Afghanistan

[jdobbin]

It should be highlighted that he doesn't say Go, and we will have peace. He says stay. In other words, we are wanted there by the Afghanis who are committed to peace.

The problem is that we can never leave and the Afghans and our allies will only be too happy having us sit at the pointy end of the stick forever.

[Higgly]

The problem is that we can never leave and the Afghans and our allies will only be too happy having us sit at the pointy end of the stick forever.

Of course, Karzai is quoted today by the CBC saying that he thinks Canada must stay to protect the world from terrorism. Of course he does. And I think Donald Trump should must me a cashier's cheque for one million yankee dollahs.

[jbg]

For the most part, that is a solid article.

Canadians can afford to think that this is a country that doesn't need a military as long as the U.S. is around to defend Canada. If Canada had any other country as their neighbours, this peacekeeping myth would never have taken shape.

Prime Minister Harper has shown real leadership on military issues.

Except for the gratuitous cheap shots at the Iraq operation, it is a good article, and one I agree with..

[jdobbin]

One soldier killed and three injured in two separate incidents.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/stor...?hub=TopStories

A Canadian soldier has been killed and four others wounded in two incidents in southern Afghanistan.

Brig-Gen. Guy Laroche, Canada's top commander in Afghanistan, confirmed that 24-year-old Cpl. Nathan Hornburg from Calgary was killed by a mortar shell while on patrol Monday.

Hornburg, a reservist with the King's Own Calgary Regiment, had been working to repair a broken tread on a leopard tank, Laroche said Tuesday morning.

Another soldier was wounded in that attack.

The incident occurred at 4:30 p.m. local time Monday, about 47 kilometres southwest of Kandahar.

Three other Canadian soldiers were wounded by a rocket-propelled grenade in a subsequent firefight in the same area.

If there is indeed an election in October, Afghanistan will be an issue. I doubt that Canadians will accept that a decision on extension and a vote should wait till spring.

Edited September 25, 2007 by jdobbin

[M.Dancer]

One soldier killed and three injured in two separate incidents.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/stor...?hub=TopStories

If there is indeed an election in October, Afghanistan will be an issue. I doubt that Canadians will accept that a decision on extension and a vote should wait till spring.

No need to hurry. We do need to give ample time to NATO if we decide to withdraw from the south, but we should rush lest we give the impression to our enemies that they can sway us, or that we don't have the heart to fight it out.

If we pull out, it should be to rest, train, regroup and to prepare for another round.

[jdobbin]

No need to hurry. We do need to give ample time to NATO if we decide to withdraw from the south, but we should rush lest we give the impression to our enemies that they can sway us, or that we don't have the heart to fight it out.

If we pull out, it should be to rest, train, regroup and to prepare for another round.

If an election does happen next month, the electorate will be keenly interested in the position of the parties. The Conservatives might find some support they receive is contingent on a clear answer as to what happens in 2009. Some might change their vote to another party if they felt giving a majority to the Tories was a mandate to stay until 2012.

Edited September 25, 2007 by jdobbin

[weaponeer]

If we pull out we will only enbolden these idiots, and it will only get worse. It is funny, the people who want to pull out, who cannot take the heat are all of the folks back home, those not over here, those not affected by this at all. You do not see soldiers at the tip of the spears saying "run, retreat, we surrender, it is too hard, we want to come home".

If we pull out, I will not be the Canadian soldier that shamed Canada, and left these people to their fate!!!

[jdobbin]

If we pull out we will only enbolden these idiots, and it will only get worse. It is funny, the people who want to pull out, who cannot take the heat are all of the folks back home, those not over here, those not affected by this at all. You do not see soldiers at the tip of the spears saying "run, retreat, we surrender, it is too hard, we want to come home".

I'd never expect a soldier to say that at all.

Still, Canadians look at the weak support our allies bring to the table as well as the failure of the Afghan government to take over their own security and wonder if we are being left hanging in the breeze. It certainly looks like that.

[jdobbin]

NDP says that Canadian military wrote Karzai's speech.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/070925/...da_ghostwriting

The NDP says it has documents that show the Canadian military effectively wrote Afghan President Hamid Karzai's speech to Parliament last year.

The party's defence critic, Dawn Black, says the papers indicate Karzai's address was an "elaborately staged political stunt."

Black held a news conference Tuesday to release access-to-information documents that suggest a team of military advisers prepared an initial draft of Karzai's speech, delivered on Sept. 22, 2006.

She quoted a situation report from Task Force Afghanistan as saying: "Team prepared initial draft of President (Karzai's) address to Parliament 22 Sep."

[old_bold&cold]

NDP says that Canadian military wrote Karzai's speech.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/070925/...da_ghostwriting

I guess what we have to note as well is that Jack Layton will say almost anything as well. Maybe that is why he thinks our military wrote this speech. Maybe he can tell us who writes his speeches, not that anyone would want to hire them.

