Afstan: Headlines, stories, confusion and diplomacy

Same story, different interpretations (via milnews.ca). Ottawa Citizen online:

Canada highlights small victories over Taliban

National Post online:

Canadians troops celebrate latest Afghanistan victories

From the Post:

KANDAHAR -- Sounding much more upbeat than many of his international colleagues, the commander of Canada's Afghanistan mission insisted Friday that his troops have scored a series of important victories lately.

Canadians have eliminated Taliban commanders, seized bomb factories and broken up supply centres, said Brigadier General Denis Thompson.

Now, the soldiers plan to deny the insurgents their safe havens over the winter, helped by Pakistani security forces on the other side of the border, he said.

"We've faced some interesting challenges," he told reporters. "For every challenge, however, there are successes that we don't hear enough about ... This summer we were able to significantly disrupt the insurgents' command and control network. Many of their mid- and senior-level commanders were neutralized, including several key IED experts."

Meanwhile, the heavy-lift helicopters that Canada is expected to acquire from the U.S. by this January should help tactically [emphasis added], allowing troops to push "deeper, with a larger force" into insurgent country, he said.

A day after a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a heavily guarded government building in Kabul, Brig.-Gen. Thompson acknowledged there is a "perception" in Afghanistan that security is deteriorating.

He blamed that sense in part on the Taliban's tactical shift to more bombings and other terrorist activity and less conventional warfare, though Canadian officers have been making much the same point for almost two years now...

In another optimistic appraisal of the situation, Elissa Goldberg, the top Canadian civilian official in Kandahar, conceded that the prison break was a "challenge and a setback."

But, she said, "it also provided us with an opportunity to address a number of issues with security of the perimeter and the prison itself, and to augment training of the prison officers."

Noting that the civilian contingent here has climbed to 50 people from 19 in recent months [emphasis added], she related a "phenomenal" list of achievements Canada has made on the development front, including:

• The launch of a $50-million project to refurbish the Dhala irrigation dam;

• The establishment of a new police training centre;

• Counter-IED tutoring for officers to help them respond more safely to roadside bombs;

• Work on 50 new schools, and plans to train 3,000 teachers over three years; and

• Enrolling another 7,000 Kandaharis in an adult literacy program.

Brig.- Gen. Thompson said he was hoping to curb the usual flight of the Taliban into Pakistan this winter, saying Pakistani security forces have put more pressure on the insurgents lately near the border with Afghanistan. But he said he could not provide detail of what, exactly, is happening there.

Although Pakistan's military is involved in fierce fighting with insurgents, most of it is happening in tribal areas hundreds of kilometres northeast of Kandahar.

More here on what Brig.-Gen. Thompson said: "Taliban will lose ground: Canada's top soldier".

(Update: Yet another version--an interesting one--of what Brig.-Gen. Thompson said:

Canada's strategy in Afghanistan to change

Canada’s strategy in Afghanistan will shift this winter, using improved Afghan security forces to seize and hold more territory now under the influence of the insurgents, the commanding officer of Task Force Kandahar said Friday.

“We now have even more capable Afghan national security forces,” said Gen. Denis Thompson. “If you’re going to increase the amount of terrain you control, the ultimate garrison is a policeman.”

Recent operations by the International Security Assistance Force in Kandahar province have focused more on disrupting insurgent operations and supply lines than on extending the range of government control.

That’s about to change, Thompson said.

Five new police substations have been built across the province and eight more are expected to be added in the coming months. Those stations will be staffed by Afghan police with western mentor teams in order to ensure “the ground we control stays in that state,” Thompson said.

“In order to deepen that hold, we need to make sure that there is not only an ISAF and (Afghan army) presence, but that the police that are there are credible and that they’re established in permanent infrastructure [emphasis added].”)

And another approach by the Afghan government (cf. Pakistanis):

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN -- Tribal leaders with authority in some of the most dangerous border regions in southern Afghanistan have been asked by government officials to consider raising their own militias to fill security gaps insurgents are exploiting, tribal elders have told The Globe and Mail.

Struggling to turn the tide in the battle with a resurgent Taliban, officials with a commission set up in the Ministry of Interior have reached out to a handful of tribal leaders who are convinced they can offer better protection against the insurgents than the stretched Afghan police and army.

At the same time, elders in some of the increasingly unstable parts of the country's interior - including the strip of highway west of Kandahar where militants recently killed 23 bus passengers - say they've been rounding up fighters to increase security even though the government has yet to invite them to do so.

"The police can't bring security; the government can't bring security. We can't keep our health; we can't keep our cities. So now this is our obligation, to appeal to tribal forces," said Ahsan Noor, a respected leader of the Noorzai tribe who is a provincial council deputy in Kandahar and has close ties to the family of President Hamid Karzai. "Give me 1,000 people," he said. "I can bring security from Helmand to half of Kandahar."

Brigadier-General Denis Thompson, Canada's senior military commander in Afghanistan, says he supports the plan [emphasis added], which if implemented would rapidly enhance security in rural parts of Kandahar province with no established military or police presence.

But he cautioned that it is "a quick fix ... fraught with risk [emphasis added]."

"We've had experiences in the past where a local defence force has been raised, it's loyal to a certain tribal chief, but it doesn't respond to anybody outside of that area. In other words, it's not really inside of a chain of command," Gen. Thompson said.

"They have to be accountable. Let's say they're not providing the security they said they would ... and we're having [explosions] and we're still having ambushes, or they enter into an agreement with insurgents to make life easier. Those sorts of things from our standpoint are unacceptable. We would need to be able to have some way to put pressure on them to fulfill the duties they said they would."..

(Another update:

The Canadian commander in charge of all 23,000 international troops in southern Afghanistan said military strategists may need to borrow lessons from Iraq to learn how to use tribal dynamics to increase security in the coming months.

In a final interview before handing over command of the post he has held for nine months, Major-General Marc Lessard said better outreach to tribes and tribal elders “has to be explored” by his successor, Dutch commander Major General Mart de Kruif [emphasis added]..

The key to breaking down that resiliency likely involves reaching out to the tribal communities spread across the six provinces of the southern command region.

“The tribal dynamic here is a lot more complex than in Iraq,” Maj. Gen. Lessard said. “The authority of the central government here in Afghanistan is not as strong as in Iraq,” he said, adding: “The tribes play an important, important role in the daily lives of Afghans.”

Maj.-Gen. Lessard said officials will have to figure out how to streamline tribal connections with the government. But first, military leaders need to develop a better understanding of tribal linkages and politics to avoid using a “cookie cutter approach” that could create more problems for the government.

“If you make a mistake and alienate some tribes, because some tribes feel disenfranchised, you can create more harm than good in this tribal outreach,” he said.

Maj.-Gen. Lessard cautioned that “outreach” does not necessarily involve the use of tribal militias, a strategy that has gained some popularity among both international and local officials of late. Tribal leaders from the part of the province bordering Pakistan told the Globe recently that they've been asked to float the idea of assembling militias in their communities to fill security gaps and block out insurgents.

“There could be some short term gain, but I really think it's more long term pain,” Maj.-Gen. Lessard said of the militias.

“We have spent a lot of effort, a lot of money, resources, on developing the Afghan security forces: the army, the police, the border police. When you arm a militia, you think that you're giving it a role for added security … They may think also they are empowering themselves and getting a greater status within the overall region in terms of the other tribes,” he said. “You have to be really, really careful. I'm not saying no, but I would be very, very leery of arming tribes [emphasis added],” he said...)

Some thoughts by Con Coughlin in the Daily Telegraph:

Now more than ever, Britain needs a plan for Afghanistan

One minute we are being told we must send more troops to Afghanistan if we are to stand any chance of securing victory; the next that the only option is to sit down and talk to the Taliban.

All the while, as our politicians and military commanders argue over how best to win the war in Afghanistan, the Taliban quietly, but effectively, get on with their deadly insurgency campaign to sap our resolve.

The Taliban might be a shadow of the military force it was when British troops first deployed to southern Afghanistan in the spring of 2006, but they nevertheless retain the ability to undermine the international campaign to restore the country to something approaching normality following three decades of incessant conflict...

But while the Taliban have demonstrated an impressive ability to adjust their tactics to suit their diminished military capability, those responsible for prosecuting the West's military operation seem to be hopelessly divided over how best to achieve their goal of providing Afghanistan's long-suffering civilian population with the security and stability they crave.

