# Report: UAE Could Be First Arab Nation To Send Troops to Afghanistan



## 3rd Herd (20 Jul 2007)

The Usual Disclaimer:
Report: UAE Could Be First Arab Nation To Send Troops to Afghanistan 
By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, OTTAWA 

The United Arab Emirates is planning to send troops to Afghanistan to fight alongside Canadians, at Ottawa’s behest to put a “Muslim face” on the NATO-led coalition, media reported Friday.
The Toronto Star, citing unnamed sources, said Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government had been urging the tiny Arab nation to contribute soldiers and equipment to help stabilize war-torn Afghanistan.
Canadian authorities were not immediately available to comment.
If the report is accurate, the Afghanistan deployment is believed to be a first for an Arab nation and a diplomatic coup for Canada.
The UAE was one of only three countries that recognized the hard-line Taliban government that took control of most of Afghanistan in 1996 and was forced out in a U.S.-led invasion in late 2001.
The Toronto daily said the UAE tactical force would be small and mostly symbolic and would serve under Canadian commanders in the field.
The UAE could also send four tanks, several armored reconnaissance vehicles, two self-propelled 155mm guns and a detachment of unmanned aerial vehicles, according to a military briefing note obtained by the Star.
“The UAE is capable of bringing considerable financial support to development projects and would provide a Muslim face to the International Security Assistance Force operations, providing a counterpoint to insurgent rhetoric,” the note said.http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=2913861&C=landwar


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## Franko (20 Jul 2007)

Hmmm...a defense site that quotes the Toronto Daily as a reliable source.        :

It will be interesting if it happens.

Regards


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## Armymedic (20 Jul 2007)

Latest from PMO,
No comment on the grounds of operational secrecy.

 ;D


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## dapaterson (20 Jul 2007)

Several Canadian reports identify the source as a document released by DND under ATI.

If that is indeed the case, the reviewer internal to DND needs some remedial lessons.  State to state communicaitons and related by products such as this BN are protected from release; assuming that the details are even close to correct this never should have been released.

Emphasis added:
(http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/showdoc/cs/A-1/?noCookie)


> Responsibilities of Government
> Information obtained in confidence
> 
> 13. (1) Subject to subsection (2), the head of a government institution shall refuse to disclose any record requested under this Act that contains information that was obtained in confidence from
> ...


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## Greymatters (20 Jul 2007)

St. Micheals Medical Team said:
			
		

> No comment on the grounds of operational secrecy.



 :

An overused statement these days...


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## 1feral1 (20 Jul 2007)

UAE sending troops?

I won't beleive it until they are on the ground, and in the thick of it.

Wes


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## Greymatters (20 Jul 2007)

More important, can you trust them?  If not for security, then can they do the job?  I havent worked with UAE troops before, but the troops from other friendly MEast countries didnt impress me as very capable...


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## 2 Cdo (20 Jul 2007)

GreyMatter said:
			
		

> More important, can you trust them?  If not for security, then can they do the job?  I havent worked with UAE troops before, but the troops from other friendly MEast countries didnt impress me as very capable...



I'd go one further and say they weren't worth a rats *ss!


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## 3rd Herd (20 Jul 2007)

I just look into it twenty years after the fact. ;D


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## GAP (20 Jul 2007)

But maybe that's the point. Pairing the UAE troops up with Canadians, allows good oversight while introducing them to combat, Canadian style.


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## 3rd Herd (20 Jul 2007)

GAP said:
			
		

> But maybe that's the point. Pairing the UAE troops up with Canadians, allows good oversight while introducing them to combat, Canadian style.



GAP,
are we not already doing this with some of the African countires. Afterall the Brits have had success with the Ghurkas.


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## GAP (20 Jul 2007)

Idon't know, but I look at this as a win win


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## Danjanou (20 Jul 2007)

I’m with Gap albeit cautiously. 

They want to share the load, great, we can mentor them, and eventually their troops gain the experience and expertise to pas on to their own forces who in turn can shoulder more of the load and perhaps eventually mentor another national contingent 5-10 years down he road.


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## Greymatters (21 Jul 2007)

3rd Herd said:
			
		

> GAP,
> are we not already doing this with some of the African countires. Afterall the Brits have had success with the Ghurkas.



I would never equate African troops with Ghurkas.  Ghurkas are excellent troops, including their own Senior NCOs.


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## Etienne (21 Jul 2007)

If it was true... were would they be position? KAF ? close to KAF? somewere close to the Pakistani border? I think that their "pos" would be done so that it's also a "win" on the politic side..Afghan/Muslim country that is..

CHIMO

Etienne


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## armyvern (21 Jul 2007)

Etienne said:
			
		

> If it was true... were would they be position? KAF ? close to KAF? somewere close to the Pakistani border? I think that their "pos" would be done so that it's also a "win" on the politic side..Afghan/Muslim country that is..
> 
> CHIMO
> 
> Etienne



Afghan locals are also Muslim ... and nationals. The Taliban has no qualms about beheading them after "no trial" for allegedly working with us infidels.

It'll be interesting indeed.


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## 3rd Herd (24 Jul 2007)

GreyMatter said:
			
		

> I would never equate African troops with Ghurkas.  Ghurkas are excellent troops, including their own Senior NCOs.



In the interest of intellectual discourse then what do you equate the East African Campigns of Von Lettow too, "in which the German forces only surrendered after the Armistice in Europe. It bears many resemblances to the guerilla wars - in terms of both terrain and tactics - which have characterized the post-World War II period; von Lettow-Vorbeck's object not being victory but the absorption of as many Allied troops as possible into the East African theatre by a strategy of evasion and ambush, thus preventing these Allied troops from being utilized on the Western Front."(Smuts) This began with "At the outbreak of war his resources were modest in the extreme; 260 Germans regular soldiers and settlers and 2,472 askaris, many newly recruited. Later the army grew in strength to around 10,000; less than a tenth of the forces that were eventually to be ranged against him."(Payne)


Source:

Gen J C Smuts' Foreword to The South Africans with General Smut in German East Africa 1916, by Brig Gen J J Collyer (Pretoria, Govt Printer, 1939).http://rapidttp.com/milhist/vol066ed.html

Payne, David  Dr. "Great War In German East Africa. " The Western Front Association. http://www.westernfrontassociation.com/thegreatwar/articles/research/greatwaringermaneastafrica.htm

Edit to add: Reminder to self, do research before posting articles written by journalists.

United Arab Emirates soldiers support orphanage February 6, 2006
"GOLBAHAR, Afghanistan -- 
United Arab Emirates soldiers delivered a truck full of food, blankets and clothes to an orphanage here Jan. 8..............(pg.6)

United Arab Emirates donates sheep to villages;Afghans benefit from program commemorating prophet's willingness to sacrifice son
KAPISA PROVINCE, Afghanistan -- In celebration of Eid al-Adha soldiers with the United Arab Emirates gave 300 sheep to Afghans in Kapisa Province on Jan. 10..............................(pg.7)

U.S., UAE Soldiers dispose of ordnance
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan --
With the push of a button, more than 2,100 pounds of explosives were destroyed on the range here Jan. 21 by Coalition forces.(pg.14)

http://www.cfc-a.centcom.mil/Freedom%20Watch/2006/02-February/Feb%206.pdf


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## Cloud Cover (24 Jul 2007)

Full marks to the UAE for trying to do the right thing. I hope they fair well.


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