The former Canadian commander of NATO troops in southern Afghanistan says the mission is making headway, but insists Pakistan must help shut down the Taliban.
Brig.-Gen. David Fraser discussed Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay's recent visit to the region during an appearance on CTV's Canada AM on Wednesday.
After a surprise trip to Afghanistan, where he visited development projects and met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, MacKay travelled to Pakistan.
While there, he met with his Pakistani counterpart, Khursheed Kasuri, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, and was set to meet with President Gen. Pervez Musharraf to discuss the porous border and efforts to control Taliban travel between the countries.
MacKay indicated Canada opposed Pakistan's plan to mine parts of the border, but could support an initiative to install barbed wire fence in some border areas and offered Canada's help.
Fraser said the Taliban will not be shut down until Pakistan steps up efforts.
"I think in fact the problem that Afghanistan and Pakistan face is similar -- it's the Taliban regime. The Taliban is using both countries to operate out of and the solution will be Pakistan and Afghanistan working to rid both their countries of this, what I would call a cancer."
Progress is being made towards that goal, Fraser said.
When he first arrived in Afghanistan, there was no working relationship between NATO and Pakistan. By the end of his tour, however, they were having regular discussions and Pakistan had stationed 80,000 troops along the border to support Fraser's operations, he said.
"They are working on the issue but there's more to be done. The solution is in Pakistan working against the Taliban."
Fraser said progress is also being made in the area of development, but there is a long road ahead for Canadian troops helping rebuild the country.
"We are building a country that has gone through 30 years of war and there is nothing out there -- no infrastructure, no bureaucracy, no medical system or what not. We are starting from scratch, we are starting from a desert, and to build a country it takes a long time," Fraser said.
He touted road construction projects, such as Highway 1, which has gone from being a dirt track to a major thoroughfare since 2002, as evidence that development is taking place alongside military efforts.
However, he said other NATO countries must step up and do more. Much of the heavy lifting and actual fighting is being done by Canadian, British and American troops.
"NATO can step up to the plate and do more. We've asked them to do more and those discussions are ongoing."
Fraser said Canadian soldiers are doing a "phenomenal" job in Afghanistan, and as progress continues, the need for other countries to pitch in is going to grow even greater.
"When you start off in a city of Kandahar and you do well there, and you spread out into the hinterland, you're going to need more soldiers and more resources because that's success," he said.
