Canadians in Afstan criticized/No US troop reduction

[MarkOttawa]

From the Baltimore Sun, Jan. 7:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-te.afghanistan07jan07,0,3288686.story?page=1&coll=bal-attack-headlines

A senior U.S. Special Forces officer said the Canadians, even though they have tanks and light armored vehicles, refuse to dismount on foot patrols, which are considered more risky but more productive in establishing relationships with the local population...

One Special Forces officer, an adviser with the Afghan army, told of asking the Canadians for help in regaining the initiative in battle. "They refused to cross the river" to help, the officer said in a cold fury. "It is disturbing."...

John Morris, a spokesman for Canada's Expeditionary Forces Command in Ottawa, said it is "absolutely not true" that Canadians do not patrol on foot. He could not comment on any specific cases but insisted that Canadian forces operating in Afghanistan "are not subject to any geographic or movement restrictions."..

This story, Afghan war needs troops, also seems to be the origin of the idea that the US will be reducing troop strength in Afstan to support the "surge" in Iraq.

...a U.S. Army infantry battalion fighting in a critical area of eastern Afghanistan is due to be withdrawn within weeks in order to deploy to Iraq...

Conway [Marine Corps Commandant] said, he favored dispatching a Marine battalion here, a decision that must be approved by the new defense secretary, Robert M. Gates, and by the president.

"It has to be made pretty soon," Conway said. "We can't jerk the troops around and say, 'Hey, oh, by the way, you're going to Afghanistan in February.'"..

The MND then looked rather silly in this CP story:
Canada hopes U.S. won’t cut troops in Afghanistan
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Canada/552487.html

Canada’s defence minister is hoping the United States won’t shift combat troops from Afghanistan to boost its war in Iraq, although America’s top military official says it has no intention of doing so.

Gordon O’Connor said Friday that the possibility of fewer troops in Afghanistan was the main question he had regarding U.S. president George W. Bush’s plan to boost forces in Iraq by 21,500 troops.

"I don’t know if there will be any impact," he said after a speech to the Halifax Chamber of Commerce.

"My hope is they won’t draw any troops away from Afghanistan to reinforce Iraq. . . . That’s the only thing I’d think about."

The chair of the U.S. joint chiefs of staff said Friday there’s no plan to reduce its military presence in Afghanistan.

U.S. General Peter Pace, speaking at the Senate armed services committee, said the units going into Iraq "were already in the pipeline and they will be moved forward in the pipeline in a couple of months."

He said there are about 22,500 troops in Afghanistan right now and that won’t change, adding: "We will be able to maintain that."

Pace also testified that if it’s necessary, the U.S. military could draw from the National Guard and reserves to send more troops to Afghanistan....

From an LA Times story:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-gates13jan13,1,5040851.story?coll=la-headlines-world

Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, indicated that he was open to raising troop levels in Afghanistan as well as Iraq. Despite concerns that U.S. land forces are overstretched by their growing commitment in Iraq, the Pentagon could sustain an increase of forces in Afghanistan as well, he said...

The US troop reduction idea also produced this in the Crvena Zvezda Jan. 13:
http://www.thestar.com/News/article/170771

It's known that Bush's plan to dispatch 21,500 new troops to insurgent-ridden Baghdad and Anbar province means pulling an infantry brigade (up to 1,000 soldiers) out of eastern Afghanistan. The timing couldn't be worse, U.S. military officials have told U.S. reporters...

Yet the Afghan front is to be deprived of troops in order to bolster the failed mission in Iraq, says Logan [foreign policy analyst at the Cato Institute]: "There has always been an ambiguity of goals in Afghanistan."..

Nice effort to suggest (falsely) the US is going to leave Canada holding the Afghan bag--and undercut support for the mission.

Mark
Ottawa

 

[North Star]

The comrades have to do something! Support for the mission is back over 50%!

 

[Badanai]

Funny how Americans make this comment. I have worked with and against them and they don't get out of there trucks. Besides with Americans sending more troops to Iraq and bring embarrassed that the Ethiopian Army attack Somalia and kicked ass. They had to show some force there and uses a Gun ship to attack so called taliban forces in Somalia the Americans have to get some good press some how! My 2 cents

 

[midget-boyd91]

Funny how Americans make this comment. I have worked with and against them and they don't get out of there trucks. Besides with Americans sending more troops to Iraq and bring embarrassed that the Ethiopian Army attack Somalia and kicked ***. They had to show some force there and uses a Gun ship to attack so called taliban forces in Somalia the Americans have to get some good press some how! My 2 cents

I don't know where to begin with this. You need to research much much more before you put your "2 cents" in. There have never been claims of Taliban inside Somalia.
And you should watch what you say about Americans here. They are fighting and dying the same way we are.
Use your head and read more.

