History and assesment of the JSS project

Further to this post, here's a comprehensive piece from Defense Industry Daily.

That US Army battalion for Kandahar has arrived

From Stars and Stripes (Mideast edition), August 9:

OSMAN KHEYL, Afghanistan — American commanders are reinforcing NATO-led troops in southern Afghanistan, sending an additional U.S. Army battalion to Kandahar province to help combat an increasingly violent and lethal insurgency here.

Forward elements of the 1st Infantry Division’s 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment have been operating [emphasis added] in Maywand district, about 45 miles west of Kandahar city. The unit will deploy to the area "late this summer," said a battalion officer.

The additional U.S. forces will mean "an enduring presence to provide security for the Maywand district," said Maj. Stephen Ruth, the battalion’s operations officer.

The beefed-up U.S. presence will add about 1,000 additional foreign troops to Maywand, augmenting several small teams of Canadian and American advisers that are training and mentoring Afghan army and police units in the district.

The development comes as NATO announced Thursday that several hundred French troops had been deployed to train and mentor Afghan security forces in neighboring Uruzgan province, which has also seen a sharp increase in the Taliban-led insurgency.

Soldiers from the Fort Hood, Texas-based 2-2 Infantry Regiment are part of a brigade of 1st Infantry Division troops that were originally supposed to deploy to Nuristan and Kunar provinces in eastern Afghanistan, which has also been wracked by insurgent violence. But after Taliban fighters staged a dramatic jailbreak on a Kandahar prison in June, freeing hundreds of prisoners, many of them militants, the unit was ordered instead to Maywand [emphasis added], Ruth said.

At a meeting here guarded by several hundred U.S., Canadian and British troops, along with Afghan security forces, Mullah Masood — the government-appointed leader for Maywand — urged about 80 local elders to cooperate with foreign troops and Afghan security forces to improve life in the district...

Now our media have reported:

The United States has deployed a much-needed battalion of 800 troops to assist Canadian and Afghan Forces in Kandahar and to try to tame the province's Wild West.

While the battalion has been active in Kandahar since early July, it has only just begun its operations in the past few weeks in the Maywand district, which borders on Helmand province to the west, and will serve as its new home.

Until now, insurgents have been using Maywand as a corridor to move soldiers, money, and weapons into Kandahar from Pakistan, through the Helmand River Basin. A lack of security in Maywand has helped feed the insurgency in such hotly contested areas as Zhari and Panjwaii in Kandahar, which have been the epicentre of the fighting here this summer.

The new troops come from the 2-2 Infantry Battalion assigned to the third brigade [combat team] of the first infantry division of the U.S. army and are based in Fort Hood, Tx. The battalion is better known as the "Ramrods" or the "2-2s".

The battalion, which will now fall under the command and control of the Canadian Forces [emphasis added--"operational direction" might be a better term] will serve a vital role in disrupting the activities of insurgents in Maywand, which has lacked a permanent presence by Coalition and Afghan forces due to a lack of personnel, according to Brig.-Gen. Denis Thompson, Canada's top soldier in Kandahar.

"This district is a key district. It's key as a logistics hub for the movement of insurgent fighters, arms and money, and the presence of 2-2 infantry will disrupt these activities and have a real impact on the security picture here in Kandahar," Brig.-Gen. Thompson said a news conference at the Kandahar Air Field Saturday morning.

He added that the new U.S. troops will assist the Canadian and Afghan forces by "choking off" this vital lifeline for the insurgency.

In order to take control of Zhari and Panjwaii, Brig.-Gen. has already asked Kabul for 4,000 trained police officers, up from the 1,000 currently trained here, and another battalion of Afghan National Army troops, in addition to more support from Canada's NATO allies.

The new U.S. troops got their first look at Maywand in early August as part of a recent operation in the district led by Canadian and Afghan forces that yielded caches of weapons, opium, and materials for building IEDs...

The battalion's 15-month deployment [emphasis added] in Kandahar comes at a time when both Brig.-Gen. Thompson and Defence Minister Peter MacKay have been lobbying Canada's NATO allies for more support in the volatile region of Afghanistan, where the bulk of Canada's 2,500 troops here are stationed.

Brig.-Gen. Thompson called the Ramrods' presence in Kandahar an "interim measure" [emphasis added] while Ottawa decides how it will meet the recommendation contained in the Manley report, which, among other things, called for an additional 1,000 troops on the ground in Kandahar.

The Ramrods' presence in Kandahar has been one of the more poorly guarded secrets here, but was one that could not be reported earlier due to security reasons [emphasis added--what about the Stars and Stripes story--was it out of line?].

Its 800 troops will be deployed here in a combat capacity and will add to the 1,000 infantry and combat armed soldiers Canada has in the province...

Very good news. But how can a 15-month deployment be described as "interim"? Surely this deployment will be followed by a replacement, thereby satisfying the Manley panel's requirement. Moreover I wonder if more Marines may not eventually arrive in Regional Command South to replace the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, now scheduled to leave at the end of November. Note that the Marines in RC South appear be under control of ISAF HQ in Kabul (as a sort of mobile reserve), not the commander of RC South.

By the way, the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the "Big Red One" is called "The Devil's Brigade". Hmmm.

Here's a map of Kandahar Province's districts (via Brihard) :



Update: Excerpts from a Globe and Mail story that may clarify things a bit (I was right about the command set-up I think; I suspect operational "direction" and "control" amount to the same thing):

...
The 2nd of the 2nd Infantry Battallion, based at Fort Hood, Tex., otherwise known as the Ramrods, “has been officially placed under my operation control,” Brig.-Gen. Thompson told a morning news conference at the Kandahar Air Field...

A report released earlier this year by former Liberal cabinet minister John Manley recommended that more troops be sent to help out the Canadian forces in Kandahar. But Brig.-Gen Thompson said fulfilling the recommendations of the Manley report will be something that is decided in Ottawa, not in Kandahar...

The battalion of American that is on the ground now, he said, is “an interim measure to cover off the obvious security gap here in Kandahar province.”.

But the Canadian Commander and [battalion commander] Lt.-Col. Hurlbut agreed that the Americans would be operating under the ISAF rules of engagement [note: each nation sets the ROEs for its own troops, not ISAF] that are followed by the Canadian task Force.

Upperdate: I wonder if MND MacKay considers well-sourced stories in major
media (e.g. here, here, here, here, and here) "just anecdotal reporting":

The arrival of 800 U.S soldiers alongside Canadian forces in Kandahar is just the start of an increase in NATO's presence in the dangerous Afghan province, Defence Minister Peter MacKay said yesterday [August 31].

The top Canadian soldier in Afghanistan announced Saturday that the 800-strong U.S. battalion has officially joined his own forces, almost doubling the number of foot soldiers on the ground in the province that is under Canadian command.

"We're expecting, based on just anecdotal reporting, that there may in fact be more [U.S. troops] coming [emphasis added]," Mr. MacKay said yesterday. "In the meantime, we're requesting that all NATO countries consider sending personnel, military equipment or civilian aid workers. So this is an open and ongoing invitation to other NATO-allied countries to provide support to Kandahar."..

Bruce Rolston is off to Afstan

One of our most perceptive and informed milbloggers is going to the Sandbox with the CF--best wishes and best of luck:

It's recognized that I have a funny sense of fun

Well, in case anyone comes back here wondering why it's been so quiet, I suppose it's time I let them in on what it is I've been up to.

Sometime in the next few weeks I'll be leaving to take up a position with the Canadian Forces mission in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. There I'll be working with the Afghan national security forces upon which so much of any hope for that country now rests.

I've been with the team training for this job since February. I'm sure no military personnel ever feel fully ready for anything, but it's fair to say we've grown into a cohesive unit under excellent leadership, and I really believe we're going to be able to further the progress that previous teams have already made in the military mentoring realm.

