Surge of U.S. troops in Afghanistan will take weight off Canadians, allow more reconstruction, training
It's the new broom for sweeping terrorism from Afghanistan. The silver bullet aimed at the heart of the Taliban insurgency.
For Canada, the surge of up to 12,000 extra American troops promised by President Barack Obama's administration is the cavalry coming over the hill, after years of pleading for reinforcements in the country's embattled south...
It will put new boots on the ground in southern Afghanistan – alongside those of some 2,500 Canadian soldiers – and take the fight to the provinces of Wardak and Lowgar in the neglected central region, where the Taliban has rebounded in recent months.
But Obama's new administration has already warned expectations should not be too high, that the boosted numbers will end the Taliban insurgency. The militants have infiltrated parts of Afghanistan and restored a regime of fear with bombings, assassinations, kidnappings, rapes and a draconian crackdown on women and girls.
U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates told reporters the campaign would be "a long slog," adding "we need to be very careful about the nature of the goals we set for ourselves in Afghanistan [more here]."..
For Canada's troops – and government – the immediate effect will be relief. As the military death toll mounts, public support for the Afghan operation has waned.
Canada is committed to two more years in Afghanistan, with a new emphasis on reconstruction and training. The U.S. escalation [oh! that freighted word], scheduled for this summer, will also change the focus of Canadian forces in Afghanistan [emphasis added].
"It will free them to pull back and assume responsibility largely for Kandahar city and surrounding area and focus the mission on protecting civilians instead of fighting the Taliban," says Janice Stein, co-author of The Unexpected War: Canada in Kandahar, and director of University of Toronto's Munk Centre for International Studies.
"That responds better to the capabilities we have. But there is a large risk we need to understand. It means being present on the ground on foot. There will be more foot patrols, more contact with civilians, and obviously more risks from roadside (bombs), still the principal weapon causing death."..
The new troops will concentrate on clearing and holding territory, a near-impossible mission for smaller forces that were thinly stretched [emphasis added]. But the gains won't solidify without a longer-term strategy.
"Ultimately, the clock is ticking in Afghanistan," says Seth Jones, a Rand Corporation expert on Afghanistan. "Numbers are a tiny fraction of the game. The solution lies in trying to link up with local institutions."
Ideally, Canada and other western countries would hand over secured territory to the Afghan National Army and security forces, which are still in the training stage...
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — It was an attack, vicious even by Afghanistan's violent standards, that shocked the world: A group of men on motorbikes surprised a group of school girls and teachers as they walked to school last November and sprayed their faces with acid.
Now, in what is being billed as a triumph over terrorism in this war-ravaged land, most of the 1,300 students – some with permanent scars on their cheeks and damaged vision – have returned to school full time.
Credit has been handed to headmaster Mahmood Qadri, 54, who moved quickly after the attacks, cajoling and begging the frightened families of the girls not to let the attackers win by giving up on their education.
“We told them not to lose this chance for your children,” Mr. Qadri said.
And most listened. Classrooms at Mirwais School for Girls on the outskirts of Kandahar city were brimming earlier this month as the girls prepared for mid-year exams.
One girl told a U.S. reporter that her father urged her to return to school at all costs, even if she is attacked again.
Mr. Qadri's efforts were as much to prove a point to the attackers and would-be copycats: If the goal was to intimidate the girls into staying home, the effort was doomed...
But I suppose the cultural relativists think there's no real significance to the above.
For those of you who have been wondering, I'm back home. I have more stories than I had time to write while I was over there, and so you'll still see more posts trickling out over the next little while. I also have some anecdotes that aren't posts in and of themselves, but are good information nevertheless, that I've got to figure out what to do with. Scraps on the workshop floor that I can't throw out, but haven't yet determined what to make out of them...
The body's recovering from the jet-lag. My head's still spinning, though. I'm trying to get back into home, family, work, but I find my thoughts still drifting back to the expedition again and again. I'm sleeping a lot, which I've learned over the years is a sure sign my subconscious has a bunch of stuff to sort through and make sense of.
Northtea was right: the place and the people - soldiers and civilians - get under your skin. They're good people doing something very important. But it's complicated and difficult, and I really don't know if we're "winning" at this point. I do know the folks on the ground are giving it their all, and that they're making a difference in the lives of ordinary Afghans. The question is, will it be enough to get the country past the tipping point?
Big questions. All I have are little answers at this point. But if enough people who have been there, who have expertise with the culture, with COIN, with success in the third world can provide enough different perspectives with little answers, the more of a complete picture those of us who are interested will be able to see.
And being able to contribute to that process, in however small a way, makes me very proud.
The first major security exercise in preparation for the 2010 Winter Olympics will be launched next week using warships, CF-18 fighter aircraft and both RCMP and Canadian Forces units.
The Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit and the Canadian military will take part in what is being called Exercise Pegasus Guardian 2.2, a warm up to a larger event involving all federal, provincial and municipal organizations involved in Olympic security. The event is being dubbed Exercise Silver.
The various security events, running from Feb. 4 to 13, are focused on Vancouver and Whistler, B.C., the sites of the Winter Olympics.
As many as six warships based out of Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt in Victoria, B.C., will take part, including frigates, maritime coastal patrol vessels and other small craft. Canadian Forces Griffon helicopters will operate around Vancouver and Whistler, transporting RCMP emergency response teams [which may cause complications for the Griffon deployment to Kanadhar--see Upperdate here] while CF-18s will conduct practice intercepts.
Security planners have followed a graduated process for preparations for the 2010 Olympics. Exercise Bronze, held last year, was essentially a planning meeting of all agencies involved in the security aspects of the Games. Exercise Silver is to be a rehearsal of how to respond to various security scenarios.
Exercise Gold, to take place in the fall, will be a final test of the various agencies to see if they are ready for the Games in February 2010.
Planners expect to deal with a variety of potential scenarios, ranging from terrorists seizing a ferry off the coast of British Columbia to unidentified aircraft trying to approach Games facilities when events are under way...
Government officials are also expecting the final cost estimates on the Olympic security budget to be announced in February. Those costs were originally given as $175 million, but it is now believed they could reach $1 billion...
Whistler – Olympic security personnel could be a source of economic opportunity for Pemberton during the 2010 Games, as the area is likely to find itself playing host to personnel with the RCMP-led group responsible for planning and implementing security next February and March.
Following a recent conversation with the chief operating officer of the Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit (ISU), Pemberton Mayor Jordan Sturdy said security personnel have acquired some rooms in Pemberton for lodgings during the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and bidding opportunities for providing food and beverages are to be opened.
“There’ll be people who are in Pemberton for a long period of time, or an extended period of time, who wouldn’t normally be there, providing demands for meals and restaurants and gas and fuel and groceries and laundry — you name it,” Sturdy said.
Cst. Bert Paquet, spokesperson for the ISU, confirmed only that the RCMP-led security group has “secured accommodations in the Pemberton area for security personnel during Games time.” In general, he said, Pemberton is factored to some degree into the ISU’s planning because of its proximity to Whistler and the logistics of staging the Games.
“We’re definitely not ignoring Pemberton in our plans, based on location, proximity of the venues, of our transportation (and the) Sea to Sky Highway,” Paquet said.
He also said the ISU is currently using “a small area near the airport,” which will be used in the upcoming Exercise Silver, part of the ISU’s 2010 Integrated Training Program.
The program incorporates the public and private agencies involved in the integrated unit, developing response capabilities through cooperative efforts, Paquet said. Exercise Bronze, a tabletop exercise involving discussions of potential Games-time incidents, was staged in November 2008 in Richmond.
Exercise Silver, a blend of tabletop planning and “boots on the ground” work, is scheduled for the second week of February, Paquet said. Exercise Silver activities are to be held in Vancouver, the Greater Vancouver area and the Whistler area, putting into practice the lessons from the Bronze discussions.
Sturdy said Exercise Silver could require a number of temporary radar installations, with the Pemberton Airport as a potential location.
