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Topic: Afghanistan, 3rd Bn, R22R, Part Duex... (Read 4807 times)
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Mike Blais
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I was not condoning an invasion of Pakistan, Shawn , merely pointing out the fact that, unless Somebody closes the Afghan side of the border, the mission is at risk of failure. You asked where the troops would come from and I would respond those NATO countries to feckless to commit to battle.
Mackenzie claimed that the good book on how to wage a successful counterinsurgency dictates that you need at least 20 to 25 boots on the ground per 1000 civilians.
At the moment, Nato has committed 1.5 soldiers per 1000 civilians.
Meanwhile, the rest of NATO as about 1 million soldiers to draw from but... won't!
BTW, were Musharef to ask for assistance and agree to a combined NATO-Pakistani-American army sweep through the tribal areas, I would fully support it. I have always thought Osama, Mullah Omar and most of the real wackos are sitting there, safe behind that imaginary, yet all so political border, giving us the finger.
50 militants held in Waziristan: Army
* Military spokesman says Chaghmalai area completely cleared of militants
WANA: Troops captured 50 Islamist militants in an operation in South Waziristan, a day after killing dozens of rebels in the area, the military said on Saturday.
Troops also recovered 10 bodies of the rebels from the Chaghmalai area in South Waziristan, which was scene of a major clash on Friday in which an estimated 30 militants were killed, chief military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said.
“Security forces launched an operation in the Chaghmalai area last night and captured 40 militants,” he told AFP.
“The village has been completely cleared of the militants,” he said.
Security forces also launched a search operation in Ladah town and arrested 10 militants, including some of their local commanders, the spokesman said.
The clash in Chaghmalai erupted after militants ambushed a convoy of security forces with rockets and small arms. The military said an hour-long firefight in the area left 20 to 30 fighters dead and four soldiers wounded.
Troops fought off a “large number” of insurgents who surrounded and attacked Ladah Fort on Friday, killing 50 to 60 of the attackers, the army said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the army also pounded a suspected hideout in neighbouring North Waziristan with artillery killing a man and wounding two people after a rocket attack on their base overnight.
Suspected Islamic militants launched a barrage of 14 rockets on a military base in Razmak town in the lawless tribal region late Friday, a security official told AFP on Saturday.
Troops retaliated and several houses were hit in Makeen town killing a man and wounding a girl and another local man, the official, asking not to be named, said.
Residents said several families began shifting to Miranshah, the main town in the rugged terrain, amid tensions in the region. afp
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1RCR 1982-88 Mortars. Dukes, Cyprus-Welfare NCO 84-85, Injured, WO&Sgts Mess, (CFB London)
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Mike Blais
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I suspect those reason are as obvious today as they were forty years ago, Shawn. I aslo supect that bin Laden and Al-Zargoofy is also aware of the manner in which the communists waged their insurgency. That being said, the repercussions have the same potential, as well. The solution? Well, it is pretty clear that Pakistan, who has lost more soldiers fighting the taleban in the tribal areas since 911 then NATO has, does not have the military capabilities to effectively strike. Perhaps it is corruption , (gee-ya think?), perhaps secular or tribal affiliations, whatever the reason, it is clear, after six years, they will need help if we are to succeed. Outside help. For example, I'm sure if Bush told India to back off until this terrorist was cleared up they would. To decline would be to be labeled terrorist enablers, yes? Realistically, I think we could have great effect if we could attain two objectives. First, cut off the wacko's financing, ie, Afghanistan's poppy crops. Many of the taleban ranks are no more then mercenaries, locals carrying a gun for ten bucks a week. The weapons and equipment they need is directly supported by the opium trade, we know this, so lets do something. If they have no money, they will not be as effective. Secondly, seal the border. If we can't destroy the crops, we can put a serious deterrent along the border to ensure that the opium does not get to Pakistan and the heroin labs beyond. Of course, this would have a dual purpose as the wackos would then have to worry about actually getting the crap bombed out of them ten minutes after they cross the border. Detection is the key, and, of course, having American air support to do what they do best. One thing is certain, it is vital, for the mission as a whole, that we break the cycle and deny the wackos access until the Afghans government can be purged of corruption and the Afghan army has trained soldiers, not former warlords, as commanding officers. Just my opinion, of course.  I often wonder what would happen, or has happened, if hard intel confirmed bin Laden in one of the Waziristan villages. |
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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There is leverage that can be applied. Hundreds of millions of dollars, if the stories about western support that surfaced when Benizir was killed. Take away Musharef's ability to purchase loyalties, take away the reasons for his denial of access, perhaps put his life in grave danger. It is probably a lot more complicated then that but...