Without going into specifics, my job is not wholly different from that of the late Maj. Andrew Olmsted's in Iraq, whose writing I enjoyed and respected right up to his untimely death earlier this year. With a little bit of luck I'll enjoy the return home that he never could. But that's the thing about our commitments to Afghanistan, and the U.S.'s to Iraq: there's enough work for everybody to get a turn. Frequently more than once. And were I not to take this posting, someone whose already had their trial by fire would likely be going back for another round, while I sat it out. Pass.

I have no deep-seated love for the Afghan people, although I'm sure I'm at risk of developing one, given enough exposure. I am also mindful of the criticism that a Canadian soldier in Afghanistan frees up an American to go to a war in Iraq that my country and I cannot support. But I do believe that honor demands that Canada live up to the commitments our leaders have made to the world, through such devices as the Afghanistan Compact, just as honor demands that I live up to the commitments I made to the Crown when I took an officer's commission.

But even if honor were not in play, collective self-preservation would be, and a return of Afghanistan to its pre-2001 state would be the surest path to another 2001-style attack. I knew that day in September that sooner or later my deployment somewhere would be the inevitable consequence... it's only a surprise to me it's taken this long. But like I said, everybody gets a turn this time.

I also believe Afghanistan is the latest in the long line of displays of that strange Canadian altruistic militarism that continues to win us the respect of our allies and enemies. Years from now, when hopefully I'm bouncing grandkids on worn-out knees, I believe the Afghan War will have only reinforced the three basic truths about the Canadian military that every schoolchild should have learned: that man for man, Canadians are as good as any soldiers in the world; that we have never fought on the losing side, and that we have never fought on the wrong side, either. No other country in the world can claim that tradition. That's what makes us peacekeepers to be respected, as well as warriors.

It has taken a small army of civilian friends and supporters to get me here, many of whom I love very dearly. I know that in at least some cases their support has been more out of respect for my own personal desires and needs, rather than support for our government's position. I thank them for that. It is only my deep respect for their own privacy that, as always, prevents me from listing them here. I do hope they know who they are.

I will write if and when I can... need to see the lay of the ground first... either here or through comments on the blogs of friends, or emails. With luck in a little over half a year my team and I will all return, a little wiser perhaps, a little dustier definitely, and all other things being equal maybe I will have something more interesting and valuable to say in this space, about Afghanistan and other things. Until then, hasta la vista, companeros. Y vayan con Dios.

Bon voyage et bonne chance!

Sacrifice Medal

New military honour announced

OLIVER MOORE

Globe and Mail Update

August 29, 2008 at 12:55 PM EDT

Members of the military wounded or killed because of hostile action will now be in line to receive the Sacrifice Medal, a new honour announced Friday by the Governor-General.

Rideau Hall said that the eligibility for the award will be back-dated to October of 2001, meaning that casualties dating to the beginning of the Afghan conflict may be eligible.

The medal is similar in intent to the U.S. Purple Heart, awarded to armed forces personnel who sustain wounds serious enough to require medical attention.

While Purple Hearts are often awarded immediately following hostile action, the Sacrifice Medal will come only after an application through military channels by a commanding officer.
The new medal unveiled by Governor-General Michaëlle Jean shows an image of the Queen on one side and and image from the Vimy Memorial on the other. Chancellery of Honours
Enlarge Image

The new medal unveiled by Governor-General Michaëlle Jean shows an image of the Queen on one side and and image from the Vimy Memorial on the other. (Chancellery of Honours)

But the criteria for the two medals is very similar.

"It's not so much how serious a wound will be," said Marie-Paule Thorn, a spokeswoman for Rideau Hall. "It's a wound that requires medical treatment, it caused a medical report and the wound was the result of hostile action."

Canadian soldiers have traditionally received a piece of gold braid that they wear on their sleeve. The replacement award was praised by retired general Lewis Mackenzie as being "more visible" and involving "more ceremony."

"It's overdue and the only thing that'll be controversial is those people wounded since the end of the Cold War who won't get it," he said.

Strengthening maritime arctic sovereignty--the fine print

Further to this post, in fact the government hasn't actually done anything yet to strengthen our claim:

...the Prime Minister announced his Government’s intention [emphasis added] to introduce new legislation extending the enforcement zone of the Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act (AWPPA) in the next sitting of Parliament.

In addition the Prime Minister announced that his Government was also bringing in new regulations extending the range at which Arctic bound ships must report to Canadian authorities through the NORDREG reporting system...

The proposed amendments [emphasis added] announced by Prime Minister Harper include:

# Extension of regulatory zone defined as “arctic waters” under the AWPPA from its current limit of 100 nautical miles to 200 nautical miles. This will extend the range at which Canada can enforce the anti-pollution provisions in the act.

# Similarly extending the NORDREG reporting zone to a 200 nautical mile limit.

# Moving from the “encouraged” reporting provisions under the current NORDREG system to a mandatory reporting system for all incoming shipping traffic.

Legislation on the AWPPA will obviously take some time--and if there is an election? Will even new NORDREG regulations be issued promptly?

H/t to Arctic Economics.

Update: Here's a map of the ice-pack from the link above:

Aussie junket?

Our faithful Down Under Correspondent, FM, has brought our attention to a Canadian parliamentary delegation led by Speaker of the House of Commons Peter Milliken to Australia. It seems some of our elected representatives met with the Aussie Minister for Defence, Joel Fitzgibbon, to discuss "the bilateral Defence relationship, including materiel cooperation and Australia’s current and future operations in Afghanistan."

Those discussions sound fascinating, if there's any substance to them. But I doubt they can be of much substance, given the fact that the Speaker isn't speaking on behalf of the Harper government. How does Canada cooperate with Australia on materiel, I wonder? Would any of our parliamentarians have any more clue than I do about that?

As FM says in his e-mail: "Let's hope they asked some questions about shipbuilding, hey? I say that only half in jest. We did have a Senate enquiry into shipbuilding out here which did provide some support for a partial offshore build of the LHDs."

A parliamentary inquiry just to provide political cover for a government decision? We have no experience with such things in Canada. /tongue-in-cheek

Actually, it sounds like a decent idea if it can convince the Canadian voter that the first priority in defence procurement should be the right equipment, the second should be the right price, and the third should be buying it in Canada. Canadians tend to mix that all up, which makes for a whole lot of porkbarreling when the time comes to open up the coffers for a defence contract. Especially a shipbuilding one.



Can anyone identify the Canadian MP's on this little trip halfway around the world? The Canadian website doesn't have any details up.

Update: More detail from Fred in comments on the Australian Canberra Class LHD.

Mark's up-to-the-gills-with-info-date: From comments again...

Details on what the Spanish and Aussies will each be doing in constructing the LHDs.

The same Spanish company, Navantia, won the design for new Aussie Air Warfare Destroyers and will also do some of the work on them.

A lesson for Canada.

And here's a post by David Pugliese:

"POTENTIAL FOR CANADA-AUSTRALIA CO-OP ON C-130J, CHINOOKS, C-17?"

The "Diefenbreaker"--in 2017!?!

Good grief. CCGS Louis St. Laurent will be almost 50 years old before it's replaced by the John G. Diefenbaker. It's all very good to name the vessel, but why nine years to build--with a great deal of luck (keep the JSS/MSPV fiascos in mind)? That is just not good enough, buy the damn ship offshore. And what about the Coast Guard's four other aging icebreakers?

Hell, at this pace by the time we get a new icebreaking fleet there won't be much ice left to break if the global warmers are right. Maybe the slowness in replacing our vessels is a sign that the Conservatives now really are believers.

As for offshore, just as an example:

About 60 percent of the world’s icebreakers have been delivered by Aker Yards Group shipyards.

More on Finnish-owned Aker Arctic Technology Inc.

