CF-18s for Afstan? No way

A political Hornets' nest and non-starter since our government is terrified of the uproar that would ensue here should Canadian air strikes kill civilians ("Hornet's won't go to Afghanistan unless they can build schools."). Besides which a Hornet deployment, which has certainly been considered in the past, would be decried by many as an "escalation" of our combat role. I'm amazed that Maj.-Gen. Duff Sullivan allowed Matthew Fisher of Canwest News to get him involved in this contentious issue.

Allies quietly urge Canada to deploy CF-18s to Afghanistan

Kabul, Afghanistan -- The United States and NATO have "expressed a desire" for Canada to deploy CF-18 Hornet fighter jets to Afghanistan, according to the Canadian general who leads the coalition's air war in Afghanistan.

"I can tell you from the senior Canadian in this headquarters that I have been asked on several occasions by AFCENT [United States Air Forces Central] and CENTCOM [Central Command], ‘How can we get Canadian F-18s into the game over here?'" said Maj.-Gen. Duff Sullivan. "And I've told them that that is a political decision back in Canada."

Sullivan, 52, flew sorties in CF-18s over the Balkans and during the first U.S.-led war against Iraq in 1991.

"What has been highlighted to me as the director of the air element here, the commander of AFCENT has said that it would relieve the pressure on his American squadrons if we could have Canadian F-18s come in. I haven't commented one way or the other, but passed it back to Canada to the chief of defence and I know that issue is well known in his office."

But Sunday evening Defence Minister Peter MacKay's director of communications, Dan Dugas, disputed the notion it was a ‘political decision.'

"The general is somehow mistaken on this issue," he said. "This is something that has not gone through a chain of command and then to the minister's office . . . so it can hardly be a political decision if it hasn't made its way through the chain of command."

"If the chain of command believes this is worthwhile they would make a recommendation to the minister, as far as I know this has not happened [the senior CF staff in Ottawa know full well that the issue is a non-starter, so of course they haven't taken it the minister; so it is de facto a 'political decision']."..

"Whenever our troops are in trouble and taking casualties, every single time they call for air support -- armed overwatch -- that is what the Canadian F-18s would do," Sullivan said, noting that Canada alone among the allies contributes combat ground forces in Afghanistan without also providing close air support.

"This is what I think that other allies are noticing and pointing out to me," Sullivan said. "Canada is the only nation that has not yet done a tour of duty with its fighter force . . . If we brought our F-18s it would allow us to be fully involved in the air/land operation."

The questions being asked about Canada's CF-18s was "interesting in the NATO environment because before officially asking a country to fill a capability they will unofficially ask them to feel them out about where they are," said Sullivan, who is also deputy director of air/land operations for NATO's International Security Assistance Force.

Lt.-Gen. Michel Gauthier, who commands all Canadian troops overseas, said during a visit to Kandahar last month that the air force was already making a major contribution in Afghanistan and that Canada had no plans to deploy CF-18s to Kandahar [see bolded sentence here]...

..."the fighter capability is perhaps an area that Canada might wish to think about bringing into theatre in the future, as well," Sullivan said.

Accommodation is at a premium at Kandahar because of a major buildup of U.S. forces this spring [this post relevant again]. However, the general said that space could be found if Ottawa decided to send CF-18s to Afghanistan.

Canada's fighter fleet is about to complete a modernization program. The upgrades include a sophisticated new targeting pod that can provide an instant data link to commanders in the field and the ability to carry new precision-guided munitions.

"Everything is now coagulating and coming together in respect to the F-18. It will be full up and ready to go in the August-September time frame," Sullivan said. "If deployed, they would be stars over here."

Update: Comments at Milnet.ca.

Upperdate: A very relevant comment from the thread above:

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I personally got to know Matthew Fisher while I was in KAF for 9 plus months. He was actually pretty reasonable and supportive of the military in my private conversations with him. He dished the dirt on the other reporters. It is simply another case of be careful what you say to reporters as everyone must remember that newspapers want to sell papers. If they didn't, then they would go out of business.

Most of the other reporters that I spoke with either didn't really care about being in KAF or were too ignorant to learn about the military. Matthew Fisher actually takes time to learn about us, rather than calling everything that moves on the ground a tank.

If anybody is still over in KAF and reading this, is he still wearing the Habs hat? He, in fact, is a Sens fan. I bugged him constantly about the hat, but he was always good humoured.

As for the fighter jocks, traditionally the Air Force has been run by the fighter boys and Tac Hel has been the "black sheep" of the Air Force. I don't know if the fighters will go and frankly it doesn't concern me that much. I have my own pers to worry about that are there right now and many friends as well. Good luck to all.