“(Currently) there’s radar that controls the airspace above Pemberton, but those radar locations don’t see below the tops of the mountains, so there will be some temporary installations which would control or monitor the airspace that has opportunity to access venue sites,” Sturdy said...
... An estimated 4,000 members of the armed forces will be seconded to Olympic duties in 2010 – far more than the 2,500 to 2,800 military personnel currently deployed in Afghanistan.
There are concerns that the simultaneous needs of both military operations could strain existing resources. Earlier this month, Colonel Christopher Coates, head of the Air Division, expressed worries about having to juggle helicopter demands for Afghanistan and Olympic duties at the same time.
“Yes, there will be a strain for us to carry out both operations,” a military source said this week. “But will we be able to do it? Yes, of course. We can surge,” he said, referring to the practice of boosting numbers to a location when needed. “Being stretched is nothing new for the military.”..
...[Rear] Adm. Pile [head of the armed forces' Joint Task Force for the 2010 Games], who is based at the Esquimalt naval base on Vancouver Island, will attend a Monday news conference to discuss security arrangements for the Games. Equipment and vehicles to be used by Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit will also be on display. Details of the ISU's first active training exercise, dubbed Operation Silver, running from Feb. 9-13 in Vancouver and Whistler, are also expected to be announced.
“The public are certainly going to see us,” said Bud Mercer, assistant RCMP commissioner and head of the ISU. “There will be a lot more play than in our previous exercise, which was essentially a table-top operation.”
Two frigates and three maritime coastal defence vessels, some aircraft and a light contingent of troops will participate from the military, sources indicated...
Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS) Winnipeg will depart Esquimalt next week for a six-month deployment to the Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean. Winnipeg will join Standing NATO Response Force Maritime Group 1 (SNMG1) [HMCS Ville de Québec was with the group last year] for part of the mission, while also undertaking training and exercises with navies of the United States, Australia and other countries across Southwest Asia and the Indian Ocean.
SNMG1 is a multinational, integrated maritime force consisting of vessels from various Alliance nations that train and operate together as a single team. For just over two months, Winnipeg, a Halifax-class patrol frigate, will join SNMG1 and deploy through areas such as the Strait of Malacca, Java and the South China sea, an area of the world that is not frequented by NATO fleets.
“As a trading nation, Canada recognizes the importance of maritime security and its impact on Canadian prosperity and stability,” said the Honourable Peter Gordon MacKay, Minister of National Defence, and Minister of the Atlantic Gateway. “HMCS Winnipeg's deployment demonstrates Canada’s ability to address security challenges as they arise, building a safer and more secure maritime environment. It is also a concrete example of the Government of Canada’s commitment to support and contribute to key international bodies such as NATO and the UN.”
“Winnipeg’s deployment will strengthen Canada’s long-standing relationships with countries such as Australia and Japan, as well as allow us to reach out to other countries in the Indo-Pacific region,” said Rear-Admiral Tyrone Pile, Commander of Maritime Forces Pacific. “I am confident the sailors of HMCS Winnipeg will reinforce the reputation of excellence that Canadian naval personnel enjoy around the world.”
Commanded by Commander Craig Baines, and with a crew of some 240 officers and sailors, the ship, along with a CH124 Sea King helicopter and air detachment, will visit several key countries in the region such as Pakistan, India, Korea, Indonesia and Singapore.
An Arctic thaw will open up sea routes and competition for lucrative energy reserves in a multinational scramble sure to pose new security threats, NATO's chief said Thursday.
NATO commanders and lawmakers meeting in Iceland's capital said a military presence in the region will eventually be needed as standoffs between powerful nations unfold...
"Climate change is not a fanciful idea, it is already a reality, a reality that brings with it certain new challenges, including for NATO," said de Hoop Scheffer, acknowledging that an upsurge of energy exploration would likely require a larger NATO presence in the Arctic...
NATO’s role in the Arctic can include search and rescue missions for stranded vessels and emergency response to ecological disasters as the opening up of frozen shipping lanes increases the risk of accidents, De Hoop Scheffer said...
The full text of his remarks is here (via milnews.ca). There's little coverage of the story in our media so our ever-vigilant MPs will probably remain in happy ignorance of this development. But would not a multinational approach to Arctic maritime matters make quite a bit of sense? If only Canadians could get over our aggressively nationalist approach.
The Russians, for their part, look ready to make very extensive claims to Arctic waters, though as far as I can determine they do not directly affect Canadian claims. Maps from the Spiegel Online article here and here (interactive).
The Obama administration has picked Lt. Gen. Karl W. Eikenberry, a former top military commander in Afghanistan, to be the next United States ambassador to Kabul, an administration official said Thursday.
Tapping a career Army officer who will soon retire from the service to fill one of the country’s most sensitive diplomatic jobs is a highly unusual choice.
But Afghanistan specialists say that General Eikenberry, who served in Afghanistan twice, including an 18-month command tour that ended in 2007, knows the players and issues there well. That is a valuable commodity in a year when the United States will send thousands of additional troops to Afghanistan and the country will hold presidential elections.
The administration official spoke anonymously because the appointment had not been made public.
General Eikenberry has a track record for spotting problems in Afghanistan early. He sounded some of the first alarms about a resurgent Taliban and the need to keep the country from backsliding into anarchy.
He was also an early and vigorous champion of building up the Afghan Army to combat the Taliban, a top priority for the Obama administration. And the general repeatedly warned that the United States could not prevail in Afghanistan and defeat global terrorism without addressing the havens that fighters with Al Qaeda had established in neighboring Pakistan.
One hopes he'll get onto that "civilian surge" too (more here). The thought crosses the mind that Gen. (ret'd) Rick Hillier might be a good person for a certain job if we want keep being a major player in Afstan. But somehow I doubt the Conservative government would feel, er, comfortable to have the general back again and speaking his mind.
An important event in Afghanistan's progress, one of the ones that typically doesn't make the news. The first graduation ceremony of the National Military Academy of Afghanistan was held on the 22nd of January. This is not some 30 or 60 day wonder course, but a 4 year bachelor program designed to assist in building professional capabilities in the Afghan Army and Afghan National Air Corps. The academy is modeled on West Point and has established professional relationships with them, as well as the United States Air Force Academy. Currently, degrees are being offered in English Language, Civil Engineering, Computer Science, Management, and Law. The cadets will be commissioned as Second Lieutenants in the Afghan Army. The Academy has plans to enroll female cadets in 2011.
"Be pleased to inform The Princess Royal, our Expedition Patron, that the Matrix Shackleton Centenary Expedition has successfully reached the South Pole. The Ice Team, consisting of Henry Worsley, Will Gow and Henry Adams arrived yesterday at 0330 hrs GMT [Greenwich Mean Time], and the 97 Mile Team comprising David Cornell, Tim Fright, Andy Ledger, Richard Gray and Matty McNair arrived at the Pole at 2200 hrs GMT tonight.
"After 100 years, five descendants of Shackleton's Nimrod expedition have stood at the Pole and, in so doing, completed 'unfinished family business'. God Save The Queen."
One hundred years later, following the same route as Shackleton's failed 1908/09 Nimrod Expedition, a team led by Lt Col Henry Worsley and five descendants of the original expedition completed the journey to the South Pole.
A very interesting article in The Economist. I'm sure some things have parallels with our army. I've excerpted a couple of bits that I think particularly relevant to Canada generally. Well worth the read, print it out:
Britain's armed forces Losing their way? ... Underlying this malaise is concern about Britain’s relationship with America, its most important ally. Generals worry that the United States is losing confidence in Britain’s military worth. Some Americans have indeed been expressing doubts: policymakers ask whether British leaders are losing the will to fight, soldiers whether their British counterparts are losing the ability to do so. There is talk that Britain is becoming “Europeanised”, more averse to making war and keener on peacekeeping. Britain remains America’s closest and most able ally; its special forces are particularly prized. But one senior official in the former Bush administration says there is “a lot of concern on the US side about whether we are going to have an ally with the capability and willingness to be in the fight with us”...
