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Topic: Afghanistan - 2nd Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment - 2007 (Read 13759 times)
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ranrad
Ron [Andy] Andrews
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Its very nice to see all the folks getting out , just to show their respects for our soldiers and their families, and goes a long way with the families left behind , i am sure.. now that is Canadian....and once again we still need the combat boots on the ground over there..i feel we need people just to be able to keep their eyes and ears to the situation minute by minute...and catch these Taliban in the act of trying to bury IEDs... the day to day troops need to rest sometime... we need dedicated personnel just to be ears and eyes ... eyeball security 24/7......and yes that will take a lot of troops... sometihing like the number suggested by Gen Mackenzie long ago... lets get with it Nato... this is , after all your show and you havent picked the ball up yet...C*** or get of the pot....ranrad
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RCAF,CAF, converted RCR?,1RCR 74-77 CD: SSM (Nato);CPSM,;UN-Cyp.; UN- Golan
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Mike Blais
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A ROYAL CANADIAN "NEVER PASSES A FAULT"
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Taliban shift tactics to lure Canadians out of Kandahar
GRAEME SMITH
July 10, 2007
MASUM GHAR, AFGHANISTAN -- Taliban attacks in a remote district of northern Kandahar have lured Afghan and Canadian forces into a series of bloody rescue missions in recent days as the insurgents increasingly seize upon the political value of far-flung administrative outposts.
The latest drama started Thursday morning in Ghorak district, when insurgents besieged a government centre roughly 85 kilometres northwest of Kandahar city, according to villagers, police and military officials.
Every day since then, convoys have rolled across the barren flatlands in an increasingly costly effort to prop up the detachment of Afghan police trapped in their mud-walled compound, drawing the Canadians and their allies far away from their main goal of protecting Kandahar city.
"On the map, this isn't an important place," said Lieutenant-Colonel Rob Walker, commander of the Canadian battle group.
"It's an isolated, sparsely populated district rimmed by mountains with a broad plain up the middle."
He continued: "But the district centres are important politically. If the Taliban take a district centre, they can claim they control part of Afghanistan."
Taliban fighters overran the Ghorak district centre last month, creating embarrassment for the government of President Hamid Karzai as officials were forced to admit that a district had fallen to the insurgents.
At the time, the Karzai administration was enraged by public statements from Asmatullah Alizai, then Kandahar's police chief, who declared that his officers had staged a tactical retreat from the district.
The new provincial police chief, Sayed Agha Saqib, has tried desperately to prevent similar public episodes, pressing his Canadian allies for help with maintaining the post.
"The police can't escape from the district centre," said a tribal elder, who declined to be named because he feared reprisals. "Only the Canadians can rescue them now. Many police died, disappeared and were injured."
Mr. Saqib dispatched three pickup trucks loaded with police to support the district on Friday, after getting calls for help the previous day.
They hit a roadside bomb before reaching Ghorak, however, leaving eight police injured and their beleaguered colleagues without relief.
Another police convoy made a second attempt on Saturday, with a larger force of perhaps 70 officers. Insurgents ambushed them about 20 kilometres away from their destination - near the village of Shina - in a desolate region made infamous in 2001, when the U.S. military identified an al-Qaeda training camp nearby.
The ensuing firefight lasted almost five hours, Mr. Saqib said.
"They martyred five of my officers, but we also killed 12 Taliban," the police chief said. "One of those killed was a deputy of Mullah Dost Mohammed, an important Talib."
Taliban sources disagreed with the police version, saying dozens of police were killed. Both the insurgents and police regularly misreport their casualties. The Taliban also claimed they destroyed 10 police vehicles, stole two others, and captured machine guns, Kalashnikov rifles and rocket-propelled grenades. Some police remain hostages of the insurgents in the village of Nalgham, the Taliban sources said, though this could not be confirmed.
Canadian troops have since been called in to help the struggling Afghan forces by escorting trucks loaded with food, medicines, ammunition and fuel, Col. Walker said. On their two trips so far, the Canadians have also been helping the Afghans remove their dead officers from the embattled centre, the commander said.