Update: This earlier post provided links at the CCG site to each of its icebreakers (other types of vessels were also detailed at the "Fleet" site). This is what you get now for each of those links--nothing. And this is what you get at the current CCG "Our Fleet" page--nothing. Something really stinks. But maybe it's not nefarious--just a consequence of trying to implement the feds' "Common Look and Feel for the Internet 2.0". Bureacratic madness--without any additional funding from Treasury Board. So the content of sites is often reduced.

Upperdate: Thanks to Josh in "Comments" one can still find links to CCG vessels. I couldn't.

Tidbits of encouraging trivia

IED's are a big problem for ISAF forces. But it seems that Afghans are realizing IED's are an even bigger problem for them. Two interesting statistics from BGen Denis Thompson:

While the number of improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, planted year over year has increased, so too has the number of IED discoveries.

For every bomb that goes off, nine are found and safely neutralized, Thompson said.

Much of that, he said, is happening in Kandahar city where citizens have embraced their government institutions and feel secure enough to assist coalition and Afghan troops by calling in suspected IEDs.

Still, many in the countryside remain fearful of reprisal from the Taliban, while others have bought in to the insurgency’s anti-coalition propaganda.

Thompson said Afghans need to realize that for every coalition soldier killed by insurgents using IEDs, three innocent Afghans are also killed. [Babbler's emphasis]

Useful information indeed - for both Afghan and Canadian audiences.

The article also highlights a couple of areas of the fight that Canadians should know more about: the ongoing training of ANSF by OMLT and POMLT teams, and the EOD work being done with increasing efficiency by anti-IED teams in Kandahar. CEFCOM should take note of the opportunity, and build upon the information provided by BGen Thompson.

Shining a light in all the right places

I've been critical of Gloria Galloway in recent weeks. But she's done well in a piece today about the Role 3 medical facility at KAF:

"For the month of July, for all of the reporting facilities, we had the highest number of casualties coming in to our facility," Col. McLeod said.

The increase is not attributable to a corresponding climb in casualties among Canadians. In fact, the military says the number of Canadians hurt during their tactical operations is on a slight decline.

"There are increased numbers of Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police casualties which would, from my perspective, be attributable to their increased role in operations," said Captain Chris Quinlan, a staff operations officer in the current operations branch.

"I have a hard time saying there is any success or anything positive related to casualties. But I would say it's attributable to the fact that they [the Afghans] are doing their job better. They are going places they never would have gone before and taking a lead role that they would not have taken before." [Babbler's emphasis]

It would have been very easy to gloss over that quote, and simply run with the narrative theme that more traffic through the hospital means things are worse in Kandahar province. Good on Galloway for playing it differently.



These doctors, nurses, and technicians do fantastic, live-saving work for long hours in very spartan conditions. They deserve every bit of praise and attention they get.

"Top Marine wants to shift troops from Iraq to Afghanistan"

The headline says it all:

Marines in western Iraq's Anbar province no longer face a serious threat from insurgents and would be better used in increasingly violent regions of southern Afghanistan, the top Marine Corps officer said Wednesday.

Gen. James T. Conway, the Marine Corps commandant, said that gains made by two Marine units sent to Afghanistan's volatile southern provinces this year could be lost if the troops are not replaced in November, and suggested that a drawdown in Iraq would allow him to send fresh units to the region [see also end of this post].

"Everyone seems to agree that additional forces are the ideal course of action for preventing a Taliban comeback, but just where they're going to come from is still up for discussion," Conway said at a Pentagon news conference. "It's no secret that the Marine Corps would be proud to be part of that undertaking."

There are 25,000 Marines in once-restive Anbar province, but despite Conway's assessment, any withdrawal is expected to be minimal. Military officials said they were likely to request a reduction of about 1,500 Marines. That is the number needed to replace one of the departing Marine units in Afghanistan, the Twentynine Palms-based 2nd Battalion of the 7th Marine Regiment, which is in southern Farah province.

Still, Conway's comments were the most direct yet by a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in favor of a drawdown in Iraq. He joins a chorus of military leaders in Washington -- including Adm. Michael G. Mullen, the Joint Chiefs' chairman -- who believe withdrawals should resume next month. Mullen said last month that he expected to recommend additional reductions.

Conway's comments come as U.S. officials prepare to hand control of Anbar province, once a leading insurgent stronghold, to the Iraqi government.

Remarks by Conway and Mullen have intensified pressure on Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, the outgoing U.S. commander in Iraq, to allow further reductions to free up troops for the troubled Afghanistan mission.

Petraeus is scheduled in about two weeks to deliver his recommendation to President Bush on troop levels in Iraq for the remainder of the year. Petraeus said in May that additional troop reductions were possible in the fall, after the return home this summer of extra forces sent as part of Bush's troop buildup...

Since U.S. Marines have been in Regional Command South for some time, it would seem to make sense for them to answer this call by our commander there:

'Afghan mission needs more soldiers'
More soldiers needed to secure Kandahar: Canada's top soldier in Afghanistan

Air Force takes silver

I trust it was mainly those guys who were good to golf [via Spotlight on Military News and International Affairs]:

As far as Capt. Cameron Lowdon is concerned, competing against soldiers in the sandy bunkers of the Hylands Golf Club in Ottawa was highly preferable to seeing them in bunkers of any other kind.

Last week more than 80 armed forces members from 13 different countries competed in the World Military Golf Championship, where Canada earned a silver medal after two years off the podium.

It was the fifth event held by the International Military Sports Council since golf gained world championship status by the council in 2003.

"It's great to compete at this level against our military compadres from around the world," said Cameron, an instructor at the Canadian Forces School of Aerospace Control Operations in Cornwall.

Cameron was part of a six-man team that edged out Germany and newcomers Bahrain, but fell just short of the dominant U. S. squad.

Canada led the U. S. for the first time after the opening round, but come day four they were just trying to protect the second-place spot, Cameron said.

"They just have such a large pool to draw from. They're hard to beat," he said of the U. S. team.

The scoring system required each team to turn in the best four of the six scorecards each day of the 72- hole event. Canada had only two rounds over 76.

Home advantage for the tournament was a big plus for the Canadian squad, which also included Maj. Al Jensen (B. C), Maj. Paul Ridyard (Ottawa), Master Bombardier Tom Cameron (N. B.), Chief Warrant Officer Tony Stuckless (N. S.) and Capt. Wayne O'Donnell, Colarado Springs.

SELECTION TOURNAMENTS

The Canadians were able to hold selection tournaments at the Ottawa course to determine who would be on the team.

Kandahar reality update, II

Further to this post, our outgoing ambassador to Afstan tells some truths:

Don't expect any miracles by the time Canada's military commitment to Afghanistan ends in 2011, says the outgoing Canadian ambassador to the country.

Arif Lalani, who has held the position for 15 months, said the mission is a difficult one and great challenges lie ahead.

But he said progress is being made.

"In 2011 I think Canadians should not expect everything in Kandahar will be fixed," Lalani told CTV's Canada AM on Thursday.

"I think it will look pretty much as it does now, but the key difference will be that Afghan institutions, Afghan army and police and government will actually be in charge and in the lead in building from what we helped them build together over the last few years."

He said Canada has paid a high price and the year ahead is going to be a tough one, but the Canadian Forces are headed in the right direction.

"We have to continue to do what we've been doing, which is build up the Afghan national security forces, provide basic humanitarian assistance and to work on border security," Lalani said...

I think this is also significant in the Kandahar context:

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff secretly convened a highly unusual meeting of senior American and Pakistani commanders on an aircraft carrier in the Indian Ocean on Tuesday to discuss how to combat the escalating violence along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

While officials from the two allies offered few details on Wednesday about what was decided or even discussed at the meeting — including any new strategies, tactics, weapons or troop deployments — the star-studded list of participants and the extreme secrecy surrounding the talks underscored how gravely both nations regard the growing militant threat...