The test of Afghanistan
Britain badly needs a wholesale review of its defence policy [see the end of this post]. Two questions must be answered. Should the British continue to aspire to a global military role? And what sort of wars is the future likely to bring? If it is long messy ones like the fight in Afghanistan, the structure and equipment of the armed forces must change. One general complains: “We are acting as if Afghanistan is just an aberration. We are in huge danger of preparing for the wrong war.”..
3. Six hours after you go to sleep, have your wife or girlfriend whip open the curtain, shine a flashlight in your eyes and mumble, “Sorry, wrong cot.”
4. Renovate your bathroom. Hang a green plastic sheet down from the middle of your bathtub and move the showerhead down to chest level. Keep four inches of soapy cold water on the floor. Stop cleaning the toilet and pee everywhere but in the toilet itself. Leave two to three sheets of toilet paper. Or for best effect, remove it altogether. For a more realistic deployed bathroom experience, stop using your bathroom and use a neighbor’s. Choose a neighbor who lives at least a quarter mile away.
5. When you take showers, wear flip-flops and keep the lights off.
***
16. Once a month, take every major appliance completely apart and put it back together again.
17. Use 18 scoops of coffee per pot and allow it to sit for five or six hours before drinking.
18. Invite at least 185 people you don’t really like because of their strange hygiene habits to come and visit for a couple of months. Exchange clothes with them.
19. Have a fluorescent lamp installed on the bottom of your coffee table and lie under it to read books.
20. Raise the thresholds and lower the top sills of your front and back doors so that you either trip over the threshold or hit your head on the sill every time you pass through one of them.
21. Keep a roll of toilet paper on your night stand and bring it to the bathroom with you. And bring your gun and a flashlight.
22. Go to the bathroom when you just have to pass gas, “just in case.” Every time.
But here's my favourite:
25. Go to the worst crime-infested place you can find, go heavily armed, wearing a flak jacket and a Kevlar helmet. Set up shop in a tent in a vacant lot. Announce to the residents that you are there to help them.
In November, when a group of unveiled girls was attacked by men on motorcycles who sprayed acid in their faces as they were walking to morning classes in Kandahar, Canadians were shocked...
...millions of brave Afghan schoolgirls are dedicated to pursuing their studies, in sometimes perilous and hostile circumstances, and their devotion is heartfelt, homegrown and hardy. It has not been "imposed" upon them by the "West."
As Canadians, we should be proud and honoured that history has afforded our country a specific opportunity to help young Afghan women assert their fundamental right to education. Our focus should be on how we can do more, and better. Instead, a bizarre kind of cultural relativism has come to infect national debates about the Afghan mission, clouding our judgment and entirely obscuring the very meaning of universal human rights...
Human rights are culturally relative, the thinking goes, and the universality of human rights is some sort of western imperialist construction. It is as though girls have no right to read if their "culture" forbids it. It is a rarely scrutinized assumption, but it is ubiquitous in Canadian universities, and it reaches its most toxic concentrations in "anti-war" debates...
Afghanistan is not just a theatre of war in the conventional meaning of the term. It is also a battleground of values. But it is not a clash between "western" and "eastern" cultures. The Afghan people want their girls to go to school. The Afghan people do not want the Taliban. But in Canada, it has nonetheless become necessary to point this out, over and over, and also to point out what it is that the Taliban actually do want.
"They want what they had before 2001: an extremist, eccentric Islamic state where the sports stadium is used for public executions of dissenters, homosexuals and women accused of adultery," Cheryl Benard of the Rand Corporation recently reminded us here in the "West." What the Taliban want is a place apart from humanity, where "religious police roam the streets with sticks to beat anyone whose beard or chador is too short; and all education for girls is eliminated."..
Yet to hear from some of the more prominent "troops out" voices in Canada, the Taliban are merely "dissidents" or "the resistance." To listen to these voices, you could be forgiven for thinking that the Taliban were some quaint tribe, engaged in a noble fight against the power-hungry, capitalist West.
Once you strip away the misleading "explanations" offered up by the cultural relativists, all that remains is disgraceful excuse-making for an ideology that requires its adherents to pull women's fingernails out for the crime of wearing nail polish. It is an ideology engaged in an open revolt against humanity, against the values shared by Afghans and Canadians alike, and against an entire international order founded in the aftermath of the Holocaust...
The way to avoid a quagmire is not to hold back on U.S. military reinforcements or development aid but to assemble a national civil-military plan that integrates war-fighting with reconstruction and political reconciliation. As Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) points out, such a plan was the foundation of the U.S. recovery in Iraq, but the model has never been applied in Afghanistan. That's largely because the United States must share authority with some 40 allies, many of which place strict limits on what their troops may do, insist on managing their own development programs, or both. The Afghan government of President Hamid Karzai, mired in corruption and increasingly at odds with U.S. commanders, is also not on board.
Afghanistan doesn't need to become the 51st state, but it does need a single, coherent, integrated plan to become a state strong enough to resist the Taliban and al-Qaeda. Creating one will require some aggressive diplomacy and maybe a little political china-breaking. That's something for which the State Department's new envoy to the region, Richard C. Holbrooke, is known. But low-balling the scale of the challenge, or the costs it may incur, won't help.
But realism does not exclude trying to do what we reasonably can for the women of the country, as I think Ms Oates well argues.
Afghanistan's presidential elections will be delayed four months until Aug. 20 to allow extra international forces enough time to bolster security, the election commission said Thursday...
When we got back to Camp Nathan Smith from the patrol into Dand, I was buzzing. The entire event drew such a high degree of focus from me, I was still coming down when we were told the bad news: there was a comms shutdown. An IED strike had hit a joint Canadian-Afghan foot patrol, and there was a critical Canadian casualty, although not VSA (Vital Signs Absent).
Between the high of the patrol and the sobering shock of the wounded soldier whose name we never learned, I'll admit I wasn't paying too much attention when LCdr Babinsky told us we could stash our PPE in our quarters before going to watch Afghan prison guards being trained. If I hadn't been so absorbed in my own thoughts, I'd probably have dismissed the Corrections training photo-op as filler put on to the schedule between the end of the patrol - which could have been anytime, given the realities of what can happen outside the wire - and dinner. I certainly wasn't expecting a great deal from the experience.
I couldn't have been more wrong.
The first surprise was leaving the camp. Or, more accurately, leaving the Canadian side of the camp: the ANP have their own compound attached to, but separate from the Canadian portion. Jean Laroche, LCdr Pierre Babinsky, Maj Vance White and I walked through a big metal door on a big metal gate, the officers loaded a magazine into their sidearms as per SOP, and we approached a decent-sized white building with a sign on the wall that read "Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team Training Centre."
Inside, we discovered a Correctional Service of Canada officer training a cadre of Afghan prison guards. The first thing I noticed was that if the Terp couldn't speak fluent Maritimer, he could at least understand and translate it for the students. The instructor was a solidly-built man wearing black leather gloves, khaki cargo pants and a camp shirt whose demeanour I could have mistaken for military had it not been for the greying goatee he sported, and the CSC patches on the sleeves of his shirt. He was booming out instructions on handcuffing techniques in a voice used to command, encouraging and correcting as required.
The recruits were a mix of young and old Afghan males in olive and grey uniforms, and they were obviously new to this aspect of the training. As it turned out, this was their very first day learning these methods. They messed up quite a bit, and the instructor repeated again and again: "This is your first day. At the end of two weeks, you'll be able to do this in your sleep." The older ones were far more vocal and assertive than the younger ones were, but there were a couple who seemed better trained, and they were acting as assistants to the class. All deferred to the Canadian, though - he'd obviously earned their respect.
