Canada’s former ambassador to Afghanistan has quietly acknowledged that Ottawa failed to rescue everyone stranded during the chaotic fall of Kabul, conceding in a newly released internal email that diplomats left thousands behind as they fled the city on a military aircraft that was not full.Blacklock's Reporter says the admission by Reid Sirrs, disclosed through an Access To Information request, marks the first time the Department of Foreign Affairs has formally recognized that Canada’s evacuation effort collapsed as Taliban fighters swept into the Afghan capital in August 2021.“August 15, 2021 was an emotionally charged day and I am sure will remain etched in our memories for years to come,” Sirrs wrote in an August 14, 2024 email sent to 14 fellow diplomats. He acknowledged intense criticism at the time over “the pace of our evacuation” and mounting public scrutiny of the federal government’s response.Sirrs attempted to frame the withdrawal as the product of exhaustion and pressure, noting that many members of the diplomatic team had served multiple tours in Kabul under punishing conditions. He cited long work weeks, separation from family, and relentless stress in one of Canada’s most dangerous postings.“We were also blessed with a strong sense of community and camaraderie which I believe helped us get through some of the darker moments,” Sirrs wrote, without explaining what those moments entailed..In the closing lines of the email, Sirrs offered the bluntest assessment yet of the evacuation’s outcome. “We may not have been able to help everyone but we certainly did make a difference in the lives of many,” he wrote. “Tomorrow is another day.”Canada was the first NATO ally to close its embassy in Kabul as the Taliban advanced, a decision that left 1,290 Canadian citizens and thousands of Afghan allies trapped in the city. On the day Kabul fell, the ambassador and a small group of staff boarded one of only two Royal Canadian Air Force planes available and fled, leaving no Canadian diplomatic officials on the ground.Sirrs has spoken publicly about the flight only once, during testimony to the Commons Special Committee on Afghanistan in 2022. He described a city under siege, with explosions, fires, and chaos surrounding the airport as diplomats rushed to depart..“We could see fires all over the city,” Sirrs told MPs. “It became evident to us that a whole bunch of chaotic activity was taking place and was going to escalate.”He defended the decision to leave immediately, arguing the airport appeared on the verge of being overrun. Sirrs said diplomats believed remaining behind to process evacuations would put lives at risk as military aircraft flooded the airfield.“We all saw on TV it was two planes after ours that the people were hanging off the airplane when people fell off it,” he testified. “So it was quite close for us.”That explanation has been sharply criticized by witnesses who appeared before parliamentary committees. Retired Major-General David Fraser said Canada missed multiple opportunities to evacuate people before Kandahar and Kabul fell..“This is on the shoulders of Canadians and I don’t just mean the military,” Fraser told MPs. “We could have actually done more.”Afghan war veteran David Lavery, who personally helped rescue dozens of people, said the ambassador’s departure left no Canadian officials behind to issue emergency visas or coordinate escapes.“The ambassador and his team, their non-presence had a significant impact,” Lavery said, arguing that lives were lost or permanently upended as a result of Ottawa’s decision to pull out early.
