Canadian brigadier-general says progress in Afghanistan will be slow
FREDERICTON - A high-ranking Canadian soldier who is assuming a key role in Afghanistan says Canadians need to temper their expectations ahead of a planned pullout for 2011.
Brig.-Gen. Steve Bowes has begun a one-year deployment as the International Security Assistance Force's deputy chief of plans and projects. He says Canadians shouldn't have delusions about quick success in Afghanistan.
Bowes says it's important to accurately identify what needs to be achieved and understand that it takes decades and sometimes centuries for societies to develop.
Meantime, a keen observer of the conflict says he worries the public won't understand that Canada's real success in Afghanistan includes building new roads and farm infrastructure.
Lee Windsor, of the Gregg Centre for the study of war and society at the University of New Brunswick, says success should be measured in the number of Afghans employed in a legitimate and functional farm economy.
