15 Jan 06 Glyn Berry Killed, 3 Others Injured in Afghanistan

[Spooks]

Hey-o,

As was said earlier I am home as an out-patient, but the other two are still back at the hospital. Please keep the prayers going for them as they both recover. Just thought I woulf stop in here and say how I am, but thank you for your prayers and wishes. Without them, I don't think I would have recovered so quickly, so thank you.

 

[Gunner]

Spooks,

Speedy recovery to you and your two mates. 

 

[BernDawg]

Good to hear from you.  Take care and tell the boys we're thinking about you all and praying for a speedy recovery.

 

[3rd Herd]

Excellent News Spooks,
good luck and I sincerely hope your recovery is SPEEDY.
Choo

 

[medicineman]

Good luck dude - get better soon.

MM

 

[Sapper6]

Spooks,

Good to hear!  Take 'er easy and keep the recovery process ticking along.

S6 

 

[vonGarvin]

SPOOKS!
Glad to hear you're on the mend!  Don't worry, you haven't left our thoughts since that day.  Keep at 'er!

Hauptmann

 

[sigtech]

Yes good to hear that you are on the mend . Gods speed

 

[mizzbehavingdez]

Hello,
This is Desirae hansen Pte.Salikins girlfriend. I know this is an old post but im not sure where to go, so i'll well write here. I want to thank everyone for all the support towards Pte. Salikin and all of the canadian soldiers. I am very proud of all of you, keep up the good work and know that I and fellow canadians support you.

 

[Scoobie Newbie]

Thank you.  Spread the word.

 

[Good2Golf]

Spooks, glad to hear you're on the mend.  I would like you to know that you looked good on TV and have done the CF proud in how you carried yourself in front of the Nation.  Des, you've got a keeper, there!

PRO PATRIA

Cheers,
Duey

 

[Franko]

UPDATE.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060319/franklin_speaks_060323/20060324?hub=Canada

Cdn. soldier who lost legs plans to stay in army

Updated Fri. Mar. 24 2006 6:30 AM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

The Canadian soldier who lost both his legs as the result of a suicide bombing in Afghanistan says he plans to stay in the army.

"The military has said that they will keep me on. There's lots of jobs for me, from desk jobs to training, and what I really enjoy is teaching," Master Cpl. Paul Franklin told reporters in Edmonton on Thursday.

Franklin was injured on Jan. 15 when an enclosed armoured jeep he was riding in along with two other Edmonton-based soldiers was struck by a suicide bomber.

"We were driving along the main road into Kandahar ... and as we passed the graveyard, we passed a taxi stand," he said.

"There was a taxi that suddenly pulled out and hit our vehicle at the left rear door, and that's just where Glyn Berry was sitting," Franklin said of the Canadian diplomat who lost his life in the attack.

"The suicide bomber exploded himself at that point, and all seven rockets exploded. That lifted our vehicle across the road on to its side and then 20 feet into the air," he said.

It was upon being thrown into the air and landing against a wall that Franklin looked down and saw that one of his legs was missing at the knee.

"I could see the femur and I could see the blood pouring out of it. I looked and up saw my leg with the foot about five or six feet away," Franklin said.

Franklin says he owes his life to a colleague who quickly tied a tourniquet to one of his shattered legs.

In fact, just days before, Franklin himself had trained his comrade how to use the brand-new tourniquet.

"We had spent a good hour going over the intricacies of this new tourniquet and how to use it properly, so it's kind of funny nearly three days later there he is putting it on me to save my life," Franklin said.

Franklin lost his left leg at the knee in the explosion, and was later forced to make the difficult decision to have his right leg amputated as well.

According to the most recent reports, Franklin has recently been moved to a facility where he has been undergoing physiotherapy and will soon be fitted for prosthetics.

There was never a doubt in his mind, Franklin told reporters, that he would return home.

"I made a promise to Audra that I would come home, no matter what," Franklin said of his vow to his wife.

