The Liberal government could have evacuated many more Afghans from the troubled region had it streamlined its cumbersome bureaucratic process and maintained a stronger military and diplomatic presence, former top Canadian military commanders and experts say.
While the Canadian government was able to evacuate more than 3,700 people from Kabul, the number should have been “a hell of a lot more,” said retired major-general David Fraser, who commanded more than 2,000 NATO coalition troops during Operation Medusa in the Afghan province of Kandahar in 2006.
“The international world was surprised by the speed at which the Taliban took over. And [the Canadian government] applied the bureaucracy they had for normal operations,” Fraser said.
Fraser, along with retired major-generals Denis Thompson and Dean Milner are all volunteering to help extract Afghan interpreters from Afghanistan.
They are all former task-force commanders of Afghanistan, and have blamed government bureaucracy for gumming up the system and creating obstacles for Afghans trying to flee the country.
Those Afghans include former interpreters and support staff as well as their families who are now at risk of Taliban arrest or worse for having worked with the Canadian military and other organizations.
‘Bureaucratic clumsiness’
Earlier this week, another retired Canadian general, former chief of the defence staff Rick Hillier told CBC’s Power & Politics that Canada had “not shone greatly” and that the operation had been “so cluttered by bureaucratic clumsiness, bureaucratic inefficiency, bureaucratic paperwork.”
WATCH |Retired general Rick Hillier delivers damning assessment of Afghan evacuation:
‘Canada can do better’: Retired general delivers damning assessment of Afghan evacuation efforts
8 days ago
If the Canadian military isn’t authorized to go outside the Kabul airport to help rescue vulnerable Afghans who are eligible to come to Canada, retired Canadian General Rick Hillier told Power & Politics that Canada “should be ashamed as a nation.” 7:31
He was joined other veterans and advocates who had complained for weeks about Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s handing of the crisis, which included complicated forms for Afghans to fill out, unrealistic and confusing application requirements and complete silence from the department after paperwork has been submitted.
Former lieutenant-general Andrew Leslie, who is also former Liberal MP, also took the government to task, tweeting: “Canada’s poor initial response in Kabul points to an extreme of centralized political micro-management.”
Taliban fighters stand guard at a checkpoint in Kabul on Wednesday, Aug. 25. (Khwaja Tawfiq Sediqi/The Associated Press)
This week, Canadian officials announced that evacuation operations had finished ahead of the planned U.S. withdrawal from the country and that no more Canadian-operated flights were planned to take people out of Kabul.
However, Canadian citizens, permanent residents and their families, and those seeking refuge in Canada still remain and that it’s still not known how many potential migrants to Canada are still stuck in Afghanistan. Officials said they have received applications representing 8,000 people and that two-thirds of those applications have been processed.
Some of those applications, said Hillier, would have been difficult to fill out in Canada — “let alone someone in Afghanistan where paperwork is non-existent and identity forms and background stuff is sometimes very difficult or impossible to find.”
‘Nowhere near the numbers’
Milner agreed that the extra paperwork and bureaucracy meant people leaving Afghanistan were “nowhere near the numbers that we would have liked to have.”
“When you’ve got tight timelines, you’ve got to understand what to cut out,” he said. “You’ve got to be able to get to the cut to the chase.”
U.S. Air Force loadmasters load passengers aboard a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III in support of the Afghanistan evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. (U.S. Air Force/Master Sgt. Donald R. Allen/Handout/Reuters)
Instead, Afghans with basic documentation should have just been allowed to be airlifted to third-party locations where they could have been rigorously assessed through the “normal Canadian bureaucratic process,” Fraser said.
Thompson, who has expressed frustration with Ottawa’s handling of the evacuation, told CBC News on Friday that at this stage, with the government airlift operation over, he didn’t feel it prudent to criticize Ottawa for its response.
He said his focus was on the future and securing the passage of as many Afghans as possible.
Still, days earlier, he told CBC News Network about Afghans waiting outside the perimeter of the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul and of a family, having dodged Taliban checkpoints, being denied access even though they had documentation and Canadian passports. He said he also heard from families who had been split up: some allowed to go, others denied because of inappropriate paper work.
