Afstan: Typical Canadian reporting--balderflippingdash, Part 2/Beyonder Uppestdate: "fair and balanced"--hurl
(Note: post bumped for those Americans who may come across this blog and may think their country's efforts are not well appreciated up, er, here.)
Good flipping grief. The Globe and Mail (Canada's, that is to say Toronto's, soi-disant "National Newspaper") runs this major front page piece about the history and (gloomy of course) prospects of our Kandahar mission:
How for heaven's sake can one consider future developments at Kandahar without taking into account the fact that by this spring there will be two US Army brigade combat teams on the ground, some 10,000 soldiers? In addition to the CF's Joint Task Force Afghanistan (which now itself has considerably more US Army battalions than Canadian)? Just, er, wondering. Only in Canada, eh? Pity.
Then there's this clanger in the Globe piece:
Predate thought: In addition a US Army combat aviation brigade, with over 100 helicopters, has been at Kandahar since spring 2009 (our Air Force has 14 helicopters there). There is no note of that brigade--which has been giving considerable support to the Canadians--in the Globe article either.
Update thought: Upon serious historical reflection, can one imagine a Canadian journalist in later June 1944 writing about the Normandy campaign--while concentrating reasonably on the Canadian contribution--without also mentioning that, for example, on D-Day one Canadian division landed along with rather more substantial British and American forces (more here at a good site from CBC Digital Archives)? What a self-focused bunch we have become, virtually ignoring our rather more important allies.
Upperdate: From of a post by Adrian MacNair:
Good flipping grief. The Globe and Mail (Canada's, that is to say Toronto's, soi-disant "National Newspaper") runs this major front page piece about the history and (gloomy of course) prospects of our Kandahar mission:
Canada's Kandahar legacy rests on a shift in strategyBut, in dealing with future prospects, the reporter manages to fail to mention either the presence in the province since the summer of 2009 of the US Army's 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team (which has been suffering quite a few fatalities), or the fact that a second US Army BCT will be coming to Kandahar this spring. Thank goodness one Canadian reporter has written about that second BCT--though most of the papers in his chain did not run the story.
But is there enough time to turn the tide against the growing insurgency?
How for heaven's sake can one consider future developments at Kandahar without taking into account the fact that by this spring there will be two US Army brigade combat teams on the ground, some 10,000 soldiers? In addition to the CF's Joint Task Force Afghanistan (which now itself has considerably more US Army battalions than Canadian)? Just, er, wondering. Only in Canada, eh? Pity.
Then there's this clanger in the Globe piece:
...Earlier this year [2009], the United States finally answered the pleas Gen. Fraser made three years previous for more troops...In fact a US Army infantry battalion, sent by President Bush, became part of the CF's Task Force Kandahar in the summer of 2008--not/not in 2009. Not that the Canadian media paid the battalion much mind nor, apparently, our national defence minister:
Afstan: MND MacKay's miserable failure to communicateNo wonder the Canadian public are so ill-informed about Afstan.
Predate thought: In addition a US Army combat aviation brigade, with over 100 helicopters, has been at Kandahar since spring 2009 (our Air Force has 14 helicopters there). There is no note of that brigade--which has been giving considerable support to the Canadians--in the Globe article either.
Update thought: Upon serious historical reflection, can one imagine a Canadian journalist in later June 1944 writing about the Normandy campaign--while concentrating reasonably on the Canadian contribution--without also mentioning that, for example, on D-Day one Canadian division landed along with rather more substantial British and American forces (more here at a good site from CBC Digital Archives)? What a self-focused bunch we have become, virtually ignoring our rather more important allies.
Upperdate: From of a post by Adrian MacNair:
Diligence In Reporting: It’s Only For Potential ScandalsUppestdate: I wonder how much coverage this CP story on sad event will get in our major media:
...
Don’t feel bad, Patrick [the Globe reporter]. Not everyone can be as thorough as Mark Collins and the rest of the eagle eyes over at the Torch. And just think: they do this stuff for free!..
U.S. soldiers under Canadian command killed by IEDAnd a letter of mine in the Globe and Mail on the US Army and Kandahar (edited by them to take out my sting, which was pointing out that their story--the origin of this post--completely ignored the BCT now in the province and the one coming:
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Four American soldiers under Canadian command have been killed in southern Afghanistan.
The IED strike occurred Sunday in the volatile Zhari district of Kandahar province.
Military officials have only confirmed the deaths of the four Americans, who were given a ramp ceremony at Kandahar Airfield on Monday [Jan. 4].
However, sources tell The Canadian Press the four were members of the 1st Battalion of the 12th Infantry Regiment based in Fort Carson, Colo.
They are the first Americans to die in hostile action in Afghanistan this year.
About 2,000 American soldiers have been brought under the command of Canadian Brig.-Gen. Daniel Menard.
They are integral to Menard's plans to subdue an active insurgency in Zhari and Arghandab districts just north of Kandahar city...
A bigger Afghan presenceBeyond Uppestdate: The letter I actually sent to the Globe and Mail:
Kandahar military realitiesBeyonder Uppestdate: Just noticed the CP story above about the dead American soldiers has been updated (the Globe and Mail published it in its print edition); these two paragraphs have been added, presumably in some absurd, almost insulting, effort to be "fair and balanced":
The Globe ran this major front page piece Jan. 2, "Canada's Kandahar legacy rests on a shift in strategy", which amongst other things considers how the security situation might develop in the province. But the article fails to mention either the presence in the province since the summer of 2009 of the US Army's 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, or the fact that a second US Army brigade combat team will be coming to Kandahar this spring.
One would think that in looking forward it would be helpful to mention the fact that by this spring there will be those two US Army brigade combat teams on the ground, some 10,000 soldiers. By comparison the total force under Canadian command, now actually including more American combat troops than Canadian, numbers around 5,000.
In addition a US Army combat aviation brigade, with over 100 helicopters, has been at Kandahar since spring 2009 (our Air Force has 14 helicopters there). There is no note of that brigade--which has been giving considerable support to the Canadians--in your article either.
The piece moreover states that "Earlier this year [2009], the United States finally answered the pleas Gen. Fraser made three years previous for more troops." In reality a US Army infantry battalion, sent by President Bush, became part of the CF's battle group at Kandahar in the summer of 2008, not in 2009. That battalion effectively doubled our battle group's combat infantry strength.
References:
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=64232
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/story.html?id=2355035
http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5gmloea49X8xveMTU-8bVB5Gt-hkQ
http://www.nationalpost.com/m/story.html?id=1601361
http://www.comfec-cefcom.forces.gc.ca/pa-ap/ops/fs-fr/jtfa-foia-eng.asp#f
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=63871&archive=true
http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=2e2b8b97-6c70-439e-baab-fd34ad668795
...No flipping shoot; verify this CP!
The Taliban, meanwhile, claimed to have killed 11 U.S. soldiers and wounded six others Sunday, saying the incident happened in Panjwaii district south of Zhari.
A statement from Taliban spokesman Qari Yusuf Ahmadi said the Americans were on foot patrol and that the area came under "massive air strikes" by the U.S. forces following the blast. The statement could not immediately be verified...
Taliban's Lies o' the Year, 2009
Another year, another 12 months of Taliban lies.
Canadians reported fallen for 2009: 33
Canadians Taliban say they killed in 2009: 400...
posted by Mark, Ottawa at 2:59 p.m.
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