Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Haiti: The CF get their own quadrant, may also serve under UN

From Jacmel to Leogane, southwest of Port-au-Prince--excerpts from a CTV story, with several useful videos including the CDS and Chief of the Land Staff:
Canadian soldiers land in Haitian fishing village

A 424 Squadron Griffon helicopter, number CH-146419, departs for the city of Jacmel carrying Canadian Forces members who are to set up a Canadian aid location in the city, Monday, Jan. 18, 2010. 424 Squadron is a Search and Rescue Squadron based out of 8 Wing, Trenton, Ont.
(Master Cpl. David Hardwick / Department of National Defence)

...
The Canadian military will eventually deploy a total of 2,000 soldiers to Haiti -- including 1,000 peacekeepers, 200 DART members, 500 crew from Halifax and Athabaskan, and 200 soldiers already on the ground [more details here].

[Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Walt] Natynczyk said the mission could last up to two months [one wonders]...
Map from CBC:

Jacmel lies about 30 kilometres southwest of the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince.
Jacmel lies about 30 kilometres southwest of the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince.
(CBC)
As for the UN, looks like the CF may have another mission with them [earlier ones here and here], longer likely than the Jacmel one:
...
On Tuesday, in an effort to support earthquake relief and maintain security in Haiti, the United Nations Security Council unanimously agreed to boost the number of UN troops and police in the country by 3,500. Currently there are 9,000 members of the UN stabilization force in Haiti. The additional troops and police will be deployed with a six-month mandate.

There were 82 [Canadian] police officers on the ground in Haiti as part of a UN stabilization mission when the quake hit. Two RCMP officers -- Supt. Doug Coates and Sgt. Mark Gallagher -- were killed [five CF members are also with the UN in Haiti]...
And earlier in the day:
...
During Tuesday's news conference, Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said Canada is also prepared to send more police and security forces to Haiti [in addition to those now being deployed?] if the UN indicates conditions on the ground will support more personnel...
Surely the thing to do is transfer forces already there to the UN once our quadrant is fairly stabilized rather than sending even more. It doesn't seem to me that a total deployment greater than the some 2,000 now being involved is possible.

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