Canada's Mismanaged Afghan Kabul Evacuations

Gen. Wayne Eyre   CBC

"We wish we could have stayed longer and rescued everyone who was so desperate to leave. That we could not is truly heartbreaking, but the circumstances on the ground rapidly deteriorated."

"[Soldiers] witnessed horrific things, they faced incredible dangers and the feeling of helplessness and guilt that arises from having to leave people behind can be overwhelming."

"I have received emails from people I worked with during my tours in Afghanistan who are desperate to get out or get their families out. Their pleas, and the photos of the families in terrible situations that accompany them, are heart-wrenching. They tear at our souls."

"Throughout the operation, we received word of multiple imminent attacks, which necessitated changes to our plans on the ground, and demanded maximum adaptability and agility on the part of our people."

"[This is the] most complex and dangerous] evacuation operation] in modern history."

Acting Chief of Defense Staff Lt.-Gen. Wayne Eyre, Ottawa, Canada

Kabul Airport Attack: 13 US service members were killed and 18 others wounded.   NDTV

"Canada's poor initial response in Kabul points to an extreme of centralized political micro-management", commented retired Canadian General Andrew Leslie, former head of the Canadian Army, elected to Parliament from 2015 to 2019, when he declined to run again, after  having served in a minor portfolio with the Liberal government of Justin Trudeau, when one of the Prime Minister's many sordid exploits that revealed his vindictive streak in ruining the career of the-then vice-chief of staff, Admiral Mark Norman, offended Mr. Leslie by its corrupt misuse of executive power.

Canada managed to airlift an estimated 3,700 people out of Afghanistan in 16 flights, before the Liberal government ended its evacuation operation on Thursday. Too little, too late. The Liberal government headed by Justin Trudeau knew for months that Canadians living in Afghanistan and Afghans who had worked alongside and with Canadians, both military and diplomatic as interpreters and aides would be in peril soon after the U.S./NATO deadline of 31 August departure from Afghanistan.

Military veterans' groups in Canada urged the government to act, to complete the paperwork, to contact the vulnerable Afghans who depended on Canada's promise it would look after their interests by removing them from the danger that threatened their lives and the lives of their families, to expedite matters and bring them to safety. The government did nothing. It issued some visas but failed to follow up, and desperate Afghans attempting to make contact with officials in Ottawa were shunted from department to department, nothing resolved.

The shabby, uncaring treatment that former Afghan allies received from a careless government whose leader was more interested in returning to a majority position from the minority government of the last election, reflected scant attention to the catastrophe unfolding in Afghanistan when the Taliban moved swiftly to confront and oust the duly elected government supported by the West, and disperse the defences of the government; the national police and the military, all three abandoned by the U.S. in its zeal to exit the country.

"There is no country in the world other than the U.S. that's got the capability of projecting force to the other side of the world, and securing an airport like that", said Lt.-Gen. Eyre in his concluding remarks to the press on the imminent departure of the U.S. by August 31. A date which 'justified' Canada's decision to end its evacuation flights as of yesterday. Citing the growing threat of terrorist attacks from the Islamic State. And then the anticipated and feared attack occurred only hours after Canada's announcement that its evacuation activity was over.

When a horrendous, "complex" and "heinous" attack with two explosions by suicide bombers took place at two entrance gates to Kabul airport. In one of the attacks where the bomber wore an explosives vest he was being questioned by U.S. Marines at a checkpoint when he detonated the vest. Thirteen Marines died in the blast and many others were injured. The twin bombs killed at least 80 Afghan men, women and children, many of whom had been waiting for hours in a foetid drainage ditch, for permission to enter the airport with their papers, on flights that would take them to freedom.

An estimated 8,000 Afghans had made application for evacuation by Canada. The number left behind is unknown, but the Canadian Armed Forces are making no apologies, just sincere regrets that their mission was halted due to extremely dangerous conditions prevailing in the area, along with the shortage of time to continue expediting passage out of Afghanistan. There was no "abandonment" of people, bridled the military. The responsibility of timing and efficiency not completely theirs however, and the prime minister adamantly makes no apologies on his part.

"[CAF members] experiences have not been made any easier by the fact that operation was carried out under intense, and often misinformed public scrutiny and criticism", remarked Lt.-Gen. Eyre. In particular as an example he mentioned reports of a video appearing to show Canadian special forces ignoring Afghans waving what they claimed to be Canadian exit documents. 

"We were surprised by the speed of the Taliban takeover of Kabul. And I'm sure there'll be much ink spilt about this. This is an extraordinary humanitarian crisis. But make no mistake, this is a crisis of the Taliban's making." And just incidentally a prime minister whose personal ambitions trumped his responsibility as chief executive of a nation that promised aid and comfort to those who worked with it under dangerous conditions and now face deathly reprisals from the Taliban.

A Canadian aircraft flies evacuees out of Kabul on 23 August    Reuters

"Watching explosions, watching death and destruction in Afghanistan is heart-breaking. Women and girls will once again be subjected to a brutal Taliban regime. There is no rule of law, no respect for rights, it's a travesty."

"We were calling for action to get people out, to work with our allies. We've been demanding this for months and, in some cases, years. The Trudeau government has failed to act and they have abandoned people on the ground in Afghanistan." 

Conservative Leader of the Parliamentary Opposition, Erin O'Toole