By attacking remote outposts, the Taliban have also pulled the government forces into stretching themselves thin across the vast province. In a meeting yesterday with Col. Walker, the new police chief expressed frustration at his scarce resources.
"I have officers who are picking worms out of their wounds," Mr. Saqib said. "They're dying of their injuries because of a lack of supplies."
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1RCR 1977-79 Depot (Italy PL), B Coy, Mortars, Pioneers, D Coy (CFB London)
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1RCR 1982-88 Mortars. Dukes, Cyprus-Welfare NCO 84-85, Injured, WO&Sgts Mess, (CFB London)
1988-92 Med-remuster to HELL/ 35 DU, CFB Baden
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Hotel Company.... keep up the good work, Wayne. Please pass our compliments on to the lads.
Three days, three bomb attacks
Hotel Company faces an unprecedented string of sneak attacks. So far, only a goat has died.
Don Martin
The Ottawa Citizen
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
GORAK, Afghanistan - Canadian soldiers serving as the desert rats of Afghanistan have never seen anything like this -- an unprecedented string of bombs and bombers has struck their convoy as it heads into a windy dust bowl on what is starting to feel like a voyage of the damned.
Three days. Three hits. Mercifully, miraculously perhaps, no casualties. The only known fatality was one unfortunate goat that stepped on a landmine yesterday. Soldiers could only lament that there wasn't enough left of the victim to serve up some kabob.
Problems struck the Hotel Company convoy almost immediately after it departed for the lunar-like landscapes of this region, just five hours after Friday's ramp ceremony sent six fallen comrades home.
One of the soldiers here, Cpl. Steve Francis, had been a pallbearer for his cousin, Capt. Jeff Francis, who had died two days earlier when an improvised explosive device destroyed a Nyala, killing all seven aboard.
An hour into the Saturday morning trek toward the region of Kandahar province where heavy Taliban activity against the fledgling Afghan police force has been reported, a suicide bomber struck one of the light armoured vehicles as it passed through a market, injuring four soldiers, one of them seriously.
On Sunday, a bomb buried in the road whacked a convoy LAV and gave a soldier a concussion as the troops climbed into a mountain range to rescue police at a Taliban-ambushed outpost. The convoy retreated to Patrol Base Wilson to resupply and regroup.
On Monday afternoon, a Leopard tank hit an anti-tank mine as it climbed into the mountains to resupply another police outpost, slicing its track in half, but causing no injuries.
"The whole country is starting to rock with them now," allows Sgt.-Maj. Wayne O'Toole, whose LAV has been in convoys hit by no fewer than a dozen explosions during his five-month deployment. "It's just bad luck. Our troops will still persevere. This won't deter us."
Other soldiers of Hotel Company insist they are not unduly rattled by the lousy hand a mission of undetermined length has dealt them so far.
"The Taliban must be worried when they keep hitting up with IEDs (improved explosive devices) and it's not affecting us. Sure, it holds the convoy up for a few hours, but doesn't stop us," says Cpl. Rich Dunbar.
"The only thing that scares the crap out of me are IEDs," admits medic Terry Allen. He had four Afghan police officers, wounded by the Taliban, airlifted to a forward patrol base for treatment after another ambush. "The injuries that come out of an IED cover a whole spectrum and some of those injuries won't be apparent for hours. By the time they do surface, you're screwed."
The soldiers continued to push into the mountains later yesterday to support Afghan police force operations and resupply the outpost, which is running dangerously low on water, food and other supplies amid hellish temperatures exceeding 50 degrees.
Sgt. Ron Anderson has been particularly shaken by this week's convoy -- and makes no bones about the fact that he's had enough of being scared and can't wait to get home.
His LAV was a few dozen metres in front of a driver who was ignoring Sgt. Anderson's hand signals to pull over and let the convoy pass. That gesture was the last thing the bomber saw before, according to Sgt. Anderson, an explosion blew apart the bomber's torso, severing his legs and part of his arms.