In the course of the past week alone, we have received a succession of dire warnings. First General Sir Michael Rose, the former Special Forces commander just returned from a tour of southern Afghanistan, said that the British mission is doomed to failure unless it receives urgently needed reinforcements. The following day it was revealed that the Americans are seriously considering sitting down and negotiating with the Taliban to end the fighting. Meanwhile, John Hutton, the new Defence Secretary, rebutted the defeatist attitude emanating from the front line in the war on terror, insisting that British forces will ultimately prevail.

But the fact that such differing opinions are now being aired on a regular basis suggests that, two and a half years into Britain's current deployment to southern Afghanistan, no one is any the wiser as to what our overall strategy is for achieving success.

The absence of such a clear-cut approach has been the Achilles' heel of Britain's involvement since the Government led everyone to understand that British forces were being deployed to support reconstruction projects and eradicate the poppy crop - which accounts for 90 per cent of the heroin sold on Britain's streets - rather than going eyeball to eyeball with the Taliban. There are still those in Whitehall - particularly at the Department for International Development - who believe that the main purpose of the British mission should be reconstruction, rather than confrontation.

But as Mr Hutton pointed out shortly after his appointment, the priority must be to deal with the insurgency, which, so long as it is allowed to continue, has the capability to undermine all other efforts to restore the country to normality. "If the Taliban turn up a month later," he said, "and bulldoze the school you've built, then you're back to square one." Quite.

Nor does Mr Hutton appear to suffer from the intellectual confusion that has afflicted some of his predecessors about the precise nature of Britain's commitment to Afghanistan. "It's first and foremost about UK national security," he said. "If Afghanistan … becomes a state where terrorists can roam freely, that terror will be exported to our own doorsteps [the sort of thing our government almost never says - -MC]."

Given the confused signals that the Government has given out in the past to justify the deployment of British forces to Afghanistan, it is to be hoped that Mr Hutton's plain-speaking translates into a mission statement that will define the objectives of not just British forces, but all the other coalition troops currently deployed.

While British commanders have been satisfied by their tactical success in defeating the Taliban as a military force, they have been frustrated by what they regard as an absence of government strategy about how best to achieve the overall objectives.

Mr Hutton, whose personal interest in the subject led him to write a book on military history, may be the man to provide it - so long as he steers clear of his other great enthusiasm, the creation of a Euro-army.

We already have a Euro-army, in the form of Nato: the vast majority of the 53,000 Nato troops based in Afghanistan are drawn from Europe. But the trouble with European armies is that, with a few notable exceptions such as the Danes, Dutch and British, they don't want to fight [emphasis added; Poles an exception too, and now the French to some extent--more here]. And that is one strategy that is sure to fail against a determined and resourceful foe such as the Taliban.

Finally, this does look like a worthwhile diplomatic initiative:

Turkey hosts meeting of Pakistan, Afghanistan leaders in Istanbul
The Turkish prime minister hosted the leaders of Afghanistan and Pakistan to discuss efforts to bring peace to their region at a conference in Turkey.

No mention in our media though.

Dear Sweetheart...

I criticize the Globe & Mail's reporting on a regular basis around here, and with good reason, I like to think. But I must heartily congratulate them now on their "Dear Sweetheart" series, a collection of letters from a QOR Sergeant who subsequently earns his commission to his wife back home during the Second World War. They are extraordinary.

Barrack room soldiering may be O.K. but I can't see that it wins wars. And that is the main object to my mind. Let's get this business over and get home. If I thought that holding my feet at exactly 30° angle on the parade ground and having my little finger just so would win the war in a hurry, I'd stand there for a month. But I really think that too much hidebound red-tape and tradition is hampering Britain's war effort. And until the whole Empire really gets down to the business of fighting “all out” we're going to drag the war out to a slow death. Don't think though, from the above, that I'm beefing due to any personal troubles with the instructors. Because I'm rarely checked-up on except in details of sloping arms, which we of the Q.O.R. aren't used to doing. But it does seem rather pointless at times, all this parade ground hooey. I'm afraid that I attach more importance to the ability to shoot straight and fast than to parade ground drill and we aren't taught to shoot, nor are the men. But enough of that! Let's speak of something more important.

For some reason or other I've missed you more, lately, than ever before I think. Maybe it's because I'm tired and want someone to talk to in the evenings. I know that there is an awfully empty space inside me and having you with me is the only thing that will ever cure it. In fact I haven't slept particularly well the last couple of nights because I'm missing you. So you see I must be in a bad way. I think probably being near Christmas has something to do with it as I'm strictly a homebody at heart and I'm missing the atmosphere that surrounds the family as Christmas Eve draws near. I really miss Anne and Karen a great deal as well as you.

Pour yourself a large portion of your beverage of choice, sit down, and prepare to get lost in the life of a WWII Canadian soldier - warts and all - for a couple of hours. You'll be glad you did.

British Gourmet Soldiers

(Cross-posted from The Phantom Observer.)

It's a truism that an army does march on its stomach. And it's no coincidence that some gourmet dishes have roots in soldier's rations -- Chicken Marengo, after all, was invented when Napoleon's field chef was trying to figure out how to feed the general at the Battle of Marengo

Nowadays, in an age of Meals Rejected by the Enemy, you wouldn't expect that modern-day soldiers would expect their rations to be of gourmet quality. However, yesterday the British armed forces released a new cooking directive -- which happens to contain a foreword by celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay (who's living proof that people do exist who swear more profusely than an American drill sergeant):

The celebrity chef declared Britain's military chefs as the "unsung heroes" in the foreword of a new military guide released Thursday aimed at turning grim military gruel into gourmet meals for the country's troops.

In his usual colorful language, the Michelin-starred chef, who has visited Afghanistan and cooked for the troops, said producing meals in such dangerous environments was "undoubtedly daunting" with cooks lacking the finest and freshest ingredients.

Actually, you don't have to take my word for it. The document, called Ten Man ORP Recipe Ideas, is available here in PDF format at the British Ministry of Defence website. And if you look at page 4, here's what The Ramsay had to say:

When I was ask ed to write the foreword to this book, I could not resist. Having been to Afghanistan and cooked in one of the main kitchens, I have nothing but respect for the huge effort you all expend to ensure that your customers get good food.

Many of you have no doubt contributed to the contents of this book. To the old hands amongst you, I’m sure the dishes are in your head and you will laugh at the production of another glossy publication. However, I would ask you to consider the young chef on their first tour in the middle of Afghanistan with little experience of the ration and even less of producing three meals a day in a combat situation. Producing variety in such a f***ing dangerous environment is undoubtedly daunting. Your help, through the submission of recipes, will go a long way to helping them produce variety in a difficult and austere environment.

I am immensely proud to be British, wholeheartedly support the work you do on behalf of the general public and salute the work you do on a daily basis to ensure the British servicemen and women eat a balanced and nutritional diet wherever they are in the world. You are without doubt the unsung heroes. I commend this book to you. Well done and keep up the good work!

Okay, so he's cleaned up his language a little (this is an official government document after all), but the recipes included herein are definitely not on the level of chipped beef on toast. Could you imagine an encamped pongo eating Tuna Paella? Garlic Naans? Beef Biryani?

It's definitely a fascinating document, and well worth looking at as an example of modern army life for the Brits.

Service and civic responsibility

I know this is a bit dated, but since I didn't point it out at the time, I'll fix that now:

Voter turnout in Canada 59%
vs.
Voter turnout in Afghanistan (our troops, our soldiers in the fields, outside the wire,) 84%

It's called duty, folks. More of us here in the Great White North obviously need to learn the concept.

Psyops at Kandahar

Interesting CP story--good luck to the word warriors:

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - It's a familiar routine for local Afghan journalists: within seconds of a roadside blast or bomb attack, they get a boasting text message or phone call from the local Taliban information officer.

"They call right in to the radio presenter on the air," says Khan Mohammed Khadim, manager of Kandahar's Killid group of stations. "Much faster than the ISAF (western) information." [See this topic at Milnet.ca, "Taliban Propaganda Watch, RC-South - October 2008"]

This is the front line in a different kind of fight in the struggle for Afghanistan. In their battle to win the hearts and minds of the local population, both the Taliban propaganda machine and Canadian information and "psyops" teams are ramping up their efforts.

