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Topic: Afghanistan - 2nd Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment - 2007 (Read 13718 times)
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Mike Blais
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A ROYAL CANADIAN "NEVER PASSES A FAULT"
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Meanwhile....
Taliban threatens to kill kidnapped South Koreans
FISNIK ABRASHI
Associated Press
July 20, 2007 at 2:15 PM EDT
KABUL — Taliban militants threatened Friday to kill at least 18 kidnapped South Korean Christians, including 15 women, within 24 hours unless the Asian nation withdraws its 200 troops from Afghanistan.
In the largest abduction of foreigners since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001, several dozen fighters kidnapped the South Koreans at gunpoint from a bus in Ghazni province on Thursday, said Ali Shah Ahmadzai, the provincial police chief.
“They have got until tomorrow (Saturday) at noon to withdraw their troops from Afghanistan, or otherwise we will kill the 18 Koreans,” Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, who claims to speak for the Taliban, told The Associated Press on a satellite telephone from an undisclosed location. “Right now they are safe and sound.”
Outmatched by foreign troops, the Taliban often resort to kidnapping civilians caught traveling on treacherous roads, particularly in the country's south, where the insurgency is raging. The tactic hurts President Hamid Karzai's government by discouraging foreigners involved in reconstruction projects from venturing into remote areas where their help is most needed.
Cho Hee-yong, spokesman of South Korea's foreign ministry, speaks to the media at the ministry main office in Seoul Friday.
The abductions came a day after two Germans and five of Afghan colleagues working on a dam project were kidnapped in central Wardak province.
Mr. Ahmadi said the Taliban were also holding the two Germans, and threatened to kill them if Germany did not withdraw its 3,000 troops from a NATO-led force by noon Saturday — the same deadline as he gave South Korea.
Germany's Foreign Ministry said it was “aware of the statement by the so-called spokesman of the Taliban” but that it contradicted a statement the previous day that the Taliban was not holding the Germans.
“We will continue to carefully monitor developments of the situation,” ministry spokesman Martin Jaeger said. “All necessary steps have been taken. The crisis team continues to work toward a swift release of the two kidnapped men.”
On June 28, another German man was kidnapped in western Afghanistan, but was released after a week.
South Korea has about 200 troops serving with an 8,000-strong U.S.-led force, which is separate from the 40,000-member NATO-led force.
It was unclear what the Koreans were doing in Afghanistan.
A year ago, hundreds of South Korean Christians were ordered to leave Afghanistan amid rumours they were proselytizing in the deeply conservative Islamic nation. A member of that group promised they would return to the country in smaller groups, but denied charges of spreading Christianity.
News agency Yonhap reported that most of the hostages were members of the Saemmul Community Church in Bundang, just south of the South Korean capital, Seoul.
An official at the Presbyterian church confirmed 20 of its members were in Afghanistan for volunteer work. The group left South Korea on July 13 and was to return on July 23, she said, speaking on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to talk to the media.
There were conflicting reports on how many Koreans were kidnapped.
The South Koreans' bus driver, released late Thursday, said there were 18 women and five men on the bus, Mr. Ahmadzai said. The Taliban spokesman said 15 women and three men were seized. And the South Korean Foreign Ministry reported the abduction of 21 Koreans, including 16 women, according to the country's news agency, Yonhap.
The Koreans were seized as they travelled on a privately rented bus along the main highway from Kabul to the southern city of Kandahar, Mr. Ahmadzai said. The militants drove the bus into the desert before abandoning the vehicle and forcing the group to walk for about one hour, he said.
He said the group was in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif before it arrived in Kabul.
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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
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Mike Blais
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Taliban claims to have killed 2 German hostages
Updated Sat. Jul. 21 2007 8:36 AM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
A man who claims to speak for the Taliban said two German hostages had been killed, while the threat of death hangs over 18 South Korean visitors to Afghanistan who were abducted two days ago.
Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, who has contacted The Associated Press several times, said the militant group had killed two Germans -- who had been kidnapped along with five Afghan colleagues on Wednesday -- because Germany hadn't met demands to withdraw troops from the country.
The German engineers had been working on a dam project in the southern province of Wardak, but little more is known about their identities.
Reports of their death cannot be confirmed, and the German government has not acknowledged that the men are in the hands of the Taliban.
"They've confirmed two Germans were abducted on Tuesday, civil engineers, along with five Afghan escorts, about 120 kilometres southwest of Kabul, but they've never confirmed they were in fact the Taliban," Louis Charbonneau, a journalist with Reuters News Service based in Berlin, told CTV Newsnet.
