toronto Argonauts (7-6) in the East Division.

Hamilton visits Toronto on Friday night.

“Obviously they’re (wins) huge now,” Mitchell said. “We didn’t do ourselves any favours by getting into this position and not being able to really control our own destiny.

“But right now, we need certain people to win at certain times. Our job is to go out there and try to win the next five, then the next three after that.”

Mitchell finished 20-of-27 passing for 299 yards and an interception. He entered weekend action leading the CFL in passing yards (3,383) and TD strikes (21).

Greg Bell’s 15-yard TD run at 11:30 of the fourth and two-point convert put Hamilton up 36-21 after backup Jeremiah Masoli led Ottawa on two scoring drives. Following a 13-yard TD strike to Andre Miller at 2:53, Masoli found Dominique Rhymes on a 10-yard touchdown pass at 7:43 before Khalan Laborn’s two-point convert cut Hamilton’s lead to 29-21.

“When you’re scoring from (15) yards out on a run play, that makes offence easy,” Mitchell said. “It’s one of those things when you get down there as a quarterback, it takes you sometimes five, eight, 10 plays and now it’s ‘OK, now we have to create some stuff and find something.’

“When you hand the ball off and you’re scoring from (15) yards, it makes the offence really easy.”

Ottawa (8-4-1) would have clinched a playoff spot with a victory.

Ottawa committed six turnovers (three interceptions, two fumbles, once on downs) before an announced Tim Hortons Field gathering of 22,119. Lawrence Woods III also returned a punt 83 yards for a touchdown at 11:51 of the first quarter that put Hamilton ahead 10-3.

“You’ve got to bring your best every single week and this wasn’t our best, all of us, from coaches to the players,” said Ottawa head coach Bob Dyce. “If you don’t play great for four quarters, I don’t care who you’re playing you’re not going to have a successful day.

“We should’ve made the tackle (on Woods), we had him wrapped up it’s that simple. Even though we didn’t make the play on that, there should’ve been extra bodies there to clean it up when he did break the tackle.”

Hamilton also tied the season series with Ottawa 1-1. The teams meet again at TD Place on Oct. 25.

“If we didn’t turn it over today I would’ve said we played really well offensively and that to me is what the biggest difference is,” said Hamilton head coach Scott Milanovich. “Even the turnovers today (interception, fumble), at least they were in their end and we weren’t giving them a short field.

“The biggest play of the game was Woodsie’s return. It got us jump-started, gave us the lead and we were kind of off after that.”

Ottawa starter Dru Brown was 17-of-27 passing for 164 yards and an interception. Masoli entered late in the third and finished 13-of-19 passing for 183 yards with two TDs and two interceptions, but Dyce said Brown will start next weekend against Montreal (10-2-1), which earned a 19-19 tie Saturday night with Calgary (4-8-1).

The Canadian Football Hall of Fame’s ’24 class of S.J. Green, Chad Owens, Weston Dressler, Vince Goldsmith and Vince Coleman, along with builders Ray Jauch and Ed Laverty (posthumously), was honoured at halftime. All were enshrined Friday night.

Steven Dunbar Jr. and Ante Litre had Hamilton’s other touchdowns. Marc Liegghio kicked two field goals, three converts and two singles.

Ottawa’s Lewis Ward booted two field goals and a convert.

Mitchell culminated a five-play, 96-yard march with a 20-yard TD pass to Litre at 13:34 of the third. It followed Jonathan Moxey’s interception.

Liegghio’s single at 7:05 of the third put Hamilton up 22-6.

Mitchell’s 54-yard TD strike to Dunbar at 14:18 of the second staked Hamilton to its 21-6 halftime lead. The advantage was well-deserved as the Ticats had more first downs (12-six), net offensive yards (260-144) and scored on both offence and special teams.

Mitchell was 14-of-20 passing for 210 yards and a TD, but his interception cost Hamilton at least a field-goal attempt. Dunbar had five receptions for 113 yards and the touchdown.

Brown completed 13-of-21 passes for 127 yards.

Liegghio’s missed 47-yard attempt went for the single at 12:45 to put Hamilton ahead 14-6. It followed a Kiondre Smith catch that was ruled incomplete and at the very least cost the Ticats a first down that would’ve kept the drive alive.

