Master Cpl. Paul Franklin,
Pte. William Edward Salikin and
Cpl. Jeffrey Bailey.
(CP Photos)
Posted on 01/16/2006 5:07:06 PM PST by Clive
OTTAWA (CP) - A fresh battalion of Canadian troops head to some of the harshest climes of Afghanistan next month in the midst of an escalating insurgency to face an enemy they will see but will not know.
Sunday's attack that killed Canadian diplomat Glyn Berry and wounded three Canadian soldiers brought home with cold clarity the realities of a war that has evolved and shifted since Canada first joined the fight four years ago.
Canadians chased an elusive enemy in the months after Afghan-trained terrorists attacked New York and Washington. The Canucks were often targeted by wildly inaccurate rockets fired from makeshift launchers far from camp.
But now suicide bombers, roadside devices and insidious landmines strike with disturbing regularity - and effectiveness.
Under a multinational brigade led by a Canadian general, about half of the 2,200 troops arriving next month will change Canada's role in the country, taking their fight to the enemy in remote villages and mountains.
They will venture far from the airfield base where a monument fashioned after an Inuit Inukshuk memorializes Canadians killed in Afghanistan.
Combat units will work from forward operating bases - often remote, spartan camps close to suspected enemy strongholds, sometimes integrated with allied and Afghan troops, special forces soldiers and informed civilians.
Like the Canadians and other NATO and U.S. coalition forces already there, however, their greatest threat will come from the ghostlike enemy they don't know - the suicide bombers, roadside devices and insidious landmines that seem to come from nowhere.
Berry died when an explosives-laden vehicle turned into his convoy and blew up, destroying the armoured jeep in which he was a passenger. Soldiers said they had no warning of the attack.
His remains will be loaded aboard a Canadian Forces Hercules aircraft after a tarmac ceremony in Kandahar on Tuesday, a military spokesman said. Berry will be buried in his native Great Britain.
A grim Prime Minister Paul Martin said peace and stability make it essential that Canadians take on dangerous missions abroad.
"I believe that we do have a responsibility to the world outside of our borders," Martin said in Vancouver.
"When we're serving abroad, I think our men and women are entitled to know that they have the support of all Canadians. I have talked to all of those who have lost loved ones and I have never had one person raise with me the merit of Canada's involvement."
The Conservatives will not withdraw Canadian troops from Afghanistan if they win next Monday's federal election, the party's defence critic and potential defence minister, Gordon O'Connor, said Monday.
"Canada's made an international commitment to participate in the counter-terrorist operations in Afghanistan and we'll stand by that," the retired general said in an interview.
"We support the mission in Afghanistan because the terrorists came out of there, blew up the towers and killed 25 Canadians. Therefore, it's an attack on Canada and, from our point of view: you attack us, we attack back."
The 2,200 members of the 1st Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry Battle Group, also out of Edmonton, prepared to move in as the Canadian casualty count over 44 1/2 months reached nine dead, 26 wounded.
The new soldiers will start their mission in the relentless wind and biting cold of an Afghan winter and finish it in the choking dust and blistering heat of a desert summer.
Most of them will be based 20 kilometres south of the isolated city of Kandahar in the heart of Afghanistan's most conservative province.
The ancient trading depot, home to a million ethnic Pashtuns, was the birthplace of the fundamentalist Taliban regime that ruled the tortured country with an iron fist for five years.
The people the Canadians will encounter everyday, who smile, wave, shake their hands and pour them tea, are a complex yet pragmatic breed whose alliances and allegiances shift like the desert sands that surround them.
Some say winning hearts and minds is ultimately impossible in a country that has turned out the Mongols of Ghengis Khan, the British of history's greatest empire and the Soviet superpower, to name a few.
The daunting task of bridging the chasm will fall to a small group of engineers, medicos, diplomatic officers and civilian aid workers who take over from the 250-member provincial reconstruction team hit Sunday.
They will attempt to forge and maintain alliances, earn trust and respect and gather intelligence through liaisons like the meeting Berry held with local leaders just before his death. They will conduct outreach and training programs and school, water-well and other work projects.
They will do so in a dirt-poor country where there have been about 27 suicide bombings in four months.
It's a relatively new tactic for Afghan militants and one that has reinforced fears the country may be subject to more assaults modelled on those in Iraq.
The latest came in two attacks Monday:
-A suicide bomber on a motorbike drove up to a crowd watching a wrestling match in a border town, killing 20 people and wounding more than 30 others.
-A bomb hit a convoy of Afghan army trucks loaded with troops in the southern city of Kandahar, killing four people and wounding 16.
Fighting normally eases during the Afghan winter but the recent attacks point to a possible new strategy by pro-Taliban forces in Afghanistan.
Violence across southern and eastern Afghanistan spiked last year, leaving about 1,600 people dead, the most since U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban in 2001 for sheltering Osama bin Laden.