Cpl. Jeffrey Bailey, who was the most critically injured in the suicide bomb attack, is also making tremendous progress in his recovery, according to his family.

Bailey suffered severe head trauma from the attack and spent weeks in a medically induced coma. Doctors had feared Bailey would not survive a long list of injuries that included devastating head injuries, including swelling of the brain, drug-resistant bacterial infections, pneumonia, burns and fractured ribs.

According to the most recent reports he is now eating on his own, has started physiotherapy, and is even beginning to walk with the assistance of medical staff.

Pte. William Salikin, of Grand Forks, B.C., also held a news conference recently. He told reporters his recovery efforts are now focused on physiotherapy and rehabilitation.

In his first public appearances since the attack, he asserted he would return to the war-torn nation if he had the opportunity.

"As a soldier you want to go on a tour whenever you can, and if the government so chooses that we go to Afghanistan, then I'm all for it," Salikin told reporters in Edmonton.

Despite his ordeal, Salikin, 22, said he felt "great about my time in Afghanistan ...you learn a lot over there." 

Glad to see that he wants to stay in.

Outstanding that Bailey is doing much better. Last O group I got in theater as to his condition....well, it wasn't good.

Regards

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

 
January 14, 2007 
Diplomat's death still felt by Cdn troops

By MURRAY BREWSTER
   
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) - It was a bold, stunning attack and the opening shot in what became Canada's bloodiest year on the battlefield in half a century.

Perhaps it was just blind luck, or maybe it was by design, but when a Taliban suicide bomber plowed his vehicle into the jeep carrying diplomat Glyn Berry he crippled Canada's reconstruction effort in southern Afghanistan.
It was a master stroke which paralyzed the country's diplomatic and redevelopment agencies for almost a year, in a war where rebuilding carries as much importance as reconnaissance.

For Canadian commanders, who are using a peaceful lull following months of fighting militants to push rebuilding programs, there was no understating the impact of Berry's death.
"What happened was we weren't able to provide as much reconstruction and redevelopment assistance as we should have been able to," said Brig.-Gen. Tim Grant, the commander of Canadian troops in Afghanistan.

Berry, the affable political director of Canadian reconstruction programs - nicknamed the "the professor" by his staff - died one year ago Monday when a suicide bomber drove into his lightly-armoured G-Wagon on a Kandahar boulevard. Three soldiers were badly wounded in the attack. 
Berry, 59, had just left a meeting with a local Afghan official and was in a convoy on his way back to the provincial reconstruction team (PRT) base when his vehicle was attacked and destroyed.

The events of Jan. 15, 2006, resonate today on many levels.
Not only did the attack brutally awake a sleepy Canadian public to the dangers of the mission ahead, but it forced Foreign Affairs and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) to reconsider what aid it could provide the Afghan people and how that assistance was provided.

It could also be argued that Berry's death set off a chain reaction of events that led to the crisis of confidence Canadians feel about the Afghan mission and prompted the political firestorm that enveloped Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative minority last fall.
The killing made it harder to recruit civilians into PRT positions, said Grant.

The two governmental agencies virtually pulled out of the PRT from the time of the attack until April of last year, stalling a number of programs. At the same time, CIDA halted spending on rebuilding programs amid a further wave of suicide bombings.
When staff finally did return to the ground, they were prohibited from travelling by road, forcing the army to arrange helicopter rides, even for short trips to nearby Kandahar Airfield, where the bulk of Canada's 2,500 troops are based.

The restrictions made accomplishing anything painfully slow.
The rules have been relaxed somewhat, especially after Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government was accused in the House of Commons of concentrating more on war and less on aid. Even now, civilian staff are unable to venture very far beyond the heavily fortified compound that is the provincial reconstruction base.

Despite that, the man who replaced Berry says they're still able to complete their mission even though they're often forced to ask Afghan authorities to meet with them behind the razor wire.
"Our job is slightly more difficult to do and perhaps takes a little more time to accomplish things," Gavin Buchan said in an interview Sunday.