A report published Saturday in one of Germany's leading newspapers quoted unnamed government officials who said Ahmadi actually had nothing to do with the kidnapping, and his information could be wrong, Charbonneau said.
Ahmadi had said Friday that 18 South Korean civilians taken by the Taliban would also be killed, unless the Asian country withdraws its 200 troops from Afghanistan by Saturday at noon.
Taliban gunmen boarded the busy carrying the South Korean Christians and took them prisoner on Thursday. Fifteen of the 18 passengers on the bus were women.
CTV's Denelle Balfour, reporting from Kandahar, said the Koreans were working as volunteers and seem to have the support of the Afghans they were working with.
"The South Koreans are asking that the hostages be released, they are in discussions, and we've heard that some tribal elders in Ghazni province where this occurred are trying to help negotiate the release," Balfour told CTV Newsnet.
She said it is the largest group of foreign nationals ever taken hostage in Afghanistan.
The South Koreans were travelling from Kabul to Kandahar when the bus was boarded, according to police.
They are Christian members of a South Korean church and were doing volunteer work in Afghanistan, against their government's urgings.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported on Friday that they were members of Saemmul Community Church in Bundang, near Seoul. Another report said they were volunteering in a hospital.
A church official has confirmed that 20 of its members were doing volunteer work in Afghanistan and that they have been unable to contact them.
The driver of the bus was released late Thursday. He said there were 18 women and five men on the bus, but there was no explanation of the discrepancy between the numbers provided by the Taliban.
South Korea has about 200 troops serving with a U.S. forces, in operations separate from the 40,000-member NATO-led force.
There are about 3,000 German soldiers attached to NATO's International Security Assistance Force, stationed in the northern part of Afghanistan. The German foreign ministry estimates there are 500 civilian aid workers in Afghanistan as well.
The incident with the South Koreans represents the largest abduction of foreigners since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.
With files from Associated Press
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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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South Korea to pull troops from Afghanistan
Jul 20, 2007 10:26 PM
Associated Press
SEOUL, South Korea – South Korea says it plans to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan by the end of this year.
South Korea has about 200 soldiers serving with an 8,000-strong U.S.-led force, which is separate from the NATO-led force.
Foreign Minister Song Min-soon says "the government is in preparations to implement its plan."
His comments came as Taliban militants threatened to kill 18 kidnapped South Korean Christians on Saturday unless Seoul pulls out its troops.
In was the largest abduction of foreigners since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.
The South Koreans, all members of a church group, were kidnapped by the Taliban at gunpoint from a bus in Ghazni province Thursday.
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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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Hmmm, are the Taliban saying to Nato, come get us or get out.. we will prevail, we can do as we like? ?More trained combat boots... and run them all to ground... it is the only possible way to end this favorably....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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Taliban fighters from Pakistan crossing in and out of Afghanistan with ease
Canadian Press
SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan (CP) - Hunkered down on the Pakistan side of the border, Taliban leaders are busy preparing ammunition, weapons and personnel for war in Afghanistan.
Their movements have raised concern among Canadian commanders in southeastern Afghanistan.
"From Pakistan, they (the Taliban) cross the border (with) their weapons and their ammunition in expectation of fighting a war," Maj. Steve Graham, commander of Reconnaissance Squadron with the Royal Canadian Dragoons, said Saturday.
Graham's troops are stationed at the forward operating base near the town of Spin Boldak, five kilometres from the Pakistan border in the southeast district of the Kandahar province.
Since the fall of their regime in 2002, the Taliban have found refuge in Pakistan, where they have established supply centres for weapons, Graham said.
The porous southeast border is an access point for Taliban fighters and other insurgents to cross into Afghanistan without difficulty.
"It's a long (stretch of land)," Graham said of the 400-kilometre border.
Recent seizures of arms, ammunition and explosives as well as the arrests of insurgents - at least 20 in the last two months - represent only the "tip of the iceberg" of illicit traffic along the southeast boundary, he said.
Afghan forces, present only in small numbers in the region, have not been able to control the flow of migrants and illegal crossings.
Corruption has also become a concern, as many low-income Afghan authorities accept bribes, Graham said.
"The superior officers are working very well and I think they are trying to (curb the problem)," he said of Afghan authorities.
"But when it comes to the soldiers, their salary is so low that it's very easy for people to put money on the table so they close their eyes and allow crossings."