Ward’s 30-yard kick at 9:15 had pulled Ottawa to within 13-6.

Liegghio’s 19-yard field goal at 5:13 pushed Hamilton’s lead to 13-3. It followed the defence stopping Ottawa’s Dustin Crum on third-and-one, giving the Ticats possession at the Redblacks 40.

Liegghio’s 47-yard field goal opened the scoring at 2:42 before Ward tied in with a 24-yard boot at 8:44.

UP NEXT

Redblacks: Host the Montreal Alouettes (10-2-1) next Saturday, Sept. 21.

Tiger-Cats: Visit the Toronto Argonauts (7-6) on Friday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 14, 2024.



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Toronto FC downs Austin FC to pick up three much-needed points in MLS playoff push

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September 14, 2024

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TORONTO – Needing three points to keep their playoff push alive, Toronto FC’s Jonathan Osorio and Deandre Kerr stepped up with first-half goals against Austin FC on Saturday with goalkeeper Sean Johnson doing his bit at the other end.

A 76th-minute goal by Austin’s Owen Wolff made for a nervy ending but TFC hung on for a 2-1 win.

While Toronto (11-15-3) remains on the Major League Soccer playoff bubble in eighth place in the Eastern Conference (the eighth- and ninth-place teams in each conference square off in a wild-card playoff with the winner facing the top seed in the conference), other results went their way.

Seventh-place Charlotte, 10th-place Atlanta and 11th-place Philadelphia all lost while ninth-place D.C. United tied.

Toronto midfielder Alonso Coello called it “a game we had to win.”

“It’s a big win … To see that fight tonight was important,” added coach John Herdman.

Austin (9-12-7) came into the game in 11th place in the West, two points below ninth-place Minnesota. The Texas side has won just one of its last six league games (1-4-1).

Austin outshot Toronto 7-6 (6-2 edge in shots on target) in the first half but found itself trailing 2-0 at the break as Toronto took advantage of its chances and the visitors didn’t in their first-ever visit to BMO Field, before an announced crowd of 25,538.

Toronto had a dream start, catching Austin on the counterattack in the seventh minute. A sliding Austin player dispossessed an onrushing Kerr, who had been set free by a long ball from Coello, but the ball bounced to Osorio, who beat goalkeeper Brad Stuver with a rising shot.

It was the Toronto captain’s second goal of the season in league play and his 65th for TFC in all competitions. Only Sebastian Giovinco (83) and Jozy Altidore (79) scored more in Toronto colours.

TFC went ahead on another counterattack in the 30th minute after an Austin giveaway. Osorio found Richie Laryea outpacing his marker and the wingback unselfishly sent a perfect low cross across goal for Kerr to knock home for his third of the season.

Wolff, the son of Austin head coach Josh Wolff, made it interesting with his late strike. The 19-year-old U.S. youth international, controlling a long ball, beat defender Raoul Petretta and then waited out Johnson before slotting it home for his first of the season.

Toronto survived a nervy six minutes of stoppage time as Austin pressed for the equalizer. Austin outshot Toronto 14-9 (8-3 in shots on target) and had 52.5 per cent possession.

The win evened Toronto’s home record at 7-7-0, while Austin slipped to 3-8-3 on the road.

It was a costly evening for Austin with defender Brendan Hines-Ike, midfielder Jhojan Valencia and star attacker Sebastian Driussi allpicking up cautions to miss Wednesday’s game with Los Angeles FC due to yellow-card accumulation.

Toronto defender Shane O’Neill will miss Wednesday’s game against visiting Columbus for the same reason. Toronto could be short mid-week, too. The hope is veteran centre back Kevin Long, who missed Saturday’s game after tweaking his hamstring in training, will be good to go.

Toronto has five games remaining, including three more at home as it looks to return to the post-season for the first time since 2020 when it lost to Nashville after extra time at the first hurdle.

It is a challenging road.

TFC hosts Columbus, the New York Red Bulls and Inter Miami while playing away at the Colorado Rapids and Chicago Fire. All but Chicago are in playoff positions.