Forcing the terrorist to detonate his car bomb before he had time to ram the LAV probably saved soldiers' lives, troops say.
Sgt. Anderson says a motorcyclist riding along the street pulled a handgun and took aim at the LAV. Before the sergeant could fire his gun, the man disappeared behind a wall.
In another near-miss, Sgt. Anderson's brother, Ryan, was riding in the LAV that hit the improvised explosive device the next day. He was uninjured.
Exacerbating the bombing streak are mechanical problems that have plagued the convoy's progress. Fuel line leaks, flat tires and steering problems have hit the fleet. Two heavy armoured vehicles plus the mine-hit tank were knocked out of commission yesterday, leaving the convoy scrambling for ways to get the vehicles back to base for repairs.
As the convoy heads into the fourth day of a mission of undetermined length, the only question on soldiers' minds is obvious: Is the bombing streak over?
Stay tuned. As the soldiers joke at every sunrise, today's "just another day in paradise."
dmartin@canwest.com
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1RCR 1977-79 Depot (Italy PL), B Coy, Mortars, Pioneers, D Coy (CFB London)
3RCR 1979-82 M Coy, Pipes & Drums, Sigs, Mortars. (CFB Baden-Soellingen)
1RCR 1982-88 Mortars. Dukes, Cyprus-Welfare NCO 84-85, Injured, WO&Sgts Mess, (CFB London)
1988-92 Med-remuster to HELL/ 35 DU, CFB Baden
1992 Medical release. God Bless you all!
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ranrad
Ron [Andy] Andrews
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Keep up the jokes guys and the great work you do...thanks much for all you do... ranrad
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RCAF,CAF, converted RCR?,1RCR 74-77 CD: SSM (Nato);CPSM,;UN-Cyp.; UN- Golan
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Mike Blais
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A ROYAL CANADIAN "NEVER PASSES A FAULT"
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Two Canadian soldiers hurt by roadside bomb
Updated Tue. Jul. 10 2007 5:07 PM ET
Canadian Press
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Two Canadian soldiers have been injured by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan.
Military officials say their Leopard tank hit an improvised explosive device at 8 p.m. local time.
The convoy was then ambushed by small arms fire.
But the military says the convoy was able to push through and make it safely to a nearby forward operating base.
The soldiers' injuries are not considered serious.
The attack comes days after another Canadian convoy was hit by a suicide bomber, injuring four soldiers.
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1RCR 1977-79 Depot (Italy PL), B Coy, Mortars, Pioneers, D Coy (CFB London)
3RCR 1979-82 M Coy, Pipes & Drums, Sigs, Mortars. (CFB Baden-Soellingen)
1RCR 1982-88 Mortars. Dukes, Cyprus-Welfare NCO 84-85, Injured, WO&Sgts Mess, (CFB London)
1988-92 Med-remuster to HELL/ 35 DU, CFB Baden
1992 Medical release. God Bless you all!
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Mike Blais
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A ROYAL CANADIAN "NEVER PASSES A FAULT"
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No extension
Harper announces his government's decision not to prolong Canada's role in Afghanistan
Jason Fekete
Calgary Herald
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Prime Minister Stephen Harper meets Corporal Nicholas Lui at a Calgary Stampede breakfast, July 10, 2007.
CREDIT: Todd Korol, Reuters
Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Tuesday his government has no plans to prolong Canada's combat role in Afghanistan beyond its February 2009 commitment, arguing any extension would be for a new mission and contingent upon beefed up NATO support.
Harper reaffirmed his government's plans to seek a "reasonable degree" of parliamentary support before considering any extension to the current Afghan mission or agreeing to a new one.
But when asked whether he has any desire to prolong the combat mission in southern Afghanistan beyond 2009, Harper said: "No."
"I think Canadians are expecting that if we're in Afghanistan after 2009, it would be a new mission," Harper told a Calgary radio talk show on Tuesday.