"We've definitely put more resources into it," says Maj. Geoff Davis, in charge of Canadian information operations in Kandahar.

"It's grown progressively with every (troop rotation). It will continue to increase."

The Taliban clearly feel the same way.

"The Taliban has been remarkably successful in projecting itself as much stronger than it is," says a report released last summer by the International Crisis Group, a highly respected multinational think-tank ['Taliban Propaganda: Winning the War of Words?']. "The result is a weakening support for nation-building, even though few actively support the Taliban ."

The insurgents exploit "the full range of media," the report says.

A website spreads statements from the leadership and lists battlefield victories, usually wildly exaggerated. A magazine airs issues within the movement. Videos are beamed directly to cell phones.

Local reporters hear often from Taliban spokesmen. Every Afghan "fixer" working with western journalists carries the number of one or two insurgent contacts in his cell phone who can be relied on for prompt Taliban comment [see this post].

And in a country where most are illiterate, the Taliban have proven adept at infiltrating popular culture. Lectures and battle reports circulate on DVDs and cassettes. Traditional, nationalist songs and poems are co-opted to convey a Taliban message.

Canadians fight back with that old standby - the facts.

"The media here - and the population - have seen so much propaganda for so long, they don't believe in very much," says Davis. "We are very careful to watch what we provide is always factual."

Canadians are trying to work more closely with Kandahar's lively media landscape, which includes newspapers, radio and TV stations.

Local media outlets are invited to Kandahar Airfield to discuss the flow of information with Canadian officers. Afghan reporters say they're eager to get information from western sources on everything from security incidents to development projects as quickly as they can get it.

Canadian money, too, buys ads on all local media.

"Some of the small radio stations are only surviving because of our advertising," says Davis.

Canada even runs a Pashtu-language radio station. RANA-FM broadcasts local music, talk and phone-in shows 24 hours a day [it's actually in Kingston; more here--jobs for Canadian Pashto speakers, and here--it's been around since January 2007].

In the field, soldiers on operations are accompanied by psyops teams, which brief commanders on the local cultural landscape, says Capt. Shawn Stewart.

"They try to find out who they are, where they're from, what village ... We try to paint a picture of affiliations."

Such information is crucial to sorting out the good guys from the bad.

"We've had situations where people have offered up others as being insurgents, but it was actually a historical rift between tribes. They were taking an opportunity to inflict some retribution."

Canada now has two psyops - psychological operations - teams, up from one. By next spring, there will be a third [emphasis added--here's a December 2006 post on a psyops team]. Even the Afghan Army is developing its own psyops teams and information officers.

Is it all working?

Maj. Jay Janzen analyzes stories appearing in local media. His studies suggest that about half such stories are positive for NATO and Afghan forces and about one-third are negative.

"The results are quite encouraging," he said. "There's work for us to do but at the same time, there's a level of comprehension and understanding of what we're trying to do here."

Although Canadians are increasingly getting their message out, it's not clear if it's having an impact on the overall attitudes of Afghans.

A national survey released this week suggested that 38 per cent of Afghans feel the country is moving in the right direction, down from 44 per cent in 2006. About 32 per cent felt Afghanistan was moving in the wrong direction.

In Afghanistan's southwest, which includes Kandahar, only 25 per cent of the population thought things were going well.

The survey did not measure attitudes toward western forces.

Still, the information war remains "mission critical," says Janzen.

"If the people here don't understand why we're here, if the don't have knowledge of the types of activities that are going on, they won't support us."

Now if only the CF and the government could do better psyops back home. Half joke--lots from Babbling in May 2007 (more from him here and here)--and I don't think things have improved much.

Challenges facing MND MacKay

Further to Babbling's post, a Media Advisory from the Conference of Defence Associations (received by e-mail) that makes some important points:

MEDIA ADVISORY

For Immediate Release

30 October 2008

From: Captain (Ret’d) P.W. Forsberg, CD, Public Affairs Officer

CONFERENCE OF DEFENCE ASSOCIATIONS WELCOMES RE-APPOINTMENT OF PETER MACKAY AS MINISTER OF NATIONAL DEFENCE

Ottawa – The Conference of Defence Associations (CDA) welcomes the re-appointment of the Honourable Peter G. MacKay as Minister of National Defence. Mr. MacKay’s re-appointment can be seen as a reflection of the Prime Minister’s confidence in his Minister’s management of the defence envelope.

While we see as good policy Mr. MacKay’s retention of the defence ministry we see more strategic changes looming in the not too distant future, such as further economic turmoil and new political administrations for two countries of the North American continent. The more significant challenge for the Prime Minister will be the balancing of the priorities that Canada faces in light of the economic disturbances that will impact on the Government’s ability and willingness to execute the Canada First Defence Strategy (CFDS) [more on the strategy here and here].

The CDA recognizes that the Minister will be facing challenges to the ongoing transformation and realignment of the Canadian Forces (CF) with the government’s defence policy. In addition to the challenge of balancing the Government’s priorities, the CDA has reservations whether funding will be adequate to support the CFDS [more on funding here and here]. Mr. MacKay’s re-appointment is, hopefully, the Prime Minister’s signal to Canadians, the federal bureaucracy, and Canada’s allies of the new government’s commitment to continue to strengthen Canada’s defence capabilities.

Mr. MacKay’s appointment is testimony to his dedication in fostering the betterment of our Armed Forces. The CDA can assure the Minister of National Defence of the Associations’ continuing support in his efforts to oversee the ongoing restoration of the CF.

The perils of "negotiating" with the Taliban

From Terry Glavin in Kabul:

Mayhem On Feroshgah Street: More 'Propaganda Of The Deed' From The Taliban

This was the scene I came upon this morning at the Ministry of Information and Culture headquarters here in Kabul. I took this photograph about an hour after the bombing, and it was still a madhouse.

Local radio initially reported that five workers and a police officer were killed after two suicide bombers charged the building, shot the cop, and burst their way inside. One of the bombers detonated his vest, but the other was shot, and was arrested and hauled off. An hour or so later, reports were that three were dead. Last I checked, it's one dead, and several injured. I'd be surprised if the toll stays that low, because it was one hell of a blast (although this report looks reliable).

At the time of the bombing I was a few minutes away, having tea with Fatana Gilani, head of the Afghanistan Women's Council. Gilani was trying to contain her fury about the ticking of the Afghanistan sell-out clock, which will likely inch a few seconds closer to midnight because of today's blast.

The ticking is commonly accompanied by the tinkling sounds of revisionist sanctimonium, amplified by half-assed journalism. Gilani's first point was that it is a good thing that Canada has long supported Afghan efforts at reconciliation, and last June (Mr. Layton should take note), Canada identified an "Afghan-led, internationally supported reconciliation process" as one of the six strategic objectives Canadian efforts will concentrate on.

Gilani's main point: The recent hullabaloo about the prospects for truce talks with the Taliban should be understood as a harbinger of something horrible, and no friend of the Afghan people should be happy with it. Foreign powers cannot be trusted to "negotiate" with the Taliban, and neither can President Karzai, who's been pleading for talks ever since he was elected. The Afghan people have been abandoned before, and quite enough thugs and gangsters have been accommodated by backroom deals in recent years. If there's any talking to do, it should be led by the masses of the Afghan people, she said, with a strong phalanx of Afghan women at the helm.

Here's a news story from an Afghan online media site about the attack (take a look at the "Home" page).

MacKay stays as MND

Good. Bringing a new minister up to speed at this point would have been pointless, since MacKay has been doing a decent job of it: conscientious, motivated, caring about the CF, and able to make political arguments for DND on a political level. That is to say, I can't think of any Conservative MP better suited to the job...

Covering Afstan

Some serious reporting:

Reuters:

Taliban leader Mullah Omar should not be involved in Afghan reconciliation efforts despite a renewed interest in talks with members of the Islamist movement, the Pentagon said on Wednesday.

"We as a government do not believe that Mullah Omar is somebody you reconcile with," Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said.

"Mullah Omar has the blood of thousands of Americans on his hands, based upon the support that he provided Osama bin Laden," Morrell told reporters.

His comments contrasted with an appeal by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who called last month on Mullah Omar to come home and work for peace. Omar is believed to be in hiding in the mountainous areas straddling the Afghan-Pakistan border.