[Army Guy]

Must be a slow day at the media outlets...What is the next headline going to read "Canada's military now controls the voice of Afganis people..." Come on people lets keep on feet on the ground, and think with both sides of our brain...

NDP have revised thier acusation, now admits speech was written by a thousand monkeys, in Israel....

Edited September 26, 2007 by Army Guy

[weaponeer]

Not sure who from whom you quoted this but it shows a startling lack of knowledge about Canada and the war.

To wit, Only one nation in the second world war had a semi automatic service rifle and the Lee Enfield was it match in every way. The Garand has a small magazine that makes a loud clunk when the last round is fired. On top of that, you couldn't use a charger clip to top up it's magazine.

The german soldier was armed with a bolt action rifle, and a very good one at that. Of course they also had sub machine guns, so did we, the Sten and the Thompson. They also had medium and heavy machine guns, so did we, the Bren and the Vickers. The one thing that neither the Germans, The canadians or the Americans had were assault rifles.

The Canadian army during the second world war was as well equipped as any in the field.

Actually the Germans developed a rather lethal assualt rifle, the SG44. After the war the Russians modified it and it became the AK47.......

[M.Dancer]

Actually the Germans developed a rather lethal assualt rifle, the SG44. After the war the Russians modified it and it became the AK47.......

Yes I know.....but the average german soldier didn't have one. Sort of like saying the Germans had the best jet fighters of the war......

[M.Dancer]

This should come as no surprise that the NDP's spin is that Karzai's speech was written by DND. It is perfectly natural for them to assume this seeing that their afghan policy is taken from The Taliban's talking points.

[bush_cheney2004]

Meanwhile...back at the ranch, it's "Death to Canada". Now there's something you don't see everyday:

...Afghan protesters shouted "Death to Canada" in a small village outside Kandahar city on Wednesday, but the Canadian military said it was not involved in raids that killed two local clerics.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/stor...?hub=TopStories

[jbg]

Meanwhile...back at the ranch, it's "Death to Canada". Now there's something you don't see everyday:

Well, they have to wish someone death. It's like when we say "good morning". Edited September 28, 2007 by jbg

[bush_cheney2004]

Well, they have to wish somoeone death. It's like when we say "good morning".

Methinks you are correct....such chants are the voices of the powerless. I don't ever remember screaming "Death to the Soviets" on patrol.

[Fortunata]

QUOTE(jbg @ Sep 26 2007, 10:05 PM) *

Well, they have to wish somoeone death. It's like when we say "good morning".

Methinks you are correct....such chants are the voices of the powerless. I don't ever remember screaming "Death to the Soviets" on patrol.

OK, that struck a funny bone especially considering the source. Hey jbg, is that how you spell someone in American?

[jbg]

OK, that struck a funny bone especially considering the source. Hey jbg, is that how you spell someone in American?

Oops, obvious typo. My bad.

[jdobbin]

Associated Press reports violence in Afghanistan is up.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21092845/

KABUL, Afghanistan - Violence in Afghanistan has spiked to its highest level since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion, with an Associated Press count of insurgency-related deaths this year surpassing the 5,000 mark and a U.N. report finding that attacks have risen by 20 percent.

A suicide attack Tuesday on a police bus in western Kabul killed 13 officers and civilians, including a woman and her two children who boarded the vehicle seconds before the explosion.

The bombing, which ripped the roof off the bus, was the second to target a bus in Kabul in four days. It came as insurgents turned up attacks against Afghanistan’s security forces during a year of record violence.

[jbg]

Associated Press reports violence in Afghanistan is up.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21092845/

Do you link it when violence levels drop?

[jdobbin]

Do you link it when violence levels drop?

I have repeatedly said here that I hope there will be an improvement in Afghanistan but I have yet to see it.

Do you think Associated Press doesn't have its facts right?

[jdobbin]

After criticizing Liberal MP about travelling to Afghanistan, a Tory entourage of cabinet ministers has shown up in Kabul.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/stor...1006?hub=Canada

One of the cabinet ministers visiting Afghanistan to meet with that country's leadership and Canadian troops says that roadside and suicide bombings in Kabul indicate that the situation is improving in the country.

According to the Canadian Press, International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda went before skeptical Afghan journalists and said roadside and suicide bombings indicate that the insurgents have made a shift in tactics. She said that shows the success of the NATO mission.

Oda said that she spoke with senior Afghan officials and they "identified that the difference in the challenge in Kandahar today can be seen as, to a certain extent, success.''

Oda said that such that although suicide bombings and roadside bombings were common in southern parts of the country, their shift to the capital shows that insurgents have become desperate.

They were there to spend some money.

http://canadianpress.google.com/article/AL...Dx6l8cjOUMn5x_A

International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda today announced a $25-million program to help feed people in southern Afghanistan.

The money will be used to fund the purchase of grain and cooking oil in areas hard hit by Taliban militants.

Canadian officials say this year alone 8,700 tonnes of food have been distributed to about 400,000 people.