And note this from just over a week ago--such high level military contacts between Pakistan and Afghanistan are very unusual indeed:

Pakistan's army chief in Afghanistan

It looks like people are starting to get really serious about the Pakistan sanctuary problem.

JSS: "a compromise between an AOR and a troop ship capable of supporting an amphibious landing is exactly that: a compromise that does neither"

This grad student has it just right:

The unexpected press release announcing the termination of procurement processes for two new types of ships for the Canadian Coast Guard and Navy was no doubt a heavy blow. And for the perennially underfunded Coast Guard, the indefinite delay for the twelve new patrol ships they’d been counting on must be a bitter thing indeed.

The Navy, however, might just have dodged an expensive bullet. The Joint Support Ship (JSS) program was never a good idea. It is no surprise that the program could not be afforded at the desired cost, since it is a typically Canadian attempt to reinvent the wheel with a homegrown “Made in Canada” solution. Canadian shipwrights are as gifted as any in the world, and our technology is first-class. All that matters not, however, when the very concept of the ship itself is fundamentally flawed.

The two Protecteur-class Auxiliary Oil Replenishment (AOR) ships possessed by the Canadian Navy today are almost forty years old. These large ships serve a vital role in the fleet, serving as mobile pit crews for our warships at sea. They can sail alongside a frigate or destroyer and refuel its tanks while underway, and have enough storage space aboard to maintain a stockpile of spare parts and ammunition to help keep those ships fully functional while deployed. These vital supplies, along with well-equipped medical and dental facilities, allow our warships to stay on station longer, free of the need to return to port for fuel and provisions. The Protecteurs are, however, starting to show their age, with operating costs climbing as they break down and spare parts become harder to find. After four decades of honourable service, these fine ships should be retired and replaced with alacrity.

The JSS concept should have been just that – a modern replacement to an already proven class of vessels. While retaining the storage space, health care facilities, and fuel bunkers, they could have been fitted out with more modern engines, powerful defensive weapons with the computers to match, and would have benefited from decades of experience at how to make ships easier to maintain, harder to detect, and more environmentally friendly. These hypothetical new AOR ships would have made a substantial contribution to improving the Canadian Navy’s effectiveness while having the undeniably appealing fringe benefit of helping sustain Canada’s struggling shipbuilding industry.

The JSS’s, however, were doomed by the bureaucratic realities of “capability creep.” Canada is in the enviable position of being secure within its own borders; our military is mainly for use abroad. In recent years, there have been several embarrassing incidents where the Canadian Forces have been unable to move troops and equipment to where they were needed. The ability to pick up a unit and drop it somewhere else in the world, with everything it needs to function along with it, is known as strategic lift, and Canada has chronically lacked it. The Air Force has recently taken delivery of four giant C-17 transport aircraft that are ideal for moving troops and equipment, whether this means infantry and tanks to Afghanistan or our DART team to disaster areas around the globe. These planes give the Canadian Forces strategic airlift, and the Navy wants a way of providing strategic sealift.

The men at the top of the Navy are of course realists, and they know that even the most hawkish Canadian government is ultimately answerable to a notoriously gun-shy electorate. The need for new AORs is obvious and palatable to any political party; they are, after all, support vessels, not mean, scary warships. Therefore, the AOR replacements are a near-sure thing, insofar as much as any Canadian military expenditure can ever be considered certain. Given that, and the Navy’s desire to grab a piece of the strategic lift pie, a decision was made to incorporate as much troop carrying capacity as possible into an AOR design.

This was a mistake for any number of reasons. Fundamentally, it comes down to the fact that a compromise between an AOR and a troop ship capable of supporting an amphibious landing is exactly that: a compromise that does neither job well or economically. An AOR is already a large vessel; it has to be in order to hold enough fuel to do its job. Trying to shoehorn in enough empty space to carry troops, vehicles, equipment and the communications gear necessary to serve as a floating headquarters is unrealistic, as the inability of either received bid to come in at the three billion dollar budget for the program attests. You can have a good ship on budget or a totally new kind of hybrid ship for lots of money, but reinventing the wheel costs, and the Canadian military can’t afford it.

Then there is the problem inherent to packing too many vital functions onto one platform. It would be rather embarrassing for Canada if we ever found ourselves needing to send troops abroad to one place while fueling a task force somewhere else. Not even the fastest ship can yet be two places at once, and if Canada truly believes that it needs to be able to support squadrons at sea while putting troops ashore, it is incumbent upon us to try and ensure we can do both of those jobs simultaneously.

On top of these very real limitations is the sheer absurdity of the idea. Does anyone at National Defence Headquarters really think it would be a good idea to approach a potentially hostile shore in a ship that is essentially a sluggish gas can packed with ammunition?

Canada needs AORs, and it needs them soon. A replacement for such vessels should be designed and ordered as soon as is feasible, and would be an ideal contract for cash-starved Canadian shipbuilders. And if the government agrees with its admirals that Canada needs the ability to ferry troops to distant lands, several of our allies, including the Americans, the Dutch and the Spanish, are currently producing vessels that would be near perfect for Canada’s troop carrying needs. Already designed, they can carry troops and vehicles, offload them into landing craft, and remain near the coast to provide command and control, medical facilities, and serve as a supply warehouse, all while offering a hanger deck sufficient to carry several medium-lift helicopters, an item the Navy has already ordered. In order to take advantage of our allies’ efforts, however, the government would have to waive its restrictive “Buy Canada” policy.

Obtaining a larger number of more specialized vessels, including some from our allies, might ultimately cost more than what the government had hoped, but we’d get much more bang for the buck. On top of that, of course, is the fact that currently, we’re getting exactly zero ships for what the government had hoped, so either the ships will have to be less capable or more money will have to be spent. Given the late date and the urgent need to replace the AORs with at least two new hulls as soon as possible, a purchase of foreign-built ships might be the only economical option that will balance both fiscal and operational realities. This would be bitter political pill to swallow, and would risk putting Canada’s shipbuilding industry out of business. Canadian-built AORs and foreign-purchased troop ships, if required, would seem to be the best solution to a serious operational shortfall. It’s not perfect, but if we’re to have a Navy worthy of its traditions, there are few other options. Canadians should welcome this opportunity, however unsought, to reconsider the best way to equip our Navy for the 21st Century.

Matt Gurney is a graduate student at Wilfrid Laurier University, soon to complete his Masters in History, with a specialization in military history.

More here, here here and here. As for possible "troop ships":

On amphibious ships: the Dutch have a nifty example but there are several other possible sources (France, UK, US, Spain and Italy).

Update: Meanwhile, back at the drawing board computer screen:

Navy ponders 3 conventional resupply vessels

Kandahar reality update

Further to the posts here and here, from our general in-theatre in a Canadian Press story:

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Recent military operations have taken a major bite out of the insurgency's ability to plant deadly roadside bombs on the outskirts of Kandahar city but long-term security will require more time and manpower, a Canadian commander said Wednesday.

In a speech aimed at showing Afghan civilians that Canadian and Afghan forces have had success beating back the insurgents, Brig.-Gen. Denis Thompson admitted Taliban activities have been "disrupted" but not "eliminated" by the operations in the Maywand and Zhari districts.

"There is combat every day in this province and that isn't going to end any time soon," said Thompson, the top commander of Canadian forces in Afghanistan.

"We are going to stay in the fight and we have to stay active in order to prevail and not lose the initiative to the insurgents."

Noting just one third of the countryside is secure enough for development and reconstruction to take place, Thompson said efforts are underway to boost both the number of coalition troops operating in Kandahar as well as the number of Afghan police and army personnel.

A fourth Afghan army Kandak, or battalion, is expected to be ready next spring.

There are rumours that the Americans could send additional troops, possibly as many as 1,000 more to Kandahar. The Americans are also expected to handle mentoring responsibilities for the new Kandak in southern Afghanistan.

