15 Jan 06 Glyn Berry Killed, 3 Others Injured in Afghanistan
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I have to wonder out loud whether they targeted this PRT fellow on purpose and if so what kind of leak there may be.
Arctic Acorn
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CFL said:
It may not be a leak at all...It might just be as easy as, "you there, stay parked on this route and slam into the first NATO convoy you see..."
Targeted or random, the effects are the same.
Get well soon, troops.
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Still, gotta wonder if this was a lucky strike or not - considering they got the top guy the Canadians were protecting?
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Hmmm ..... still gotta wonder? Remember the suicide attack on Cpl Murphy - that came directly after Canadian and coalition action a few weeks before. Maybe the guys carrying out the attacks are stupid, but not their commanders.
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Based on this bit from CTV ("Berry and the soldiers were about a kilometre southeast of Kandahar when a nearby vehicle-borne bomb exploded as it approached a crowded bus stop on the main road to the camp on Sunday."), it's not impossible that the car-bomb was destined for the bus stop, and our guys were unlucky.
Then again, that presumes the media got it right....
Then again, that presumes the media got it right....
http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2006/01/15/afghan-deaths060115.html
Medic put tourniquet on his own severed leg
[Edit]' He applied his own tourniquet, and tried to check on the others'
javascript
layVideo('mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/01/15/ctvvideologger3
CTV Interview with Soldiers wife
Medic put tourniquet on his own severed leg
[Edit]' He applied his own tourniquet, and tried to check on the others'
javascript
layVideo('mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/01/15/ctvvideologger3CTV Interview with Soldiers wife
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That's awesome to hear. Although its the first time any specific injuries were reported.
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combatcamera said:
There is no indication that the PRT was targetted, let alone a specific member of the PRT. It is important to understand that he was exactly that - a member of the PRT, which includes soldiers, FAC, CIDA, and RCMP.
Given that this was the 4th incident in the general area in a 24 hour period, it is unlikely that this was a targetted attack. Early analysis indicates that this was part of a concerted effort against Coalition Forces - and hence the targetting directive given by the enemy was probably related to convoy size more than anything else.
The injured soldiers will be evacuated to GE this morning (Z time).
Dave
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What do you say, eh? God, I really feel for their family and friends and my thoughts and prayers go out to them. Glyn, you've finally found peace after working for it for so long. Master Cpl. Paul Franklin of 1 Field Ambulance, you do the worm on a stick proud, may you recover quickly. Repsect.
Pte. William Salikin and Cpl. Jeffrey Bailey, heal well soldiers.
Mike C.
GonzoScribe
Pte. William Salikin and Cpl. Jeffrey Bailey, heal well soldiers.
Mike C.
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God rest Mr Berry and our support to his family: anybody who takes his chances alongside our soldiers deserves nothing less than our full respect and support: it's clear that the PRT folks understand that. Thank God that there were no other losses amongst the troops. The clearsighted action of the medic in applying the tourniquet to his severed limb shows, again, the high quality of people that we have serving in the field portion of the CFMS. Our thoughts are with all the families dealing with fear, confusion and loss: I wish a speedy reunuion for the injured with their families.
There is something very ironic here. On Saturday, I attended the CISS seminar here at CFC on the Three Block War. One of the guests in the audience was a retired Canadian general who criticized Foreign Affairs for not having enough real interest in what was going on in the "3D&T" effort. He even suggested obliquely that they might not actually have a presence in Kandahar. A later platform speaker was a Foreign Affairs rep who is well know to us here at the College as a guest lecturer, and has a considerable working relationship with the military. She explained the challenges faced by Foreign Affairs (and indeed all GoC agencies other than the CF) in sourcing people for missions and PRTs. One thing she stressed was that the idea of risk acceptance was not as high as it is in the CF. She went on to say (and this is quite weird now, to think about...) that she fully expected to have to deal with the death or serious injury of a deployed diplomat. It would be the first time for Foreign Affairs, and she stated very clearly that she was not looking forward to it.
Well, a few hours later.......
Like most other people here, I hope that this loss does not cause a case of cold feet at the political level, that leads us to abandon the effort in Afghanistan after all that has been done and all the sacrifices made. That would not honour the loss of Mr Berry, nor of any of the other Canadians injured or killed there. We are up against a determined and desperate enemy of the Afghan nation (and by extension an enemy of what we are working for in that country) who, as PPCLI guy points out, fully understands info ops. Through sympathizers and operatives here in Canada, they easily monitor the currents of public and political opinion and understand how to exploit them (Both sides were doing this in FRY in 94: I experienced it first hand-its not new and it's not difficult). They are watching right now to see the results.