WATCH | Many of those stranded in Afghanistan feel abandoned by Canada:
Many feel abandoned after Canada stops Afghanistan evacuations
Canada officially ended its evacuation mission in Afghanistan, which carried 3,700 to safety. But thousands are left behind and many feel abandoned. 2:00
Thompson said there was a “bottleneck” at the gate entrance, that there needed to have been a “much more flexible entrance criteria” and that the measures being applied didn’t “even meet the common sense test,” he said earlier this week.
Friday, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau defended his government’s actions, saying the speed with which the Taliban took control of Afghanistan came as a surprise to many around the world.
“I think a lot of people on the ground and around the world thought there would be more time,” he said.
“We accelerated our processes over the past number of weeks and months. We did everything we could.”
Meanwhile, the government has said visas issued to those Afghans eligible to come to Canada will remain valid even if they haven’t left the country yet. It also said it’s waiving immigration paperwork fees for Afghans outside and inside Canada.
No robust military presence to negotiate
The Liberal government has also been criticized for failing to help Afghan interpreters and their families get through Taliban checkpoints to the airport or negotiate safe passage.
“[Canada] had to ask a lot of favours of a lot of other countries because we don’t have a robust military presence there,” former anchor and correspondent Kevin Newman, who volunteers with Veterans Transition Network, told CBC Radio’s The Current.
“Many, many countries have set up a much more robust attempt to get people safely through Taliban checkpoints to the airport,” he said.
When Western embassies closed as the Taliban moved in, many other countries moved their staff onto the airfield.
“But we folded up our entire shop and came home, which would mean that it would be almost impossible to negotiate with the Taliban at that point,” Thompson said.
That meant, without that diplomatic footprint on the ground, Canada was unable to negotiate bus convoys inside the airport, he said.
“All of our allies had eyes and boots on the ground this week at Kabul’s airport. Canada did not. It closed its embassy and withdrew all its diplomats and military by jet to Ottawa just as the Taliban was rolling into town,” Newman recently wrote for Substack.
“The government left no one behind to talk to the Taliban, or our allies, as they organized and negotiated the rescue of thousands.”
Christian Leuprecht, a security expert and professor at the Royal Military College and Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont., suggested Canada’s so-called evacuation strategy was to “basically piggyback on the Americans and we’ll try to get as many people out by putting as few Canadian resources at risk as possible.”
WATCH | Trudeau is asked what he would change if he had a chance to do the Kabul evacuation over:
Liberal leader is asked what he would change if he had a chance to do the Kabul evacuation over
20 hours ago
Justin Trudeau spoke with reporters in a Syrian restaurant in the riding of Mississauga-Streetsville in Ontario on Friday. 2:39
“Our footprint was pretty small,” he said. “We didn’t send any troops and equipment that could complement the U.S. effort.”
Lacking political direction
What was lacking throughout was political direction, in part, because the election call meant many of the decision-makers were no longer in Ottawa, said Leuprecht.
“I think basically what the bureaucracy here got was: ‘We’ve got a problem. Go figure it out.’ And this sort of crisis requires clear political direction because the bureaucratic machine is not set up to kind of figure things out.“
With no direction, Canada took the minimalist approach, he said, which meant deploying as few military assets as possible.
“I think that is really sort of ultimately why the Canadian response was sort of relatively muted.”
EDMONTON – Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his career as the New Jersey Devils closed out their Western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.
Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils (8-5-2) who have won three of their last four on the heels on a four-game losing skid.
The Oilers (6-6-1) had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.
Calvin Pickard made 13 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.
TAKEAWAYS
Devils: In addition to his goal, Bratt picked up his 12th assist of the young season to give him nine points in his last eight games and now 15 points overall. Nico Hischier remains in the team lead, picking up an assist of his own to give him 16 points for the campaign. He has a point in all but four games this season.
Oilers: Forward Leon Draisaitl was held pointless after recording six points in his previous two games and nine points in his previous four. Draisaitl usually has strong showings against the Devils, coming into the contest with an eight-game point streak against New Jersey and 11 goals in 17 games.
KEY MOMENT
New Jersey took a 2-0 lead on the power play with 3:26 remaining in the second period as Hischier made a nice feed into the slot to Bratt, who wired his third of the season past Pickard.
KEY RETURN?
Oilers star forward and captain Connor McDavid took part in the optional morning skate for the Oilers, leading to hopes that he may be back sooner rather than later. McDavid has been expected to be out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury suffered during the first shift of last Monday’s loss in Columbus.
OILERS DEAL FOR D-MAN
The Oilers have acquired defenceman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenceman Ben Gleason.