I do not think bin Laden is dead, brother, nor concerned about the expense of his dialysis. In fact, I would wager that he's got a standby unit in his cave. Hell, he probably had a transplant by now, for all we know? He certainly spent a long time planning for this, surely, he did not think that Mullah Omar and his ragtag bunch of non regulars could stem the tide once American and its allies engaged. They were the bait, a reason to drag American into an Arab land, to give the delusional a reason for Jihad. He is ultra rich, yes? He had plenty of time to prepare for all emergencies, including his various ailments. And with the help of the ultra-zealots of Waziristan, well, I just think his odds of survival are a lot higher then the west is giving him credit for.
See his kid in the paper the other day? Ambassador for peace, good lord, he looks just like Osama... sheesh.
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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 change in name might be advisable as well.
Meanwhile, good news...
Pakistan attacks rebel stronghold
Associated Press
January 20, 2008 at 7:11 PM EST
ISLAMABAD — The Pakistani military pounded an extremist stronghold Sunday near the Afghan border where a rebel leader blamed for the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto is believed to be hiding, officials and witnesses said.
The strikes came after authorities said Saturday they had arrested a 15-year-old boy in northwestern Pakistan alleged to have been involved in the Dec. 27 slaying of Ms. Bhutto, an opposition leader critical of rising Islamic extremism in the country.
The central government has never had much control over South Waziristan, a tribal area where several top militants are believed to live. They included Baitullah Mehsud, a Pakistani accused by the government and the CIA of masterminding the killing of Ms. Bhutto.
Officials said the boy had confessed to taking part in a plot to kill Ms. Bhutto in a gun and suicide bomb attack in the garrison town of Rawalpindi. His role in the mission to kill Ms. Bhutto was as a backup in case the shooter or the suicide attacker failed, according to an intelligence official who has seen his interrogation records.
The boy said the slaying was organized by Mr. Mehsud, who has previously denied any involvement in the attack, according to the official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.
Authorities say the boy received terrorist training in neighbouring Afghanistan before taking part in the mission. He told interrogators he trained for 40 days in a camp run by Mr. Mehsud in the Kotai area of South Waziristan before going to Helmand province Afghanistan in 2007 for another 40 days of “practical training.”
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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, good stuff here guys, and again it brings up the old thing of not enough trained Nato combat boots on the ground...as for Mr Bin Laden... i doubt if it really matters anymore whether he is alive or not, i think he would have had to be replaced as the leader long ago..as fo his son... well, who knows what is in his head and heart...he may be a saviour , who knows....or the horns may pop out of his head....but overasll it seems we must find a way to stop the flow of bad guys back ad forth... i wonder if that is possible... we all know how they can slip in and out when they put their mind to it... and , they KNOW the lay of the land...it sure seems Nato is taking this all really well.. or are they actually doing some heavy duty planning?? Time will tell... ranrad
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Mike Blais
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Peter MacKay’s terrible day
ON TARGETSCOTT TAYLOR
Mon. Jan 21 - 4:47 AM
LAST WEDNESDAY was certainly not a stellar day for Defence Minister Peter MacKay. As media outlets were still running stories about the death of Trooper Richard Renaud, the 77th Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan, U.S. Secretary of Defence Robert Gates was quoted in the Los Angeles Times making disparaging remarks about NATO forces letting down the Americans.
What Gates implied was that the NATO troops — particularly those in southern Afghanistan, where the Canadian contingent is based — were not experienced in counter-insurgency.
Gates compared the situation of the intensifying insurgency in NATO’s southern sector with the relative stability in eastern Afghanistan, which is under U.S. control. The implication being that the Americans know what they’re doing — NATO does not.
Using this logic, one would have to commend the German contingent in Konduz and the Italian military in Herat with having a tremendous grasp of counter-insurgency warfare because those sectors have been almost completely pacified since the Taliban was toppled in 2001.
Of course, Gates is fully aware of the vast regional ethnic diversity of Afghanistan, and his comparison of apples to oranges in this instance was aimed at placating a domestic U.S. audience. War-weary Americans have every right to wonder why 3,200 additional Marines are now being deployed to Afghanistan to fight a war they were told was won in November 2001.