"Canadians have been fairly clear that if we were to be in after 2009, that they would expect our participation to evolve in some way."
That evolution requires NATO to substantially increase the number of its soldiers in the country from the roughly 30,000 currently stationed there, he said.
"The truth of the matter is NATO still is not putting in near the amount of forces that are necessary to really bring permanent stability to Afghanistan," Harper said.
The prime minister noted that additional NATO forces would be a critical factor in renewing Canada's mission in Afghanistan or pursuing a new commitment in the country beyond February 2009.
"It's obviously a factor in public opinion. I do think Canadians have been clear they want to see a more equitable burden-sharing in Afghanistan," he added.
However, any new military commitment would certainly require consensus from opposition parties, Harper stressed.
He doesn't expect the NDP to agree to an extension or any new role, but said the Liberals and Bloc Quebecois "have given some signals" they're open to some degree of Canadian involvement in the Afghanistan mission.
"It's just good public policy process to have a military deployment approved by Parliament. That's the way it should be," he said.
And while the country's involvement in future Afghan missions remains uncertain, the prime minister served notice his government will continue to expand Canada's military presence in the Arctic and exercise its sovereignty in the region.
Canada has a "long historical claim" to the Arctic but little has been done in the past few decades to assert that claim, he suggested.
"Some countries, even our friends, have been less than fully accepting of our sovereignty claim so we want to make sure that Canada is present there at all levels," Harper said. "You can't assert sovereignty in this world unless you have a military presence prepared to defend that sovereignty."
Harper announced on Monday the government will build up to eight Polar Class 5 Arctic offshore patrol ships and establish a deep water port in the far North.
jfekete@theherald.canwest.com
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1RCR 1977-79 Depot (Italy PL), B Coy, Mortars, Pioneers, D Coy (CFB London)
3RCR 1979-82 M Coy, Pipes & Drums, Sigs, Mortars. (CFB Baden-Soellingen)
1RCR 1982-88 Mortars. Dukes, Cyprus-Welfare NCO 84-85, Injured, WO&Sgts Mess, (CFB London)
1988-92 Med-remuster to HELL/ 35 DU, CFB Baden
1992 Medical release. God Bless you all!
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Mike Blais
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A ROYAL CANADIAN "NEVER PASSES A FAULT"
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geez, after all crap in the house of parliament, the yanky doodly cut an run crapoliieeee... a complete about face.
No desire to extend Afghanistan mission past '09: Harper
Jason Fekete
CanWest News Service
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
CALGARY -- Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Tuesday his government has no plans to prolong Canada's combat role in Afghanistan beyond its February 2009 commitment, arguing any extension would be for a new mission and contingent upon beefed-up NATO support.
Harper reaffirmed his government's plans to seek a "reasonable degree" of parliamentary support before considering any extension to the current Afghan mission or agreeing to a new one.
But when asked whether he has any desire to prolong the combat mission in southern Afghanistan beyond 2009, Harper said: "No."
"I think Canadians are expecting that if we're in Afghanistan after 2009, it would be a new mission," Harper told a Calgary radio talk show on Tuesday. "Canadians have been fairly clear that if we were to be in after 2009, that they would expect our participation to evolve in some way."
That evolution requires NATO to substantially increase the number of its soldiers in the country from the roughly 30,000 currently stationed there, he said.
Additional NATO forces would be a critical factor in renewing Canada's mission in Afghanistan or pursuing a new commitment in the country beyond February 2009, the prime minister added.
"The truth of the matter is NATO still is not putting in near the amount of forces that are necessary to really bring permanent stability to Afghanistan," Harper said. "Canadians have been clear they want to see a more equitable burden-sharing in Afghanistan."
Dutch NATO troops patrolling a crowded bazaar in southern Afghanistan were the intended target Tuesday of a suicide bomber who killed 17 Afghan civilians, including 12 school children. Some 30 people, including seven Dutch soldiers, were wounded in the attack.
Back in Canada, Liberal defence critic Denis Coderre said Harper is lying to Canadians when he suggests his government won't continue its combat role beyond February 2009.