"Do we have enough soldiers and policemen to control this province at this time? The answer is No," Thompson said. "That's why we're pursuing all these other initiatives."

Thompson said the current security situation is "not all doom and gloom."

While the number of improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, planted year over year has increased, so too has the number of IED discoveries.

For every bomb that goes off, nine are found and safely neutralized, Thompson said.

Much of that, he said, is happening in Kandahar city where citizens have embraced their government institutions and feel secure enough to assist coalition and Afghan troops by calling in suspected IEDs.

Still, many people in the countryside remain fearful of reprisal from the Taliban, while others have bought in to the insurgency's anti-coalition propaganda.

Thompson said Afghans need to realize that for every coalition soldier killed by insurgents using IEDs, three innocent Afghans are also killed.

"This blatant disregard for human life is simply not acceptable," he said, adding coalition and Afghan troops in Kandahar go to great lengths to ensure civilian casualties are avoided during its operations.

On Monday, Afghan President Hamid Karzai vowed to review the rules of engagement for foreign troops in the wake of a deadly U.S. air strike in Herat province that killed 90 civilians last week.

"I am happy to report we that we have had very few civilian casualties as a result of our operations in Kandahar province this year [something to do with our ROEs on calling in air strikes? - MC]," Thompson said.

"We deeply regret any accidental loss of life that occurs as a result of our actions."

An increase in insurgent attacks on Highway 1 - Kandahar's main thoroughfare - over the last few months have targeted not just soldiers but also passenger vehicles, farmers, fuel trucks and World Food Program convoys, Thompson said.

The military operations in Maywand and Zhari districts this month are expected to reduce such incidents.

Some 60, 20-litre ammonium nitrate containers wired for immediate use as IEDs were found in Maywand, along with 60 kilograms of opium, drug manufacturing equipment and multiple small arms and mortar components used to attack Afghan and coalition troops.

In Zhari district, troops destroyed an IED factory containing more than 20 jugs of ammonium nitrate, more than 20 pressure-plate devices, artillery rounds, suicide vests, IED-rigged motorcycles, 82 millimetre recoilless rifle rounds, grenades and anti-tank and anti-personnel mines.

"The raid destroyed one of the largest IED factories to date within Zhari-Panjwaii and seriously disrupted the insurgents' ability to produce and deploy improvised explosive devices," Thompson said.

"There is no doubt many lives have been saved as a result of these operations."

"Let me be clear: we do expect further attacks. You don't have to look very hard to find proof that there are serious challenges to security across Afghanistan," he said.

An IED on Highway 1 was responsible for the deaths of three Canadian combat engineers last week, while a similar roadside bomb injured six Canadian soldiers and two journalists travelling down a main road in Panjwaii on Sunday.

A Canadian convoy came under attack Tuesday just west of Sarposa prison, while a motorcycle laden with explosives was discovered around the corner from the governor's palace shortly before Thompson delivered his speech there Wednesday.

"We can't be everywhere in the province at once," Thompson said. But Afghan and coalition troops will "continue to do everything in our power to counter this threat."

A very good example I would say of what news agency reporting should be. Meanwhile Carlotta Gall of the NY Times (who I think has an agenda) catches up on events in Kandahar:

Taliban Gain New Foothold in Afghan City

Quite a bit about Canadians on the second page. But a few things Ms. Gall does not give details about when she writes:

...
Within days families were fleeing, as Taliban appeared in villages in the Argandab district to the north of the city of Kandahar, forcing the government finally to send in a large force from the army and the police to quell the threat...

Looked at another way, does that not seem like a more capable Afghan National Army?

As this post suggests things are hardly rosy; neither are they desperate. But the Western media generally harping on the negative? This is not criticizing the Ottawa Senators for not winning the Stanley Cup, people--especially when the Taliban are targeting our public opinion for all they're worth.

Afstan: French not flinching

You'll not see this in our media (via Moby Media Updates):

France is considering whether to send more special forces, aircraft or firepower for NATO's fight against the Taliban and their al-Qaida allies in Afghanistan, the French defense minister said Tuesday.

Herve Morin told lawmakers the special forces could be sent to gather intelligence but not to fight, adding that any decision would ultimately rest with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Morin and Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner faced questions Tuesday before a parliamentary panel as part of an examination by French leaders of the circumstances of an ambush by insurgents east of Kabul last week that left 10 French soldiers dead. The incident sparked debate in France about its role in the war-battered country.

Despite recent polls suggesting the majority of French people favor a pullout from the troubled Central Asian nation, the two ministers emphasized the necessity of staying the course in Afghanistan.

Sarkozy _ speaking at a separate event before members of the regiment that lost eight soldiers in last week's attack _ said France's status as a major player on the international stage depends on its continued participation in the NATO mission in Afghanistan.

"I say it with force: By abandoning the Afghan people to their bad luck and their tormentors, by abandoning out democratic allies and our responsibilities as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, we would be in a way abandoning the security of the French people and our status as a great power," Sarkozy said during his visit to the southern town of Castres, where the hard-hit regiment was based.

"The combat that they are leading in Afghanistan is a just combat, a combat that we must not lose," Sarkozy said.

Morin said during the parliamentary question-and-answer session that recent Taliban attacks were aimed more at spooking the West than regaining territory.

"For them, the goal is ... to hit our spirits, to cut our forces off from the support of public opinion, to sow doubts in Western public opinion so that certain countries leave," he told the lawmakers.

Morin said the Taliban are changing tactics, moving from suicide bombings to well-planned ambushes _ which he called "every soldier's dread [emphasis added--I've had it from someone knowledgeable that there is indeed a qualitative change in recent Taliban activity, and that they are likely to keep going all out, staging from their Pakistan sanctuaries, until the Afghan presidential elections late next year in an effort to disrupt and discredit them--not a pretty prospect]. " He said he would soon present Sarkozy with a string of proposals aimed at responding to the changing tactics.

Possible proposals include the deployment of more special forces, drone aircraft, greater firepower or more helicopters [that would be nice], he said.

Still, Morin acknowledged that even beefed-up equipment would not guarantee the safety of French troops on the ground in Afghanistan.

"It's not because you have extra drones or helicopters that you'll avoid that Talibans who are hidden in the mountains appear and decide to launch an operation," Morin told lawmakers.

He advocated the deployment of special forces to help in intelligence-gathering, as "In such zones, human intelligence is more important than technical intelligence."

Another step to help Afghan National Army training

We certainly are trying to do our bit:

Defence Minister Peter MacKay spent two days this week speaking to Afghan and Canadian officials in Kandahar where he announced that Canada will pay for the establishment of a military training centre in Afghan capital of Kabul.

Mr. MacKay, who arrived Monday with Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, said the new Staff and Language Training Centre, which will cost $16-million, will be used to upgrade the skills of junior officers in the Afghan National Army.

The Afghan security forces need to be enhanced so they can “walk on their own, defend their own sovereignty and borders, have the ability to repel the threats of the Taliban that continue to plague this country, (and) have the ability to work interoperably with NATO forces, which again will figure prominently in the training,” Mr. MacKay told reporters during a brief press conference at the Kandahar Air Field.

“All of this leads to the ability for Afghanistan to establish that necessary security so we can get on with the important humanitarian and reconstruction work that will lead to a more prosperous and safe country.”..

Mr. MacKay “there is no question that this has been a tough season, very difficult sledding for our forces as well as our allies” [refreshing frankness - MC] and he has been pressing all NATO forces for additional troops. The Americans are widely anticipated to make an announcement about enhancing troop strength [and maybe Brits too].

Afghan Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak, who also attended the press conference, said military independence remains his country's primary goal.

“We are quite together confident that we are engaged in a just cause, in a noble endeavour against an evil that is threatening the whole human civilization and nobody will be safe against these threats no matter what part of the planet they are situated,” he said.

