United States Northern Command ( Usnorthcom )

WWII was a defining moment in Canadian history, transforming a quiet country on the verge of global affairs into a crucial opponent in the 20th century's most tragic battle. Canada played a vital role in the Battle of the Atlantic and the air war over Germany, and sacrificed thousands of lives. Between 1939 and 1945 more than one million Canadian men and women served full-time in the armed services and more than 43,000 were killed (Stacey, July 15, 2013 ). In November 1944, after extreme losses in front-line units serving in Northwest Europe and Italy, Ottawa legitimized conscription, sending out 16,000 home defence men overseas (Canadian War Museum, N/A). This implement for Conscription was necessary for Canada based on the lack of Canadian volunteers, the

“What We Are Fighting For” written by Canadian veteran Rex Murphy challenges the reasons for Canada's mission in Afghanistan. Murphy begins by advocating that Canada entered into the war on terror not only to back our American allies but also in retaliation to the Al-Queida attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. He states that we needed to do step in since in both of these attacks not only killed Canadians, but jeopardizes our sense of security. Murphy continues to discuss Canada's current role in Afghanistan. Firstly, he discusses how we need to displace the Taliban Government as a means of protection for the future, both for the Afghan people and Canadians. Secondly, Murphy believes that we play an important part providing the

World War I was just a stepping stone for the Canadian nation, it was their efforts in the Second World War that Canada really became independent. The short term losses gave Canada long term benefits. Its economic growth, international respect, and political standing gave her recognition and more importantly, it shaped itself as an independent country. Canada was a widespread name after the victory on D-Day.

According to the Government of Canada website, Canada’s main priorities in Afghanistan are; “investing in the future of Afghan children and youth though development programming in education and health, advancing security, the rule of law and human rights, through the provision of up to 950 CF trainers, support personnel, and approximately 45 Canadian civilian police to help train Afghan Nation Security Forces, promotion regional diplomacy, and helping deliver humanitarian assistance”. Basically Canada is still in Afghanistan to implement sustainable programs that will help the Afghan people live healthier and better educated lives. Canada began its involvement in the war because of the attacks but also to support the United States. The Canadian Military’s role in combat ended in 2011 but felt it was signature projects in which they would try to improve the life in Afghanistan by creating jobs, educating, and funding these projects. “Canada’s Engagement in Afghanistan” a report to parliament discloses that in order to “achieve progress” we must “introduce benchmarks”. A Benchmark is a point of reference to compare or assess a situation. Canada has introduced these benchmarks so that” Parliament and Canadians can judge whether, how and in which priorities our mission is succeeding”. This is done by “conveying assessments of governmental abilities or political change.” All of the benchmarks are logical with those established by

Finally, Canada helped attempt to rebuild Afghanistan by assisting in the training of Afghanistan’s army and police. “Canada has made training the Afghan army and police forces one of its top priorities in Afghanistan. Despite its obvious challenges, the army remains well ahead of the police in its development. There are currently about 2,4000 Afghan soldiers in Kandahar province, up from 600 in 2006. According to NATO, there are roughly 50,000 ANA soldiers in the country.” (Canada). This quote proves the progress Canada has made in improving Afghanistan’s security. This is important to maintaining world peace because it improves Afghanistan’s security and helps the whole world become stronger in their combined effort to combat terrorism. In conclusion, it was necessary for Canada to go to Afghanistan to maintain world peace by helping to rebuild Afghanistan. They did this through training the country’s defence and security, providing services to the people of Afghanistan, and engaging in operations to clear out

Canadian troops helped support Afghanistan in many ways, such as through operations, training Afghanistan’s police and army, and building trust with the people of Afghanistan. Canada assisted in many operations which, helped clear al-Qaeda from Afghanistan districts. For example, Operation Medusa which was an attack on the Taliban on September 2, 2006 during “The Battle of Panjwai”. “By September 11, 2006, on the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, resistance in the pocket died off. Most of the Taliban had either been killed or had somehow managed to flee. Canadian soldiers moved into the Panjwai Pocket and cleared out what little resistance was left.” (Canada Alive!). This quote shows how Canada helped rebuild Afghanistan by clearing districts like Panjwai. Another way in which Canada helped Afghanistan is by building trust with the people of Afghanistan. The Canadian Armed Forces attempted to gain the trust of the people of Afghanistan by engaging in “many humanitarian efforts like digging wells, rebuilding schools and distributing medical and relief supplies, both as part of their official mission and on a volunteer basis.” (Veterans Affairs Canada). These acts of kindness by the CAF (Canadian Armed Forces) were attempts to create a peaceful and

A country can make quite a name for itself with its military prowess, but when the white flag waves, how can it keep itself relevant? It’s a question that begs answering, and has been answered, correctly and otherwise, in countless ways. In the aftermath of WWII, it was imperative that Canada answer this question for itself. The nation had become a powerful force on the field of battle, but as the war came to its close, Canada had to find a way to keep its status. In this, the country succeeded; with peacekeeping missions around the world, issues addressed at home, and disaster aid for those who needed it, it easily kept its relevance on a global scale. Even with the end