At first, the Pentagon told us it was Pakistan’s fault that the insurgency in Kandahar was being rekindled; now Gates is telling Americans that it’s actually NATO’s fault for not being aggressive enough.
Canadian officers, familiar with the way in which the fiasco in Kandahar evolved, have called Gate’s comments the "height of hypocrisy." Even American Special Forces soldiers who participated in the battles that cleared the Taliban from Kandahar in early 2002 admit that the U.S. strategy was flawed from the outset.
When I visited Kabul last January, I was introduced to a U.S. Navy SEAL who had been assigned as an adviser to the Afghan Northern Alliance. When he learned that I was a Canadian, he had insisted on paying for my drinks. "We sold you guys a bucket of crap down in Kandahar, and for that I apologize," he said.
The SEAL explained that after the Taliban were chased out of the region, the U.S. left just one battalion stationed at the Kandahar airfield and fewer than 500 soldiers in all of Helmand province. The Pentagon had been completely focused on the invasion of Iraq and, as a result, from 2002 to 2005, the once scattered Taliban were able to regroup and rearm.
Supplies and recruits came in from the Pakistani side of Pashtunistan, but the small U.S. garrison in Kandahar was only concerned with self-protection at the airfield itself. Thus, when Canada accepted the change of location from Kabul to Kandahar, the Americans knew that the Canadians were walking into a veritable hornet’s nest of insurgents.
Gates’ comments in the L.A. Times inverted this sequence of events and made it sound like everything had been going swimmingly until NATO took over and made a bollocks of things. Not surprisingly, the British and Belgian defence ministries immediately took Gates to task for this slight, and the Dutch defence department went one step further by calling in the U.S. ambassador to officially clarify the loose-lipped secretary of defence’s comments.
Canada has suffered the highest ratio of fatalities of any of the coalition forces in Afghanistan and our officials should have been clamouring the loudest for an apology from Gates. Back in 1997, when British Lt.-Gen. Hew Pike publicly expressed some concerns over having Canadian soldiers under his command in Bosnia, the Liberal government of the day reacted with unrestrained outrage.
Leading the charge, mild-mannered Defence Minister Art Eggleton rose in the House of Commons, pounded on the railing and shouted "Take a hike, Pike!"
Now, with the "support-the-troops" Harper Conservatives at the helm, one would have hoped that the burly, rugby-playing Peter MacKay would have kicked over a few garbage cans and demanded that U.S. Ambassador David Wilkins get his butt over to national defence headquarters on the double.
Instead, MacKay acted as Gates’ personal apologist, telling reporters that in a private phone call the U.S. secretary of defence had assured him he did not mean to malign Canadian troops in any way.
Hours later, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell contradicted MacKay’s statement by saying that Gates’ comments were directed at all NATO allies — and yes, that included Canada.
The following day, under intense pressure from the other NATO countries, Gates held a damage control news conference to retract his negative appraisal. Contrary to MacKay’s claim that no harm was done, even Gates understood that some form of public appeasement was necessary.
Whatever the long-term fallout is from this incident, MacKay missed a golden opportunity to show himself as a champion of the Canadian Forces.
Scott Taylor is editor-in-chief of military magazine Espirit-de-Corps.
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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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Another sad day, friends....
Roadside bomb kills 78th Canadian soldier
Updated Thu. Jan. 24 2008 8:01 AM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
A roadside bomb is again to blame for the death of a Canadian soldier, killed Wednesday in the volatile Panjwaii district.
The soldier was killed and two others slightly injured Wednesday when their light armoured vehicle triggered a roadside bomb about 35 kilometres southwest of Kandahar City.
The soldiers were taking part in a road clearance operation when the bomb exploded.
The two injured soldiers have since been released from hospital. The slain soldier's identity has been withheld at the request of the family.
The Globe and Mail's Graeme Smith told CTV Newsnet on Thursday that the soldier was declared dead at the scene.
Including Wednesday's death, 78 Canadian military personnel and one diplomat have died in Afghanistan since 2002.
Many of the deaths have been the result of improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
"It's what the soldiers here often refer to as Groundhog Day," said Smith. "Things keep happening over and over, in the same way, in the same places."