 

[Infanteer]

I think the last thing we need is a pissing match....

 

[Badanai]

I don't know where to begin with this. You need to research much much more before you put your "2 cents" in. There have never been claims of Taliban inside Somalia.
And you should watch what you say about Americans here. They are fighting and dying the same way we are.
Use your head and read more.

Ok there Midget_boy not taliban...  al-Qaida ... I should uses my head.. What ever

 

[Exarecr]

People please! To even discuss this "unconfirmed" report from a News source that is at best middle of the pack is silly and does indeed resemble a "pissing contest". We all know how well our Regiments have fought to date so every one just chill would you please. Got to go, the Leafs just tied Vancouver.

 

[MarkOttawa]

Exarecr: "Tonight one can like the Leafs"
http://toyoufromfailinghands.blogspot.com/2007/01/tonight-one-can-like-leafs.html

Was not trying to start a pissing match, but just to point out what a US paper of some significance was reporting and to see if there was informed (within allowable limits) response.

And the story clearly was read in Canada, as the Crvena Zvezda  piece indicates even if the reporter does not know the difference between a battalion and a brigade.

And note this from the NY Times today:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/13/world/asia/13afghan.html?ref=todayspaper

“They bombed our orchards and fields and we have nothing now,” said Hajji Abdul Wahab Kutaisi, 65, a farmer from Pashmul. “They made a road through my land.” ..

His house was destroyed in the fighting and he and his extended family now live in two rented rooms in Kandahar. He said he had not received any compensation.

He was sitting with several other men on the stony ground in the Panjwai district police station waiting for permission from the military to work in his fields, close to a Canadian military checkpoint. “When we don’t inform them, they shoot at us,” he said. Minutes after he spoke a Canadian tank fired a round from the nearby base, shattering the calm, sunny morning [emphasis added]...

Sperwan Ghar, the district center of Panjwai, is a quiet, country one-street town, with small shops, two schools and a police station. For the NATO forces here, which are led by Canada [emphasis added], the town, at least, is a success story. By December it was peaceful, commerce had returned, the school was repaired and children were back in class.

Yet the place looks like a fortified camp, with soldiers and sandbags blocking the street, an armored vehicle parked outside the school, and guard posts on all the hills looking down into everyone’s yard. The local police admit the guard posts are not popular because they violate one of the most important codes of behavior for the Pashtun: privacy and respect for their women...

After suffering 13 suicide bombings in 14 days in Kandahar, some Canadian soldiers had to be repatriated because they were reacting badly to the stress [emphasis added], according to one
diplomat in Kabul...

A post on the Times story, and the credibility of the reporter, here:
http://toyoufromfailinghands.blogspot.com/2007/01/afstan-differing-takes-on-essentially.html

Mark
Ottawa

 

[Infantry_wannabe]

I've seen garbage media reports like this a couple times, denigrating Canadian soldiers. If Canadians are somehow more nervous about taking risks then why have they suffered so many casualties in Afghanistan? I smell BS.

The Canadian troops are as good as any in NATO. But since Canada is inaccurately seen around the world as a pacifist paradise with no military history beyond peacekeeping, it's understandable why Americans might buy the idea. It's stupid and wrong, but considering that our government has been promoting an image of Canada as purely peacekeepers it's definitely not surprising. But this is nothing new. Canada has a long proud military history, and a long history of being the unsung heroes (ie. see every American depiction of the Second World War: Canadians don't exist).

But I wonder about Afghans expressing this idea. It would be a good strategy for the Taliban to promote the idea that Canadians aren't strong enough to defeat them. If the population believes this then naturally they'll back the Taliban, seeing them as the better side to bet on. I'm betting that is what is behind any such comments:Taliban propaganda.

Let's just hope the Taliban believe their own propaganda. It reminds me of an old quote: "The dumber people think you are, the more surprised they're going to be when you kill them."

To all the troops serving in Afghanistan: keep up the good work. There are people who appreciate it and know what you do. Come home safe.

 

[Infantry_wannabe]

Also, what does one unnamed diplomat from an unnamed country know about Canadian "stress." What kind of source is that? No other NATO troops have post-traumatic stress?

Using the same methods, let me say an "unnamed diplomat" also said Canadian troops kick ass.