In my opinion, I think that Canada’s identity has changed since Afghanistan, but not necessarily in a bad way. I think this because, ever since the Canadian troops physically fought in the Afghanistan war, Canada has not been strictly been viewed as just peacekeepers anymore. Now, Canada is also seen as a peacemaker- who has the potential to fight back in situations when they are needed. However, although they physically fought in Afghanistan, I think other nations still see us as peacekeepers as well. I feel this way because, for decades before the Afghanistan war, Canada’s main goal during conflicts has always been to help create peace and to help keep as many people safe as they can. I do not think that this has changed and I think we can

Canada's growth from a British colony into a fully independent country was an evolutionary process that took place over the Roaring Twenties and the Dirty Thirties. During the early 1900s, Canada’s military, politics, and society were all integral parts of Canada’s independence, that helps spell out who Canadians are today. First, the twenties belonged to Canada as the military was an important part of Canada’s development as this came as a result of the Chanak Affair in 1922 when Prime Minister Mackenzie King denied sending troops to Turkey on the request of Great Britain. Through this action, Canada took the first stride towards having our own choice of who our military fights for as they set a precedent that they will not send their own country’s men into whatever war Britain asked them to

Secondly, Canada had played a major role in Kosovo over the past few decades. Over 1500 Canadian troops participated in the NATO missions in Kosovo. Canada was a key player of the international peace implementation force created for ensuring a peace settlement in this war torn part of Yugoslavia. In NATO’s air campaign operation Allied Forces, in 1999, the main goal was to impel Serbia to hold back on its military actions against the Kosovo Liberation Army. Canada was involved under operation Kinetic, working on the air campaign. Canada increased their role as a peacemaker, during this mission in Kosovo, proving them to be loyal to NATO. Thirdly, Canada’s NATO mission to Afghanistan, the Canadian Armed Forces were in Afghanistan between the years 2001 to 2014. Over 40,000 Canadians served in Afghanistan. Operation Medusa in Kandahar in 2006 was Canada’s largest combat mission in over 50 years, involving over a thousand Canadians, succeeding in pushing the Taliban out of the Panjwai district. This NATO mission had created greater security in Afghanistan, and solved many implications, creating a sort of peace between the

Canada, the peace making country participated in the war against terrorism in Afghanistan. Post 9/11 Canada had to change its focus from anti-military to aggressive military action. Canada had to take a stand against the terrorist in order stop another 9/11 like terror attack in Canada. Canada first contributed its campaign as a naval force in October 2001. The boots were deployed later that year in December. Fighting side by side against the United States and British soldiers, it did not take long for the Taliban to fall. Canada later switched their focus from offensive attack and started working towards stabilizing the country. As much as Canada wanted to help the United States and British soldiers, they also wanted to stay true to their

It is quite clear that over the last 20 years, especially the last decade, Canada’s involvement in peacekeeping operations had declined drastically. In 1995, Canada ranked 6th out of 84 countries in the world in terms of contributions to peacekeeping missions, with 2,204 soldiers deployed. Today the rank is 62 out of 126 contributing countries, with approximately 100 personnel serving. Peacekeeping became a part of Canada’s national identity and to many it was seen as “an independent, distinctively Canadian activity”” With peacekeeping Canada created a role for themselves in international affairs and set themselves apart from the United States. In a time of international war, Canada sought after keeping peace in areas of conflict, but the

Canada had many contributions towards Afghanistan, such as the military involvement was increased in afghanistan by late 2001. In a report, about the military involvemnt in Canada, "...the canadian Military must shift gradually from combat to training afghan National Security Forces." which

Over the course of history Canada has engaged in social, political, economic and cultural relations with various countries. Managing relationships and foreign policy are key elements in Canadian foreign policy. These relationships and policies have taken many different shapes and forms as expected, and thus, the history of Canadian foreign relations is a significant part of Canada’s identity as a nation today. In particular, one aspect that is often analyzed on this topic is the how the Americans failed to conquer Canada. One can only imagine how different Canada would be if certain battles favoured the Americans. It is evident, that the Americans failure to conquer Canada was a result of poor war tactics and military conduct at crucial points in time. The Americans were not fully prepared to conquer Canada as a whole, and underestimated the Canadians in terms of their war capabilities, loyalty and readiness for war. The Americans also naively believed they could take advantage and attack the British during the American Revolution.

Globalization is a significant security trend because it will accelerate many other trends and will influence operational environments for the Joint Force in the next four to ten years. Strategic planners must assess future security trends in order to anticipate capabilities, capacity and readiness requirements that will be necessary to protect U.S. national interests. Globalization will continue to shape the operational environment as an increasing number of people, products and information flow across borders (National Military Strategy 2015, 1). The availability of information, volume and rate of people moving across borders will continue to favor non-state actors and terrorist by increasing recruiting and movement of terrorists into contact