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Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
CANADA IN AFGHANISTAN: CONTINUITY AND CLARITY
Houchang Hassan Yari, Professor and Head, Department of Political and Economic Science at the Royal Military College of Canada.
Abstract
There are two myths about the Canadian mission in Afghanistan. The first relates to its nature by portraying the mission as peacekeeping. The misunderstanding that the public likes to believe is maintained by the media. According to the sec-ond myth, Canada sent its forces to Afghanistan so as not to take part in the in-vasion of Iraq by the Americans. This article demystifies these two perceptions by showing the combative nature of the mission as formulated by the Liberal government in 2002 on the one hand, and that Canadian military engagement in Afghanistan was an important gesture of solidarity with the US attacked on 9/11, on the other.