It has been quite some time since the Tories have been in power and they are the only NATO country to allow Parliamentarians from travelling to Afghanistan. The Department of Defence says it is too dangerous. It seems only government ministers can go so they can come back and tell Parliament that the Opposition doesn't know what is actually happening on the ground.

Meanwhile:

One British soldier killed in the last day.

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article3036003.ece

And one American soldier.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/ny...0,6240963.story

There have been more suicide bombs in 2007 than in any previous year.

British commanders are now predicting a 30 year marathon mission.

Speaking exclusively to The Sunday Telegraph, Brig Lorimer said: "This is a counter-insurgency operation which is going to take time. It could last a decade. The counter-narcotic problem, which is huge, could take another 25 years. The British ambassador has said it will take 30 years. He has often said that this mission is a marathon, not a sprint and he is absolutely right."

[M.Dancer]

BERLIN — Germany's lower house of parliament Friday overwhelmingly approved extending the deployment of 3,000 troops and six reconnaissance jets in Afghanistan for another year, despite mounting public skepticism about the mission.

The vote in the 613-seat Bundestag — 454-79 with 48 abstentions — was the final step needed to extend the mission.

Public opinion polls recently indicated most Germans want the troops to come home following attacks on German forces and kidnappings of German citizens there.

But Chancellor Angela Merkel's government had pressed for a renewal, saying to pull out now would open the door to a possible return of the Taliban regime ousted in 2001 and endanger years of progress in rebuilding the country.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...ernational/home

[jdobbin]

Two Canadian soldiers were killed today in Afghanistan.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/stor...?hub=TopStories

wo Canadian soldiers and their Afghan interpreter are dead after a roadside bomb detonated.

Three other Canadian soldiers were wounded in Saturday's incident and were transported to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The dead have been identified as Cpl. Nicolas Raymond Beauchamp of the 5th Field Ambulance in Valcartier and Pte. Michel Levesque of the Royal 22nd Regiment, popularly known as the Van Doos.

Their ages and home towns have not yet been released by the military.

The incident occurred in Zhari District, about 40 kilometres west of Kandahar City.

The soldiers were north of a Canadian forward operating base near the village of Bhazar-e Panjawaii when the blast occurred shortly after midnight.

They were inside a LAV-III armoured vehicle.

The news come a few days after blacked out documents on detainees being tortured were released.

Battles continue late into the season as reports of Taliban engaging and being killed dominate the news today.

http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-11-17-voa9.cfm

The U.S. military in Afghanistan says U.S.-led coalition forces have killed 23 Taliban fighters and detained 11 suspects during an operation in southern Helmand province.

In a statement issued Saturday, the military said the fighting erupted while coalition troops conducted a weapons search in the Garmser district, which lies along a route for smuggling weapons from Pakistan.

In other violence, gunmen ambushed and killed at least nine policemen in western Ghor province. The provincial police chief, Shah Jahan Noori, said another five policemen were wounded in the attack that took place in the Shahrak district Friday, when police were trying to disarm an unruly armed gang.

While the Taliban take heavy casualties, the same can be said about Afghan police. AP news continues to report this has been the most violent year since the war began.

Unlike Iraq, there is no real surge taking place. In fact, the Japanese have decided they don't even want to be part of the Naval blockade anymore.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jGV70Y...chAu7kaTDucgVdA

Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda told US President George W. Bush here Friday that he would make his "utmost efforts" to restart a Japanese naval mission supporting US-led efforts in Afghanistan.

France has also resisted Canada's call for more troops.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...rnational/Asia/

France recognizes Canada's "sacrifices" in Afghanistan but is not yet prepared to increase its troop levels or humanitarian assistance there, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said yesterday.

But he stressed that France had no intention of pulling out of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization military mission, as some French commentators have suggested. "There is no question of our leaving Afghanistan," Mr. Kouchner said.

Earlier this week, a British soldier was killed in a similar roadside bombing and his interpreter was injured.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7095669.stm

A British soldier has died following an explosion in southern Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence has said.

Shortly before 1100 local time, a patrol was caught in a blast south of the district centre of Sangin in Helmand Province, the MoD added.

An Afghan interpreter was also injured and has been receiving treatment.

The soldier, who had been serving with the 2nd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment, was declared dead at the scene. Next of kin have been informed.

One other soldier from the U.S. died in the week of non-hostile event.

Meanwhile in Canada, An injured soldier's death was a reported suicide which again raises questions about the stress soldiers are under when they return.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...PStory/National

A Canadian soldier who had a foot blown off in Afghanistan has died of an apparent suicide, raising questions about the distress faced by combat troops.

Private Frédéric Couture of the Royal 22nd Regiment died on Wednesday at his parents' home.

His left leg had been amputated below the knee after he stepped on a land mine in December. His mother felt that he wasn't acting the same after he was sent home, according to former army sergeant Georges Dumont.

Mr. Dumont is part of a veterans support group that sued Ottawa for failing to provide proper treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.

It is obvious this war will continue to take its toll long after its over.

Edited November 17, 2007 by jdobbin