Posted on 09/07/2007 3:30:42 AM PDT by Clive
OTTAWA -- Canadian soldiers and their allies in southern Afghanistan face added risks because some NATO countries are not supplying enough troops and equipment, the head of the alliance's military committee said Thursday.
Gen. Ray Henault, formerly Canada's defence chief, also said some NATO members are making it tougher on their comrades in the south by restricting where their troops can operate. With other countries not deploying soldiers to the front lines in Kandahar and its neighbouring southern provinces, Canada and its Dutch, British and U.S. allies are left to face the toughest fighting and heaviest casualties alone.
"Shortfalls do create additional risks and we try to reduce those as much as possible," Gen. Henault said shortly after he arrived with the 26 chiefs of defence of the alliance for three days of meetings here and in Victoria, "and we also encourage nations to reduce their limitations on troop movements [through] what we call 'caveats.'"
"Canada has no caveats, and so that's very commendable, quite frankly," he said, adding that the "reduction of caveats, especially in the geographic sense, are what we consider to be a force multiplier and help our commanders on the ground to do their jobs that much better."
Canada has repeatedly lobbied NATO allies to lift their caveats, complaining that nations with such restrictions are not shouldering their fair share of the fighting in the south.
The countries usually singled out -- France, Germany, Spain and Italy -- counter that they can't simply abandon other parts of Afghanistan when the going gets tough in the south because their areas of responsibility would become vulnerable to insurgents.
However, it has become evident in recent months that areas such as the Panjwaii district west of Kandahar -- previously secured by Canadian-led NATO forces and touted as a success story -- have fallen vulnerable to Taliban infiltrators, who managed to kill Canadian troops with roadside bombs.
"We are aware of instances where we have not had sufficient troops in a particular region or particular area to maintain those gains, to consolidate them," Gen. Henault said.
Gen. Henault has cultivated a reputation as a consummate diplomat and bureaucrat, a defuser of controversy. He is every bit the opposite of the outspoken Gen. Rick Hillier, who succeeded him as Canada's defence chief and who is hosting his counterparts here.
But, shortly after his plane touched down from Brussels, Gen. Henault bluntly confronted both the caveats controversy and a second major headache that has dogged NATO since it began sending troops to Afghanistan five years ago: that some member countries are not living up to their original promises of equipment and personnel.
The Netherlands is mulling over a pullout of its 1,500 troops next year, while Canada could end its combat commitment by February 2009. Gen. Henault said the generals won't meddle in internal politics, but not before adding that he hopes the two countries, which between them have 4,000 troops deployed in southern Afghanistan, would stay the course.
"We're certainly hopeful that Canada will find a way to continue operating in Afghanistan, again because of what Canada represents to the international community," he said. "We're certainly focused on what the Dutch decision will be ... we're hopeful that they will also find ways of continuing to operate in Afghanistan, if that's possible."
The Dutch parliament must vote to extend its military commitment, which will otherwise end in August 2008. The Harper government has said Canada's 2,500 troops won't continue combat operations in Afghanistan beyond a February 2009 commitment unless there is a consensus in Parliament to extend the mission. The Liberals have accused the government of essentially leading NATO along by not formally giving notice of its intention to leave by the previously announced withdrawal deadline.
Gen. Henault said NATO has received no official word on Canada's withdrawal plans, and would not say how the alliance would plug any void created by a Canadian pullout.
"A lot of things can happen in 18 months," he said.
Gen. Henault issued a pointed reminder that political deadlines imposed in member countries were utterly divorced from the imperatives within Afghanistan. Training enough indigenous army and police personnel to provide security must be a long-term commitment, he said.
"There isn't a date you can set on that. It's an end state."
Planning efforts to ensure NATO has enough soldiers and equipment is an ongoing task for the organization's officials in Mons, Belgium, Gen. Henault said. It is a topic that is "very, very keenly debated" by his committee and the North Atlantic Council, the alliance's governing body to which the generals report.
"We remind nations at my level, as well as the secretary-general level, on a continuous basis of the responsibility that the nations have after having signed up for the Afghan mission, and the statement of requirement that was established: You fill the statement of requirement to provide the capabilities that are needed by the commander to do his job on the ground."
He lauded Canada's sacrifices and the "tremendous" leadership it has shown in Afghanistan.
He said NATO was determined "to stay the course with the alliance members and their partners as well as the international community ... to go as long as possible to satisfy the requirements of what we have signed up to do."
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Boot those Nations out of NATO. No troops no membership.
LLS
NATO is kaput, and essentially has always been thus; it is a system to rip off the US for protection. The best of NATO just kicks in the bare minimum, and most take a pass.
Faahhgeddabaaht it.
We need to start up a “coalition of the willing” and get on with the war. The response to the rest should be just “LEAD, FOLLOW, or get OUT OF THE WAY”.
Wonderful tagline, fanfan :)
> The countries usually singled out — France, Germany, Spain and Italy
Hmmmmmmmm... these guys have been aligned in the past, within living memory. Vichy France, Franco’s Spain, The Third Reich and Facist Italy. Coincidence?
Thanks Bahbah.
A Stephen Harper quote from his speech at the wear red rally on Parliament Hill.
:-)
Wasn’t the left clamoring for us not to go it alone in Afghanistan (and Iraq), and we had to bring in NATO. It is great to see how successful that approach has been, Ha Ha.
FR WAR NEWS!
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