Pakistan’s Jingle Trucks
f you travel the precipitous mountain roads of Afghanistan or northwestern Pakistan, sooner rather than later you’ll find yourself stuck behind a huge old Bedford truck, overloaded with sugar, cows or refugees, creeping uphill at five kilometres/hour and belching thick black diesel…
Six Books on Canada’s Role in Afghanistan
Harper’s Magazine in its monthly index of numbers, recently reported that there had been some 835 books published in the United States about the war in Iraq and some 32 of that number were books for children. I have searched the various…
The Places In Between; The Prince of the Marshes and Other Occupational Hazards of a Year in Iraq
A hundred years from now historians will have passed judgment on the two curious wars that began the 21st century. Will these wars then be as faded as the wars that surrounded the opening of the 20th century? Will they have been…
Alexander (of Macedon) in Afghanistan
With Canada engaged in what seems like a long-term commitment in Afghanistan, comparisons have been drawn with the past experience of other western armies in this now poor and always warlike country. The examples most readily at hand are the unhappy experiences…
Glyn Berry 1948–2006
We all know that the profession of diplomacy can be a very dangerous occupation, but our worst fears were realized in January. Glyn Berry, a career foreign service officer, was killed in Kandahar, Afghanistan on January 14, 2006 by a suicide bomb…
Canadian Diplomat in Kabul
A responsible for Afghan matters, this task has required a far Ithough our High Commission in Islamabad has long been greater commitment since September 11. In September, the High Commission had only one Political Officer — Counsellor Glyn Berry. High Commissioner Konrad…
