Afstan: CF like the fish in the sea (with three US battalions for company)

Canadian troops are going to the people (see bottom right p. 324 at preceding link)--with the requisite dig at our media at the end of the post:

Brig.-Gen. Daniel Menard is thinking big.

As the top soldier in Kandahar province, the Canadian commander exudes an optimism that goes well beyond the dewy-eyed enthusiasm of a man new to the job.

The reason for his confidence is the influx of American soldiers that has almost doubled the number of troops under his direct control.

Finally, Menard told The Canadian Press, he has the boots on the ground and resources his predecessors could only wish for.

"I'm in a position to tackle more than one district at a time," Menard said in his first sit-down interview since taking charge of Task Force Kandahar less than a month ago.

"Not only one village, or go small, I'm actually going big."

With about 2,000 fresh American soldiers now reporting to him - part of U.S. President Obama's Afghan surge [ emphasis added, not exactly: in fact two of the US Army battalions in those numbers were part of Obama's first surge and the third, the US Army battalion in Zhari district, see below, is a result of a reinforcement for the Canadians ordered under former President Bush, see here and here--the 1-12 Infantry later moved from Maywand to Zhari district] - Menard's troop strength has gone from 2,800 soldiers to about the 5,000 mark.

Three American battalions are now attached to the Canadian brigade.

[Emphasis added, the three US Army battalions:

...The 2nd battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division is to be deployed in the Taliban-infested district of Arghandab by Christmas, Canadian Brig.-Gen. Daniel Menard confirmed Wednesday...

The 1st battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, based in Zhari, and a strengthened 97th Military Police battalion in Kandahar City are already under Canadian command...The 2-508 PIR is part of that 4th BCT (see link above), which was ordered to Afstan by President Obama in March 2009 (a later part of his first surge) with a mainly training role...]

Gone is the brush-fire approach, where Canadian soldiers would move to clear an area of insurgents, then leave to deal with another crisis, only to see the Taliban move right back in.

Fortified with fighting Americans - they are the only U.S. troops reporting to a foreign commander - Menard has bold plans to get his troops to the people of Kandahar and other more urban areas - and leave them there.

"I'm going to go with the major centres in the area of operation, starting with Kandahar city - that is my main focus - followed by the town of Senjaray," Menard said.

"It's a very large centre."

Senjaray, with about 13,000 people, is second only to Kandahar city as a population centre in the province. It's in the restive Zhari district that has claimed the lives of eight Canadian soldiers in the past year alone...

"Right now, people are detained by the insurgents in their villages - they are under their threat, and they are controlled by them," said Niaz Mohammad Sarhadi, Zhari district leader.

"For the past three years, (coalition soldiers) go to one village, go to the other village, to no avail and with no results, and the insurgents are coming back."..

The forward operating bases that were home to Canadian infantry and other combat soldiers are increasingly manned by skeleton contingents, which act as a 911 response to emergencies.

"Everybody else lives with the population. And when I say 'with the population,' I'm not talking about building smaller (operating bases) outside, I'm talking about living in Afghan compounds and mud houses," Menard said.

"This is now a big change. The troops are not only interacting with the population, they live with them."

Tackling Zhari and neighbouring Arghandab district - with the aid of another 1,000 or so Afghan National Army troops - will help create a "ring of stability" around Kandahar, the country's second largest city, Menard said [note from above which ISAF members's troops are now in each of those districts, something not made clear in the story]...

An important CP story about a major change in the conduct of operations by troops, including many Americans, under the CF's Joint Task Force Afghanistan, wouldn't you think? Now try to find a major media outlet that ran the piece--see here and here. Hurl, upchuck, whatever.

Earlier:

Canada in Afstan: All the News That's Fit...

...to Ignore almost completely by our media...