The only previous meeting between Toronto and Austin was in May 2023, when Zardes scored a 91st-minute winner to give Austin a 1-0 win over visiting Toronto, which was then mired at the bottom of the Eastern Conference. That loss prompted a post-game outburst from Italian star Federico Bernardeschi about TFC’s drab play.

Then-coach Bob Bradley benched Bernardeschi for the next game.

Current coach John Herdman made four changes to his starting 11 with Bernardeschi and Osorio returning from suspension and Coello and Kerr also slotting in. Coello, who had missed the last eight league games with a hamstring injury, was impressive in his 59-minute return.

Both Toronto and Austin suffered home losses last time out going into the international break. Toronto was beaten 3-1 by D.C. United while Austin lost 1-0 to Vancouver.

—

Follow @NeilMDavidson on X platform.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 14, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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CF Montreal finds its groove with 2-1 win over Charlotte

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September 14, 2024

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MONTREAL – CF Montreal is back in the win column after securing a 2-1 Major League Soccer win over Charlotte FC on Saturday night at Stade Saputo.

Montreal’s form had suffered of late, with just one win in MLS since July, but Laurent Courtois’ squad showed a level of poise and control over the tempo of the game that had not been seen since the beginning of the season.

“What we’ve changed in the last few weeks or months in terms of our methodology or coaching, is nothing. We did the exact thing, We had the exact same words, and we expressed them the exact same way,” said Courtois. “Today, everything just clicked.”

Caden Clark scored for the first time as a Montreal (7-12-9) player in the 23rd minute, in addition to Bryce Duke’s goal three minutes later that ended up being the winner, while Tim Ream found the back of the net for Charlotte (10-10-8).

Montreal had the first major scoring chance of the match after 15 minutes of play. With a free kick roughly 25 metres away from goal, Gabriele Corbo sent a near-perfect shot smashing off the crossbar.

Montreal would continue to dictate the tempo in the opening phase, finding first blood just seven minutes later.

Following a phenomenal triple-save from Charlotte goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina, the ball fell to Clark who volleyed the ball into the wide-open net, picking up his first goal for the club.

“I think you don’t lose the feeling (of scoring), everything happens for a reason, you just can’t lose yourself in the chaos,” said Clark, who had missed a full season due to injury and was briefly without a club, but was grateful for Courtois’ confidence in him.

“(To have a coach’s confidence) is huge and is something I’ve had both ends of so you just can’t take advantage of that in the wrong way. I’m going to keep my discipline with the game plan and keep my head right.”

With momentum completely on their side, the home side doubled the lead just three minutes later. Montreal continued to build up play on the left flank and found a streaking Raheem Edwards in behind the defence who cut the ball back to Duke, sending the Stade Saputo crowd into a frenzy.

Just after the half-hour mark, Charlotte pulled one back through a set piece — something Montreal has struggled defending all season — as Ream rose above everyone at the back post to score his first with his new club.

The second half began in a similar fashion to the end of the first, with Charlotte pressing high up the pitch and forcing several turnovers in dangerous areas. After surviving the pressure, Montreal began to regain control of the game near the hour mark, enjoying the lion’s share of the possession while Charlotte looked to hit back on the counterattack.

“I think when we conceded that goal we were like ‘here we go again.’ 2-1 is a tough lead before halftime … and at the beginning of the half we kind of shot ourselves in the foot and they pressed a bit more, they moved a bit more forward and that opened some gaps,” said captain Samuel Piette.

“I was happy with that, it shows character. At the end of the day, we just wanted the three points and that’s what we got.”

As the game progressed, Charlotte pushed harder to find an equalizer but to no avail. With only one shot on target conceded, the second-worst defence in the league put up an impressive front and confidently rebuffed every single Charlotte attack.

“I’m a big fan of the back five’s performance in their discipline, competitiveness, and synchronization with balls in behind,” said Courtois.

“We can’t explain sometimes in a game it’s not there, they’re capable and today they showed it. Let’s see tomorrow.”

UP NEXT

Both teams are back in action on Sept. 18 away from home as Montreal will look to avenge a 5-0 rout against the New England Revolution while Charlotte visits Orlando City SC.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 14, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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