Insurgent violence has risen this year in Afghanistan to its highest level since U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban from power in 2001 for harboring al Qaeda leaders responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States.

Faced with the rise in violence, both the Afghan government and Western nations have showed a renewed interest in coming to terms with elements of the Taliban and other insurgent groups.

"You can't kill them all," Morrell said.

"You have to figure out a way to embrace those who are willing, ultimately, to work with the central government, lay down their arms -- at least stop pointing them at the government and at us -- and work in a constructive manner for the good of all the Afghan people," he said.

"This has been going on for some time, albeit, I will acknowledge this, clearly with a renewed emphasis lately by the Afghan government that we are working to support [emphasis added]."..

LA Times:

Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan -- The Afghan war is at its highest pitch since it began seven years ago, growing daily in scope and savagery. Yet on both sides of the conflict, the possibility of peace negotiations has gained sudden prominence.

Among Western and Afghan officials, analysts and tribal elders, field commanders and foot soldiers, the notion of talks with the Taliban, once dismissed out of hand, has recently become the subject of serious debate.

Both sides acknowledge that there are enormous impediments. Each camp has staked out negotiating positions that are anathema to the other. Neither side professes the slightest trust in the other's word. Each side claims not only a battlefield edge, but insists that it is winning the war for public support.

But whether they are willing to admit it publicly, both sides have powerful incentives for turning to negotiations rather than pushing ahead with a grinding war of attrition. Would-be mediators have emerged, preliminary contacts have taken place, and more indirect talks are likely soon.

All around, a sense of battle fatigue is undeniable.

"The most important consideration is the feelings of the Afghan people," said Humayun Hamidzada, a senior aide to Afghan President Hamid Karzai. "And the fact is that they are sick and tired of war."

A major poll released Tuesday by the Asia Foundation found that Afghans are growing more pessimistic about their future.

Large swaths of the country are under Taliban control. Travel by road between major cities is a life-threatening gamble. Here in the capital, where three Westerners were gunned down last week, abductions and attacks are becoming commonplace.

Karzai has been the strongest proponent of reconciliation, at times alarming his U.S. patrons with his appeals to the insurgents. But some ex-warlords who bear the scars of their own battles against the Taliban also support broad-based talks. A number of the movement's former adherents believe there is room for negotiation, as do tribal leaders who called for talks after a binational jirga, or traditional assembly, that ended Tuesday in the Pakistani capital.

The insurgency in Afghanistan, which is made up of many disparate factions, has serious internal disagreements over discourse with the enemy. Western allies, as well, appear divided...

U.S. officials have said little about the Karzai government's peace overtures other than that any talks must take place only with insurgents who accept the Afghan Constitution and are willing to lay down their arms.

But U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has suggested publicly that some form of negotiated settlement is possible, if not inevitable.

"There has to be ultimately, and I'll underscore 'ultimately,' reconciliation as part of a political outcome to this [emphasis added]," Gates told NATO defense ministers in Budapest, Hungary, this month. "That's ultimately the exit strategy for all of us."

While the Globe and Mail, for its part, continues to commit journalism:

Talking to the Taliban - long dismissed as unthinkable - was endorsed yesterday by senior envoys from the embattled governments of both Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Even the Bush administration conceded [emphasis added] it was considering "reaching out" to reconcile with some elements of the doctrinaire Islamist movement that once harboured al-Qaeda.

The fundamental policy shift reflects a stark reality: The raging insurgency in Afghanistan has proved the war may not be winnable militarily and that the resurgent Taliban may need to be included in any far-reaching peace.

The announcement that contacts would be sought with the Taliban came at the close of a two-day gathering of elders and prominent figures from Pakistan and Afghanistan.

"We agreed that contacts should be established with the opposition on both sides," said former Afghan foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, who led his country's delegation to the meeting in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

One Taliban spokesman rejected the overture, setting the pullout of all foreign troops as a condition for talks...

I guess the reporter, Paul Koring in Washington, missed this earlier "concession" in an Oct. 8 story from his colleague Graeme Smith in Kandahar:

...
U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates used a similar phrase this week, endorsing a reconciliation process with “people who are willing to work with the Afghan government.”..

More serious reporting:

Washington Post:

U.S. commanders in Afghanistan now believe they need about 20,000 additional troops to battle a growing Taliban insurgency, as demands mount for support forces such as helicopter units, intelligence teams and engineers that are critical to operating in the country's harsh terrain.

The troop requests, made in recent weeks, reflect the broader struggles the U.S. military faces in the Afghan war. Fighting has intensified, particularly in the country's eastern region, where attacks are up and cross-border infiltration of insurgents from Pakistan is on the rise. U.S. troop deaths in 2008 are higher than in any other year since the conflict began in 2001.

The Pentagon has approved the deployment of one additional combat battalion and one Army brigade, or about 4,000 troops, set to arrive in Afghanistan by January. Commanders have already requested three more combat brigades -- 10,500 to 12,000 troops -- but those reinforcements depend on further reductions from Iraq and are unlikely to arrive until spring or summer, according to senior defense officials. Now, U.S. commanders are asking the Pentagon for 5,000 to 10,000 additional support forces to help them tackle the country's unique geographic and logistical challenges [emphasis added]...

The troop requests, made in recent weeks, reflect the broader struggles the U.S. military faces in the Afghan war. Fighting has intensified, particularly in the country's eastern region, where attacks are up and cross-border infiltration of insurgents from Pakistan is on the rise. U.S. troop deaths in 2008 are higher than in any other year since the conflict began in 2001.

The Pentagon has approved the deployment of one additional combat battalion and one Army brigade, or about 4,000 troops, set to arrive in Afghanistan by January. Commanders have already requested three more combat brigades -- 10,500 to 12,000 troops -- but those reinforcements depend on further reductions from Iraq and are unlikely to arrive until spring or summer, according to senior defense officials. Now, U.S. commanders are asking the Pentagon for 5,000 to 10,000 additional support forces to help them tackle the country's unique geographic and logistical challenges...

The deterioration has been pronounced in eastern Afghanistan [emphasis added], where cross-border infiltration by insurgents from Pakistan has risen 20 to 30 percent and overall attacks have gone up by about a third since April, compared with the same period last year. At the same time, roadside bombings in the east increased 40 percent, according to Brig. Gen. Mark A. Milley, deputy commander of U.S. troops in eastern Afghanistan...

The Guardian:

One of Britain's most senior military officers warned last night that there was no point in sending reinforcements to Afghanistan until the Afghans themselves were able to control the ground captured by foreign troops.

Lieutenant General Sir Peter Wall, who is responsible for overseeing British military operations, said the notion that "flooding" Afghanistan with a "whole load" more troops was the solution was misleading.

The Afghans had to deliver better governance and build up their own armed forces, he said. There was no point in investing more money and men in the country unless security and economic and social projects were seen to be "inspired by the Afghans themselves", he added. "If we do it for them, it will just not count."

Giving evidence to a joint session of the Commons defence and foreign affairs committees [a serious committee, unlike our equivalent], the general was reflecting growing frustration among British defence chiefs about the failure of the Afghan government to support Nato military presence with economic and social progress. He said the process would be "incremental, gradual, and take some time".

The US is pressing its Nato allies to send more troops to Afghanistan. But British commanders say there is a limit to what military force can do, and that it could be counter-productive, by allowing the Taliban to argue that the foreign occupation of the country was increasing, they say.

The defence secretary, John Hutton, who was also giving evidence, said Britain had not received a call for help from the US. "I am not going to sit here and be speculative about a request ... It can't be the role of the UK to fill up every gap," he said.

However, he said that next year Britain would deploy to Afghanistan Merlin helicopters currently in Iraq [emphasis added]. The plan to reduce the 4,000 British troops in southern Iraq to a few hundred in the first half of next year was on track, Hutton said.

The foreign secretary, David Miliband, told the MPs that British troops would be in Afghanistan for as long as was necessary [emphasis added]. "When [the Afghans] are able to defend their own country, they won't need us," he said.

For Valour

The Governor General announced the awarding of eleven Military Valour decorations, and a number of Meritorious Service decorations yesterday.