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Canada ping!
Please FReepmail me to get on or off this Canada ping list.
Amen
Our Canadian neighbors, despite being misguided over the years, (yes it is an understatement), have been and always will be there when we need them. It pains me and several close friends I have across the border re: the "wussification" (their words) of their proud country.
Flame away if you want.
I have trained with the RCAF and have nothing but respect for their ability, professionalism, and motivation (not to mention their forechecking skills and ability to down/quaff "Alberta Gatorade" after some spirited matches at Cold Lake, Alberta base rink.)
These troops are bloody well trained.
Ask the 101st with whom they served in 2002. Ask the Taliban who saw over 20 of their comrades die at long range from Canadian snipers' bullets. Perhaps ask the ones who are getting surprise visits by JTF2 teams.
Ask the US Navy with whom Canadian frigates and destroyers regularly form part of escort screens for US CVs and CVNs and with with whom Canadian frigates and destroyers have mounted, and commanded, interdiction patrols in the Gulf of Arabia.
Our people do their jobs professionally and well despite the criminal cutbacks in funding over the past three decades and despite the lack of recognition by Canadian civilians and the politicians that they elect.
I didn't notice any training deficiencies, nor have I seen any of their vehicles broke down on the side of the road.
Well said! Prayers for our guys and good hunting.
| Posted by NorthOf45 On News/Activism 12/07/2005 11:56:17 AM MST · 11 replies · 240+ views The StarPhoenix ^ | December 07, 2005 | Staff Writer Strong leader helps beef up Cdn. militaryThe StarPhoenix December 07, 2005 The appointment of the blunt-talking Gen. Rick Hillier as Chief of Canada's Defence staff last year was interpreted by military analysts as a signal a new era of renewal had begun for the Canadian Armed Forces. One clue that Hillier's determination that Canadian soldiers are no longer going to be sent into dangerous war zones without proper equipment came, strangely enough, the day Prime Minister Paul Martin went to Rideau Hall to set the election machinery in motion. On the morning the writ dropped, the Armed Forces issued a... |
I believe that what some, including myself, have issue with is the suggestion that Canadian soldiers are inadequately trained. I believe they are very well trained. Two of the three articles you refer to were posted by me and make no reference to poor training. We have abaolutely no argument with the fact that their equipment, for the most part, needs upgrading.
It will be cold Tuesday morning. The Canadian soldiers will march out of the dilapidated corrugated steel hangar, bear headed, swinging their arms just like a WWII newsreel, coming into the bright sunshine and on to the the concrete aircraft parking ramp. A Sergeant Major will bellow commands most Americans won't understand, and the battalion will eventually come to rest drawn up in two lines starting at the ramp of the dark gray Canadian C-130. Y'all's are darker than ours, with a black maple leaf on the tail.
The Canadian Colonel and the padre and some VIP from Ottawa will be at the bottom of the ramp. Words will be said, but many will be drowned out by C-17's or Ilyushins or Chinooks. Can't shut the runway down for memorial services.
When the orotory concludes a Bison with a big Red Cross on the side will back up between the two lines of troops and stop about 25 feet from the aircraft. The Bison will drop its ramp and Mr. Berry's coffin will be slowly and precisely carried up into the aircraft. After what seems like a very long time the Colonel and the padre and the VIP and the detail will come back out, the Sergeant Major will bellow, and the two lines will reform into a battalion formation. The C-130 will raise its ramp and crank up its inboard engines and slowly pull away.
Some will weep. Others will fix their eyes on the head of the soldier in front of them. Many will study the ugly brown mountain that dominates the northern skyline.
The C-130 will crank up its outboard engines and get out on the taxiway. A green Ford Ranger with a flashing Follow Me sign will lead it at good speed to the northeast. The troops will lose sight of it behind the Main Fire Station. When it comes back it will be surprisingly high, moving fast. The Sergeant Major will bellow, the troops will salute, and the C-130 will roar on past, in a hurry to get to Camp Mirage.
I hate ramp ceremonies.
Clive, I'm not blaming the troops, I blame the politicians.
Clintoon damn near ruined our military during his 8 years.
Is "inadequate training for the new equipment" any better?
Let me ask you something? In light of new 155 tows and new drones, and new trucks, would you have liked to see the equipment before going in country?
If your talking about new gear, then yes, there will be a learning curve. However, I don't believe the soldiers will be sent out into the field with the new kit until they are ready. In addition, a lot of the gear is not new to them. For example, the G-Wagon, Nyala, and drones (to some degree) have been used in Afghanistan for some time now. The 155 is another issue. I did read though that troops were being trained on them. I could be wrong though ... I'm just a civilian. : )
Sub-par equipment - yes..
Poor training - I don't think so.
Comparably equipped, our boys will go toe to toe with the best forces
in the world and do more than hold their own.
I don't doubt it a bit, my FRiend.
Good hunting to all in the fight.....bob
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