“It is also our intention that we should not be a burden on our Canadian friends and allies or the rest of the international community forever so, with their help, I think we will stand on our own feet and I think we will take on our physical security ourselves and gradually allow the reduction of the reduction of the forces of our friends and allies.”..

The exit strategy. The question is still how much can be done at Kandahar by 2011. More on training the Afghan National Army in the second part of this post, and at this post, and on Canadians training Afghan police here.

Here's an interesting point I've heard about the greater problems in training police than the army. Foreign troops can fill in, as it were, for the army whilst they are being trained; foreign police cannot operationally do the same for the police. Quite. Mounties (or bobbies or flics) can't pound a beat--wherever the beat may be, for linguistic reasons if nothing else.

Strengthening Canada's claim to maritime arctic sovereignty

The government is turning to the Canadian Coast Guard, in this case at least (guess what paper ran this story on their website):

TUKTOYAKTUK, Northwest Territories --
Canada's prime minister moved to firm up control of disputed Arctic waters Wednesday by announcing stricter registration requirements for ships sailing in the Northwest Passage.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said all ships sailing into the Canadian Arctic will be required to report to NORDREG, the Canadian Coast Guard agency that tracks vessels on such journeys. Such registration is currently voluntary.

Canada's control of the Northwest Passage is widely disputed internationally, including by the United States and the European Union. Most countries consider the passage to be international waters [emphasis added].

Global warming has raised the stakes in the scramble for sovereignty in the Arctic because shrinking polar ice could someday open up resource development and new shipping lanes.

The rapid melting of ice has raised speculation that the Northwest Passage linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans could one day become a regular shipping lane. This summer has seen record traffic by cruise ships and pleasure craft in the Arctic.

The fabled Northwest Passage runs from the Atlantic to the Pacific through the Arctic archipelago. Early European explorers sought the passage as a shorter route to Asia, but found it rendered inhospitable by ice and weather.

Ships currently must register with NORDREG to gain access to Canadian Coast Guard information on weather and ice conditions and the great majority of them do. Private pleasure craft, however, usually don't. In the past, some cruise ships also have sailed into the passage without telling the coast guard.

It wasn't immediately clear how the new requirements would be enforced [emphasis added], nor did Harper spell out sanctions for failing to register.

Harper has recently been hinting at a fall election and Arctic sovereignty is expected to become a major plank in the his election platform...

Canada also has vowed to increase its icebreaker fleet [but not by much - MC]...

And we're conducting major multi-agency exercises.

A burning national issue?

I originally posted this only at Daimnation! but now think it's relevant here:

Not one member of the parliamentary press gallery raised Afghanistan during prime minister Harper's August 26 press conference.

Mark C.

Update: I was wrong--see first comment by David Akin of Canwest News. But no media coverage of Afghanistan from the press conference that I've found, even in Mr Akin's own story, as published.

Upperdate: David Akin, to his credit, clarifies in a further comment that his question was not actually about Afghanistan as such, and asks what question I might have put. Here it is:

Mr Harper: Recent violence in Afghanistan, and political turbulence in Pakistan where the Taliban are based, suggest that the conflict with the Taliban will remain very difficult and violent for the foreseeable future. Many more Canadian soldiers are likely to die. What can you say to convince Canadians that our military mission there remains worthwhile and can succeed?

Bullseye

Ships are expensive: the supply ship contract alone is $2.9 billion, but the problem is that the cost will be no lower next year or the year after, while the need will be greater. - The Telegram (St. John's)

Kudos to the editorial writers who worded this important point so succinctly.

Update: Thanks to Fred in the comments for his pointer to a piece in Defence Industry Daily that's well worth the time to read.

A tale of two schools

Defence, and development. Two sides of the same fight.

Update: On a related note, I've heard it said that as much as possible, reconstruction work in Kandahar should have an "Afghan face." If Afghans believe the development and security work they're seeing is being driven by the Afghan government, they're more likely to support that government, and they're less likely to sabotage those efforts out of xenophobia.

Canada has recently taken a step away from that approach by developing "signature projects" like the Dahla Dam rehabilitation, in an effort to showcase Canadian efforts to both an Afghan and a Canadian audience. You see, if the "Canadian face" is gone altogether, it's hard to justify the expense to taxpayers back home. And if Afghans don't understand that Canadians are there to help them, they're less likely to cooperate with us in both reconstruction and security operations.

It's a delicate balancing task.

Personally, I like the idea of having Afghans drive the priorities - choose which projects to do, on what type of schedule. Then get some buy-in by requiring their sweat equity to get the job done. But at the same time, make sure the Afghans know that this is Canadian help they're getting - that we're their friends, and we're helping them put their country back together after decades of war and conflict.

Kind of like a scaled down version of the NSP, but visibly underwritten by Canada.

Internal recruiting

A friend e-mailed me a couple of doctored recruiting posters for JTF2 a little while ago - he thought they were kind of funny. The real ones are dark and serious, on purpose.

But a piece in today's Ottawa Citizen by David Pugliese underscores the fact that the CF special operations community is indeed on the hunt for new talent:

Lt.-Cmdr. Walter Moniz, the spokesman for Canadian Special Operations Forces Command, said JTF2 and the Canadian Special Operations Regiment based at CFB Petawawa had revamped their websites and other units in the command would soon follow suit. He said the process was in keeping with a general overhaul of Canadian Forces web pages to look similar as well as to "keep a fresh look" for the sites.

At the same time, though, JTF2 has also produced the recruiting posters and put information on its website to entice those in support trades in the Canadian Forces to give special operations a try.

"There were times that people didn't know we looked for support trades, so when you go on the site, you'll see a listing of that as well," Lt.-Cmdr. Moniz said. "It was in essence to broaden it to ensure we better inform people what was available there for them."

Lt.-Cmdr. Moniz said the commander of special operations, Col. Mike Day, had listed the growth of the formation as one of his priorities. The websites are used not only as a recruiting tool, but also to provide information to the public, he added.

Generally speaking, if anyone at CANSOFCOM is talking with the press, it's with a purpose. In this case, I'd guess that the purpose is to encourage CF members to apply to join a special operations unit. In a time of increased operational tempo, it's likely difficult to get soldiers to commit to an even higher degree of secrecy, uncertainty, and fitness in all aspects of the job - especially with some of the misconceptions that continue to circulate even within the CF. But that's what they're asking.

It will be interesting to see if the internal recruiting effort bears fruit. I know of a fellow in the navy who is a fitness buff, and an ex-wrestler. Weapons tech CFR'd to the MARE classification, extensive boarding party experience, etc. Just the sort of guy the SOF community is looking for. But talking with him about this sort of a job was eye-opening: he would have loved to have such an opportunity as a younger man, but since he's married and a fairly new father, it just doesn't make a lot of sense to him.

This is the challenge that CANSOFCOM, and especially JTF2 faces: the young and unattached are the natural fits from a lifestyle point of view, but the older and more mature are the more desirable candidates from a psychological perspective.

Growing a SOF specialty within an armed forces is a delicate thing. You don't want to water down the quality, and you can only get so many numbers through the program without losing the "special" in "special operations." But more and more, the SOF skill set is needed to deal with today's security problems.

I wish them the best of luck in their efforts to draw in new blood. I have a feeling they're going to need it.

Not up to the job?

J.L. Granatstein with a great piece on Canada's so-called peace movement. Most of the usual suspects are covered.

In Canada, let's give peace movement a chance
J.L Granatstein, Special to The Windsor Star
Published: Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Nations need armies to protect their national interests. And nations also need peace movements to help ensure that those interests are properly defined and not twisted to support unjust causes.

Griffons for Vancouver Olympics

Quite a few indeed (and maybe none for Afstan?)--a post by David Pugliese at his Ottawa Citizen blog:

Military and security planning for the 2010 Olympic Games in British Columbia is still in its early stages. But one of the things that crossed my desk recently are the numbers of Canadian Forces helicopters that could be involved. I’m told at this stage 28 Griffons will be assigned to the Games for security duties. (With a year and a half still to go I'd expect that number to change).

