"they're too busy returning fire to have second thoughts about why they're there"

Yeah. That has been true of the vast majority of soldiers under fire in every war in history...Germans, Russians, Japanese, Americans, Italians, British, Mexicans....you name it. Once the shooting starts, basic instinct takes over.

This is why people should not be hasty to condemn ordinary soldiers on behalf of their country, although their country may indeed be engaged in unjustifiable aggression, imperialism, etc...

Ordinary soldiers are usually just trying to do their job as best they can and stay alive so they can go home at some point.

I agree that Canadian troops are most certainly not there to "help Afghans"...they're there for the reasons you stated, Bob. Geopolitical reasons. This is not something to condemn the soldiers for, because soldiers simply follow orders faithfully and try to cope as best they can under the circumstances. It's something their political leaders carry the responsibility for, and their political leaders will say all sorts of patently disingenous stuff (the usual platitudes) to dress it up for the home audience.