Mission of Folly: Canada and Afghanistan.

J.L. Granatstein is a history professor at York University and author of
War and Peacekeeping and For Better or For Worse.

James Laxer (York University) is a well-known figure on the Canadian left and a prolific writer. His latest volume—it is really a pamphlet—focuses on Canada and the Afghan War and does so in a cursory fashion. There are bowdlerized chapters on the history of Canadian foreign policy and on Afghanistan, some sweeping historical judgments—“Like previous invasions of Afghanistan, this intervention is almost certain to end in failure”—and even an outline for a new and independent Canadian foreign policy that seems to depend on opposing the U.S. at every turn.

True believers will find Laxer’s analysis compelling, but it is difficult to believe that an author whose dedication gets his father’s World War II rank wrong and whose map mistakes Iraq for Iran can maintain his credibility.