The prime minister, he argued, is only selling the message to woo voters who are becoming increasingly concerned with a mission that's already killed 66 Canadian soldiers and one diplomat since 2002.
"I don't believe the prime minister. He's given the signal from Day 1 that he wants to extend it," Coderre said in an interview. The government, he noted, has invested billions in new military equipment that won't be delivered until 2009 or later.
Some political observers have suggested the Harper government has softened its stance in recent weeks on whether to extend the Afghanistan mission due to eroding public support.
David Bercuson, director of the Centre for Military and Strategic Studies at the University of Calgary, said Harper would almost certainly extend the mission if he had a majority government.
But he's rethinking his strategy as it becomes clear there won't be majority support in the House of Commons for the initiative, and might be publicly negotiating with the Liberals and NATO, he said.
"He's clearly feeling a lot of heat from the public opinion polls," Bercuson said Tuesday. "If he's asking himself what's more important -- that I maintain governance or that I get approval for a combat mission, then a combat mission is coming second."
Harper said he doubts the NDP will agree to an extension or any new role, but suggested the Liberals and Bloc Quebecois "have given some signals" they're open to some degree of Canadian involvement in the Afghanistan mission.
Coderre said it's "inappropriate" to pull Canada's 2,500 troops out of southern Afghanistan prior to 2009, as the NDP have suggested. He concurred with Harper that any continued military effort in the war-torn country would require a new mission for Canadian troops.
"We don't want to abandon Afghanistan. Rotation is in order," he said.
And while the country's involvement in future Afghan missions remains uncertain, the prime minister served notice his government will continue to expand Canada's military presence in the Arctic and exercise its sovereignty in the region.
"Some countries, even our friends, have been less than fully accepting of our sovereignty claim so we want to make sure that Canada is present there at all levels," Harper said. "You can't assert sovereignty in this world unless you have a military presence prepared to defend that sovereignty."
Harper revealed this week the government will purchase up to eight Polar Class 5 Arctic offshore patrol ships and establish a deep water port in the Arctic.
(With files from Reuters)
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Copyright © 2007 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks Publications, Inc.. All rights reserved.
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1RCR 1977-79 Depot (Italy PL), B Coy, Mortars, Pioneers, D Coy (CFB London)
3RCR 1979-82 M Coy, Pipes & Drums, Sigs, Mortars. (CFB Baden-Soellingen)
1RCR 1982-88 Mortars. Dukes, Cyprus-Welfare NCO 84-85, Injured, WO&Sgts Mess, (CFB London)
1988-92 Med-remuster to HELL/ 35 DU, CFB Baden
1992 Medical release. God Bless you all!
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ranrad
Ron [Andy] Andrews
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Well , at least the PM is , or seems to be aware that the current mission is not manned to the necessary level for getting the job done fully.....i ,myself fear for the next yr and a half if those numbers are not raised very substantially... our guys and girls are in a situation where they can not do more to complete what needs to be done.. get rid of the insurgents... that will take a lot of trained combat soldiers and the numbers are not nearly there... it is , to me , incredible that our guys have done so dang well with the mission... improvise , improvise and they have done it exceedingly well.....my hat is off to them , and prayers for their safety in ther future....ranrad
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RCAF,CAF, converted RCR?,1RCR 74-77 CD: SSM (Nato);CPSM,;UN-Cyp.; UN- Golan
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Mike Blais
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I would suggest that he knew that from day one. You will recall he and Mackay have been attempting to solicit support from NATO since they came to power.
They were ineffective.