Corporal James Ball, S.M.V.
Edmonton, Alberta and Winnipeg, Manitoba
Star of Military Valour

Captain Jonathan Snyder, S.M.V. (deceased)
Edmonton, Alberta and Penticton, British Columbia
Star of Military Valour

Corporal Steven Bancarz, M.M.V.
Edmonton and Calgary, Alberta
Medal of Military Valour

Corporal Cary Baker, M.M.V.
Edmonton, Alberta and Rossland, British Columbia
Medal of Military Valour

Captain Robert Peel, M.M.V., C.D.
Victoria, British Columbia
Medal of Military Valour

Corporals Baker, Ball and Bancarz, and captains Peel and Snyder were deployed to Afghanistan to serve as mentors to an Afghan company, when they were ambushed by Taliban insurgents on June 4, 2008. With little chance of survival, they exposed themselves to great peril and retaliated against the enemy while encouraging the Afghan soldiers to do the same. Captain Snyder seized control of the situation and ensured that the Afghan soldiers retrieved their wounded comrades. Corporal Ball led a two-man team across broken terrain to secure an extraction route that allowed for the execution of a fighting withdrawal by Captain Peel and corporals Bancarz and Baker. Because of their dedication, leadership and valour, many Afghan and Canadian lives were saved.

***

Sergeant William Kenneth MacDonald, S.M.V., C.D.
Denwood, Alberta and Regina, Saskatoon
Star of Military Valour

On August 3, 2006, amidst chaos and under sustained and intense enemy fire in Afghanistan, Sergeant MacDonald selflessly and repeatedly exposed himself to great peril in order to assist his wounded comrades. Despite the risk, he ensured that his men held on until reinforcements arrived and that the platoon’s focus remained on holding the ground that they had fought so hard to secure.

***

Major Joseph Antoine Dave Abboud, M.S.C., M.M.V., C.D.
Leavenworth, Kansas, United States of America and Sherbrooke, Quebec
Medal of Military Valour

A selfless and devoted commander of B Company, 3rd Battalion, Royal 22e Régiment, Major Abboud led his combat team during an arduous battle in Afghanistan that lasted two days, in August 2007. His courage and leadership inspired his troops and contributed to the success of the mission.

***

Corporal Alexandre Benjamin Jonathan Dion, M.M.V.
Québec, Quebec
Medal of Military Valour

On September 27, 2007, in the Panjwayi district of Afghanistan, enemy forces ambushed Corporal Dion’s platoon and grievously wounded a fellow soldier. Under direct and sustained enemy fire, he carried the injured soldier over 150 meters of difficult terrain to safety. Corporal Dion’s valiant actions helped to save the life of his comrade and enabled his platoon to safely withdraw from the scene.

***

Master Corporal Christopher Lorne Harding, M.M.V.
Souris, Manitoba
Medal of Military Valour

Master Corporal Harding was deployed with 6 Platoon, B Company, 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, in Afghanistan. When his section was attacked on July 8, 2006, he selflessly advanced across open terrain and commanded the battle, while providing first aid to a critically wounded soldier. His courageous actions under intense fire enabled his section to hold its position and to save the life of a comrade.

***

Warrant Officer Tod Hopkin, M.M.V., C.D.
Edmonton and Wainwright, Alberta
Medal of Military Valour

On August 22 and 23, 2007, Warrant Officer Hopkin commanded the lead vehicle of a combat team through sustained enemy attacks, in Afghanistan, exposing himself to great risk in order to recapture a vital position. His composure and leadership were inspirational, and lead to the success of the mission.

***

Corporal Bryce Keller, M.M.V. (posthumous)
Sherwood Park, Alberta and Regina, Saskatchewan
Medal of Military Valour

On August 3, 2006, while exposed to intense enemy fire in Afghanistan, Corporal Keller demonstrated courage and leadership in order to allow his comrades to attend to a critically wounded soldier. Sadly, Corporal Keller made the ultimate sacrifice that day, but his selfless actions contributed to saving lives and enabled his platoon to hold vital terrain until reinforcements arrived.

Bravo Zulu to all these fine individuals on their recognition. While I'm sure it is scant consolation, I hope the families and friends of Capt Snyder and Cpl Keller can take some pride in the fact that the sacrifices of their loved ones have been publicly recognized in this way.

Following are the recipients of the Meritorious Service decorations:

Major Joseph Antoine Dave Abboud, M.S.C., M.M.V., C.D.
Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Keith Chamberlain, M.S.C., C.D.
Colonel Nicolas Eldaoud, M.S.C., C.D.
Major-General Timothy James Grant, O.M.M., M.S.C., C.D.
General Raymond Roland Joseph Henault, C.M.M., M.S.C., C.D. (retired)
Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Rosaire Aimé Stéphane Lafaut, M.S.C., C.D.
Lieutenant-Colonel Paul Langlais, M.S.C., C.D.
Colonel Michael John Pearson, M.S.C., C.D.
Major-General Walter Semianiw, O.M.M., M.S.C., C.D.
Lieutenant-General Waldemar Skrzypczak, M.S.C.
Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Jean-Pierre Bergeron, M.S.M., C.D.
Corporal Patrick James Berrea, M.S.M., C.D.
Captain James Brennan, M.S.M., C.D.
Master Corporal Christian Bureau, M.S.M.
Chief Petty Officer 1st Class Raymond Côté, M.S.M., C.D.
Corporal Dominic Couture, M.S.M.
Master Warrant Officer Joseph Lucien André Demers, M.S.M., C.D.
Master Corporal Steve Descarie, M.S.M., C.D.
Master Corporal Danielle Dumas, M.S.M.
Colonel Robert George (Geordie) Elms, M.S.M., C.D.
Honorary Colonel Blake Charles Goldring, M.S.M.
Major Pierre Huet, M.S.M., C.D.
Colonel J. C. G. Juneau, M.S.M., C.D.
Major Russell Joseph King, M.S.M., C.D.
Lieutenant-Colonel Douglas Marvin LaBrie, M.S.M., C.D.
Chief Warrant Officer Michel Landry, M.S.M., C.D.
Honorary Colonel Douglas Gordon Marr, M.S.M., C.D. (retired)
Lieutenant-Colonel Michael Charles Maurer, M.S.M., C.D.
Major James Duncan McKillip, M.S.M.*, C.D. (*Indicates the award of a second Meritorious Service Medal)
Lieutenant-Colonel Christian Mercier, M.S.M., C.D.
Major Richard Moffet, M.S.M., C.D.
Master Warrant Officer André Moreau, M.S.M., C.D.
Master Warrant Officer Sylvain Parent, M.S.M., C.D.
Colonel Thomas Seay, M.S.M.
Lieutenant Marc-Antoine Sigouin, M.S.M.
Major Peter Sullivan, M.S.M., C.D. (retired)
Colonel Luther (Trey) S. Turner III, M.S.M. (US Air Force)
Commander Stephen Alexander Virgin, M.S.M., C.D.

I note again, as I did the last time, that nobody has been awarded a Mentioned in Dispatches in well over a year. This strikes me as odd, and somewhat inexplicable. Here's a link to the latest MiD's, announced on Oct 21st. Unfortunately, there don't seem to be any citations available to read.

It is worth making specific mention of Maj Abboud's award of not only the M.S.C., but the M.M.V. as well. Well done, Major.

I have no particular issue with the awards - especially with HCol Goldring's recognition, as I'm a big fan of the Canada Company concept - but I do find it odd that two Honourary Colonels are among the current crop of M.S.M. awardees this time around.

I find myself intrigued, as well, by the M.S.M. citations for MCpls Descarie and Dumas, both for intelligence work. I suspect it will be a good many years before we find out much more about what that work entailed.

Congratulations to all those recognized by the Governor General, the Canadian Forces, and a grateful and admiring nation.

Warning orders: prepare to write...

It never ceases to amaze me what I learn from readers of The Torch: the Canadian Forces Artists Program - about which we've written previously - has chosen its first poet to chronicle the work of our soldiers. Our correspondent knows the lady in question, Suzanne Steele, and speaks highly of her.

Ms. Steele has set up a website called War Poet, and here's how she's described her work so far:

smsteele is one of five artists nationwide to participate as a war artist in the 2008-2009 Canadian Forces Artist Program (CFAP). She is the first poet to be chosen for the program. in the course of research for her “deployment”, smsteele has spent hundreds of hours interviewing military personnel, visiting military bases and training centres, armouries and military functions. she will be going on exercise with the infantry several times in the next year.

new tans/may day project are the first two projects smsteele is working on as a result of her involvement with CFAP.

new tans is a record of the Canadian experience in Afghanistan.

may day is a series of letters in prose, poem, txt, email, of a young woman to her infantryman lover serving in Afghanistan.