The 6-foot-3 Attard has spent the past three season in the Flyers organization seeing action in 29 career games. The 25-year-old right-shot defender and Western Michigan University grad was originally selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Attard will report to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield.
UP NEXT
Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.
Oilers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, and Kareem Hunt pounded into the end zone from two yards out in overtime to give the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs a 30-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.
DeAndre Hopkins had two touchdown receptions for the Chiefs (8-0), who drove through the rain for two fourth-quarter scores to take a 24-17 lead with 4:17 left. But then Kansas City watched as Baker Mayfield led the Bucs the other way in the final minute, hitting Ryan Miller in the end zone with 27 seconds to go in regulation time.
Tampa Bay (4-5) elected to kick the extra point and force overtime, rather than go for a two-point conversion and the win. And it cost the Buccaneers when Mayfield called tails and the coin flip was heads. Mahomes and the Chiefs took the ball, he was 5-for-5 passing on their drive in overtime, and Hunt finished his 106-yard rushing day with the deciding TD plunge.
Travis Kelce had 14 catches for 100 yards with girlfriend Taylor Swift watching from a suite, and Hopkins finished with eight catches for 86 yards as the Chiefs ran their winning streak to 14 dating to last season. They became the sixth Super Bowl champion to start 8-0 the following season.
Mayfield finished with 200 yards and two TDs passing for the Bucs, who have lost four of their last five.
It was a memorable first half for two players who had been waiting to play in Arrowhead Stadium.
The Bucs’ Rachaad White grew up about 10 minutes away in a tough part of Kansas City, but his family could never afford a ticket for him to see a game. He wound up on a circuitous path through Division II Nebraska-Kearney and a California junior college to Arizona State, where he eventually became of a third-round pick of Tampa Bay in the 2022 draft.
Two year later, White finally got into Arrowhead — and the end zone. He punctuated his seven-yard scoring run in the second quarter, which gave the Bucs a 7-3 lead, by nearly tossing the football into the second deck.
Then it was Hopkins’ turn in his first home game since arriving in Kansas City from a trade with the Titans.
The three-time All-Pro, who already had caught four passes, reeled in a third-down heave from Mahomes amid triple coverage for a 35-yard gain inside the Tampa Bay five-yard line. Three plays later, Mahomes found him in the back of the end zone, and Hopkins celebrated his first TD with the Chiefs with a dance from “Remember the Titans.”
Tampa Bay tried to seize control with consecutive scoring drives to start the second half. The first ended with a TD pass to Cade Otton, the latest tight end to shred the Chiefs, and Chase McLaughlin’s 47-yard field goal gave the Bucs a 17-10 lead.
The Chiefs answered in the fourth quarter. Mahomes marched them through the rain 70 yards for a tying touchdown pass, which he delivered to Samaje Perine while landing awkwardly and tweaking his left ankle, and then threw a laser to Hopkins on third-and-goal from the Buccaneers’ five-yard line to give Kansas City the lead.
Tampa Bay promptly went three-and-out, but its defence got the ball right back, and this time Mayfield calmly led his team down field. His capped the drive with a touchdown throw to Miller — his first career TD catch — with 27 seconds to go, and Tampa Bay elected to play for overtime.
UP NEXT
Buccaneers: Host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Darcy Kuemper made 16 saves for his first shutout of the season and 32nd overall, helping the Los Angeles Kings beat the Nashville Predators 3-0 on Monday night.
Adrian Kempe had a goal and an assist and Anze Kopitar and Kevin Fiala also scored. The Kings have won two of their last three.
Juuse Saros made 24 saves for the Predators. They are 1-2-1 in their last four.
Kopitar opened the scoring with 6:36 remaining in the opening period. Saros denied the Kings captain’s first shot, but Kopitar collected the rebound below the goal line and banked it off the netminder’s skate.
Fiala, a former Predator, made it 2-0 35 seconds into the third.
The Kings held Nashville to just three third-period shots on goal, the first coming with 3:55 remaining and Saros pulled for an extra attacker.
Elsewhere in the NHL on Monday:
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DEVILS 3 OILERS 0
EDMONTON, Alta. (AP) — Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his NHL career, helping the New Jersey Devils close their western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers.
Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored. The Devils improved to 8-5-2. They have won three of their last four after a four-game skid.
Calvin Pickard made 13 saves for Edmonton. The Oilers had won two straight.