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1RCR 1977-79 Depot (Italy PL), B Coy, Mortars, Pioneers, D Coy (CFB London)
3RCR 1979-82 M Coy, Pipes & Drums, Sigs, Mortars. (CFB Baden-Soellingen)
1RCR 1982-88 Mortars. Dukes, Cyprus-Welfare NCO 84-85, Injured, WO&Sgts Mess, (CFB London)
1988-92 Med-remuster to HELL/ 35 DU, CFB Baden
1992 Medical release. God Bless you all!
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jjterrio
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The unfortunate fact is that history repeats itself time and time again. I do feel that by our soldiers being there the country will better in some way. The fact is we cannot change the culture of the this country, it is historically proven time and again that Afghanistan is for the Afghan people. The Americans like in the past are not going to support us fully by bringing in more troops, and the UN and Nato are not going back us up. I would like to believe like most of you that the mission is not doomed, but saving ten out of every hundred, and having women educated in a country that does not respect their freedom, well; except for their own peoples safety if or if not Taliban or related terrorist type extremist groups is all Karsai wants. He wants peace among his people but no one must die that are from Afghanistan.
This makes a mission hard, no real visable enemy, no real friends to stand behind your back, I guess the British have been there some. The Americans are responsible for a 1/4 of the Canadian deaths, and our government opposition are peace mongers. That hurts, I feel that somehow I should be able to help. The guys and girls have put their best foot forward and can be proud, again I feel Canada has come up big as a nation, and is somewhere I can be proud to call home because of the job done in Afghanistan.
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Mike Blais
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A ROYAL CANADIAN "NEVER PASSES A FAULT"
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We can help, JJ, when they come back.
The lads will need our support, specially as the outcome, has yet to determined.
TheStar.com - Canada - Hillier touts Afghan exit plan
Hillier touts Afghan exit plan
JONATHAN HAYWARD FOR THE TORONTO STAR
In an interview in his Ottawa office on July 11, 2007, Gen. Rick Hillier has high praise for Afghan troops.
Jul 12, 2007 04:30 AM
Bruce Campion-Smith
Ottawa Bureau
OTTAWA–Canada is shifting its Kandahar mission from combat to training to prepare the Afghan army to shoulder more of the fighting, a move expected to reduce Canadian casualties, Gen. Rick Hillier says.
By this fall, as many as five battalions of Afghan troops will be operating in Kandahar province under the mentoring of Canadian troops, a significant infusion of strength that sets the stage for the country's own military to help quell the deadly insurgency.
"The focus goes from us in the lead with very little support until now from them to them in the lead," said Hillier, the chief of defence staff.
He was speaking a week after six Canadians were killed in a bomb blast near Kandahar, raising Canada's toll to 66 soldiers and diplomat Glyn Berry against a backdrop of increasing questions about the country's future role in Afghanistan.
But in an exclusive interview with the Star yesterday afternoon, the general sketched out – literally – the makings of an exit strategy.
"A picture speaks a thousand words. But of course, I'm a Newfoundlander so I use a picture and a thousand words," he joked as he hunched over his office table.
Using a blue fountain pen, the general filled two sides of a piece of paper with drawings to illustrate the evolution of Canada's mission.
It showed how Canada's priority in the country would shift from fighting to training to development work.
And it laid out the make-up of the Afghan force in southern Afghanistan – a force that was non-existent just last year – and how Canadian units known as operational mentor liaison teams will help show the fledgling troops the ropes.
For the last six months, Canadians have worked with one of the battalions and the reports from the field are encouraging, Hillier said.
"This battalion has actually come an incredible long ways. Our soldiers were telling me it's like looking in a mirror and seeing their own tactics and drills and skills being implemented by these guys," he said.
Hillier had high praise for the Afghan troops, who he says have won the respect of local citizens.
"They're very professional. ... They've actually been very successful in most operations against the Taliban," he said.
There are two Afghan battalions – with upwards of 1,000 soldiers each – now in southern Afghanistan. A third battalion is due to graduate from the training academy in Kabul next Tuesday and is expected to be on the ground by Aug. 1, Hillier said. Two more battalions could arrive this fall.
In addition to the new battalions, the Afghan army is also building up the units required to support troops in the field, such as a brigade headquarters, engineers, artillery and logistics. The Americans have pledged billions of dollars in aid to equip the Afghans with gear like armoured Humvees.
