One of Canada's most prominent military historians says Canada's Afghan mission was constantly dogged by intelligence failures and a lack of strategic oversight in Ottawa.
"I'm virtually certain that we did not spend enough time examining the circumstances on the ground in Kandahar," David Bercuson of the University of Calgary said on CTV's National Affairs Monday.
"What did we not know and should have known about the amount help we'd get from our NATO allies?" he added. "There's all kind of questions that were left open prior to the engagement.
He's also particularly critical of Ottawa's politicians, saying they "confused" the public on the purpose of the mission.
"We had all kinds of mixed messages going on from 2005 through to 2011. There was too much politics going," he said.
Bercuson also said that Ottawa, both under the Conservatives and Liberals, has constantly "downplayed" the risks associated with the mission.
Earlier this month, Bercuson, along with J.L. Granatstein and Nancy Pearson Mackie, issued a 53-page report for the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute.
Bercuson and Granatstein have long been supporters of Canada's role in Afghanistan and called the mission a "noble one."
But the pair wrote: "unless our politicians and bureaucrats also learned the lessons of the Afghan War, the price paid by Canada and Canadians will have been far too high."
The report found four main lessons from the Afghanistan mission;
- Success of "whole government" operations depend on the early injection of experienced civilian and military personnel with clear goals and in proper numbers.
- Both political and military objectives must be clearly defined by all the partners involved in the mission.
- There needs to be clear lines of command and communication within the military, bureaucracy and the federal government before any Canadian Forces members are deployed. The prime minister must be ready to step into any bureaucratic infighting if it threatens the mission.
- NATO is a divided organization and Canada must "think long and hard" before entering into any coalition mission that has divided national objectives.