Meanwhile, the Taliban are not the only ones who come and go across the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, Graham said.
Drug traffickers and members of hostile tribal factions are also taking advantage of the long boundary, he sai
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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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Hmmmmm... Wake up Nato .. the coffee is ready... better get your butts in gear...now , dammit..... what is it you are not sure of... just ask a soldier over there....lets get with it....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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This is interesting....
Military honours in Afghanistan deserved?
All Canadians serving in Kandahar - whether cooks at the air base or soldiers `outside the wire' who could encounter bombs or Taliban bullets - get the same medal.
Jul 22, 2007 04:30 AM
Andrew Chung
Toronto Star
Today in Kandahar, according to the BBC's weather service, there will be intense sunshine and the temperature will be 38 degrees Celsius, a welcome respite from the even hotter days typical of this time of year.
Southern Afghanistan is a scorching, dusty, rather inhospitable place at the best of times. And so for all those Canadian Forces members stationed there, it's by no means an easy walk in High Park.
But at Kandahar Airfield, there are at least some comforts of home. Proper showers, for instance. Hot meals. Tim Hortons, Pizza Hut, Burger King. Video games. Music rooms.
Outside the base, however, the comforts are much different: perhaps a patch of smooth desert sand on which to rest your sleeping bag, or maybe a packet of grape juice crystals, or a night free of gunfire.
"Outside the wire," as troops there put it, is a realm that carries extraordinary dangers. A man on a motorbike could be a suicide bomber. Hidden at the roadside could be a bomb.
Now, a researcher who spent months embedded with troops in Afghanistan says it's time for Canada to recognize those who spend a significant amount of their tour outside the wire, for the risks they face to life and limb on a regular basis.
It's a proposal that has taken shape as deaths mount in Afghanistan. A bomb killed six soldiers on July 4, bringing the total number of Canadian casualties to 66 soldiers and one diplomat.
"Kandahar Airfield, as tough as it is – it's hot and a lot of hard work – is a risk," notes Anne Irwin, a military anthropologist at the University of Calgary's Centre for Strategic and Military Studies. "But it pales significantly in comparison to the risks for people who are living outside the wire, facing that every minute. "The soldiers I've spoken to feel that the very special additional risks and contributions they make is not adequately formally recognized," says Irwin, who wrote about the issue in the July edition of Dispatches, the newsletter of the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute.
They perceive a lack of recognition in the fact that everyone deployed to Afghanistan gets the same medal to place on their uniforms. There are actually two medals for soldiers, depending on when they were deployed after the mission began in 2001: either the Southwest Asia Service Medal, if they were part of the U.S.-led Operation Enduring Freedom, or, for troops there now, the General Campaign Star with an "ISAF" bar, for serving under NATO's International Security Assistance Force. Civilians get the General Service Medal.
All personnel get same medal regardless of the job they do. A cook, for instance, would get the same medal as an infantryman who spent three weeks in the field surviving blasts by improvised explosive devices and getting shot at by the Taliban.
And the impression back home is the same. For the most part, media accounts show those on the front lines and rarely acknowledge that the majority of personnel overseas spend most if not all of their time inside the relatively safe confines of the air base. It's a small minority, Irwin emphasizes, who are always on the outside.
"So everyone thinks, `Oh, you were fighting the Taliban, out on convoys,'" she says. "Well, no, a lot were going to Tim Horton's in the morning."
There are pros and cons to the idea. And since rumours that the military was going to implement a new recognition system began swirling last fall, the issue is being debated among the rank and file and on the Internet.
Some say it would be too hard to figure out who should receive extra recognition. What if someone who's not in the infantry gets ambushed? What about someone who is outside the wire for, say, just a day?
Others say it would create divisions within the ranks – an elite – and work against the ethos of teamwork that's such a big part of the troops' indoctrination.
"Yeah, that's what we need – more `us and them,'" one soldier writes on the web site army.ca. "Frankly, a guy who is working 16 hours trying to get a Nyala (armoured vehicle) back into service is doing as much for the mission as they guy at the `sharp end.'"
"We do our jobs, we know we do our jobs, that's all that matters," writes another. "Glory hounds need not apply."
However, others say, in the words of another soldier, that with no extra recognition, "how do we tell whether a CF member spent his/her time in a mess hall or on (reconnaissance) patrol?"
