Canada to boost troops in Afghanistan
Additional 1,300 soldiers headed to dangerous region as Americans return
TORONTO - When Glyn Berry, a Canadian diplomat, was killed by a suicide bomber last month in Afghanistan, many here saw it as a sign of more bloodshed to come.
Canada, which has stayed out of the Iraq war, is ramping up its forces this month to patrol the most dangerous area of Afghanistan and to assume command of 6,000 NATO troops as the United States turns over more of the fight to its allies.
The handoff coincides with a spike in Iraq-style roadside bombs, ambush attacks and suicide bombings in Afghanistan. Military and political leaders here worry the Canadian public, already sour on America and the Bush administration's "war on terror," is not psychologically ready for news of casualties.
And some predict that Canada's higher profile in Afghanistan may bring attacks home, as in London and Madrid.
"I don't think it's sunk in to the Canadian public how the world has changed. There is a high likelihood we will have significant losses of our troops," said John Watson, head of CARE-Canada, a relief agency that has operated in Afghanistan since 1961.
"There is also a chance that we will have an attack in Canada. Unlike the States or the United Kingdom, we haven't had to deal with that kind of incident" in more than 40 years, he said.
Tough talk from top brass
Canada's military brass has stepped up the blunt rhetoric in a campaign to prepare the public. Gen. Rick Hillier, chief of defense, has called the Taliban in Afghanistan "detestable murderers and scumbags," unusually crude language for Canadians.
"This is a dangerous mission. There is an enemy. We have had casualties," Hillier said by telephone Thursday. "But what we want to achieve there is worthwhile. Things that are worth doing are sometimes dangerous."
Some see this as a shift in the mission of the Canadian military. Since the Korean War, Canadian forces have been deployed almost exclusively for peacekeeping. Canada stayed out of Vietnam, played a support role in the Persian Gulf War, and is proud of its image as a neutral party.
"We're not really aggressive. People around the world know us as peacekeepers, not as people who go out and seek conflict," said Marcel Durette, 52, as he ate lunch in downtown Toronto. "Canada going after the Taliban? I find that hard to believe."
"I think there will be more of an outcry if people start seeing body bags and coffins," said Andy Cherniak, 41, a counselor eating at a nearby counter.
‘No longer a peacekeeping operation’
Joel J. Sokolsky, who is dean of arts and teaches at the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario, said he thinks there will be public support for the Canadian mission "as long as the government is clear about what it is.
"The government must make it clear from the beginning that this is no longer a peacekeeping operation, it's a combination of counterinsurgency and reconstruction," he said.
But there has been no significant parliamentary debate, and Afghanistan "still is off the edge of the radar screen" of the Canadian public, said Stephen Northfield, foreign editor of the Globe and Mail newspaper.
"I don't think there is alarm yet," he said. "The Canadian public hasn't fully calibrated the level of risk. The Canadian involvement hasn't been that deep yet. And the change in the situation on the ground has been reasonably recent."
The death of Berry, 59, a political officer working on reconstruction projects in Afghanistan, has helped bring home the danger. Berry was the first Canadian diplomat killed overseas in 40 years. Three soldiers with him were badly injured when a suicide bomber struck their military convoy Jan. 15 near the southern city of Kandahar. The Taliban asserted responsibility for the attack.
U.S. reducing troop level
Canada has posted forces in Afghanistan since February 2002. But the Canadian contingent is set to increase to 2,200 from 900 by the end of February, and the troops have moved from their base in the capital, Kabul, to Kandahar, a region with heavy Taliban influence and frequent attacks by insurgents.
In March, Fraser will lead NATO's southern contingent of 6,000 troops, primarily Canadian, British and Dutch. The United States, with 19,000 troops in the country, has said it will reduce its forces to 16,500 this year.
Kandahar and southern Afghanistan have become increasingly dangerous as insurgents deploy tactics used in Iraq, including suicide bombings. There have been at least 15 such attacks since November, according to the Reuters news agency. After a bombing killed four U.S. soldiers Monday, a Taliban commander boasted of more attacks to come, according to Reuters. The Pentagon says there have been 266 U.S. fatalities in Afghanistan.
"They are copying tactics from Iraq because of their ineffectual tactics over the last two or three years," said Hilliard, who served in Afghanistan from February to August 2004. "They are trying to counter some progress in standing up an Afghan army and an Afghan government."
While warning about the dangers, Hilliard also describes the mission in terms more comfortable to the Canadian public.
"Our entire aim is to help Afghans rebuild their families so, in turn, families can rebuild their communities," he said. "We are helping build institutions."
Public sold ‘three D’s’
Echoing that line, the commander on the ground, Fraser, talks of the "three D's" -- defense, development and diplomacy.
Watson, whose relief agency kept working under the Taliban but now has withdrawn from Kandahar because of the danger, thinks that is unrealistic in southern Afghanistan.
"Development and diplomacy will get people shot," he said. "The military should be under no illusions that their posting is going to be the most dangerous since the Korean War. It is primarily a war-fighting exercise. They are dealing with an insurgency in that part of the country that is getting worse by the day."
Hilliard notes that other Canadian peacekeeping missions -- which include the Balkans, Congo, Somalia, Rwanda and Ethiopia -- have been dangerous. More than 100 Canadian soldiers have died in such missions in a half decade, including eight in Afghanistan since 2002.
