Estonian President Sends Off Soldiers Heading to Afghanistan!

[brynne]

President Toomas Hendrik Ilves met in Paldiski today with the infantry unit Estcoy-13, which will dispatch to its mission to Afghanistan in November.

 

Ilves shared optimism with the soldiers, asserting that there is hope yet for stability in the ravaged country. "Few predicted in 2001 that it would take so long," said Ilves. "But even fewer understood the reality of the challenges in Afghanistan.”

 

Ilves said clear mistakes had been made with the Afghanistan mission, primarily on a political level. Undeniably, he said, the biggest errors were a lack of attention for the Pashtun population in southern Afghanistan as well as the failure to clearly define the goal of NATO's mission.

 

"Today we do have a clear goal," said Ilves. "No one expects to build Afghanistan into a Central Asian Sweden over the next few years, but it is possible within the foreseen future to create a country that can secure order in its territory, be accepted by its neighbors and offer stability to its citizens.”

 

Speaking to the soldiers, Ilves said why he thought a small Nordic country like Estonia, by way of the NATO alliance, should meddle in the affairs of the Middle East. Comparing national security to current economic affairs, Ilves said Estonia cannot remain isolated and that it must contribute.

 

“Because there is no sustainable alternative,” Ilves said. “But as exemplary contributors we can request and hope for protection against our own potential crises.”

 

[icky?/]

Respect and the best of luck for those men.