And then there's this: "I think it's a great idea. A lack of pride and esprit de corps is a problem in our army, where commonality of uniforms and decorations does not accurately denote the military `resumé' as is the case in other nations."
The military, far from indicating which direction it's leaning in, won't even say whether it's considering implementing a revised recognition system.
"I can tell you that the entire military honours rewards and recognition system is always being looked at and reviewed, in light of the operations we're doing now and to come up with the most appropriate recognition for what our personnel do," says John Knoll, spokesperson for the Department of National Defence.
Irwin proposes two new forms of recognition. She says new medals aren't necessary. "Too many medals and their value diminishes," she contends. One would be a rosette or extra bar to place on the Campaign medal's ribbon, for those who spend a significant amount of time outside the wire, including those working on provincial reconstruction teams, such as engineers, communications support people and drivers.
"Or maybe a piece of barbed wire," says Irwin, "in gold or something, which seems to capture the imagination because being outside the wire has become part of their discourse."
As well, infantry soldiers who are regularly fighting the enemy would receive a combat badge to sew on their uniforms.
The proposal would be unprecedented in Canada. This country has never discriminated among personnel roles with a specific honour for those in combat action, defence department historians indicate.
However, it's a protocol that has existed for decades south of the border. Since 1944, the U.S. army has handed out special badges to those who engage in active ground combat. They include a Combat Infantryman Badge for soldiers, special forces and rangers, and a Combat Medical Badge for the medics accompanying them.
The Combat Infantryman Badge was an "incentive to get people to become infantrymen, and also the medics in the mud with them had to be recognized as well," says Lt.-Col. Jerome Kuczero, assistant chief of the military awards branch.
In 2005, as the insurgency raged in Iraq, the U.S. Army instituted the Combat Action Badge, for those who were neither infantry nor medics but were nevertheless "engaged by or with the enemy," says Kuczero.
"If you were hit by an (improvised explosive device)," he says, "you qualify."
This would be important even for those inside Kandahar air base. It periodically gets attacked by rockets. In July 2006, an attack there injured 10 people.
Capt. Michael O'Leary, who works out of the Royal Canadian Regiment headquarters in London, Ont., is aware of the debate about medals. He moderates some discussions on army.ca.
"My own opinion, based on historic example, is that clasps or devices added to medals have fairly specific terms of reference and are defined in geographical or chronological terms," he reasons. "If you went outside the wire, well, how far, how long, what had to happen? There are too many factors, each of which has its own sliding scale.
"And if you look at it now, nobody goes up to a veteran on Remembrance Day and grills him on where he was in Italy, and for how long, to decide if they're going to respect him. The fact that he has that war medal is enough."
But Italy veteran and merchant seaman Ray Cameron, who lives in Scarborough, says he thinks it may be a good idea to give extra recognition.
"The boys that are out on the front line should be distinguished from those behind the scenes," the 82-year-old says. "They're the ones whose lives are at risk. Going back to World War II, say the Italian medal, I was going up and down the coast on a gasoline tanker. But when I toured the battlefields in Italy, I realized that the boys on the front line were more at risk than I was. They were right in the actual battle, though I did see action."
Irwin says that military officials have sometimes asked her whether implementing such a system would create an elite. "But my response is, `You've already created an elite.' The way the military recognizes excellence and performance and valour is through badges and rank. So not to do it is problematic."
She adds that lack of recognition has a well-documented correlation to post-traumatic stress disorder.
U.S. officials say their system works just fine.
"Honestly we've never had a problem. It's more of a morale booster and incentive," says Denise Harris, the military awards branch chief of policy.
Sometimes there are complaints from those who didn't get a combat badge, she adds. "But that's because they didn't engage with the bad guys."
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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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BJ MacLean
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I do believe that sorting out the criterier for proper recognition would be difficult.
How ever I think that there is a definite diference between what the toops "out side the wire" and those at the air field face. I know after chatting with some of the troops who served on both sides of the wire, that it became very clear that there is a need for some distinction. I have also heard from the troops that they get frustrated knowing that those inside get the same monetary benifits. Maybe a added bonus for those on the sharp end is in norder.
My thoughts
BJ
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B.J. MacLean
35 Yrs
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BJ MacLean
B.J. / Rusty
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Pro Patria
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I do believe that sorting out the criterier for proper recognition would be difficult.
How ever I think that there is a definite diference between what the toops "out side the wire" and those at the air field face. I know after chatting with some of the troops who served on both sides of the wire, that it became very clear that there is a need for some distinction. I have also heard from the troops that they get frustrated knowing that those inside get the same monetary benifits. Maybe a added bonus for those on the sharp end is in norder.