Hillier called it a "night-and-day shift" compared to a year ago, when Canadians were appealing to the Afghan military to join the fight in southern Afghanistan.
"I believe that by spring ... this organization will be very capable. It won't be perfect. It won't be stand-alone. But it will be ready to help play a huge role that essentially has not been played at all until now by themselves," he said.
"This is incredibly different and positive than the conditions we were in last September ... and it bodes incredibly well," he said.
While building up the Afghan army has long been a key element of Canada's Afghan strategy, the plan has taken on new impetus in recent weeks. Hillier travelled to Kandahar in June to discuss it with Canadian commanders as well as Afghan officials.
"We were not doing much until very recently in the training part to help development of the Afghan national security forces," he said.
Hillier's comments come as political debate over the mission heats up and Canadians remain divided over Canada's role in the troubled country.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said that any military mission past February, 2009, when the current commitment expires, will be determined by a "consensus" in Parliament. There's talk that Harper may hold a free vote in the House of Commons to determine the shape of that future mission.
The Prime Minister even told a Calgary radio station this week that he has no desire to prolong the combat mission in Kandahar.
"I think Canadians are expecting that if we're in Afghanistan after 2009, it would be a new mission," Harper said.
Hillier wouldn't discuss the future of the mission past 2009, but did note that stabilizing Afghanistan will take years.
"This is not a short-term process. We've known that all along. ... That mission will go on past February, '09 and Canada may or may not play the same role, a different role," he said.
"Canada has been through several evolutions of the mission in Afghanistan since 2002. ... It doesn't mean that because we're doing something now we're going to continue doing that forever. The government will make those decisions," he said.
Hillier said the fact that Canadians are divided on the mission, "reflects the fact that we're not doing yet enough to explain to Canadians all the incredibly good things that are going on.
"If they did have that explanation, we'd have 75 per cent or more support," he said.
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1RCR 1977-79 Depot (Italy PL), B Coy, Mortars, Pioneers, D Coy (CFB London)
3RCR 1979-82 M Coy, Pipes & Drums, Sigs, Mortars. (CFB Baden-Soellingen)
1RCR 1982-88 Mortars. Dukes, Cyprus-Welfare NCO 84-85, Injured, WO&Sgts Mess, (CFB London)
1988-92 Med-remuster to HELL/ 35 DU, CFB Baden
1992 Medical release. God Bless you all!
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Canadians step in where the corrupt fear to tread
Don Martin
The Calgary Herald
Thursday, July 12, 2007
GHORAK, Afghanistan - Canadian soldiers winced with every footstep as we followed the local Afghan army commander down a gravel path they considered a prime candidate for landmining to the spot where Taliban had attacked the district compound four nights earlier.
Cmdr. Said Ahmad stopped every few steps to retrieve machine-gun shells and point to the black gobs of dried blood he said had spilled from 100 insurgents attacking the district office, severely injuring a handful of his soldiers and prompting a large Canadian rescue mission this week.
"Don't worry. There aren't any mines," he insisted. My military escorts did not look convinced that an area recently vacated by retreating Taliban was left without boobytraps, but I digress.
The Taliban seized Ghorak headquarters from an under-equipped and underpaid Afghan national police two weeks ago. A far superior Afghan army battalion arrived to reclaim the mud-walled offices before the Taliban regrouped and attacked again on Saturday.
Now a Hotel Company convoy, which was hit by three buried road mines and a suicide bomber on its four-day trek to this isolated outback, had arrived to resupply and rebuild the headquarters while evacuating the injured to Kandahar City.
Ironically, while Canadians rode to this high-risk rescue, a convoy of police vehicles was fleeing the mountain in a panic and is not expected to return.
The corrupt police force continues to pose headaches for Canadian military brass, who cannot rely on them for reliable intelligence, professional law enforcement or, it seems, even holding down their own post.
But even if the police don't want it, this rock-strewn plain of infernal dust swirls is considered a must for military protection from Taliban repossession because it sits at the crossroads of drug and weapon smuggling routes from Pakistan to the western provinces of Afghanistan.