Now of course, a number of those Griffons will be on standby for JTF2, which will be discretely waiting in the wings to respond to any major security threat. Others will be used for surveillance.

The Air Force has launched the Interoperable Griffon Reconnaissance Escort Surveillance System (INGRESS) project will acquire 19 electro-optical/infra-red sensor systems to be installed on the helicopters. Sixty-four Griffons are to be modified to carry the equipment. (The first delivery of the systems would be in November. The final delivery would be by the summer of next year. Bell Helicopter in Mirabel would be installing the systems on board the Griffons.)

The Griffons outfitted with the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance package will be ready to go for the Olympics.

But those I was talking to in the Air Force world made an interesting point. Twenty-eight helicopters means at least 28 full Griffon crews. That’s a lot of crews and pilots and one reason - it has been suggested to me - that Griffons aren’t going to be sent to Afghanistan any time soon to fly escort for the Chinook helicopters the Canadian Forces will be using [more here from Babbling--in mid-June Mr Pugliese seemed to be expecting the Griffons to go to Afstan]. As you recall, Canada is now looking to its allies to supply escort choppers for the used Chinook Ds the Canadian Forces will be operating in Kandahar in 2009.

The other bone of contention in regards to the Olympics is that local helicopter firms in the Vancouver and Whistler area are ticked off because of flying restrictions that will be placed over a number of areas. They say that will cut into their business at a time when business should be very very good.

VILLE DE QUÉBEC completes first escort mission off Somalia

Further to this post, the frigate is now at work:

While posted in an area known for pirates, civil war and terrorism, crew members aboard HMCS Ville de Quebec got to spread a little good last weekend.

The Halifax-based frigate completed its first escort mission Sunday morning, helping to deliver 5,000 tonnes of food to starving Somalis in Mogadishu.

"Food was going to leave that ship and go feed someone, and that’s something navies don’t often get to see — a result," Cmdr. Chris Dickinson said in a phone interview off the coast of Somalia Monday.

"I’ve been off Yugoslavia, working there in a submarine; I’ve been involved in the war on terrorism. This was a totally different feeling.

"It was good, I’ll tell ya, it was good."

The Ville de Quebec accompanied the vessel Abdul Rahman to a spot about two kilometres from the shore of war-torn Mogadishu. There the ship was met by African Union soldiers, who are working on land with the United Nations forces.

The Canadian frigate is scheduled to do another escort into Mogadishu this morning with a North Korean ship called the Zang Za San Chong Nyon Ho.

"The ship’s company is totally hyped about it because it is something that is so totally different than anything we’ve done before," Cmdr. Dickinson said of the six-week deployment protecting United Nations World Food Programme shipments from pirates.

He said already this year, 24 vessels have been attacked and seven were taken over and still being held by the rogue seamen...

A boarding party returns to HMCS Ville de Quebec after escorting 5,000 tonnes of food aboard the Abdul Rahman to Mogadishu, Somalia. (Cpl Dany Veillette / Marlant HQ)

Afstan: Not so good news

Four headlines:

1) 89 Afghan civilians die in 'tragic' US air strike

2) US investigating civilian deaths in Afghanistan

3) Afghanistan demands review of international troops

4) Pakistan's ruling coalition collapses; government bans Taliban

As 4) indicates, the ban is not likely to have much practical effect.

"Canadian Forces deal 'huge blow' to Taliban: official"

CTV story with video (I would note, with an echo of General Hillier, that a CF Lieutenant-Colonel is not an "official"--how about "officer"?):

Lt.-Col. Dave Corbould told reporters Monday that Canadian Forces "hit the Taliban hard" during operation Op Timis Preem.

The operation was conducted in the Zhari district of Kandahar province last Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Corbould said the operation's objective was to strike at the Taliban's command and control infrastructure and take away their ability to conduct operations against Afghan and coalition forces.

The mission's key goal was to reduce the Taliban's ability to build improvised explosive devices (IEDs), which they routinely plant along Highway Number One -- the main national highway that crosses Kandahar province.

Corbould said the operation has served "a huge blow to the enemy's ability to plant major IEDs."

"It's thrown them off balance and we'll continue to maintain the momentum to keep them off balance in that specific area," said Corbould.

He said officials are still analyzing results of the operation.

"I personally believe we've taken out some of the key leaders that have conducted some of these IED operations that have affected local nationals, Afghan security forces, as well as ISAF soldiers and Canadians," said Corbould.

The report comes as an armoured vehicle carrying six Canadian soldiers and two journalists struck a roadside bomb Sunday.

The group was returning to Kandahar Airfield from the mission in the Zhari district.

Four of the soldiers were airlifted to hospital with serious but not life-threatening injuries. A reporter for the National Post was also treated in hospital and later released.

Two other soldiers and Canadian Press reporter Tobi Cohen sustained only minor bruising in the incident.

"It struck the front-right side of the vehicle, flipped us over and fortunately all of us made it out alive," Cohen told CTV's Canada AM on Monday from Kandahar.

Cohen said there was no clear motive for the attack but she said it may have been related to Op Timis Preem, during which dozens of Taliban militants were killed.

She said the incident hasn't made her question her dangerous assignment.

"I've talked to many soldiers who've cheated death countless times -- between IEDs and firefights with insurgents -- and they keep going back out there and doing their job," she said.

"I think that's what me and my fellow reporter are going to keep doing while we're here."

Last week, three Canadian soldiers were killed by an improvised explosive device while on patrol in Zhari district.

The deaths bring the total number of Canadian soldiers who have died during the Afghan mission to 93.

Update: More than just fighting:

SMALL GAINS IN AFGHANISTAN
Canadian Forces in Afghanistan juggle their combat, peacekeeping, humanitarian aid roles

Northern Operation Nanook 08

Big political splash, some useful scenarios:

The Canadian military has kicked off a series of training exercises in the Arctic to prepare for situations that may arise as a result of increased traffic in the region.

More than 500 troops -- air, land and sea -- are taking part in Operation Nanook 08, said Brig-Gen. David Millar, commander of Joint Task Force North.

"Our purpose is to exert sovereignty, demonstrate sovereignty and security but also learn how to live off the land and learn more about the operating environment here in the North," Millar told CTV's Canada AM on Monday from Iqaluit, Nunavut.

Millar said the annual exercise is growing in importance because activity in the North is rapidly increasing.

"The Canadian Forces, along with our other government departments, need to be ready to respond to... threats such as environmental accidents, oil spills (and) potentially communicable disease outbreaks on a cruise ship," he said.

As a result, Operation Nanook 08 will simulate three different scenarios:

* an outbreak of disease on a cruise ship
* a hostage-taking on a cruise ship
* a fuel spill and a fire on a Russian cargo ship

Two warships have been deployed for the exercise as well as air force Twin Otters and Aurora surveillance planes.

A record number of civilian agencies, including the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and the Canadian Border Services Agency, are also participating.

Harper heading North

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper will head North for his fourth visit in three years.

The trip comes as observers say the Tories will likely trumpet their record on Arctic sovereignty in the next federal election campaign.

However, Harper is likely to face tough questions after the Tories axed the navy's $2.9 billion project to replace its aging supply ships.

The government, in a statement issued late Friday, also cancelled a tender call for the purchase of 12 mid-shore patrol ships for the coast guard.

Meanwhile, Foreign Affairs Minister David Emerson said Sunday the government views the recent actions of Russia in the Far North "with great concern."

"We've seen much increased activity in terms of Russian overflights of Canadian airspace [not actually within Canadian territory - MC]. The Americans are seeing the same thing around Alaska [we pitched in there]," he told CTV's Question Period on Sunday [Bears off our east coast too].