Smith said Canadian troops are constantly trying to maintain gains against the Taliban.
"The roads that the Canadians are clearing has been taken and re-taken a number of times by different Canadian contingents as they win and lose the terrain to the Taliban," he said.
The Manley panel report released Tuesday recommended that NATO provide troops with medium-lift helicopters.
Analysts consider travelling by air much safer than by ground in southern Afghanistan, where the majority of Canadian casualties have been caused by roadside bombs.
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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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Tentative repatriation 2 p.m. Sunday
Posted By Mandy Martin
Updated 9 hours ago
Sunday, Jan. 27 at 2 p.m. is the tentative time and date for the repatriation of Corporal Étienne Gonthier, 21, of the 5th Combat Engineer Regiment (based in Valcartier, Quebec). The flight will land at CFB Trenton where there is a ceremony with the family. From there, the procession travels west along Highway 401 to Toronto for the autopsy of the fallen soldier.
Because flight changes may occur between now and Sunday, watch this website for confirmation of the repatriation date and time.
Cpl. Gonthier was part of a team of sappers conducting route clearance ahead of a convoy in the Panjwaiyi District. He was killed and two injured when their light armoured vehicle hit a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan.
The incident happened Wednesday afternoon.
Cpl. Gonthier is the 78th Canadian Armed Forces member to die on the Canadian mission in Afghanistan since it began in 2002.
The two injured soldiers were able to notify their families and have since been released from hospital.
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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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His father is right.
Father says fallen Canadian soldier was a hero
The Canadian Press
Updated: Sat. Jan. 26 2008 7:42 PM ET
SAGUENAY, Que. — Mourners lined snow-covered streets of a town north of Quebec City on Saturday to honour a Canadian soldier killed recently in Afghanistan.
Loved ones and citizens watched a funeral procession for trooper Richard Renaud, who died Jan. 15 when his Coyote light-armoured vehicle struck an improvised explosive device.
"He loved his country,'' Renaud's father, Jean-Marc, told the all-news TV station LCN after the funeral in Saguenay, Que., about 200 kilometres north of the provincial capital.
"He defended his convictions with vigour. He was proud ... and for me, he was a hero.''
Renaud and three other soldiers were caught in the blast while they were conducting a reconnaissance patrol in the Arghandab district, about 10 kilometres north of Kandahar city.
Two soldiers suffered minor injuries in the explosion.
Renaud, 26, originally of Alma, Que., was a member of the 12e Regiment blinde du Canada. He joined the military in October 2004 and this was his first overseas mission.
"We lost a buddy,'' said Cpl. Philippe Bernier after the service.
"He was somebody who was always ready to help others, he was somebody who was always positive.''
Renaud is survived by his pregnant wife, his four-year-old stepson, his parents and sister.
Family friend Francis Bouchard said he was moved by the turnout.
"We never know what awaits us,'' he said. "We don't know if (soldiers) will come back alive or if they will come back in a state like Richard.''
Federal Labour Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn, who represents a local riding, said it is a time for Canadians to think about Renaud's wife and family.
"(Renaud) is the first from our region to die over there in Afghanistan,'' Blackburn said.
"As a government, we should also give him all the honours he has earned.''
The day of his death, Renaud's family issued a statement saying he was enthusiastic about his tour in Afghanistan.
"He always talked about his mission abroad with passion,'' the statement said.
"For him, it was a way to make a difference in our world.''
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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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I'm with ranrad on this - what's going on that an anti-war opposition leader, who wants us out of Afghanistan, just out of the blue starts implying that the Taleban and AQ bases in Pakistan should be - ahem - dealt with by NATO? Right strategy to be sure, but how to actually do it? 
Logged
It is certainly the only way to beat the Taleban and AQ. I just don't see the Pakistanis (for domestic political reasons and maybe fear of India on their other front) cooperating, or the other NATO countries (including our own if a new Government were to take power after the next election) providing the necessary forces and resources (and with the political will) to do the job right. 
FREAKY is the word that comes to mind - once you get over the shocked spluttering first. And he wants to be a UN Peace Ambassador? A haircut and a beard-trim would help a little. 
The Taleban are really gunning for our boys in order to break the political will at home, 'cause they smell blood in the water with the Opposition at home demanding a pullout and of course the recent dust-up between the US and NATO. The next year could be a real rough ride for our troops. 
