Six years of fighting in Afghanistan sees the Taliban continuing to visit violence upon Canadian soldiers in Kandahar, one of the most dangerous provinces in the country. But 2007 saw slightly fewer casualties than 2006 — 29 compared to 36.
Whether this small improvement marks a turning point or is just how the numbers played out remains to be seen.
The 74th Canadian soldier died last Sunday, 27-year-old Jonathan Dion, a gunner from Quebec.
Like most Canadians soldiers who have died in Afghanistan, Dion was killed by an IED - improvised explosive device. The Taliban no longer face Nato forces head-on but opt to kill them from a distance with IEDs that explode on roadways as vehicles pass close by.
Recent reports say the devices are getting more sophisticated and deadly, suggesting the Taliban are getting outside help, potentially from al-Qaeda and other militant groups hiding just across the border in Pakistan. This could spell trouble in the future as better resourced Taliban link up with other groups and form deadlier terrorist networks.
The Taliban know that countries with soldiers stationed if Afghanistan grow weary of increasing casualties. The Taliban are now killing our soldiers for the sake of killing our soldiers, hoping that sooner or later foreign countries lose their resolve will abandon Afghanistan.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper wants to extend the mission to 2011 but he won't do it without Parliament's support, which means he needs opposition MPs on his side. That seems unlikely since all three parties have said they want the mission to end in 2009.
But if Afghanistan is to have any hope of a democratic future, 2009 is too soon to leave.
There is progress in Afghanistan. The Afghan military, which has received a great deal of attention from NATO forces, is now planning, leading, and carrying out it's own military missions. Like our soldiers, the Afghan military is no longer a target of direct Taliban attacks; the Afghan police, however, are.
The fledgling Afghan government is also rife with corruption and struggles to provide basic services to people in many regions of the country. It also needs significant development work or the gains in security will be wasted by a government the Afghan people don't trust or support.
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