"In a perfect world, of course, I'd love to be out there on a bicycle or walking down a street talking to people in a market. That is how the most effective diplomacy gets conducted. But you can't do that in the current environment. That's simply the reality. We work as effectively as we can given the security constraints."
Last fall, a senior military planner with the Defence Department told the Senate security and defence committee that the army was having a hard time getting CIDA to cough up already approved funding for Afghan redevelopment programs.

At the time, Liberal Senator Colin Kenny said the absence of aid spending put the lives of Canadian troops a risk. His reasoning was, the less improvement Afghans saw in their daily lives, the more likely they were to join the insurgency.
Grant denied that the troops faced any greater risk because of problems on the civilian side.

Throughout heavy fighting in the spring, summer and fall, 36 Canadian soldiers lost their lives and more than 200 were wounded. There is now, however, a peaceful rhythm on the streets of Kandahar and in some of the smaller surrounding communities.
"Those soldiers did not die in vain," Buchan said, pointing to the increasing number of building projects and a burgeoning number of shops.

Armed with a fistful of redevelopment plans and millions of dollars, the CIDA project officer in the city, Adrian Walraven, said he believes they're on the cusp of making substantial progress - albeit one year after Berry's death.
Colleagues and friends of the career diplomat will mark his death with a moment of silence at their regular morning briefing at the reconstruction base, located in a suburb of Kandahar city at an old fruit-canning factory.

Even today there is still a sense of personal loss among the civilian staff. A principle conference room at the base was renamed in his honour, complete with a picture of Berry and his framed obituary.

 

[Franko]

Not to besmudge Mr Berry's accomplishments nor his death but was the PRT really that reliant on civilian input when it comes to the reconstruction effort?

I'm quite sure that they were able to carry on the mission, regardless of anyone being killed or wounded.

Or am I completely out of 'er?

Regards

 

[Good2Golf]

RBD, the PRT was able to carry on for the most part without Mr. Berry's presence but the coordination of CIDA's other efforts (those with NGO's and other orgs not related to the PRT) in KH Province really suffered.  For a while after Glyn's death it was being reported that CIDA was even considering whether it would stay in Khandahar...

G2G

 

[Franko]

Ah....seen. Thanks for clearing that up.

Regards

 

[GAP]

Afghan suspected in killing is again locked up
GRAEME SMITH Globe and Mail
Article Link

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — A suspect in the death of a Canadian diplomat is back in Afghan custody after escaping police scrutiny for almost a year, in a case that illuminates the difficult struggle to bring the rule of law to a feudal land.

Pir Mohammed was first arrested about a year ago, when police traced him as the last documented owner of a minivan that exploded in Kandahar city on Jan. 15, 2006. The attack killed Glyn Berry, political director of the provincial reconstruction team, and was a shocking introduction for Canadians to the violence to come as the military geared up its mission in the volatile south. Since then, 44 Canadian soldiers have died fighting the Taliban.

Mr. Mohammed, who walked out of jail less than two days after his initial arrest after calling in favours with influential members of his tribe, was taken into custody again last month after being stopped at a checkpoint in Kandahar city. His vehicle — a black Toyota Surf, with plate number 599 — was listed as a potential bomb threat in a bulletin from Afghan intelligence.

“When we caught him again, we thought, maybe now we can investigate him properly,” said Captain Sher Ali Farhad, the Afghan National Police officer who led the initial criminal investigation of Mr. Mohammed. “We thought maybe now the police are strong.”
More on link

 

[GAP]

We smirk self righteously when we read this article, especially about letting the guy go for a week. Is it really any different here? How many judges/politician's/ powerful community leaders children/staff/themselves been quietly let go, misjudged, ignored by the local police forces in Canada (and the US). When the crime is grievous enough, there is a big hue and cry about about how the justice system does not discriminate. Maybe that's because we are surprised the police finally charged little Johnny/Jane.

