OTTAWA - A former top ground commander in Kandahar says he's confident Canada and the international community won't allow Afghanistan to suffer from "withdrawal shock" after 2011.
Brig.-Gen. Jonathan Vance told the Senate defence committee Monday that Ottawa's efforts to bring good governance and aid are expected to continue -- but they'll be directed from the Afghan capital.
He says the reduction of forces by the United States and NATO will be gradual and based on conditions.
He says the withdrawal talked about by Washington and other nations may not happen right away in southern Afghanistan, where Canada has been fighting a bloody insurgent war for almost five years.
Instead, forces could be pulled from other parts of the country.
Canada intends to end its combat operations in July next year and withdraw the army.
The Harper government has pledged to remain involved in Afghanistan in a development and diplomacy capacity. But it has yet to clearly state how it will carry out the mandate and what kind resources it intends to put behind the effort.
The Obama Administration has set next summer as the time frame to begin winding down U.S. operations, but Vance says the speed will not be the same as when the Pentagon poured thousands of extra troops into the region.
Tory Senator Stephen Greene asked if the war is winnable. Vance insisted it is, but said it requires patience because the proper amount of troops have only been on the ground since the end of 2009.
Since 2006, there have been "just enough not to lose," he said.
If there is a legacy for Canadian troops, it's in the fact they safeguarded Afghanistan's ability to recover and become a functioning state instead of slipping back into chaos, he said.
Vance served as task force commander in 2009 and was pressed back in to service last spring when his replacement, Brig.-Gen. Daniel Menard, was relieved and charged with having an improper relationship with a subordinate.