I watched as the instructor put them through their paces, answered their questions, then got down and did pushups with them: "1...2...3...4...hold it...hold it...5." He then set them to sweeping and mopping the dust from the mats on the floor of the training room before sending them home for the day. He said he had to head back to his room for a moment, but he'd meet us back at the mess tent for a coffee and answer any questions we might have.
"Only nine months, eh, Vance?" he called to the camp PAffO as we walked away.
"What's that all about?" I asked.
"Oh, he doesn't do media stuff. This is the first interview he'll have done since he's been here."
When we met back at the mess tent, I finally caught his name: Kevin Cluett. He's one of four Canadian corrections officers in all of Afghanistan: one works with the national government in Kabul, one is a senior leadership mentor for the local prison warden and supervisor of the crew at the KPRT, and two are mentors and trainers to the guards at Sarposa prison. Kevin is a trainer.
With twelve years as a Corrections Officer, he had to undergo a competitive process to earn his one-year slot here at the KPRT. He's been on the ground since May of 2008, but was also involved in the Roto's training at CFB Wainwright prior to deployment. Correctional Service of Canada's ultimate objective in the mission is to work with the Afghans to get their prison system up to international standards. "Not to Canadian standards, mind you," Kevin's careful to stress, "to international standards."
What he's teaching is a six-week Basic Officer Training Program. It's broken into three phases. Phase 1 is a mix of mostly classroom lectures: communication skills, human rights standards, the Afghan constitution, first aid, etc. Phase 2 is what we were watching: control techniques and practical situations. A CF instructor also provides basic weapons training to the guards as well. Phase 3 deals with more complex problems: cell extractions, aggressive prisoners, riot control, and the like.
The course is being taught to all the guards at Sarposa. That's right, Basic Training comes after they're already working. Welcome to Afghanistan, where letting the perfect be the enemy of the good would mean nothing ever got done.
Kevin's biggest challenge, he says, is getting proper time to mentor the guards in the prison itself. Right now the Corrections Officers are only allowed out to the prison for two hours at a time, three times per week. That's not enough, according to Kevin, who's working right now on getting approval to do more.
The training proceeds slowly. Most of the guards have little or no literacy skills, and many of them lack a good deal of the physical coordination we take for granted. "Remember, they didn't grow up playing sports like we did," Kevin told us. Apparently jumping jacks were a sight to behold when they first got started. And without reading or writing skills, they can't document anything they do.
“Building the capacity of the corrections sector is important for Afghans. We want to thank the Canadians from the KPRT for everything they have done to support us,” said Colonel Abdullah Balwar, Director of Sarpoza Prison. “The prison staff is eager to learn and want to improve their skills. Through training and mentoring delivered by Canadian officials, I have seen a significant increase in professionalism.”
With the uncertainty of what comes next after the Canadian mission's "end date" of 2011, one of the priorities for the CSC personnel is training Afghans to be trainers themselves. "That way, the process continues, even if we leave," Kevin explained.
Kevin said the job is frustrating, but incredibly rewarding. He told us a story about one of the first days of Phase 1 classroom training. As Kevin was starting the lesson, he noticed one Afghan guard shifting and fidgeting in his seat like he couldn't sit still. Kevin asked the Terp to find out what was wrong. The man's response was an eye-opener: "I'm twenty-eight years old, and I'm so happy - this is the first time in my life sitting in a real classroom with a teacher and books!"
This is what motivates a man with a wife and two kids at home in Nova Scotia to put in for a three month extension of his year-long tour: so that he can see the last of the trainees he started with finish Phase 3.
"It's about finishing what I started," Kevin said. "For the average person used to North American standards, you come in and say 'these guys have so much to learn.' But if you'd seen them since the beginning of their training - they've come so far..."
When the average Canadian hears about our mission in Afghanistan on the television or radio, or reads about it in the newspaper, he likely learns of fighting. No, he likely learns of Canadians dying in an IED explosion, since that's really all that seems to attract the public's attention these days. With very few exceptions (and congrats to Darah Hansen, who was at Camp Nathan Smith at the same time I was for telling this story as well), the picture Canadians see of their nation's work in one of the poorest, neediest countries in the entire world is nothing but an incomplete sketch.
Civilians like Kevin Cluett work tirelessly side-by-side with their military comrades, often on longer tours, with very little of the political turf-war interdepartmental infighting that characterizes the story in Ottawa. On the ground, the Whole of Government team - DFAIT, CIDA, CSC, CivPol, and everyone else - rolls their eyes at the inside baseball being played by the bureaucrats around Parliament Hill.
Then they roll up their sleeves, grab their Terp, and with no public fanfare, thanks or admiration, they get to work. Well, here's one big THANKS, with a good deal of admiration: Bravo Zulu, Mr. Cluett.
... [A] new Army brigade, the Third Brigade of the 10th Mountain Division from Fort Drum, N.Y. ...of 3,500 to 4,000 soldiers. The “vast majority” of them will be sent to Logar and Wardak Provinces, adjacent to Kabul...
The first deployment of a planned United States surge of up to 30,000 troops, has moved into bases in two key provinces of east Afghanistan, officials said on Tuesday.
The U.S. has pledged between 20,000 and 30,000 additional troops for Afghanistan, where violence has increased markedly since Taliban-led insurgents regrouped in 2005.
The first batch, from the 3rd Brigade of the 10th Mountain Division, have settled in Logar and Wardak provinces neighboring Kabul [and thus not "eastern" in the sense of being near the border with Pakistan - MC]. They are reinforcing an existing deployment of the 101st Airborne, "the Screaming Eagles."
"The brigade is the first element of its size to deploy exclusively into these two provinces, increasing the U.S. presence there by thousands," U.S. forces said in a statement.
A typical U.S. brigade consists of around 3,500 soldiers.
U.S. forces said key members of the brigade, who started to arrive in late November 2008, have met with community leaders in Logar and Wardak as part of a wider strategy to engage with local systems of governance.
President Barack Obama, who has pledged to make Afghanistan the cornerstone of his foreign policy, is expected to approve the remaining troop increase, which has been in the pipeline since last year.
Australia would consider sending additional troops to Afghanistan if its NATO allies also increase their contributions and develop a plan for victory against the insurgents, Defense Minister Joel Fitzgibbon said Wednesday.
Mr. Fitzgibbon signalled that Australia was open to help after U.S. President Barack Obama made the war in Afghanistan a major priority for his new administration....
Mr. Fitzgibbon said the Obama administration had not asked Australia to increase the 1,000 Australian troops already deployed in the chaotic Central Asia nation.
Australia would consider such a request, but the response would hinge on several conditions, including that “the international partners have the will and a plan to win,” Mr. Fitzgibbon told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.
The risks to Australian troops would also have to be considered.
“We'd need to be convinced that others are prepared to do more and doing more from our side of the world would make a difference,” Mr. Fitzgibbon said.
“Even doubling our troops in Afghanistan will make no difference if others are not prepared to do more and there is no overarching plan for better success,” he added.
“A substantial number of countries would have to do substantially more [emphasis added],” he said...
Not that likely, I'd say, what with the two "substantials". But maybe the new president can work some magic.
Mark, in an earlier post, complains that there is "no mention" of the Canadian Forces or of National Defence in the Budget Speech. And while he does mention the fact that the Coast Guard is getting new vessels, you get the feeling, from the overall tone of his post, that somehow the Coast Guard has a lesser function than, say, the Navy.
As it turns out, though, the issue of defence hasn't been completely ignored by this Budget. Here is Chapter 4 of the Budget Plan, entitled Leadership Abroad. Specifically, the paragraph with the title of Canada First Defence Strategy:
This budget provides the funding stability and predictability that will allow for the successful implementation of the Canada First Defence Strategy by increasing the automatic annual increase on defence spending to 2 per cent (from the current 1.5 per cent) beginning in 2011–12. Over the next 20 years, this is expected to provide the Canadian Forces with an additional $12 billion.
