Whatcha gonna do? ...
Posted on 09/17/2005 6:50:10 AM PDT by bubman
Subscription required thus no excerpt
Canadian special forces soldiers in southern Afghanistan have killed Taliban and Al-Qa'ida rebels over dozens of operations in recent months as they work secretly in small units, military sources say.
The modest contingent of troops from Joint Task Force 2 is an integral part of coalition efforts to stem the tide of insurgency that has risen since campaigning began for tomorrow's elections.
JTF2 commandos have joined counterparts from the United States and some British Commonwealth countries, such as Australia, in fighting that has claimed more than 1,200 lives in six months, defence sources say.
Authorities wouldn't - or couldn't - put numbers on the dead, but some said there could be dozens.
Some engagements are long-range; others are close-in. Some involve a degree of infiltration into enemy compounds and "behind enemy lines" - though no lines really exist in the mountainous and desert terrain.
The commandos, some of whom speak a smattering of area dialects, often work in collaboration with locals who know the lay of the land.
Using specialized weapons and equipment, Canadian snipers have played their deadly cat-and-mouse games at night and in the 50-degree heat of Afghan summer days.
Many of their victims - whom the chief of defence staff recently called "murderers and scumbags" - never knew what hit them, one source said.
Beyond acknowledging that JTF2 is in Afghanistan, defence officials and the federal government have maintained their usual strict silence about the unit's exploits.
They plan a briefing on Tuesday, where Defence Minister Bill Graham promised military authorities will provide a few more details about what JTF2 has been up to since it deployed to Kandahar earlier this summer.
Canadian special forces have maintained an almost constant presence in Afghanistan since Ottawa first sent troops to the former terrorist haven in early 2002.
They've done everything, from providing security to the prime minister and NATO commanders in Kabul, to launching search-and-destroy missions in hostile territory far to the south.
The unit, with several U.S. counterparts, earned a Presidential Citation for heroism in battle in Afghanistan in 2002, but Canadians have heard few details of its accomplishments, due partly to its size.
Between the SEALs, the Green Berets, army Rangers, Marine recon, Delta Force and air force special operations units, the Americans have tens of thousands of special forces soldiers.
The Defence Department has never released figures, but it is believed that - even with a post-9/11 expansion - the Ottawa-area unit has fewer than 1,000 members.
The unit says its small size makes its members more vulnerable to identification and possibly retaliation, and it claims secrecy is one of the elements that sets it apart from other units of its kind.
With such specialized qualifications as Pathfinder and Ranger badges, many regular reconnaissance soldiers in Canada are considered on par with almost any U.S. special forces unit.
Canadian snipers - both regular force and JTF2 - are regarded as the world's best. One broke a 30-year-old record in 2002, killing an enemy soldier with his .50-calibre rifle from 2,443 metres - almost 21/2 kilometres.
Canada's elite and highly trained JTF2, which accepts fewer than one in 10 applicants, is considered among the best of its kind.
The nature of their bloody work - which can involve covert "hits" on enemy commanders and operatives - is another reason Ottawa doesn't like to talk about what its commandos do.
JTF2 kills people, and that runs contrary to many Canadians' idea that their military are strictly peacekeepers and conciliators.
Based at the Kandahar airport, the special forces troops are working under U.S. command, independently from Canadian soldiers running a provincial reconstruction team nearby or peacemakers patroling under NATO in Kabul.
"FACTA NON VERBA" = "DEEDS NOT WORDS"
Bravo! Now that's really reaching out to touch a scum.
When you care enough to send the very best.
---anyone have a handy trajectory chart for the .50BMG at that range--mid-range rise must be 40-50 feet---
All I can say is--'hey man, nice shot!'
This is a hard concept to wrap around a few words but I'll give it a shot.
Any military can be well trained but it is the execution of that training in combat that makes an Army a well oiled machine.
The small groups of soldiers working with the US forces are gaining experience far beyond any training. That experience will be returned to the home country to improve it's forces. That experience incudes ground and staff operations.
Now they know that they are effective heroes.
The "50 degree heat" is 50 C (122 F).
Leaving me wondering - if I say "awake on my airplane," will it mean anything??
I tried searching Guinness for this record.... http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/
;-)
I wish more canadians were like you. If we could work together more North America could accomplish anything.
Amen Brother!
If the liberals in canada had more knowlege about this, they would flip out. Almost all of the liberals (Which means most of them) want canadian troops out of Afgahanistan.
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