She's also writing a "diary" - I'd call it a blog, but what do I know about online writing, eh? - that promises to be interesting, if her entries from the CMTC at CFB Wainwright are any indication:

my french, rusty, was good enough to gain me at least a bit of an opening into the world of 7 young guys refining the art of infantry… with their smattering of english, and my fundamental french (it always takes me a few days to rev it up again), we managed to travel through the depths of Wainwright in a LAV, go on patrol, sleep in a leaguer, share hard rations and hours of smoking (them), joking, chatting and perfecting that particular infantry skill of sleeping whenever and wherever you can…

I’ve been around the infantry enough to know that when there’s no “action”, one puts one’s head down (or back or on the next guy’s shoulder or…) close your eyes and go for it… last night was no exception

...

at 1 a.m., “Suzanne, Suzanne, get up, the Sergeant wants to see you at his LAV… we’ll escort you,”… it was the section commander…

I’ve hung around these guys long enough too, to understand that when you are asked to do something, you do it, RIGHT NOW… so I dressed (and it was freezing) faster than I’ve ever in my life, and headed out into the dark, starry night with the young soldier to the Sergeant’s LAV.

“Come on up,” was the invitation. I climbed the LAV in the near dark, another soldier beside me always, to make sure I was safe, and lowered myself into one of the LAV’s hatches where the Sergeant was waiting. A focused man with a passion for ice fields and mountain climbing, I spent the next hour and a half with him on duty, and we chatted about big things, kept watch, had a really interesting time, an experience I shall write a poem about soon (it’s bubbling), an experience I shall actually remember all of my life (I don’t want to write about it until I write the poem)…

all the while the warm hum of the LAV, the green lights of it’s interior, the starry night ringing quietly above

I find that I don't really care overmuch what she knows about soldiering; the fact that she cares about the soldiers she's working with shines clearly through in her writing, and it's enough. I get the distinct feeling she'll treat them well.

Best of luck, Ms. Steele. And BZ for taking this on.

First blush...

...on The Asia Foundation's 2008 Afghan opinion poll, the most comprehensive out there: the numbers are encouraging, the trends aren't.

This chart is one example of that.



Two points for the "Support our troops - bring them home!" crowd:

• The security situation is both the main reason respondents give for saying the country is moving in the right direction and the main concern for those who say the country is moving in the wrong direction. The proportion of respondents who cite insecurity as a reason for pessimism has increased by one-fourth in the past year.


• The biggest problems faced by Afghanistan as a whole are identified as security (36%), economic issues including unemployment (31%), high prices (22%), poor economy (17%), and corruption (14%).

Note that the average Afghan's biggest concern is security. Security requires troops on the ground. That means a mix of troops from NATO and our allies in the country, and from Afghanistan. The mix changes towards more of an Afghan face as the ANSF get trained up. Guess who does the training? That's right, our troops (OMLT and POMLT teams)!

Note also that the most concerning issues to Afghans after security revolve around economics. What drives the economic recovery? Well, security is one big factor - you can't trade if your stuff gets stolen or blown up and your people get killed. Our development initiatives are largely economic stimulants on either a long-term (education, legal reform, governance, etc) or a short-term (infrastructure, employment projects, micro-loans, etc) basis. But development doesn't happen without security either.

So those who would yank our soldiers out of Afghanistan yesterday need to understand that their preferred course of action would not only go against the expressed will of the Afghan people, it would unleash the forces of chaos and repression that would trigger what the Afghans fear most.

In other words, it would be a recipe for disaster - precisely the wrong course of action.

The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month

A remarkable vigil to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the World War I armistice will be held across Canada and in London, England. God Save the Queen:

The Queen will take part in a unique Canadian Remembrance Day ceremony in London next week to mark the 90th anniversary of the end of the First World War, Buckingham Palace announced yesterday.

The Queen and Prince Philip will participate at an evening event Nov. 4 at Canada House, the Canadian High Commission building in Trafalgar Square.

A huge projector will display, in sequence, over seven straight evenings leading up to Remembrance Day on Nov. 11, the names of Canada's 68,000 war dead on the building's walls.

The same spectacle will begin several hours later as night falls in Canada, starting in Atlantic Canada and moving gradually from east to west.

The main Canadian display will be at the National War Memorial near Parliament Hill, although official vigils using the technology will also be held in Fredericton, Halifax, Toronto, Regina and Edmonton.

The project is the brainchild of Canadian actor R.H. Thomson and lighting designer Martin Conboy, and is intended to symbolically "repatriate" the bodies of the war dead who, by law, had to be buried in Europe.

Its other goal is to remember on an individual basis the dead who, for 89 years, have been remembered collectively during Remembrance Day ceremonies.

Mr. Thomson said he didn't expect when the project was launched that it would get the Queen's support, and he hopes the news will prompt schools, historical societies, community groups and Royal Canadian Legion branches to acquire the software to hold their own smaller-scale vigils.

He noted that the Queen was born in 1926, eight years after the end of a devastating four-year war.

"I'm actually quite cognizant of her interest of the men in that generation who died in the millions," Mr. Thomson, 61, said. "Her generation understands the size of that loss. Her generation gets it. Her father and her grandfathers must have talked a lot about it.

"My generation and the generation underneath me don't quite get it."

Veterans Affairs Canada contributed $340,000 to pay for the production of the National War Memorial vigil, the simultaneous webcast of the event, and the co-ordination of vigils in the other cities that were funded by local and private sector sources.

Canadians can look up the names of relatives who died during the war and determine the exact moment when their names will be displayed during the live broadcast from Ottawa by going to www.1914-1918.ca.

Community groups that want to take part in vigil activities in the cities involved or acquire the projection software package for smaller vigils can contact Canada's National History Society through www.historysociety.ca [more here on Remembrance Day in general].

From the Vigil website--note there will be live streaming:

Vigil On this page you will see the Ottawa National Vigil streamed live from the National War Memorial. It will run for seven nights, starting at 5:00pm each evening. The first name appears at 5:15pm. Each night’s vigil will be 13 hours long, ending at sunrise the following day. The vigil will then recommence at 5:00pm and run another 13 hours. The last name will appear as dawn breaks on November 11th.

The Names The vigil will commence November 4th 2008. More than 9,700 names will appear each night. Each individual name will appear only once during the seven nights. These include those killed in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, the Canadian Merchant Navy and the Canadian Army Medical Corps.

Searching The Names To find the exact night and time when a specific name will appear, use the Search Names tab located at the top of this page. The names appearing in the vigil will have no order or ranking. Each man or woman was equal in death.

Vigil Locations This vigil is also taking place in other Canadian cities and in London, England. You can access these by using the Time Zones or London tabs located above. We encourage you to attend in person or to view the simultaneous vigil presentations created on each region’s webpage.

Time Zones This vigil is being presented across 9 time zones. Bear in mind the time difference when attending a vigil in your city. For example the Ottawa National vigil will commence 5 hours after the London International vigil. The Regina vigil will start 1 hour after Ottawa. But wherever you live, the vigil will commence at 5:00pm local time.

Educational Opportunities The History Society is helping to organize local schools and community groups to animate all of the vigil sites. If you are interested in participating in the vigil go to www.historysociety.ca/vigil . Teachers are encouraged to explore the educational resources available for classes at the website.

Memory is part of what makes us human.

Lest we forget.

Relying on the reserves

A nice article by Christie Blatchford, focusing on the Brockville Rifles:

Fighting for the honour of serving their country

Update: Some interesting discussion at Milnet.ca.

Offensive in Uruzgan

Not that our media notice much what our allies do--note the French mentors in the field with ANA (via GAP):

NATO has conducted one of its larger operations to date in Southern Afghanistan. In a secret operation, one thousand soldiers were deployed to chase Taliban fighters from a contested area in Uruzgan province. The operation lasted ten days and ended on Sunday, the Dutch ministry of Defence announced.

Operation 'Bor Barakai' (or Thunder) took place in the Mirabad region, just east of the capital of Uruzgan Province, Tarin Kowt. Mirabad has been a known Taliban stronghold for years, and the fact that NATO deemed it necessary to deploy a thousand soldiers gives evidence to the presumption that stiff resistance could be expected.