Now, if I'm honest, I'll admit that I can't say whether this was planned from the launch of CFDS, and is therefore not news. Also, whether or not this counts as an actual spending increase will depend on the rate of inflation. However, I think we can all agree that defence spending is one of those areas where the government should not cut back on.
All right. How about Afghanistan?
The Government is providing an additional $100 million for reconstruction and development, bringing Canada’s 2008–09 assistance budget for Afghanistan to a projected $280 million. Additional resources will help the Afghan people, including through the provision of more training to the Afghan National Police and Afghan National Army to allow them to take increasing responsibility for security in Kandahar and throughout the country. These additional funds are above and beyond the commitment to double international assistance by 2010–11, and will increase Canada’s total aid commitment to Afghanistan to $1.3 billion over 10 years.
Incidentally, I found these passages via the Budget's Quick Index page. I'll also add that, when I checked the page out last night, the links weren't there, so I expect the site will be more fully updated over the next 24 hours.
So why weren't these topics mentioned in the Budget Speech? In all likelihood, because they don't really loom all that largely on the public's minds, compared with the need for domestic stimulus. Remember that, while a Budget Speech outlines the government's main spending plans, it doesn't describe everything important that the government plans to do. (That's what the Speech from the Throne is for.)
By the way, if you want to see what National Defence has in store for 2009-10, the best place to look would be the Supplementary Estimates from Treasury Board, and those aren't out yet.
UPDATE (17h24): It seems I may have linked to last year’s budget documents. My fault, I shoulda checked closer. Nonetheless, I’ll stand by my penultimate paragraph.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates set forth modest goals for Afghanistan on Tuesday [Jan. 27], saying that success should be defined as an Afghanistan that is not a safe haven for Al Qaeda, whose people reject the rule of Taliban insurgents and support a legitimate government.
In his first congressional testimony as defense secretary under President Barack Obama, Gates cautioned that success in Afghanistan also requires security progress in neighboring Pakistan, given the porous and violent frontier between the two nations.
Gates was pressed for details on a recent strike across the border in Pakistan in which a remotely piloted vehicle attacked a suspected insurgent target. The defense secretary said Obama, like President George W. Bush before him, was committed to going after Al Qaeda targets "wherever Al Qaeda is."
He said that the Obama administration's decision to continue a policy of pursuing Al Qaeda had been communicated to the government of Pakistan.
In recent public comments, including this testimony, Gates has sought to lower expectations for the mission in Afghanistan, setting standards far below the sweeping desires of regional democratization that were a foundation of Bush administration national security policy [emphasis added].
"There is little doubt that our greatest military challenge right now is Afghanistan," Gates told the Senate Armed Services Committee. "President Obama has made it clear that the Afghanistan theater should be our top overseas military priority."
Gates repeated the new administration's pledge to substantially increase the American troop levels there – a near doubling to more than 60,000 U.S. troops is expected – but he said the coordination with allies, development agencies and aid groups needed improvement.
"Coordination of these international efforts has been difficult, to say the least," Gates stated.
"While this will undoubtedly be a long and difficult fight, we can attain what I believe should be among our strategic objectives: above all an Afghan people who do not provide a safe haven for Al Qaeda, reject the rule of the Taliban and support the legitimate government that they have elected and in which they have a stake," Gates added...
...He added that the strategy now should be to define "more concrete goals that can be achieved realistically within three to five years in terms of re-establishing control in certain areas [emphasis added], providing security for the population, going after Al Qaeda, preventing the reestablishment of terrorism, better performance in terms of delivery of services to the people, some very concrete things."..
I wonder if any of our media will ask our government for their reaction to this less than uplifting, sadly realistic I suspect, assessment.
Allan Woods' story deals with the likelihood that the new Obama administration will put pressure on Canada to continue its military presence in Afghanistan beyond 2011. I'd like to propose one approach to doing that, focused on the Canadian Air Force.
A Canadian Air Wing has just been established at Kandahar. It will have Chinook (transport) and Griffon (escort) helicopters, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for surveillance; it will also support supply flights by Hercules and C-17 transport aircraft. Why not keep the air wing at Kandahar after 2011?
And, besides the air wing, keep a provincial reconstruction team from the army, some troops to mentor the Afghan army and police, and a small unit based at Kandahar airfield to provide force protection. The primary role of the air wing would be to support our allies and the Afghans in the field.
I would imagine a maximum of some 1,500 Canadian Forces personnel would be required, down from some 2,750 now. Such a contingent would be a significant and useful contribution that would be welcomed by NATO and President Barack Obama.
Mark Collins, Ottawa
Now, holy cow, from an editorial in the Star, Jan. 27; read it and and keep at it, people:
[...]
Canada is also expanding its air wing in Afghanistan to include armed Griffon helicopters, Chinook transport helicopters and unmanned surveillance aircraft. We also deploy Hercules and C-17 transports there. Depending on the needs of the Afghan government and our European allies, assets such as these could be maintained when our Kandahar mission ends and the ground troops leave...
Budget 2009 provides a catalyst to increase activity in the sector by allocating funds to speed-up needed procurement. The Canadian Coast Guard requires investments in vessels to carry out its responsibility to ensure safe and accessible waterways for Canadians. The Government is investing $175 million on a cash basis for the procurement of new Coast Guard vessels and to undertake vessel life extensions and refits for aging vessels. While contracts have not yet been awarded, work will be conducted in Canada, and where possible, by shipyards located within the regions of the vessels' home-ports. New vessel procurements planned are:
60 new small craft and 30 new environmental response barges that will support Canadian Coast Guard operational requirements across the country.
5 new lifeboats home-ported in Prince Rupert (British Columbia), Campbell River (British Columbia), Dartmouth (Nova Scotia), Québec City (Quebec), and Burlington (Ontario).
2 new inshore science vessels home-ported in Mont-Joli (Quebec) and Shippagan (New Brunswick), and one inshore fisheries vessel home-ported in St. Andrews (New Brunswick).
Vessel life extensions involve major repairs such as replacement of hulls, outdated equipment, propulsion systems and generators. The five vessels that will undergo vessel life extensions are the CCGS Bartlett and the CCGS Tanu both home-ported in Victoria (B.C.), the CCGS Tracy home-ported in Québec City (Quebec), the CCGS Limnos home-ported in Burlington (Ontario), and the CCGS Cape Roger home-ported in St. John's (Newfoundland and Labrador). Vessel refits are smaller repairs, aimed primarily at updating obsolete operational systems to improve the availability and reliability for delivery of all Coast Guard programs. Of the 35 vessels scheduled for refit, seven are stationed in the Pacific region, five in the Central and Arctic region, seven in the Quebec region, seven in the Maritimes region, and nine in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Major change in Canadian ground role in Kandahar province?
A very interesting nugget is buried near the end of this Globe and Mail story--I've seen no mention of it elsewhere:
The return of the Taliban As the insurgents infiltrate the area west of Kandahar, Canadian troops concentrate on holding territory until U.S. forces arrive
PASAB, AFGHANISTAN — The foot patrol to Charkuchi, an impoverished rural enclave in western Kandahar province, didn't follow the script. Coalition forces operations in southern Afghanistan rarely do.
The Canadian soldiers, led by Afghan police, were to walk through the mud-walled village, speak to residents, wave at children and inquire about insurgent activity. The goal: to let war-weary Afghan villagers know that Canadian Forces and Afghan police are dug in at a police station a few hundred metres away.
Ten minutes into the patrol, on the outskirts of town, a shot is fired at the troops. The soldiers hit the ground. Crouching in a ditch, Master Corporal Jason Thompson, acting commander of the unit, radios the police station to get a fix on where the shot came from.
It isn't a close call - the gunman is at least 450 metres away - but the patrol is aborted and the soldiers never get a chance to mingle with the Afghans.
