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Twenty-five years ago, Canada went to war in Afghanistan. Following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks against the United States, Canada joined a coalition to pursue al-Qaeda and unseat the Taliban.
The consequences of the war in Afghanistan continue to ripple through our politics, the military, and the lives of those who served. The Long War: Canada in Afghanistan tells their stories. We examine why Canada went to war in Afghanistan, what happened there, and the war’s complicated legacy.
The Long War: Canada in Afghanistan is a podcast by the Canadian War Museum.
• Narrator: Anna Maria Tremonti
• Historian: Andrew Burtch
• Producers: Lisa Gabriele and Neil Morrison
• Associate producer: Hailey Choi
• Mixing: Cameron McIver
• Executive producers: Jenny Ellison and Steve McCullough
Many voices heard in The Long War came from the Canadian War Museum’s oral history project In Their Own Voices: Stories from Canadian Veterans and Their Loved Ones. Both these projects are generously funded by donors including the A. Britton Smith Family; the Azrieli Foundation; Arthur B.C. Drache, C.M., K.C., and Judy Young Drache; The Royal Canadian Legion; The Legion National Foundation; Friends of the Canadian War Museum; the Crabtree Foundation; Robert Stollery, in honour of his service in the Second World War; Colonel (Ret’d) Stanley A. Milner, O.C., A.O.E., M.S.M., C.D., LL.D.; and individuals from across Canada.
ANNA MARIA TREMONTI: [Music begins]. On September 11, 2001, after al-Qaeda attacked the United States, Canada joined the American-led invasion of Afghanistan and fought there for 13 years. One hundred and fifty-eight Canadian soldiers died. And yet most Canadians don’t know what happened in Afghanistan, or what it cost.
ANDREW BURTCH: Afghanistan was never an easy mission. Not that any military mission is easy.
ELEANOR TAYLOR: We should have been dead, and we weren't. But that was what a lot of the experience of Afghanistan was.
TREMONTI: The Long War: Canada in Afghanistan is a podcast from the Canadian War Museum. From the early years, when there was real hope that Afghanistan could be rebuilt. To Kandahar, where Canadians fought intense combat and endured violent insurgency. We’ll hear from the generals and the troops on the ground, exchanging fire with the Taliban.
JOHN BARNES: I found myself sitting in the back of a LAV, unable to hear, unable to stand, and my soldiers were still out on the ground fighting for their lives.
MICHAEL WRIGHT: I remember their names 20 years later. It'll be something I'll never be able to forget.
TREMONTI: And we hear from those who returned home carrying wounds that didn’t always show, to a country that didn’t always care.
ALEXANDRA HEBER: Especially once we pulled out of Afghanistan, it was like, okay that’s over, nobody cares about that anymore.
ANDREW MCCUISH: I had a moment where my psychologist, he was like, “You’re the poster boy of living with PTSD.”
TREMONTI: And we talk to the politicians and historians still reckoning with the consequences.
JOHN MANLEY: The LAVs rolling into Kandahar were quite a spectacular sight. But, what were we doing there to make their lives better? Not evident.
BURTCH: War shapes Canada. Military history matters in large part because it has shaped us in our geography, in our culture, in our politics, but also our lived experiences throughout.
TREMONTI: Eight episodes, 13 years of war, Canada in Afghanistan. I’m Anna Maria Tremonti. Listen to The Long War this September to mark 25 years since 9/11. Find it wherever you get your podcasts. [Music ends].