British marines

Another indication of this presumption is the fact that the bulk of the troops consisted of British marines. These are not permanently based in Uruzgan province, but are used on a temporary basis by NATO to fill gaps or provide support to operations all over Southern Afghanistan.

Besides 500 troops of '42 Commando Royal Marines' [just recently arrived--earlier action here], the Dutch deployed some 350 men from its battle group while the Afghan national army provided 150 men. Smaller contingents included Australian Special Forces, and members of the French Foreign Legion that coach Afghan units [emphasis added--more on the French in Uruzgan here].

Small skirmishes

However, once in the area, the Taliban disappeared into thin air, and only small skirmishes took place resulting in the death of one fighter, presumed to be Taliban. Large stocks of weapons and explosives were found, including hundreds of kilograms of explosives used to produce Improvised Explosive Devices or IED's.

The military part of the offensive having been concluded, efforts will now concentrate on keeping a permanent presence of Afghan security forces in the area and begin reconstruction projects for the local population.

For the time being, the Mirabad area is quiet, and without their weapons, the Taliban will not be able to make a fist. This was the third large-scale NATO offensive in Uruzgan province since mid-2006, in the region known as the 'heartland of the Taliban'.

More on Royal Marines:

Terry Glavin in Afstan

A post:

Down and Out With Mahboob Shah and His People: There Are No Foreigners Here


KABUL -Here's a photo of some the people I was hanging out with yesterday. And here's the sort of story everyone else in the world has been reading about this city. Apparently, it's "as dangerous as Baghdad at its worst."

There are more than four million people in Kabul - nobody knows for sure. I've been rambling around the backstreets for several days now, buying apples and bananas at the bazaars, getting invited in for tea in mud houses and collapsed buildings and old tarp-and-canvas hovels, and filling up my notebooks.

The poverty here is absolutely savage. But for a foreigner like me, it's much safer to be visiting among the poor of this city than it is to be rolling around in a swish Toyota in the swanker parts of town, with armed guards.

Funny, that. Works the same way, all over the world.

His first post from Kabul is here.

Trying to deal with CF personnel shortages

Re-recruiting:

Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Walter Natynczyk wants those who recently left the Canadian Forces to come back into the fold.

He says that despite meeting its recruiting targets the military is having difficulty in boosting its overall numbers as well as in specific trades. Attrition is taking its toll and the demographic bomb of those with 20 to 30 years in the military is about to explode (if it hasn’t already).

One solution --besides more aggressive recruiting --is getting former military personnel back into uniform, says Gen. Natynczyk.

Here’s what he had to say to a number of reporters including myself: “It’s remarkable how many are actually giving us a call and saying I’d like to come back, I like what I see. I welcome that. How quickly can I bring them in? How quickly can I fast-track the process? Let’s not be bureaucratic about this. Bring them in. They just got out a few years ago. They’re still pretty fresh. Let's welcome them with open arms."..

Earlier posts on the problem are here ('CF's "war for talent"') and here (pilots), plus one on Army Non-commissioned members.

Cyclones: Now they find out

Good grief (further to this post)!

Choppers need boost
Ottawa claims upgraded engines for helicopters won’t further delay Sea King replacements

Canada’s new fleet of maritime helicopters, already projected to be about 20 months behind schedule, are going to need added engine horsepower because they’re heavier than originally expected, says a company involved in the project.

A spokesman for General Electric says the single engines being built for the Sikorsky Cyclones, also known as the MH-92, are going to be "a variation" of an existing design it has worked on over the past few years.

"A more powerful engine . . . is required for the MH-92 because the helicopter is heavier than was intended and, therefore, we are assembling an engine that will deliver more power for the maritime helicopter program," said Daniel Verrault, who represents General Electric, a subcontractor on the project, in Ottawa...

Pioneers, as seen by others...

...specifically, by an American of our acquaintance:

Taliban realities

Further to this post, it's odd these stories about the Talibs are so "fair and balanced" when compared to stories about what the international forces are doing:

1) Attackers gouge out Afghan man's eyes (h/t to Celestial Junk)

Armed assailants attacked a man and gouged out his eyes in front of his family during a gruesome assault in southern Afghanistan, officials said Sunday...

...Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi denied that Taliban fighters were involved.

"Whenever we carry out an attack we claim responsibility," Ahmadi said. "We didn't gouge out this man's eyes."

Ghulam, whose head is almost completely wrapped in a large white bandage, said his attackers were wearing black turbans on their head like many Taliban fighters, but said he didn't know who carried out the attack.

Taliban militants sometimes carry out harsh punishments for people they accuse of being thieves or "spies" for the Afghan government. Such punishments include having hands cut off or being tarred and paraded publicly, but there have been few recent reports of people having their eyes gouged out [emphasis added].

2) Parallel Taliban administration finds some favour among Afghans

...
The three farmers, interviewed this weekend by a Canwest News Service translator, painted a rare and fascinating picture of life under the unofficial Taliban administrations. And while they voiced dismay at the continuing conflict and some of the insurgents' policies, they say not everyone is displeased with the situation...

Their accounts raise difficult questions about the progress being made by Canadian troops in almost three years of hard fighting and reconstruction efforts in the province...

The men spoke of deep frustration at having to choose between insurgents they say are often too harsh, government officials who are crooked and ineffective and NATO forces who bring them little more than warfare.

"If the Taliban knew that I am giving information to you, they would skin me alive, but my heart and mind are full of words," said another Maiwand resident...

The same man said education is simply not an option in areas controlled by the insurgents. "They are burning the schools, killing the teachers and the students," he said...

Yousuf Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman, confirmed the insurgents have set up such shadow administrations and that it has barred any kind of non-religious teaching in areas under its sway, but blamed NATO for endangering schools with their bombing.

"We let boys study in the mosques, we are not against modern education or against schools, but this time is not suitable for schools to be set up or remain open," he said. "We are in the phase of serious fighting."..

Excuse me my revulsion, but I can just imagine the staff of today's Globe and Mail headlining a 1942 story thus:

German govenment says Jewish ghettos only temporary

I do sympathize with Gen. McKiernan:

NATO General: Negative Afghan Headlines Overblown

He's not talking about headlines about the Taliban.

Afstan: Differing approaches to the same story

What the BBC reports Oct. 24:

Hundreds in anti-Taleban protest

There have been large demonstrations in Laghman, eastern Afghanistan, against the killing of a group of local men who were pulled from buses by the Taleban.

What the Globe and Mail reports Oct. 25, on the front page:

Survivor tells of harrowing escape from Taliban bus hijacking

No mention of those protests in the Globe. Natch. But, hell, a scoop from Jessica Leeder is a scoop. I'd also be willing to wager a considerable sum that if the story were about the Afghan National Army murdering some two dozen alleged Taliban captives it would have a very different tone--and a lot of editorializing about the Karzai government losing popular support.

US already training Pakistani paramilitaries

This effort to "train the trainers" is taking place faster than expected (must have been an awful lot of pressure put on the Pakistanis):

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – U.S. special forces have begun teaching a Pakistani paramilitary unit how to fight the Taliban and al-Qaida, hoping to strengthen a key front-line force as violence surges on both sides of the border with Afghanistan.

The sensitive mission puts rare American boots on the ground in a key theater in the war against extremist groups, but it risks fanning anti-U.S. sentiment among Pakistani Muslims already angry over suspected CIA missile attacks on militants in the same frontier region.

"The American special forces failed in Afghanistan and Iraq," said Ameerul Azim, an official in the hard-line Islamic party Jamaat-e-Islami. "Those who failed everywhere cannot train our people."

Despite such complaints, the training program comes as some tribes in the frontier zone are setting up militias to help the Pakistani government combat extremist movements. The new forces have been compared to the Sunni Arab militias in Iraq that helped beat back the insurgency there.

Still, the U.S. training program is reportedly smaller than originally proposed and was delayed, apparently reflecting misgivings in Pakistan's government about allowing U.S. troops on its territory.

Its start has not been officially announced, but a Pakistani military officer and a U.S. defense official told The Associated Press that two to three dozen trainers arrived earlier this month.

The Pakistani said the Americans had already begun training senior personnel of the paramilitary Frontier Corps at an undisclosed location in Pakistan's restive northwest, adjacent to Afghanistan. He said the course included classroom and field exercises.