Two years after the success of Operation Medusa, a Canadian-led routing of Taliban forces from this region of southern Afghanistan, the insurgents have returned, emboldened and newly confident. No longer organized into armies, they have traded the battlefield for guerrilla warfare. They plant roadside bombs, assassinate police officers and, most important, infiltrate villages, compound by family compound, insinuating themselves into the lives of the locals.
"They are everywhere," Corporal Gord Martin, a Canadian Forces mentor for the Afghan police, mused about the insurgents. "They mimic us. Whatever we do, they follow. We've seen them in trees, watching us. They're 300 metres outside these walls."
As Canadian troops wait for an influx of as many as 60,000 U.S. soldiers this year, senior military officials have quietly adjusted their goals. In western Kandahar province's Zhari district, the birthplace of the Taliban movement, the key word is "holding" territory. The now-modest twin goals are to keep the residents safe and prevent insurgents from using the region, as they do in depopulated northern districts, as a freeway into Kandahar city...
Two years after the success of Operation Medusa, a Canadian-led routing of Taliban forces from this region of southern Afghanistan, the insurgents have returned, emboldened and newly confident. No longer organized into armies, they have traded the battlefield for guerrilla warfare. They plant roadside bombs, assassinate police officers and, most important, infiltrate villages, compound by family compound, insinuating themselves into the lives of the locals.
"They are everywhere," Corporal Gord Martin, a Canadian Forces mentor for the Afghan police, mused about the insurgents. "They mimic us. Whatever we do, they follow. We've seen them in trees, watching us. They're 300 metres outside these walls."
As Canadian troops wait for an influx of as many as 60,000 U.S. soldiers [actually 30,000 looks like the maximum, with a total of around 60,000] this year, senior military officials have quietly adjusted their goals. In western Kandahar province's Zhari district, the birthplace of the Taliban movement, the key word is "holding" territory. The now-modest twin goals are to keep the residents safe and prevent insurgents from using the region, as they do in depopulated northern districts, as a freeway into Kandahar city...
Today, Canadian troops are simply holding on to hard-won territory, trying to secure crucial rural areas west of Kandahar city to prevent insurgents from getting a foothold in the provincial capital. They've already ceded some districts to the north. Ghorak, for example, has fallen to the Taliban and large swaths of territory in western Zhari are no-go zones for Canadian troops [emphasis added].
But the landscape is about to change, as is Canada's role in the Kandahar countryside, with the imminent arrival of U.S. troops. The Americans will be dispatched to the countryside, while Canadian forces will be deployed closer to Kandahar city. Eventually, the provincial capital will become the main focus of Canadian efforts in southern Afghanistan [emphasis added].
Senior military officials say they're confident the new strategy will work...
Congratulations to The Montreal Gazette for stepping up and saying what needed to be said regarding Canada's recent decision to purchase military vehicles from Navistar's Texas facility.
The government has agreed to buy 1,300 much-needed new trucks for the Canadian Forces. This good news, a useful step in reversing the "rusting out" of our military, has been clouded by complaints from the Canadian Auto Workers union.
Who could blame that hard-pressed union for demanding that the vehicles be made in this country, at a time when southwestern Ontario's auto-industry job base is imploding? But from the broader perspective of what's good for all Canadians, it was the right decision to give the contract to Illinois-based Navistar Inc., which will make the trucks at its plant in Garland, Texas.
These changes struck me first in this list below of senior officer promotions and appointments--seems quite a shakeup:
Chief of the Maritime Staff Chief of the Air Staff Canada Command Canadian Expeditionary Force Command Canadian Operational Support Command
That means new heads for two of the three services, and three of the four "commands" around which the CF is now organized (no change at Canadian Special Operations Forces Command). Anyone have any ideas what may be up, if anything (Lt.-Gen. Watt has been CAS for less than two years)? Anything else noteworthy? Is CDS Gen. Walt Natynczyk really taking charge, some six months into the post [see Update]?
OTTAWA, ONTARIO -- 01/26/09 -- The Honourable Peter Gordon MacKay, Minister of National Defence and Minister for the Atlantic Gateway, is pleased to announce the senior Canadian Forces (CF) promotions and appointments for 2009. These officers lead the CF in defending Canada's values, interests and sovereignty at home and abroad.
"Canadian Forces soldiers, sailors, airwomen and airmen tackle many challenges head on and strong leadership is essential for our continued success," said Minister MacKay. "There is no doubt in my mind that these General Officers and Flag Officers, with their knowledge, experience and skills will rise to the challenges that lie ahead of them."
"Members of the Canadian Forces deserve the best senior leadership there is," said General Walter Natyncyzk, Chief of the Defence Staff. "These General Officers and Flag Officers bring a wealth of experience and foresight that will enable the Canadian Forces to maintain strong leadership and operational effectiveness, both domestically and abroad."
The following promotions and appointments are planned for 2009:
- Lt.-Gen. J.J.C. Bouchard will be appointed Chief of Staff Supreme Allied Command Transformation Headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, replacing Lt.-Gen J. Arp, who will be retiring;
- Acting Lt.-Gen. C.J.R. Davis was promoted Lt.-Gen and remained as Canadian Military Representative to NATO, in Brussels, Belgium;
- Vice Adm. P.D. McFadden will be appointed Chief of the Maritime Staff at National Defence Headerquarters (NDHQ), in Ottawa, replacing Vice Adm. D.W. Robertson, who will be retiring [had the job for three years];
- Maj.-Gen. D.J.R.S Benjamin will be appointed Chief of Staff Assistant Deputy Minister (Infrastructure and Environment), at NDHQ, Ottawa;
- Maj.-Gen. G.R. Thibault will be appointed Chief of Staff Assistant Deputy Minister (Information Management) at NDHQ, in Ottawa, replacing Maj.-Gen. A.G. Hines;
- Brig.-Gen. J.A.J.Y. Blondin will be promoted Maj.-Gen. and appointed Commander 1 Canadian Air Division, in Winnipeg, replacing Maj.-Gen. J.M. Duval;
- Commodore R.A. Davidson was promoted Rear Admiral and appointed Director of Staff- Strategic Joint Staff at NDHQ, in Ottawa, replacing Rear Admiral A.B. Donaldson;
- Brig.-Gen. D.A. Fraser will be promoted Maj.-Gen. and appointed to the Land Staff at NDHQ, Ottawa;
- Commodore N.S. Greenwood will be promoted Rear Admiral and appointed Assistant Chief of the Maritime Staff, replacing Commodore K.E. Williams;
- Brig.-Gen. A.J. Howard will be promoted Maj.-Gen. and appointed Assistant Chief of the Land Staff at NDHQ, Ottawa, replacing Maj.-Gen. G.R. Thibault;
- Brig.-Gen. T.J. Lawson will be promoted Maj.-Gen. and appointed Assistant Chief of the Air Staff at NDHQ, Ottawa, replacing Maj.-Gen. J.P.A. Deschamps;
- Brig.-Gen. I.C. Poulter will be promoted Maj.-Gen. and appointed Deputy Chief of Staff Assistant Deputy Minister (Materiel) at NDHQ, Ottawa, replacing Brig.-Gen M.E. McQuillan;
- Brig.-Gen. J.G.J.C. Barabe will be appointed as Chief of Staff Defence Force Structure Review at NDHQ, Ottawa;
- Brig.-Gen. J.A.V.R. Blanchette will be appointed Director General Operations - Strategic Joint Staff at NDHQ, in Ottawa, replacing Brig.-Gen J.A.G. Champagne;
- Brig.-Gen. J.A.G. Champagne will be appointed Deputy Commander Strategic Effects Regional Command (South) Headquarters, in Afghanistan;
- Brig.-Gen. J.R. Ferron will be appointed to US CENTCOM HQ in Tampa, Florida;
- Brig.-Gen. J.P.P.J. Lacroix will be appointed Deputy Commander Canada Command in Ottawa, replacing Commodore D.P. Gagliardi;
