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From http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2006/07/23/troop-carrier060723.html 1300 22 July 2006.
As relatives in Canada await the arrival of the bodies of two slain soldiers, military commanders in Afghanistan are again defending the vehicles supplied to Canadian troops.
Corporals Francisco Gomez, 44, and Jason Patrick Warren, 29, died on Saturday when a suicide bomber rammed their eight-wheeled Bison troop carrier near the coalition base in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
The Bison is one of the more heavily armoured vehicles used in the Kandahar area, where suicide attacks and roadside bombs make every patrol potentially deadly.
But the Canadian military has faced some criticisms in the past from people who said its vehicles weren't sufficient to protect troops against the dangers they faced. Some of Canada's early casualties in Afghanistan were in Iltis light utility jeeps, which were dismissed by at least one grieving father as "made of pop cans."
Brig.-Gen. David Fraser, the commander of the Canadian-led multinational brigade based in Kandahar, said the troops are not being short-changed on armour.
The vehicles now used by Canadian troops include the Bison, the LAV-3 (another eight-wheeled armoured troop carrier) and the Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon heavy jeep.
"We have mitigated the risk, I think, as best any nation can," Fraser said.
"Our soldiers' protective equipment … has saved lives. We are second to no one in the world, and second to no one in this theatre [of battle], in what we've done to mitigate and provide our troops with what we can."
The bodies of the two corporals are to be flown home on Monday. Six Afghans were also killed in the attack, and eight other Canadian soldiers were wounded.
I'd have to agree that the armoured vehicles have been instrumental in saving lives over there. Not to mention the PPE (Ballistic eye wear, armoured plates, etc). Let's just hope that the media starts asking the wrong questions. (Ha! Like that ever happens!)
As relatives in Canada await the arrival of the bodies of two slain soldiers, military commanders in Afghanistan are again defending the vehicles supplied to Canadian troops.
Corporals Francisco Gomez, 44, and Jason Patrick Warren, 29, died on Saturday when a suicide bomber rammed their eight-wheeled Bison troop carrier near the coalition base in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
The Bison is one of the more heavily armoured vehicles used in the Kandahar area, where suicide attacks and roadside bombs make every patrol potentially deadly.
But the Canadian military has faced some criticisms in the past from people who said its vehicles weren't sufficient to protect troops against the dangers they faced. Some of Canada's early casualties in Afghanistan were in Iltis light utility jeeps, which were dismissed by at least one grieving father as "made of pop cans."
Brig.-Gen. David Fraser, the commander of the Canadian-led multinational brigade based in Kandahar, said the troops are not being short-changed on armour.
The vehicles now used by Canadian troops include the Bison, the LAV-3 (another eight-wheeled armoured troop carrier) and the Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon heavy jeep.
"We have mitigated the risk, I think, as best any nation can," Fraser said.
"Our soldiers' protective equipment … has saved lives. We are second to no one in the world, and second to no one in this theatre [of battle], in what we've done to mitigate and provide our troops with what we can."
The bodies of the two corporals are to be flown home on Monday. Six Afghans were also killed in the attack, and eight other Canadian soldiers were wounded.
I'd have to agree that the armoured vehicles have been instrumental in saving lives over there. Not to mention the PPE (Ballistic eye wear, armoured plates, etc). Let's just hope that the media starts asking the wrong questions. (Ha! Like that ever happens!)
