Big Canadian operation at Kandahar ignored/Other CF Afstan news/Globeite update: Blackwater

So far only the Globe and Mail (good on them, but a rather, er, curt story) has seen fit to report this; most of our media only pretend to cover the CF at Kanadahar, and don't even use what is reported--see second story:

Canadian offensive sees little action [that's good, right?]
Operation Hydra launches with 1,000 Canadian troops [emphasis added, that's big, right?] and 200 Afghanistan National Army soldiers in push toward a known Taliban command post south of Kandahar

One of the biggest Canadian operations of the entire Afghanistan mission launched this week with barely a shot fired.

More than 1,000 Canadian troops and 200 Afghanistan National Army soldiers surged towards the village of Haji Baba, a known Taliban command post south of Kandahar, on Sunday, encountering a single belligerent insurgent along with a maze of improvised explosive devices.

The lack of resistance has become a Taliban calling-card in recent international operations, often followed by an extended period of heavy IED activity. Canadian Forces expects the Haji Baba mission, titled Operation Hydra, to be no different.

As tanks, armoured vehicles and foot soldiers moved gingerly towards the village, locals actually approached them to ask for a shura, a meeting or consulation in many Muslim countries. The advance halted momentarily for the shura. Afterwards, residents began pointing out IEDs to Canadian and Afghan Forces, according to Canadian Forces Captain Lena Angell.

“That is definitely an important sign for us, that villager are actually coming to our assistance,” she said.

Canadian Forces have surrounded the village for several weeks, intercepting insurgents fleeing the town ahead of operation. Other insurgents have likely doffed any Taliban symbols and are now posing as long-time community members. The Canadians will spend much of the coming weeks interviewing locals to weed out the Taliban interlopers, according the a Forces spokesman.

From there, they the plan to turn Haji Baba into another “model village”, similar to Deh-e-Bah, where continuous military patrols have combined with a deluge of development projects to convince most locals to trust westerners and the democratic government they support [more here].

A broader story from CP, picked up by almost none of our major media. Fie!

Sizing up new Canadian tactics against changing insurgency in Afghanistan

The Canadian military says its new methods are effectively weakening the insurgency in Afghanistan, but the Taliban's resilience is raising questions about the changing nature of the guerrilla war.

Hundreds of fighting-age Afghans have been offered wages to work on development projects, sparing them from having to earn a living by fighting for the Taliban.

It's one of the counter-insurgency moves used under Brig.-Gen. Jonathan Vance, who will complete his tour of duty as top commander of the Canadian Forces in Afghanistan on Thursday.

Combined with increased Canadian presence in key villages in Dand district [see link at end of story above], senior military officials suggest the insurgency in the area is beginning to fragment.

"It's early days, but I would like to posit we're seeing a definite split with some of the initiatives we're taking," said Col. Mike Patrick, the outgoing chief of operations for Canada's Task Force Kandahar.

He's referring to the breaking away of Afghans "who would pick up arms and fight with the Taliban to gain money, (who) aren't necessarily ideologically motivated but are trying to seek a methodology for feeding their family."

Their departure means that "for the Taliban, the pool for recruiting people has virtually dried up," Patrick said.

The insurgency now appears to be headed by commanders based in Pakistan - known as the Quetta shura after the city where Taliban leader Mullah Omar is said to be hiding - leaving local, part-time Taliban fighters vulnerable to being influenced by the Canadians.

But even so, the Taliban threat is showing few signs of waning, especially in traditional strongholds.

While Canadians have secured large areas of Dand district, for example, Panjwaii district remains volatile and was the site of the deaths of two Canadian soldiers last month...

Then there's a worthwhile Canadian Forces' initiative:

Kandahar field officers given wide powers over military spending
Four senior officers have authority to approve expenditures up to $1-million on everything from armoured cars to phone cards

When Canadian military personnel in Afghanistan decided last February to rent an undisclosed number of armoured vehicles for travelling around Kabul, they did not need to beg money from bean counters in Canada.

And when deployed soldiers bought more than $800,000 worth of cards for cellular phones, they did not have to push paper through the bureaucratic channels of the Department of National Defence.

They simply turned to their own bosses in the field.

Four senior military officers in Afghanistan have been given the authority to approve purchases of up to $1-million that are “in direct support of operations.”

Since April, 2008, the officers have approved 59 contracts, each worth more than $500,000, according to documents released under federal Access to Information legislation.

Until that time, all major Canadian military purchases in Afghanistan had to be made through the Public Works Department or the procurement branch of DND...

Many of the larger amounts that the four senior officers approved were to pay private security firms to guard forward operating bases, checkpoints and other Canadian military installations [more here].

There were four contracts this year, each for about $900,000, to pay for road and culvert repair in different districts. The military is hiring local villagers to do this kind of work to sustain a new anti-insurgency strategy in the so-called model villages it is defending southwest of Kandahar [see stories above].

Globeite update: Ms Galloway forgot to play the obligatory Blackwater card in the story above so today out it comes:

...in Iraq in 2007, private security guards employed by the U.S. security firm Blackwater Worldwide shot and killed at least 14 civilians in a crowded Baghdad square.

The company, now called Xe, is operating in Afghanistan, but it is unknown if it is employed by the Canadian military. The Defence Department will not divulge the names of the firms under contract for reasons of operational security...

Fie and hurl.