Canadian forces in Afghanistan have been based at Camp Julien, and their mission as part of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) has been to enhance security and stability in the capital, Kabul, where the government, as Sean Maloney writes, “ has evolved over three years from a transitional government, to an interim government, to an elected government.” However, the Canadian deployment is now shifting from the capital to the provinces, and provincial capitals such as Konduz, where provincial reconstruction teams (PRTs) have a much more dangerous assignment in the reomote areas of the country. “ There is nothing mystical about PRTs” writes Maloney, a professor at Royal Military College, “ but there is a lot of mythology and wishful thinking in the current discussion of them.” From a recent tour of the area, he offers a ground-level view.

Originally Published in Policy Options.