Tag Archives: NATO

Do they really need reminding?

CBC news reports that  a recent NATO air strike killed at least 4 civilians in a small village north of Kandahar. While Canadian troops were not directly involved in the incident, the news speaks to a larger debate on the increasingly blurry line between civilian and combatant. (more…)

NATO boss says Afghan strategy was flawed

In a June interview with the Dutch magazine Vrij Nederland NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer stated that making individual NATO members responsible for specific provinces is a flawed strategy because it has failed to stimulate international military and civil cooperation. According to De Hoop Scheffer “All countries like to think they are the […]

An upswing in violence in Afghanistan… What does this mean for Canada?

By any measure the last few months have been marked by an upswing in violence in Afghanistan–a “dreary and bloody stalemate” according to the CBC’s Brian Stewart. NATO–and the US in particular–have come to recognize this as there has been much ado about how to re-cast the mission. First of all this has meant the implementation of a new command structure […]

A path to peace in Afghanistan?

As the violence in Afghanistan increases, some NATO members are considering a new path to peace in the troubled country: supporting government talks with Taliban insurgents. While negotiations would be restricted to insurgents who have abandoned their ranks; nonetheless, this new strategy, backed by the UK, signals a shift in the tide. “Peace and security […]