- Commodore J.R. MacIsaac will be appointed Director General Reserves and Cadets, replacing Commodore J.G.V. Tremblay;
- Acting Brig.-Gen. J.A.J. Parent was promoted Brig.-Gen and remained as Chief of Staff (Operations) Canadian Expeditionary Force Command Headquarters, in Ottawa;
- Acting Brig.-Gen. J.G.A.J. Rousseau was promoted Brig.-Gen and will be appointed Director of Operations Defence/International Security Foreign and Defence Policy Secretariat at the Privy Council Office, in Ottawa, replacing Brig.-Gen P.F. Wynnyk;
- Brig.-Gen. G.R. Stafford was appointed Deputy Commander Land Forces Doctrine and Training System in Kingston, replacing Brig.-Gen R.G. Parsons who retired;
- Acting Brig.-Gen. D.W. Thompson was promoted Brig.-Gen and will be appointed Director General Land Staff at NDHQ, in Ottawa, replacing Brig.-Gen I.C. Poulter;
- Commodore K.E. Williams will be appointed Chief of Staff Vice Chief of the Defence Staff at NDHQ, in Ottawa, replacing Brig.-Gen J.G.J.C. Barabe who will component transfer to the Primary Reserve;
- Brig.-Gen. P.F. Wynnyk will be appointed to the Combined Security Transition Command, in Afghanistan, replacing Brig.-Gen A.J. Howard;
- Col. L.E. Aitken will be promoted Brig.-Gen and appointed Director General Land Equipment Program Management at NDHQ, in Ottawa, replacing Brig.-Gen J.C.M. Giguere who will be retiring;
- Col. R.J. Chekan will be promoted Brig.-Gen and appointed NORAD and US NORTHCOM Deputy Director Plans, Policy And Strategy, in Colorado Springs, replacing Commodore C.L. Mofford, who will be retiring;
- Navy Capt. J.E.T.P. Ellis will be promoted Commodore and remain as Director General Maritime Force Development at NDHQ, Ottawa;
- Navy Capt. P.T.E. Finn was promoted Commodore and remained as Project Manager Canadian Surface Combatant at NDHQ, Ottawa;
- Col. R.D. Foster will be promoted Brig.-Gen and appointed Deputy Commander Force Generation 1 Canadian Air Division HQ in Winnipeg, Manitoba, replacing Brig.-Gen J.A.J.Y. Blondin;
- Col. D.C. Hilton will be promoted Brig.-Gen and appointed Commandant Canadian Forces College in Toronto, replacing Brig.-Gen D.A. Fraser;
- Navy Capt. H.W. Jung will be promoted Commodore and appointed Commander CF Health Services Group and CF Surgeon General at NDHQ, Ottawa, replacing Brig.-Gen H.F. Jaeger whose appointment remains to be confirmed;
- Navy Capt. D.M. MacKeigan will be promoted Commodore and appointed Commander Canadian Forces Recruiting Group in Borden, Ontario;
- Col. J.C. Madower will be promoted Brig.-Gen and appointed Director General Military Careers at NDHQ Ottawa, replacing Commodore J.R. MacIsaac who will component transfer to the Primary Reserve;
- Col. G.C.P. Matte will be promoted Brig.-Gen and appointed Chief Of Staff Canada Command HQ in Ottawa, replacing Brig.-Gen J.P.P.J. Lacroix;
- Col. J.B.D. Menard will be promoted Brig.-Gen (Acting while so employed) and appointed Commander Joint Task Force in Afghanistan, replacing Brig.-Gen J.H. Vance;
- Navy Capt. M.A.G. Norman will be promoted Commodore and appointed Commander Canadian Fleet Pacific in Victoria, replacing Commodore N.S. Greenwood;
- Col. R.R. Pitre was promoted Brig.-Gen and appointed to the Air Staff at NDHQ, Ottawa;
- Col. J.G.C.Y. Rochette will be promoted Brig.-Gen. (Acting while so employed) and appointed Director General Finance at NDHQ, Ottawa;
- Col. J.G.E. Tremblay was promoted Brig.-Gen (Acting while so employed) and appointed Deputy Commanding General US I Corps in Fort Lewis, Washington State; and
- Navy Capt. W.S. Truelove will be promoted Commodore and appointed Commandant Royal Military College of Canada, in Kingston, replacing Brig.-Gen T.J. Lawson.
After distinguished service to the CF and Canada, the following will complete their careers and retire from the CF Regular Force in 2009:
Update: An ooops! Vice Adm. P.D. McFadden's less than a year at Canada Command has led to his becoming head of the Navy. My implication above of an ouster was a result of my not paying enough attention (via Ex-Dragoon--at the Army.ca thread on the subject) .
If you haven't read it, here's Part 1 of the story.
* * * * *
I expected it to take a lot longer to travel from Double K to the Dand District Centre. I don't know why - it's not like I knew the distances involved or the timings we were trying to meet. I was simply doing what the guys in uniform told me to.
I should say guys and gal, singular. Our medic, Private McKenzie, was a female, the only one on the patrol. I chatted with her briefly at Double K, and she seemed friendly and competent, but quiet. Like she relished whatever calm she could find outside the wire, knowing she'd be the busiest soldier there if anything went terribly wrong. A quiet doc is a good thing.
The drive to Dand District Centre for the weekly shura turned out to be uneventful. Somewhat comfortable, even, since I'd belatedly figured out how to properly adjust the five-point harness that buckled me safely into the RG-31. With the windows unfogging as the sun rose higher in the sky, I actually had a view other than the side of the gunner's head, and Maj White's open mouth beside me as he caught a moment of rack time in transit.
The Centre was bigger than I had imagined it to be. A big plot of mud, enclosed by a high concrete wall topped with razor-wire and cornered by guard towers, with two decent-sized buildings in the middle. One was an ANP building, and one was the administrative building for the local government. Both were enclosed by a shrapnel-pockmarked wall that had served to protect a much smaller compound before the new perimeter had been constructed. Short months ago, a suicide bomber had somehow made it past the ANP guarding the outer wall, and detonated near the inner gate. I was told that the blast shattered windows in the admin building. Looking up at the distance from the gate to the windows, I got a sense of just how powerful the explosion must have been. The self-immolating zealot/idiot didn't have nuts and bolts or ball-bearings or any such shrapnel-enhancing paraphernalia in his vest, but as you can see in the photos below, he still made quite the impression on the surrounding infrastructure.
One of the first things we did was wander around the site with the SET engineer, WO Dagenais, and the Political Officer Alex Caratte - the pointy-end DFAIT guy at the KPRT. Alex explained that one of his tasks for the day was to check out rumours that some of the equipment and materiel that had been bought for the Centre and for the ANP station had gone missing. And if that was indeed the case, to deliver a message that "we're here to help, but if you don't take care of what we give you, more might not be forthcoming." In other words, it was inspection time.
We headed over to one of the guard towers with the Afghan site supervisor in conversation with WO Dagenais through the Terp. Two ANP with dirty blue-grey uniforms and wild hair walked up to me. Neither looked to be out of his mid-teens yet, although one was on the big side for his age. The kid extended a dirt-encrusted hand, which I dutifully shook, and nodded a greeting to him. He spoke one word to me: "knife." What? One of the soldiers assigned to make sure I didn't do anything stupid caught my bewildered look and explained "He wants your knife. They're not shy asking for what they want." I turned back to this "policeman" and shook my head: no. It seems that was the answer he was expecting. His mien didn't change one iota as he turned and walked away. I made a mental note not to snack on the energy bar in my pocket on the way home: I wasn't putting anything in my mouth without washing and sanitizing my hands thoroughly first.
We climbed the stairs to an observation post on top of the admin building. Sheet roofing material was being laid down by a walking fire-hazard of a man who seemed all too cavalier with his torch, poking the roofing roll forward with a sneakered foot. The insurance guy in me had to laugh at the situation: I take pictures of work sites all the time, but I'd never seen one where workplace safety was the least of the dangers in your day. In the picture at left, WO Dagenais had just moved the propane tank from where the worker had placed it, about a foot away from the flame. The underwriters I know would have puked in their mouths with worry.