That explains why a routine overnight resupply mission has been extended to a five-day reconstruction project for Canadian soldiers trying to calm a jittery local population that learned a 10-year-old boy in their village was beheaded by the Taliban on Tuesday for giving local police a supply of fresh bread.
And it is interesting that the project was a priority set by the Afghanistan military officers. While Canadians have all the firepower here with LAVs, tanks and supply trucks in a circled-wagon formation, they are clearly confined to a supporting role.
Maj. Alex Ruff insists the Canadians have good reason to salvage a police outpost that the police themselves have abandoned.
"This action by our forces will allow the district political leadership to have a permanent presence here," says Maj. Ruff. "When the existing government leadership is too scared to be here, it says something to the villagers. We have to help reassure them."
Besides, Maj. Ruff says, the military is sufficient for now. "You can't give me enough of their officers. They're good to go. I do have some issues with the police unit, though."
Soldiers here and even the local interpreters are quick to curl their lips in disgust at the local cops. Even the army commander writes them off as corrupt beyond salvation.
"They are friends of the arms dealers and drug trade," says Cmdr. Ahmad.
"When they got attacked by the Taliban, they ran away scared. They stole money and food and left. This area is very dangerous because it is the key to stopping the Taliban and drug dealers, yet the police are gone."
The obvious question is how this base will survive after the Canadians leave, which, given the scorching 53 C high yesterday under a merciless sun on a shade-free landscape, can't come soon enough.
"We will be attacked again by the Taliban," Cmdr. Ahmad shrugs, "but the Canadians will always help. We'll call the airfield and they will send Canadians to help us."
However, one of the more frustrating logistical problems is Canada's zero-force of helicopters here, forcing them to depend on United Nations airlift capacity for assistance.
This has created the helpless scenario of having this entire convoy stalled as it waits for supplies to arrive for reconstruction. But if and when the supplies arrive, there's no doubt Ghorak will have a made-by-Canada permanency to it.
That is, unless the Afghan military decides to embrace its police procedures -- and flee for their own protection.
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1RCR 1977-79 Depot (Italy PL), B Coy, Mortars, Pioneers, D Coy (CFB London)
3RCR 1979-82 M Coy, Pipes & Drums, Sigs, Mortars. (CFB Baden-Soellingen)
1RCR 1982-88 Mortars. Dukes, Cyprus-Welfare NCO 84-85, Injured, WO&Sgts Mess, (CFB London)
1988-92 Med-remuster to HELL/ 35 DU, CFB Baden
1992 Medical release. God Bless you all!
Pro Patria
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ranrad
Ron [Andy] Andrews
Ultimate 2000+ Member
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I cannot give high enough praise for our people., who have and continue to carry out a near impossible task...i hope the General is right and the locals can build a strong enough defense force to eventually take over entirely....i have to accept his appraissal of what has happened so far... i do fear that a sudden pullout of , especially Cdns [ because they have gained at least some rapport with the locals] would mean disaster for local people if the Taliban move back in...i am convinced they would slaughter many... and thsi cannot be acceptable to us or our troops.....i do hope we move very carefully... we do have a strong presence.. hust need Nato to wake up and be responsible....right now they are not....ranrad
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RCAF,CAF, converted RCR?,1RCR 74-77 CD: SSM (Nato);CPSM,;UN-Cyp.; UN- Golan
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tery hanna
Guest
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I AGREE WITH YOU RANRAD ,CANADIAN TROOPS ARE SECOND TO NONE. MIKES REPORTS BRING A THOUGHT........IS IT NOT POSSIBLE THAT IT'S THESE SO CALLED COPS WHO ARE PLANTING THESE I.E.D'S. AND THATS WHY THERE IS NO INTEL FORTHCOMING.
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Mike Blais
SSM (NATO Bar), CPSM, UN-Cyp, CD
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A ROYAL CANADIAN "NEVER PASSES A FAULT"
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On the home front.....
Canadians grow increasingly wary of Afghan role
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