Members of the Canadian army will soon be reading a new counter-insurgency manual that the military believes will help its soldiers better understand the challenges they face in confronting terrorist groups.
Lt.-Gen. Andrew Leslie, who serves as the head of the Canadian army, says the new manual has been written for the benefit of soldiers and addresses the role that the military plays in establishing security in areas plagued by counter-insurgency problems.
"The manual itself is written by soldiers and academics for soldiers," he told CTV's Canada AM on Thursday.
"The key point is that the military is but one component of a variety of complex mechanisms that try to seek security solutions and it doesn't necessarily focus on Afghanistan."
The manual, Leslie said, tells soldiers that such problems cannot be solved solely through military intervention.
"What the manual says is that there has been no recorded case in history, that our researchers and myself are aware of, in successfully defeating a counter-insurgency which has been predicated solely on the military solving the problem," Leslie said.
"The key point is that it's a blend of political, diplomatic, economic, societal activities that all lead to successful conclusion."
The manual will be widely released at a later date.
Afghan people must define victory
Leslie also spoke to Canada AM about the future of the mission in Afghanistan.
He said the Canadians, as well as other coalition forces, will leave Afghanistan when the Afghan people decide it is time for them to go.
"The Afghan people are responsible for deciding what they see as a victorious outcome," he said.
When asked about U.S. President Barack Obama's intention to send more U.S. troops into Afghanistan, Leslie said he thought the additional support would help coalition forces provide better services to the Afghan people.
"We need more boots on the ground so that we can actually spread out more and bring more security and more diplomatic and more reconstruction efforts to those poor people," Leslie said.
