The man who led Canada鈥檚 troops in Afghanistan said the Canadian peacekeeping mission in Mali has 鈥渘o prospect of immediate success.鈥�
鈥淭he political overtones and what鈥檚 going on in this country and this mission are ugly,鈥� retired major-general David Fraser told CTV鈥檚 Power Play host Don Martin on Monday.
鈥淭his is not going to be short mission.鈥�
Canadian boots hit Malian soil in June for what has widely been regarded as a dangerous year-long peacekeeping mission. While Canada鈥檚 role is primarily to fly medical evacuation missions and provide support from the skies, the security situation in the region is said to have sharply deteriorated in recent months.
That鈥檚 something that hasn鈥檛 escaped Fraser鈥檚 notice.
鈥淚t鈥檚 as bad -- if not worse -- than what we experienced in Afghanistan, Iraq or Syria,鈥� Fraser said of the conditions in Mali.
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 take a rocket scientist to figure out that this mission isn鈥檛 going in the right direction from a trajectory point of view.鈥�
His comments echo the revelations of a United Nations report released Wednesday. The assessment, conducted by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, described a plummeting humanitarian situation in Mali. Food aid and other humanitarian relief is in overwhelming demand and the country, according to the report, is faring worse in many ways than when Canadian peacekeepers first arrived in June.
Fraser explained that the key issue marking this decline is a lack of leadership. Despite successful elections in July and August, he said the insurgents are 鈥渨inning the fight on the ground.鈥�
鈥淧eacekeeping can鈥檛 be effective. It can鈥檛 be effective without a strong civilian government leadership that鈥檚 running the government, that鈥檚 actually providing oversight for the military and the police forces and that鈥檚 not happening fast enough,鈥� Fraser said.
鈥淭he race is being won not by the government and not by the military -- it鈥檚 being won by the people we don鈥檛 want to win.鈥�
That on-the ground reality means humanitarian efforts aren鈥檛 getting to where they need to be.
鈥淎id, from a strategic and from a tactical point of view, is not getting to the ground fast enough,鈥� Fraser said.
And at the end of the day, Fraser warned this hurts some people more than others.
鈥淭he local people are the ones who are going to be adversely affected,鈥� he said.
To change this, the UN needs a change in their approach, according to Fraser.
鈥淭he UN鈥檚 not getting the locals to get the leadership or the women engaged fast enough, and they鈥檙e going to lose this race.鈥�
If nothing changes, Fraser warned, we can expect the situation to continue to deteriorate -- and the UN reports to harshen.
鈥淭he people that are adversely affected are women and children and the innocent people, which is just going to make the next report card even worse than this one,鈥� he said.