 

[Nfld Sapper]

Article Link

News Release
Release of Board of Inquiry (BOI) Report: Suicide Bomber – Kandahar Afghanistan - 15 January 2006
CEFCOM/COMFEC NR–07.042 - October 23, 2007

OTTAWA - The Canadian Forces today released the findings of the BOI which examined the suicide bomber attack that killed Canadian Diplomat Glyn Berry and seriously injured Master-Corporal Paul Franklin, Corporal Jeffrey Bailey and Private William Salikin on 15 January 2006 at Kandahar, Afghanistan.

Convened on 7 February 2006, the Board of Inquiry comprised four Canadian Forces members, one representative from the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and four advisors. The Board was directed to make findings about the factors contributing to the death and injuries to personnel involved in the attack and recommend measures to improve general operational readiness and effectiveness related to such incidents. Throughout this process, the Board interviewed witnesses, reviewed reports and researched pertinent documents and information.

The Report is comprehensive and concluded that the death of Mr. Berry and the serious injuries of the three soldiers were attributed to unpredictable hostile action. The attack occurred as the convoy in which they were travelling was returning from a planned Leadership Engagement Operation where they met a nearby District Chief and a local Police Chief. “The Board of Inquiry findings and recommendations are conclusive,” said General Rick Hillier, Chief of the Defence Staff. “I am confident that the Board members have met their objectives and that their recommendations will help to reduce the likelihood of similar attacks in the future against Canadians in Afghanistan.”

A Board of Inquiry is an administrative inquiry convened to examine and report on complex or significant events. Through its findings and recommendations, the Board can propose measures that might prevent the possibility of recurrence but has no authority on criminal or civil liabilities. A summary of the Board of Inquiry final report is available at: http://www.forces.gc.ca/site/focus/15JAN06/index_e.asp.

Minutes of Proceedings, Part I

Minutes of Proceedings, Part I

 

[GAP]

Inquiry finds Glyn's death in Afghanistan 'not preventable'
Meagan Fitzpatrick CanWest News Service Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Article Link

OTTAWA -- There was no way to prevent the death of a Canadian diplomat in Afghanistan, a report by National Defence has concluded.

A board of inquiry report released Tuesday determined that the death of Glyn Berry and the serious injuries suffered by three Canadian soldiers in 2006 were the result of "unpredictable hostile action."

Mr. Berry, a diplomat with the Department of Foreign Affairs, and the soldiers were traveling in a four-vehicle convoy of "G" Wagons, on Jan. 15, 2006, when they were attacked by a suicide bomber in Kandahar.

National Defence launched an inquiry soon afterwards to investigate the factors that contributed to the death and injuries and to make recommendations on how to improve "general operational readiness."

The five-member board interviewed more than 50 witnesses and reviewed 18 different reports on the deadly incident.

"The board found that the death and injuries were incurred as a result of hostile action (i.e a suicide bomber) in a special duty area. The dead and injured personnel were clearly on duty at the time of the attack. Equally certain, the death and injuries were attributable to military service and service to the government of Canada," the report states. "The incident was not preventable."

The board makes nine recommendations, among them is the suggestion that "G" Wagons be tested against improvised explosive devices (IED) to determine if any modifications are required. The board did say, however, that the witnesses they interviewed expressed confidence in the "G" Wagon, that it handles well on the road and provides adequate protection.

"Nonetheless, in high-risk areas or in more open country, more heavily armoured vehicles (e.g. Nyala) would be preferable," the report said.

The board said it heard from witnesses many recommendations to improve pre-deployment training. They suggested more emphasis is needed on how to drive in dangerous regions (speed manoeuvres for example), crowd control, and on how to handle chaos and stress in situations where there are mass casualties and severe injuries.

"The board of inquiry findings and recommendations are conclusive," said Gen. Rick Hillier, chief of the defence staff, in a statement. "I am confident that the board members have met their objectives and that their recommendations will help to reduce the likelihood of similar attacks in the future against Canadians in Afghanistan."

Gen. Hillier is currently in Afghanistan visiting Canadian troops.

Mr. Berry is the only Canadian diplomat that has been killed in Afghanistan. Seventy-one soldiers have died.
More on link