From the top of the building, we had a decent view of the compound and the countryside around it. For the first time, I noticed a building outside the wall, but attached to it, and with its own protective enclosure. The relatively new and unblemished building was apparently the local school. It had originally been inside the main security wall, but that had required students to pass through the compound checkpoints just to get to class. That was potentially dangerous for the students, and for those inside the compound. So the wall had been extended to partition the school from the rest of the Centre, with just a small gate between the two. The kids and teachers could now enter and exit the school directly through its own main entrance.
Just as I was beginning to wonder when the shura was supposed to start, we were called down to the District Leader's office. It looked to be the only room in the building with furniture, and it had a beautiful rug spread out on the floor. I felt genuinely bad to be tracking mud into the room on my boots, but when I remarked upon it to one of my keepers, he said it's been explained to them that we can't take off our boots when we come in, and they seem to accept that. Tough to make a run for it in stocking feet, I guess.
Still, we all removed our helmets and ballistic eyewear when we entered the large office, which doubled as a meeting room. The Dand District Leader came over and shook all of our hands, one by one. At only twenty-eight years old, Ahmadullah Nazik is surprisingly young for his post, especially in a land where age is so venerated. But he displayed no uneasiness while we were in his office, either with the Canadian soldiers, or with the Afghan elders in attendance.
We were served hot chai tea in clear tumblers, and I remembered the admonition of WO Keith Dubé: "Don't drink the chai. It's not the water, it's the glasses that'll get ya. They don't wash anything properly. My Lt decided to take his chances, and pissed out his ass for a few days. I dropped by the can while he was in there moaning and reminded him: told ya so, sir." I needed no reminder that a Warrant who was on his third Roto was well worth listening to: no tea for me. So I was surprised to see both WO Dagenais and Maj White sipping contentedly at their beverages beside me. Vance explained: "Once you've gotten GI once, you're good to go." Yeah...I'll stick with Dubé's advice, thanks very much.
The initial part of the meeting was between Nazik, WO Bastow (the CIMIC guy), and Alex Caratte. The juxtaposed image of these two Canadians, one an NCM reservist firefighter, the other a PhD in PoliSci from the foreign service working seamlessly together will stay with me for a long time. Alex delivered his message about the potentially "lost" equipment beautifully - a hammer covered in velvet. Barry Bastow covered some administrative points that seemed to be a continuation from the last meeting, and then asked what I'd been wondering: where are the shura representatives? Nazik replied that they were arriving one at a time.
He explained to the Warrant that some weeks lots of representatives come, some weeks only a few. The weeks that they make excuses not to come when he talks to them, he knows they're scared of something. He lets them know he can send a contingent of ANP to escort them, but most decline.
The elders began to file in for the shura, and each walked around the room shaking our hands in greeting before taking his seat (thanks to Jean Laroche for the photo). Only nine came this week, less than the fifteen or so that I was told was about average. There are twenty shura representatives in the district, who cover a total of 172 villages. Nazik and Bastow, through the Terp, reminded those in attendance that the local population is supposed to bring security and development concerns and issues to the attention of the shura representatives, who can then address those with the Dand District Leader. The men all nodded their heads - this obviously isn't new for them. The discussion then segued into which villages at one particular district border belonged to Dand, and which to another neighbouring district. There's some confusion, apparently, and some of the elders joined in animatedly, with loud voices speaking over each other, and sharp hand gestures.
Administrative business taken care of, apparently, the Warrant then began to excuse the Canadian contingent. But before we left, he offered to host a meal the next time they gathered. Nazik replied that although there are only a couple dozen shura representatives, they'll each bring drivers, helpers, a full retinue. "Offer to pay," Nazik said with a smile to Bastow, " and you'll have too many here!" We all laughed, Afghan and Canadian alike. Then we made our manners and filed out.
After one more brief inspection of a building, we were back at the vehicles. I was about to step up on to the back of the RG when WO Dubé said to our PAffO "Sir, I can take one with me in the back of the LAV." Vance turned to me, and I grinned and said "Sure thing." Don't have to ask me twice.
Am I ever glad I did. I was expecting to get stuffed into the back with the rest of the Force Protection troops. Instead, Dubé opened up a second hatch for me beside him, showed me how to hook up on the intercom, and off we went, looking out the back of the rear LAV in the convoy. The soldiers, who had been outside the building standing guard the whole time we'd been in Nazik's office, were talking about the ANP detachment.
"Holy shit, could you smell the pot coming out of their barracks?"
"Yeah. How old do you think they were?"
"About as old as my kid brother."
The countryside was beautiful, as long as you didn't look too closely. Focus on the distant landscape, and Kandahar is spectacular. Up close, I found it sad: dirty, decrepit, and poor beyond anything I'd ever seen. At least that was the impression I got in the rural areas we passed through, from the mud walls at Double K, to the bare concrete and mud at the District Centre, to the villages we passed on the way back to to town.
But in the back of the LAV, countryside gave way to the south of Kandahar City quickly, and soon we were surrounded by ramshackle buildings, open shop-fronts, and throngs of people. The shops were amazing - fruits and nuts, car and truck wheels and tires, sides of meat hanging from hooks in the dust and sun. Side by side by side by the road, with boys and men sitting in front of them, staring at us as we went by.
Most of the kids waved. Very few of the adults did, unless they were wearing a uniform. I toggled my intercom switch and asked WO Dubé, who was intently focused on his responsibilities to the rear of us - especially local vehicles that he thought were getting a bit too close - about the waving.
"Warrant, I noticed on the chopper on the way in to camp that the door gunners seem to have been instructed to wave at the locals. Do you guys have to do that?"
"I got more important things to worry about than playing fucking Queen in the back of a LAV."
*pause*
"Yeah, we wave sometimes."
I waved, whenever I wasn't snapping shots with my camera. At least, I waved back when I was waved at. Some of the kids threw rocks instead. I was told it's like snowballs back home - you throw what's at hand. I don't know about that. Apparently you've got to watch one doesn't hit you in the face. The guys have them ping off their helmets all too frequently, and one had some skin on his nose peeled away just recently.
But the kids who waved...I had to wave back. There was this one girl, she couldn't have been more than five. Dressed in aquamarine blue, far brighter than what most people were wearing. She was standing all by herself against a wall to the left of us as we drove by, waving and watching. I waved back, and when she saw me, her arm shot up above her head and she started jumping and twirling with excitement. I watched until she disappeared from view.
Most of the time, you keep your emotional walls high around you in a place like this. It's dangerous, it's unfamiliar, you're surrounded by serious people, and there's a job to do. Mocking sarcasm, poking fun at each other, that's OK among the soldiers. But looking at that little girl, I felt a whole lot more than that, and had to shut it down pretty quickly. As a parent myself, I wonder what's in store for her. God, I hope it's a better life than she would have had without the Canadians in Kandahar.
The Warrant shook me out of my thoughts, explaining what he was watching for, pointing out some of the important landmarks as we navigated the congested streets. Some ANP were stopping traffic to let us through quickly, and everyone seemed to know the ground rules: move to the side of the road, and don't approach the convoy too closely. Dubé only had to wave a car back away from us twice the whole way back.
And then we were on the final leg into the camp. In case you can't hear him properly, just as I'm waving at a crowd of kids in the video below, the Warrant tells me that this is the street where Glyn Berry was killed. That was years ago, and the situation in the city is far different now, but it was still sobering.
We passed through the ANP checkpoint, then through the Canadian one. You could feel the tension bleed away, like air hissing out of a tire. The LAV ground to a halt on the gravel, the rear hatch descended, and we were out on the ground. The troops headed off to clear their weapons in the barrels by the wall, and I shook WO Dubé's hand: "Thanks for the ride, Warrant. It's one I'll never forget."
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