# Military to beef up trucks in Kabul



## Jason Jarvis (4 Nov 2003)

This is from today‘s National Post

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*Military to beef up trucks in Kabul*
"It should have been done before," Alliance defence critic says of decision to put armour on vehicles: 100 retrofit kits ordered

Allan Woods   
National Post  

*Tuesday, November 04, 2003* - The Department of National Defence has issued two urgent contracts to buy 100 vehicle armour kits as protection against enemy fire for troops in Afghanistan.

The contracts come one month after two soldiers were killed by a land mine while on patrol near Camp Julien, the Canadian Forces base in Kabul.

Canada‘s 1,900 troops arrived in Afghanistan in August as part of a multinational force working to stamp out the remnants of al- Qaeda and the Taliban and to bring order to the troubled country.

The kits, which are for 10-tonne supply trucks (known as Heavy Logistics Vehicles Wheeled), will reinforce the windows and doors in the cab of the truck to protect soldiers from small-arms fire or anti-personnel and anti-vehicle mines.

A spokesman for the Department of National Defence, Captain Darren Steele, said the request for the armour kits originated with command officers in Kabul.

While applauding the decision to improve troop protection, critics and defence analysts said it should have been done before the troops arrived in Afghanistan.

The fact it was not shows the government is scrambling to provide for an ill-equipped force, they said.

"I would like to hear the military‘s explanation for this," said Steven Staples, a defence analyst with the Polaris Institute.

The HLVW trucks, which are a cross between a normal truck and a light tank, are considered a "second-line resource" used to supply troops and front-line operations.

Mr. Staples said the move to beef up protection on the trucks may be a reaction to the Oct. 2 deaths of Sergeant Robert Short and Corporal Robbie Beerenfenger, who were killed when their Iltis jeep struck a mine in an area thought to have been already cleared.

Or it could be that the military now feels all its troops -- even those driving in supply trucks -- are open to attack, he said.

Sean Henry, a retired colonel and defence analyst, said the contracts could also indicate a planned expansion in troop activities that would require the trucks to travel farther and more frequently through the Afghan countryside, risking greater exposure to land mines and hostile Afghan fighters.

"The question is whether they are responding to the guys that got blown up by the mine or whether they have intelligence that tells them things are going to get worse," Mr. Henry said.

Jay Hill, the Canadian Alliance defence critic, said the government is only acting to minimize risks for Canadian troops so that it does not face criticism if another incident occurs.

"All of us would support that they do this," he said. "It just should have been done before."

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"The HLVW trucks, which are a cross between a normal truck and a light tank ..."

WTF? I want some of what he‘s smoking.


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## mattoigta (4 Nov 2003)

"The HLVW trucks, which are a cross between a normal truck and a light tank"


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## Marauder (7 Nov 2003)

Don‘t worry troops, the gub‘mint truly cares about the welfare and saftey of the guys at the coalface. <gagging>

I can‘t decide on laughing hysterically, weeping loudly, or just drinking even more whiskey to celebrate crouton getting turfed and Martin getting the mandate to stick the knife in the Forces back. God it‘s great to be a lemming in the Forces today.


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## Danjanou (7 Nov 2003)

Careful Marauder, he ain‘t gone yet.
A comment in todays paper quoted him as saying that British PM William Gladstone came back from retirement at age 86. 

 http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/TorontoSun/News/2003/11/07/249284.html 

Come to think of it both Joe Clarke and Trudeau made comebacks too, (shudder).


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