Media create fake war: Hillier et al. vs. O'Connor

Once again our media are spinning wildly in their constant effort to find fault with the Afghan mission. The Ottawa Citizen today:

Hillier casts doubt on O'Connor's timeline
Afghans won't be able to take over so soon, top soldier says

Canada's top soldier is pouring cold water on the Harper government's suggestions that Afghan troops are almost ready to take the lead in the battle against the Taliban, allowing Canadian soldiers to move away from deadly combat situations in southern Afghanistan.

Gen. Rick Hillier said yesterday that he doesn't expect his soldiers will be out of danger any time soon.

"Whether we're working to conduct an operation directly ourselves and lead it supporting the Afghan troops, or whether we are supporting Afghan troops in operations and they are in the lead, we are still going to be in a high-risk environment and you cannot eliminate casualties or ensure that they don't take place completely," Gen. Hillier said on CTV's Question Period.

Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor had suggested last week that Canada's troops could move into a reserve role by the end of the year, once the newly trained Afghan soldiers are ready to take the lead.

But Gen. Hillier said the Afghan army simply wasn't going to be ready so soon, despite a major training effort by Canadians.

"It's going to take a long while," Gen. Hillier said. "We've just started the process, because we've just got the first soldiers in the south in these last few months. But we're at a far better stage now than we've ever been."..

From the Globe and Mail:

Top Canadian military commanders voiced doubts Sunday about how rapidly the Afghan National Army can shoulder the fighting load – raising the possibility of NATO pressure to extend Canada's Afghanistan mission past the current commitment that expires in February, 2009.

In Ottawa, General Rick Hillier seemed to contradict Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor's optimistic predication that the Afghans would be taking on most of the front-line combat by next spring in Kandahar province, where Canada's powerful battle group is waging a tough counter-insurgency war against the Taliban.

“It's going to take a long while,” Gen. Hillier told CTV's Question Period, referring to the training of the Afghan National Army. “We've just started the process.” He also said it would be a “significant challenge'' for the ANA to be ready in the time frame proposed by Mr. O'Connor only a week ago on the same program...

From CTV News:

Canada's outgoing military commander in Afghanistan says the Afghan National Army is making great progress, but it's unlikely the fledgling force will be able to take over frontline responsibilities by next spring.

Brig.-Gen. Tim Grant's comments come one week after Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor said he expects Canadian troops to begin shifting to a training role by next spring as the Afghans take on more combat duties.

Grant told CTV's Canada AM the Afghan army is improving dramatically, but he offered a cautious response to O'Connor's prediction.

"They're doing well. Will they be able to carry the entire burden by the end of this upcoming (rotation)? Probably not, but we're hopeful," Grant said.

"They're keen to make a success and we're doing everything we can to make sure they're as successful as they can be."

O'Connor had pointed to the Canadians' successful mentoring of one Afghan battalion that is now out in the field conducting operations on its own, and said that was to be a model used to train other Afghan battalions, eventually taking weight off the Canadians.

But Gen. Rick Hillier also downplayed his political boss's comments, saying that handing over front-line duties to the Afghan army wouldn't be easy.

"We'd like to see that it was in that position to be able to do so by next February, but that would be certainly a significant challenge for them," Hillier said Sunday on CTV's Question Period in the wake of O'Connor's comments...

From CBC News:

Canada's chief of defence staff, Gen. Rick Hillier, said over the weekend that he wasn't so sure troops would be able to hand over much of the frontline fighting to the Afghan National Army by that time. His frank assessment appeared to contradict Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor's assertion that the Afghan forces would be ready...

"Casts doubt"..."pouring cold water"..."voiced doubts"..."seemed to contradict"..."downplayed his political boss's comments"..."appeared to contradict"...well I guess it's pretty clear that the Minister of National Defence was trying to mislead the public, eh?

Well, NO. This is what Mr O'Connor said:

Globe:

...“We're hoping that by the end of this rotation ... the so-called Vandoos rotation, we'll have about 3,000 Afghan Army operating in the Kandahar province,” he said.

“And as we train more and more of the Afghan army to carry out their own operations, we will continue to withdraw. With more emphasis on training … at some stage [emphasis added - MC] [we'll] basically be in reserve.”

Mr. O'Connor said that if all goes according to plan, it will mean a reduction in Canadian combat duties [emphasis added]...

CTV:

O'Connor said Canadian troops recently sponsored an Afghan infantry battalion, providing intense mentorship and training, and as a result the battalion is now conducting its own operations.

He described it as a success that will be used as a model for training other battalions, and will eventually take pressure off the Canadians [emphasis added]...

No contradiction there. The minister never said the Afghan National Army would be able effectively take over the combat mission by next February. But that's not what the media want you to think.

The interview with Gen. Hillier is here. The one with Minister O'Connor is here. Watch them yourself and form your own opinion about the accuracy of the media "reporting".

Update: An excerpt from an e-mail by Alain Pellerin, Executive Director of the Conference of Defence Associations:

The CDA would like to bring to your attention Gen Rick Hillier's interview on CTV QP on 29 July...You will note that the interviewer tries to highlight what he sees as some cleavage between the CDS and MND on the future of the mission, particularly on the previous comments of the MND on CF being in "reserve" eventually and according to Bob Fiffe on the CTV National News on 22 July that:" Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor says by the time the 22nd Regiment, known as the Van Doos, takes over the mission in Afghanistan in August, the Canadian military will be shifting from combat to the classroom."

At no time did the Minister, in his interview, suggest that " the Canadian military will be shifting from combat to the classroom." He did suggest, however, that the R22eR Battle group will become less and less involved in active combat and will act more and more as a provider of training and mentoring to the nascent Afghan Army. The key to a successful withdrawal from Afghanistan is developing Afghan security forces, the ANA and ANP, to the point where they are able to assume the burden of their nation’s security. I will leave it to you to draw your conclusions as to whether the MND, the CDS and Tim Grant are in disagreement over the mission in Kandahar. I do not believe they are...

Upperdate: For a typical example of the dismal state of political discussion on Afstan listen to the "Political Panel" this afternoon on CFRA, Ottawa (the host, Rob Snow, is as ill-informed--even though I sent him this post--as all the party "strategists"). The links are here and here.