The Pentagon official said the Americans would stay for a few months. He said that it would likely be a one-time effort and that there were no plans to send more trainers.

Both agreed to discuss the program only if granted anonymity, because details had not been made public.

Asked about the program Thursday, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman declined to give any specifics. But he contrasted the mission with much larger U.S. training efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, where U.S. soldiers are embedded with local units on the battlefield.

"It is a train-the-trainer type of concept," Whitman said. "They are not actually conducting operations."

The Frontier Corps is a relic of British rule that was long a poorly armed, untrained police force that the government hopes can be remade into a potent unit capable of confronting Taliban militants.

Its troopers are local men, in contrast to the army, which is dominated by ethnic Punjabis and is viewed as an occupying force by the Pashtun tribes living on both sides of the border. U.S. and Pakistani officials argue that the corps' local knowledge and cultural sensitivities make it the best tool in a battle where winning hearts and minds is crucial.

The goal is that a strong Frontier Corps can take on most combat duties, allowing a gradual pullback of the army that is hoped will ease tensions in the northwest...

Related:

Pakistan plans to arm militias in tribal lands

Army: Pakistan troops capture militant stronghold

"HMC Ships Protecteur and Calgary return from Op Altair"

The Maritime Forces Pacific news release; good to have the "China Clipper" meeting them:

Her Majesty’s Canadian ships Calgary and Protecteur return to Esquimalt on Friday [Oct. 24] at 10 a.m. after sailing around the world and spending six months at sea on OPERATION ALTAIR in the Middle East. General Walter Natynczyk, Chief of the Defence Staff and the Chief of the Maritime Staff, Vice Admiral Drew Robertson will be on hand to welcome home the nearly 500 sailors and air crew. Other guests include His Honour Norman Kwong, Lt.-Gov. of Alberta and His Worship Dave Bronconnier, Mayor of the City of Calgary.

The two ships departed Esquimalt on April 13 to join with HMCS Iroquois [more on Iroquois here] from Canadian Fleet Atlantic to form a Canadian Task Group. After passing through the Panama Canal, the ships worked in the Caribbean Sea with the Joint Inter Agency Force South engaged in countering narco-terrorism and narcotics transportation. On reaching the Mediterranean Sea they participated in an Italian led NATO maritime exercise. On reaching the Middle East the ships led the multi-national Combined Task Force 150 [under U.S. Naval Forces Central Command] that patrols an operations area including the Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. The Task Force, represented by warships from France, Germany, Pakistan, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States is engaged in maritime security operations to deter the transport of contraband cargo, piracy and disrupt the movements of extremists in the region [Canada had command during this deployment--more here].

HMCS Calgary and her Sea King helicopter crew took part in several counter piracy missions [ [HMCS Iroquois in action here] . Boarding parties from both ships were dispatched to inspect and confirm the cargo of vessels of interest as well as respond to calls for assistance and provide humanitarian aid.

The 40-year-old HMCS Protecteur transferred over 150,000 barrels of fuel to allied ships, and delivered 300 pallets of stores in more than 60 Replenishment at Sea operations and was the centre of medical care for the Task Force. The 443 Maritime Helicopter Squadron Detachment flew 370 hours in 150 missions from the deck of HMCS Calgary.

HMCS Protecteur is expected to come alongside at 10:30 a.m. The first crew member to cross the brow will exchange the first homecoming kiss with their loved one having won the honour in a draw with the funds going to the ship’s charity. Calgary will dock a “C” jetty shortly afterward.

"Afghanistan: challenging assumptions"

Conference of Defence Association's media round-up.

"Afghans rout enemy: Beat back militants under guidance of Canuck mentors"

As far as I can see only Sun papers ran this CP story in their print editions (the Toronto Star and Halifax Chronicle Herald ran it online):

The Afghan National Army has declared victory in defending a southern city from an attempted Taliban takeover after days of heavy fighting that tested the mettle of an Afghan battalion under Canadian mentorship.

"The enemy tried to occupy Lashkar Gah, but Afghan forces have defeated them very well, which perhaps they were not expecting," Afghan Gen. Sher Muhammad Zazai said through a translator in Kandahar yesterday.

"We defeated the enemy very badly."

The fighting in Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand province, began about 10 days ago when hundreds of Taliban militants attacked the city from three sides.

On Oct. 15, insurgents attacked police outposts around the city but were beaten by ANA forces under the guidance of Canadian mentor teams, and backed up by British forces.

Later, Afghan and international troops retook the Nad Ali district centre, which had been held by insurgents, after a three-day fight. That battle, which also involved air strikes, ended Saturday.

Altogether, Afghan and NATO officials claim that 100 Taliban died in the fighting...

British troops have been involved in the bulk of the fighting in Helmand province, which is adjacent to Kandahar province where most of Canada's 2,500 troops operate.

But about 30 Canadian mentors accompanied an ANA battalion, or kandak, to Helmand on Oct. 16. Zazai said the Canadians were involved in the fighting.

A Canadian military spokesman said the operation was "in its final stages."..

Nothing in Canwest papers (they don't carry CP any more), the Globe and Mail, or online at CTV or CBC. Tough when good news gets such limited coverage. At least the Globe reminded Obama-mad Canadians that:

Obama favours U.S. troop surge in Afghanistan
'I'd send at least two or three additional brigades,' Democratic presidential candidate says

And here's an interesting topic at Milnet.ca:

MSM Headline Watch: What a Difference a Day Makes...

While nobody's paying attention to Somalia...

...good work is being done in relative obscurity off the east coast of Africa.

The crew of HMCS Ville de Quebec has done its job, safely escorting World Food Programme shipments to Somalia in response to the requests of the international community:

Beginning in August 2008, HMCS Ville de Québec provided a naval escort to 10 ships under contract to the WFP to protect them from piracy and armed robbery. Around 36,200 tonnes of food — enough to feed about 400, 000 people for six months — were successfully delivered to Somalia by ships escorted by HMCS Ville de Québec.

More than 3.2 million Somalis need food assistance, of which 90 percent arrives by sea. Although pirates have launched more than 70 attacks on vessels in Somali waters so far this year, no ship carrying WFP food assistance has been attacked while under Canadian escort.

The sailors and their captain are understandably proud:

Rarely in life do we get a chance to do something right and special that makes a difference in a world full of hate and strife. On the morning of 24 August 2008, the crew of HMCS Ville de Québec got that chance with their arrival in the war-torn port of Mogadishu, Somalia with the World Food Programme supply ship Abdul Rahman. Abdul Rahman was carrying 5,407 metric tons of food to a country that has suffered terribly from civil conflict and famine.

...

Some will argue that protecting the world’s sea lanes from pirates is not a job for expensive navies, and perhaps another solution to this problem will be found some day — maybe shipping companies will be able to employ security firms to keep their vessels safe. Meanwhile, however, with 85 percent of international commerce moving by sea, the threat posed by what is clearly a booming and successful piracy business must be addressed seriously in the context of global security.

...

In my time in the Navy I have been on many good missions. I patrolled off Yugoslavia during the civil war, I fought terrorism in the Persian Gulf after 9/11, and I have sailed with NATO on many occasions conducting maritime security operations. None of these missions gave me the sense of accomplishment I felt as I watched Abdul Rahman disappear around the end of the jetty in Mogadishu, knowing that the food in her holds would soon be unloaded. My final exchange with the Master perhaps was indicative of the good work done: “Captain, God go with you on your journey.” “Thank you, Abdul Rahman, God be with you as well during your time in Mogadishu.”

While the Canadian navy's part in this is done for now, I find it interesting to note that it seems as though at least one rising power understands their responsibilities in the area (remove headdress: Ghost of a Flea):

Indian warships with guided missiles, which were dispatched from Mumbai, have begun patrolling in the Gulf of Aden near Somalia, according to sources in the Indian Navy in Mumbai.

The warships, said to be six in numbers, have been sent to the Gulf of Aden to protect Indian merchant vessels from pirates passing through the Gulf of Aden, even though the fate of the 18 Indians sailors on board the Japanese-registered ship "Stolt Valor" in Somali waters still hangs in balance.

The Indian warships have on board helicopters and elite marine commandos, trained for covert operations.

I wonder where the multilateralist nations trying to ensure security in that area of the oceans go from here. Our response to this challenge to international law and order will be instructive.