"Canadian Forces have faced dangers before," Hilliard said. "They are ready for the job."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11418110/
Additional 1,300 soldiers headed to dangerous region as Americans return
TORONTO - When Glyn Berry, a Canadian diplomat, was killed by a suicide bomber last month in Afghanistan, many here saw it as a sign of more bloodshed to come.
Canada, which has stayed out of the Iraq war, is ramping up its forces this month to patrol the most dangerous area of Afghanistan and to assume command of 6,000 NATO troops as the United States turns over more of the fight to its allies.
The handoff coincides with a spike in Iraq-style roadside bombs, ambush attacks and suicide bombings in Afghanistan. Military and political leaders here worry the Canadian public, already sour on America and the Bush administration's "war on terror," is not psychologically ready for news of casualties.
And some predict that Canada's higher profile in Afghanistan may bring attacks home, as in London and Madrid.
"I don't think it's sunk in to the Canadian public how the world has changed. There is a high likelihood we will have significant losses of our troops," said John Watson, head of CARE-Canada, a relief agency that has operated in Afghanistan since 1961.
"There is also a chance that we will have an attack in Canada. Unlike the States or the United Kingdom, we haven't had to deal with that kind of incident" in more than 40 years, he said.
Tough talk from top brass
Canada's military brass has stepped up the blunt rhetoric in a campaign to prepare the public. Gen. Rick Hillier, chief of defense, has called the Taliban in Afghanistan "detestable murderers and scumbags," unusually crude language for Canadians.
"This is a dangerous mission. There is an enemy. We have had casualties," Hillier said by telephone Thursday. "But what we want to achieve there is worthwhile. Things that are worth doing are sometimes dangerous."
Some see this as a shift in the mission of the Canadian military. Since the Korean War, Canadian forces have been deployed almost exclusively for peacekeeping. Canada stayed out of Vietnam, played a support role in the Persian Gulf War, and is proud of its image as a neutral party.
"We're not really aggressive. People around the world know us as peacekeepers, not as people who go out and seek conflict," said Marcel Durette, 52, as he ate lunch in downtown Toronto. "Canada going after the Taliban? I find that hard to believe."
"I think there will be more of an outcry if people start seeing body bags and coffins," said Andy Cherniak, 41, a counselor eating at a nearby counter.
‘No longer a peacekeeping operation’
Joel J. Sokolsky, who is dean of arts and teaches at the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario, said he thinks there will be public support for the Canadian mission "as long as the government is clear about what it is.
"The government must make it clear from the beginning that this is no longer a peacekeeping operation, it's a combination of counterinsurgency and reconstruction," he said.
But there has been no significant parliamentary debate, and Afghanistan "still is off the edge of the radar screen" of the Canadian public, said Stephen Northfield, foreign editor of the Globe and Mail newspaper.
"I don't think there is alarm yet," he said. "The Canadian public hasn't fully calibrated the level of risk. The Canadian involvement hasn't been that deep yet. And the change in the situation on the ground has been reasonably recent."
The death of Berry, 59, a political officer working on reconstruction projects in Afghanistan, has helped bring home the danger. Berry was the first Canadian diplomat killed overseas in 40 years. Three soldiers with him were badly injured when a suicide bomber struck their military convoy Jan. 15 near the southern city of Kandahar. The Taliban asserted responsibility for the attack.
U.S. reducing troop level
Canada has posted forces in Afghanistan since February 2002. But the Canadian contingent is set to increase to 2,200 from 900 by the end of February, and the troops have moved from their base in the capital, Kabul, to Kandahar, a region with heavy Taliban influence and frequent attacks by insurgents.
In March, Fraser will lead NATO's southern contingent of 6,000 troops, primarily Canadian, British and Dutch. The United States, with 19,000 troops in the country, has said it will reduce its forces to 16,500 this year.
Kandahar and southern Afghanistan have become increasingly dangerous as insurgents deploy tactics used in Iraq, including suicide bombings. There have been at least 15 such attacks since November, according to the Reuters news agency. After a bombing killed four U.S. soldiers Monday, a Taliban commander boasted of more attacks to come, according to Reuters. The Pentagon says there have been 266 U.S. fatalities in Afghanistan.
"They are copying tactics from Iraq because of their ineffectual tactics over the last two or three years," said Hilliard, who served in Afghanistan from February to August 2004. "They are trying to counter some progress in standing up an Afghan army and an Afghan government."
While warning about the dangers, Hilliard also describes the mission in terms more comfortable to the Canadian public.
"Our entire aim is to help Afghans rebuild their families so, in turn, families can rebuild their communities," he said. "We are helping build institutions."
Public sold ‘three D’s’
Echoing that line, the commander on the ground, Fraser, talks of the "three D's" -- defense, development and diplomacy.
Watson, whose relief agency kept working under the Taliban but now has withdrawn from Kandahar because of the danger, thinks that is unrealistic in southern Afghanistan.
"Development and diplomacy will get people shot," he said. "The military should be under no illusions that their posting is going to be the most dangerous since the Korean War. It is primarily a war-fighting exercise. They are dealing with an insurgency in that part of the country that is getting worse by the day."
Hilliard notes that other Canadian peacekeeping missions -- which include the Balkans, Congo, Somalia, Rwanda and Ethiopia -- have been dangerous. More than 100 Canadian soldiers have died in such missions in a half decade, including eight in Afghanistan since 2002.
"Canadian Forces have faced dangers before," Hilliard said. "They are ready for the job."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11418110/