Hopefully this incident will show the strengths of our country, not it's weaknesses, because it won't be the last one.
Cheers
There is something very ironic here. On Saturday, I attended the CISS seminar here at CFC on the Three Block War. One of the guests in the audience was a retired Canadian general who criticized Foreign Affairs for not having enough real interest in what was going on in the "3D&T" effort. He even suggested obliquely that they might not actually have a presence in Kandahar. A later platform speaker was a Foreign Affairs rep who is well know to us here at the College as a guest lecturer, and has a considerable working relationship with the military. She explained the challenges faced by Foreign Affairs (and indeed all GoC agencies other than the CF) in sourcing people for missions and PRTs. One thing she stressed was that the idea of risk acceptance was not as high as it is in the CF. She went on to say (and this is quite weird now, to think about...) that she fully expected to have to deal with the death or serious injury of a deployed diplomat. It would be the first time for Foreign Affairs, and she stated very clearly that she was not looking forward to it.
Well, a few hours later.......
Like most other people here, I hope that this loss does not cause a case of cold feet at the political level, that leads us to abandon the effort in Afghanistan after all that has been done and all the sacrifices made. That would not honour the loss of Mr Berry, nor of any of the other Canadians injured or killed there. We are up against a determined and desperate enemy of the Afghan nation (and by extension an enemy of what we are working for in that country) who, as PPCLI guy points out, fully understands info ops. Through sympathizers and operatives here in Canada, they easily monitor the currents of public and political opinion and understand how to exploit them (Both sides were doing this in FRY in 94: I experienced it first hand-its not new and it's not difficult). They are watching right now to see the results.
Hopefully this incident will show the strengths of our country, not it's weaknesses, because it won't be the last one.
Cheers
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News this morning says that the Pte and Cpl are still in critical condition, and MCpl Franklin has lost a leg as a result of the blast.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060116/afghanistan_update_060116/20060116?hub=TopStories
Maggie
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060116/afghanistan_update_060116/20060116?hub=TopStories
Maggie
GK .Dundas
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well said DueyDuey said:
I've been thinking we tend on this board to make fun of the diplomats aka "cookie- pushers" but in this kind of war we find ourselves in. They're on the front line as well
If war is a plague if you will then soldiers are santation worker cleaning up and the diplomats are the Doctors seeking to cure and comfort the afflicted.
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No, the injured soldier in question is Cpl Jeffrey Bailey seen here: http://www.combatcamera.forces.gc.ca/netpub/server.np?find&catalog=photos&template=detail_e.np&field=itemid&op=matches&value=10700&site=combatcamera
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pbi, I think there have been a couple of other CDN diplomats killed abroad (not counting at least one I know of who was murdered as a result of a robbery), though that goes back over 50 years - one in Egypt in '56 and another elsewhere, I forget. I think it was an article today by Sean Maloney that mentions the other incidents, not that it's any comfort to Mr. Berry's family.
However memory is short, and though our diplomatic pers are often posted to potentially dangerous spots, they don't always get the best of security briefs (though the MPs are pretty good about trying to ensure they get the best info - in the posts that have MPs). FAC pers, and OGD foreign service pers, tend to be a bit complacent at times. I think it's an unwritten policy at FAC to downplay risk, or sometimes to ignore it completely.
It sounds like Mr. Berry was fully aware of the risk he was undertaking. That puts him in a minority of foreign service officers, if my limited contact with them is any indication. The majority of them seem trust in our "Canadian-ness" as protection - from political violence at least.
In any case, as far as the Army is concerned, Mr. Berry was one of "us."
Godspeed Mr. Berry, and prayers for the wounded three.
However memory is short, and though our diplomatic pers are often posted to potentially dangerous spots, they don't always get the best of security briefs (though the MPs are pretty good about trying to ensure they get the best info - in the posts that have MPs). FAC pers, and OGD foreign service pers, tend to be a bit complacent at times. I think it's an unwritten policy at FAC to downplay risk, or sometimes to ignore it completely.
It sounds like Mr. Berry was fully aware of the risk he was undertaking. That puts him in a minority of foreign service officers, if my limited contact with them is any indication. The majority of them seem trust in our "Canadian-ness" as protection - from political violence at least.
In any case, as far as the Army is concerned, Mr. Berry was one of "us."
Godspeed Mr. Berry, and prayers for the wounded three.
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