There are 127 sad reasons why Canadians should care about Thursday’s general election in Afghanistan.
That’s the number of our soldiers killed for the cause of keeping Afghanistan limping along as a subsistence democracy, a toll that doesn’t include the often-overlooked sacrifice of aid workers, a diplomat and hundreds of maimed military personnel.
The vote takes place under an intense global spotlight with a key part of the election left unreported. A government Canadians fought so heroically to protect has imposed a blackout on news coverage of what’s expected to be a day of Taliban-engineered mayhem. Such is democracy, Afghan style.
But the second national vote is the only thing left to celebrate in this downward-spiralling country and, if Afghans actually participate in large fearless numbers, it will give NATO allies some reason to remain as the last line of defence against a Taliban takeover.
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