Emerson said the actions were helping drive the Conservatives' Arctic strategy...

...he said Canada is taking responsible steps towards protecting its sovereignty in the Arctic by:

* Strengthening its Armed Forces, Coast Guard and government services presence in the region
* Working on territorial disputes through the United Nations
* Mapping the seabed to support Canada's claim
* Working with allies like the United States on ways to secure the Arctic

People still need to be reminded that, Hans Island aside, none of our land in the north is under any dispute. The government's emphasis on a physical military presence on the land really is in many ways just grandstanding. The real dispute (sea-bed aside) is over the status of the Northwest Passage--and I believe the Canadian Coast Guard, not the Navy, is best placed to assert our claim that it is a sovereign internal waterway (a claim that may be dubious under international law). More on the CCG role here.

UAVs for Afstan

Further to this post, just for info here is MacDonald Dettwiler's UAV site--the Heron is the UAV we are leasing for Afstan, supposed to arrive early next year.

Merlins' magic

Big props keep on turnin' in Canada (via Spotlight on Military News and International Affairs ):

A huge crowd gathered in Nanton on Saturday afternoon to watch as the engines of the museum's historic Lancaster bomber were started for the first time in 50 years.

"We fired up a couple of engines, listened to the old Rolls-Royce Merlin (engines)," said 78-year-old retired Royal Canadian Air Force flight engineer Bernie Hazelton, who flew the plane when it was used to patrol the East Coast in the 1950s. "We just let it idle. The crowd enjoyed it."

Volunteer crews at the Nanton Lancaster Society Air Museum worked hundreds of hours to restore two of the plane's four engines to running condition in time for the 50th anniversary of its last flight.

The Lancaster at the Nanton museum was mothballed in 1958, after a postwar career of coastal reconnaissance patrols, search and rescue missions and photography and mapping duties.

Rob Pedersen, president of the Nanton Lancaster Society Air Museum, said they wanted to salute the crews who flew Lancasters after the Second World War.

"It was amazing the hours the team put in," he said of the volunteers who donated time to restore the engines. "They're giving up hours and weekends to preserve history."

Those volunteers will be back at it over the next five or so years, restoring the remaining two engines.

Hazelton, who came from Trenton, Ont., to be in the cockpit when the engines were started, said the day brought back memories of the years he spent patrolling the East Coast during the Cold War, and mapping the Arctic.

The Lancaster, a Canadian-built bomber converted to postwar use in the 1940s, holds a special place in his heart.

"It was such an old workhorse, and because I was so young then," he said, adding part of his duties in the Lancaster in the 1950s was trying to spot enemy submarines. "It was nice talking to old war veterans who flew them."

Pedersen said about 3,500 people attended Saturday's event, which saw the plane's engines started twice.

Here's video of another Lanc with Merlins turning and then taxiing:



And one in flight:



Canada has one of only two flying Lancs in the world, at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum--here are photos of it in flight.

Armed Forces Day in Moose Jaw

Those of us who wore sky-blue, but weren't pilots, used to razz the fly-boys a lot. I remember the old joke about their exotic training locales:

Q: Where's Moose Jaw?

A: About eight feet from Moose Ass.

Anyhow, from the Canada-Afghanistan Blog, we get pictures of Armed Forces Day at 15 Wing Moose Jaw.

Trying to blow Afstan up...

...into a big political issue:

1) Jim Travesty in the Toronto Star:

Afghanistan explodes onto agenda

2) Ralph Surette in the Halifax Chronicle Herald:

New Afghan crisis may be real election issue

I'm sorry, but a bad week does not signify any imminent crisis--unless you want troops out. Odd too that neither columnist seems to have noticed that help will probably soon be on the way from the US and the UK--as for most of the rest of Nato...

Update: Haroon Siddiqui of the Toronto Star seems to have forgotten what he criticized Mr Obama for talking about concerning Afghanistan. How convenient.

Upperdate: Not one member of the parliamentary press gallery raised Afghanistan during prime minister Harper's August 26 press conference.

Next roto for Afstan moving out

From CFB Petawawa:

The soldiers heading into the next phase of Canada's continuing combat mission in Afghanistan were given a formal send-off by family, friends and dignitaries Friday.

Over 2,500 personnel and their families gathered at Dundonald Hall to receive a pep talk from senior officers and Ontario's Lt.-Gov. David Onley, who told them that Canadians of all political stripes support them as they journey to the dangerous Kandahar theatre of operations.

In a week when NATO has lost 16 soldiers, including three Canadian combat engineers in a roadside bombing on Wednesday, Lt.-Gov. Onley said that Canada and her allies cannot stand by and leave the Afghan people in the face of the Taliban, "a vicious enemy who no level of violence is too extreme."

"The people of Afghanistan have been battered by war and tyranny. They've been oppressed and terrorized," Lt.-Gov. Onley told the soldiers, sailors and airmen, all clad is desert fatigues. "Your mission is complex, demanding and very dangerous. But you are the heirs of a great military tradition."

This will be Petawawa's third major deployment to Afghanistan since 2003. Personnel from Joint Task Force Rotation 6 [officially Task Force 3-08] beginning leaving the base next week for what could be a seven to eight month mission. They will be part of four units: 3rd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment (3 RCR) Battle Group, Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team, National Support Element and the Operational Mentor and Liaison Teams, lead mainly by officers and senior non-commissioned officers from 1 RCR. The Canadian task force comes under command of NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

Noting that the troops have been training hard over the past year for the difficult mission, Col. Dean Milner, commander of 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group, said every one of them will make a difference no matter what their job over there will be.

"You'll do an outstanding job to help that poor country get back on its feet," said Col. Milner.

Advance teams have already flown out of CFB Trenton heading for southwest Asia. Col. Milner said the main body of troops are scheduled to leave next week. They will be replacing the 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, based out of Shilo, Manitoba. The entire contingent should be in Kandahar by late September or early October.

For 3 RCR, this will be the unit's first mission into Afghanistan since they deployed to Kabul in 2003. During that six-month assignment, the battalion provided security and assisted reconstruction efforts throughout the capital city. The bulk of their operations was conducting foot and vehicle patrols, meeting with local officials and overseeing reconstruction projects, including the construction of schools, bridges and water infrastructure.

This time around, the battalion will be engaged in a counter-insurgency with rifle companies and supporting sub-units stationed at Forward Operating Bases or FOBs throughout the Kandahar province, including the volatile Panjwayi and Zhari districts to the west of Kandahar City. For Maj. Rob McBride, commanding November Company, it's been a long time coming but his troops are anxious to get underway.

"It'll be the challenge and experience of a lifetime," said Maj. McBride, who'll be going on his fourth overseas deployment, but his first to Afghanistan.

Other soldiers, like Private Devin Quinlan, a rifleman with Mike Company, understand they are going into a combat situation and know they'll have tough days ahead.

"It's a two-way range," remarked Private Quinlan, 24. "We're going to have to dig down deep, but you just lean on your buddies."

During a vigorous training cycle that focus on specific skill sets needed in Afghanistan, the troops have learned how to conduct convoys, react to an attack from an Improvised Explosive Device or IED, and advanced first aid. They've also become familiar with Afghanistan's complex history and culture. Private Quinlan said he is aware of the strategic importance of their mission.

"You want to help these people out, but especially the kids," he added. "They are born into a country that is unstable and they should live without violence. That's what drives me.

For the families of deployed soldiers, it will mean an even longer wait. Kim Ballah, who is also a military medic, acknowledged there will be a period of adjustment once her husband, Paul, departs. However, she said her 11-month-old son, Henri, will keep her busy enough.

"There's always concerns and you're worried," said Ms. Ballah, who also has a sister deploying to Kandahar. "But day-to-day life will be hectic as it is."

CTV has video of interviews with troops here. Posts on the roto's training are here (details of its composition here) and here.