My thoughts
BJ
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B.J. MacLean
35 Yrs
Always a Proud Royal
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ranrad
Ron [Andy] Andrews
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Well, while i do agree that some kind of recognition is necssary, how would it be done?? It is a poser and needs some expert advice on it. The Regt Aj has given some of his , and one can readily see from what he writes ,that it is a very complicated issue>> any idea s out there?? 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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O'Connor: 'We have to train Afghan army quickly'
Updated Sun. Jul. 22 2007 3:57 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
If all goes according to plan, Canada could begin backing away from its heavy combat role in the south of Afghanistan in about six months as the Afghan National Army matures.
Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor said the Afghan army is showing signs of progress.
His comments come after new poll numbers last week suggesting Canadians' opposition to the mission is rising.
According to the Strategic Counsel poll conducted for CTV and The Globe and Mail, 59 per cent of Canadians are now against sending troops to Afghanistan, up from 56 per cent a year ago, while 36 per cent support the deployment, down from 39 per cent.
During an appearance on CTV's Question Period that aired Sunday, O'Connor said those numbers are largely due to Canadians' lack of clear understanding of Canada's successes in Afghanistan, as well as the challenges faced there.
He said there is reason to believe that the situation in Afghanistan is improving, and Canada's frontline role will soon be reduced.
O'Connor said Canadian troops recently sponsored an Afghan infantry battalion, providing intense mentorship and training, and as a result the battalion is now out conducting its own operations.
He described it as a success that will be used as a model for training other battalions, and will eventually take pressure off the Canadians.
"Over the next four or five months were going to be picking up four or five additional Afghan battalions to train and mentor and get them out into the field," O'Connor said.
"We're hoping by the end of this rotation that's going in now, the so called Van Doos rotation, we'll have about 3,000 Afghan army operating within the Kandahar province, and as we train more and more of the Aghan army to carry out their own operations we'll continue to withdraw, put more emphasis on training, and at some stage basically be in reserve."
The Van Doos rotation in Afghanistan will last six months.
O'Connor also renewed his call for other NATO nations to step up their involvement and allow their troops to take part in combat operations in the more volatile regions of the country. At the moment, most of the heavy lifting is being done by Canada, the U.K., the Netherlands and the U.S.
"It would help the situation if more NATO nations sent troops to the south and the east but we can't put all our eggs in one basket. We have to train the Afghan army as quickly as possible and that's what we're doing," O'Connor 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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Highlighting the crux of the problem.
Taliban fighters from Pakistan crossing in and out of Afghanistan with ease
MARTIN OUELLET
SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan (CP) - Hunkered down on the Pakistan side of the border, Taliban leaders are busy preparing ammunition, weapons and personnel for war in Afghanistan.
Their movements have raised concern among Canadian commanders in southeastern Afghanistan.
"From Pakistan, they (the Taliban) cross the border (with) their weapons and their ammunition in expectation of fighting a war," Maj. Steve Graham, commander of Reconnaissance Squadron with the Royal Canadian Dragoons, said Saturday.
Graham's troops are stationed at the forward operating base near the town of Spin Boldak, five kilometres from the Pakistan border in the southeast district of the Kandahar province.
Since the fall of their regime in 2002, the Taliban have found refuge in Pakistan, where they have established supply centres for weapons, Graham said.
The porous southeast border is an access point for Taliban fighters and other insurgents to cross into Afghanistan without difficulty.
"It's a long (stretch of land)," Graham said of the 400-kilometre border.
Recent seizures of arms, ammunition and explosives as well as the arrests of insurgents - at least 20 in the last two months - represent only the "tip of the iceberg" of illicit traffic along the southeast boundary, he said.
Afghan forces, present only in small numbers in the region, have not been able to control the flow of migrants and illegal crossings.
Corruption has also become a concern, as many low-income Afghan authorities accept bribes, Graham said.
"The superior officers are working very well and I think they are trying to (curb the problem)," he said of Afghan authorities.
"But when it comes to the soldiers, their salary is so low that it's very easy for people to put money on the table so they close their eyes and allow crossings."
Meanwhile, the Taliban are not the only ones who come and go across the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, Graham said.
Drug traffickers and members of hostile tribal factions are also taking advantage of the long boundary, 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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ranrad
Ron [Andy] Andrews
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You cannot even cover that boarder with the numbers we have over there let alone do all the rest....well, maybe the Afghan Army will get strong enough and good enough ... and they will have the numbers , and desire to do it all... ranrad
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RCAF,CAF, converted RCR?,1RCR 74-77 CD: SSM (Nato);CPSM,;UN-Cyp.; UN- Golan
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Under fire in Kandahar
As bullets fly overhead, a photojournalist follows Canadian soldiers into a firefight with Taliban insurgents
Finbarr O'Reilly
The Ottawa Citizen
Sunday, July 22, 2007
SANGSAR, Afghanistan - The grinding metallic noise of tanks and diesel engines fades into the desert night and the only sound is our breathing and the crunch of dozens of army boots on dry earth.
It feels like we are alone in the barren, moonlit landscape, but we're not. Somewhere out there lurk the Taliban.
A cacophony of barking floats through the heavy air as dogs from nearby mud villages pick up our scent.
Foreign troops from the NATO-led coalition and the Afghan National Army (ANA) are on the hunt for Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan's southern Kandahar province.
It is a strategic point in the fight against al-Qaeda and the Taliban drug smuggling routes into neighbouring Pakistan.
As a photographer embedded with Canadian troops, I tag along for combat missions.
"When the shooting starts, your heart rate will go up to two or three times its normal rate," says a medic, explaining the body's and mind's reactions to combat.
Covering Africa for six years, I've experienced conflicts, armed clashes and civil unrest, but I've never marched directly into battle with a unit intent on engaging the enemy.
I follow in silence for two hours as the patrol moves from the open desert into grape fields lined with mud walls providing welcome cover, but also perfect hiding ground for Taliban.
Using night-vision goggles, the troops take positions around targets, mud compounds where dozens of insurgents are camped.
Then we wait. "They usually hit us at first light," says the warrant officer in charge of my unit.
The Muslim call to prayer drifts from mosques just before dawn. I can't help thinking that some people in these dusty fields are hearing it for the last time.
A coppery taste fills my mouth and my bowels shift uncomfortably.
The first shots ring out as darkness fades. Then shooting erupts from seemingly every direction. I stay down until there's a brief lull, then move closer to the action.
"Remember you're not bulletproof," says one soldier, as if I need reminding. My flak jacket, ballistic goggles and helmet only make the rest of my body feel more exposed.
Crawling along mud walls and ditches, I reach a unit coming under heavy fire from Taliban positions 20 metres away.
I see a rocket propelled grenade (RPG) whiz past treetops above our heads.
A mortar explodes 10 metres behind us. Bullets hum through the air and rustle nearby bushes.
"How's your heart rate now?" asks the medic lying next to me in a dry riverbed.
Like I'm on crack cocaine, probably. But fear has been replaced by adrenaline and I concentrate on keeping low and getting pictures of the Canadian soldiers.
The Afghan and Canadian troops move up and I run too, shamelessly using troops as a shield before stepping briefly in front to snap some pictures of them rushing forward.
After about an hour, air support strafes the Taliban with hundreds of large-calibre rounds.
Canadian and ANA troops move in to pick up the pieces. RPGs are found next to one of the two recovered bodies and two wounded Taliban are treated and taken away by helicopter.
Several Taliban have been killed, including a local leader. The only Canadian casualty is a soldier who shot off his own left index finger in the heat of battle.
The thin, barefoot Taliban in pyjama-like outfits look frail and weak next to the meaty and tattooed Canadians loaded with heavy equipment and supported by aircraft and armoured vehicles.
But while NATO-led forces train to stay alive, the Taliban are ready and willing to die, making them a formidable foe.
The operation is not over until everyone is safely on base. One Canadian soldier has been killed in combat during the past six months in Afghanistan, but roadside bombs have killed 19.
Less than 24 hours after our operation, six Canadian troops and an interpreter are killed by one such bomb while returning from a similar mission.
Roadside bombs have become the favourite weapon of the Taliban, who are overpowered on the battlefield, but know how to erode political will for a long and bloody foreign presence in their country.
On this day, the battle is won by NATO and ANA forces. But Afghanistan's long history of resisting outside influence suggests that winning the war against the insurgents will be a much longer, more difficult task.
Finbarr O'Reilly, a former Citizen journalist, is an award-winning photojournalist with Reuters news agency. He spent two weeks embedded with NATO forces in Afghanistan and accompanied them on combat missions.
More images online See slideshow at ottawacitizen.com/galleries
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