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Expect casualties, general warns
Canadian troops training for worst in Afghanistan
Soldiers to patrol the dangerous streets of Kabul
SONIA VERMA
STAFF REPORTER
CFB Petawawa—Canadians should brace for casualties when soldiers deploy on a peacekeeping mission to Afghanistan later this summer, a top military commander says.
"Things could get really ugly in a split second," Brig.-Gen. Andrew Leslie predicted near a dusty training field on this base, where troops were running through their final phase of urban warfare training.
"We are training for the worst case and that‘s what these circumstances are," said Leslie, who will head up the Canadian headquarters of the International Security Assistance Force, charged with patrolling the streets of Kabul.
His stark warning was issued as most of these soldiers make their final preparations for a six-month tour that begins in August, dubbed Operation Athena.
Their mission is to keep Kabul safe, so the Afghan Transitional Authority and aid agencies can rebuild the war-torn country.
Working in lockstep with the country‘s new military and police forces, they will try to quell the violence that has simmered in Afghanistan since the U.S. pulled out most of its troops.
A battle group, a brigade group headquarters and support elements make up Canada‘s initial contribution of 1,800 soldiers.
A second rotation, equal in size, will relieve them in February.
The soldiers are under order to be firm, fair and friendly with the local population.
Many have served on peacekeeping missions in Kosovo and Bosnia. But speaking to reporters brought in to observe their training, Leslie says this mission is unlike anything they have ever faced before.
"It‘s not a classic peacekeeping mission where you have two warring factions with Canadians and allies in the middle," he says.
He describes Kabul as "hideously complex," a place where a mix of poverty and lawlessness fuel a rising tide of violence.
Recent attacks on German and Norwegian peacekeepers have brought the threat home. In the latest incident, a suicide bomb that targeted a busload of German peacekeepers on their way to the airport to catch flights home, killed four soldiers.
Asked to rank the danger factor of his upcoming mission, Leslie replies:
"On a scale of one to five, with five being extreme, full-on combat, I would say this is a four."
"But if it was an easy mission, why send us? This is a dangerous, complex mission and arguably that‘s what we do best," he adds.
Behind him, soldiers with Charlie Company of the Royal Canadian Regiment undergo a series of drills designed to make them battle ready.
A cinder block compound mimics the type of urban environment they will patrol with their C-7 rifles cocked.
With narrow hallways, secret doorways and no electricity, the two-storey houses echo with the sound of blank ammunition fire.
Soldiers are asked to carry out various missions under the watchful eye of military instructors. Dressed in combat gear they learn to search a building for weapons, rescue a hostage and respond to sniper fire.
Standing in the vanishing shade on a cigarette break, soldiers of Charlie Company ponder their upcoming mission.
Many signed up for service to escape dead-end jobs, secure a steady paycheque or continue a family tradition.
This tour is the type that marks the high point of most military careers, and generates the kinds of war stories they‘ll tell their children.
Cpl. Sean Niefer says everyone knows the dangers they could face.
"I feel like you do before a big hockey game, a little nervous and a little excited," he says. "When you walk into a house like this, your adrenaline starts pumping and sometimes you get tunnel vision."
While defence critics have charged that the government is sending its troops over unprepared for the dangers they could face, commander Leslie dismisses the concern.
"These troops have been battle-ready for a year," he says. "They‘re good to go."
The importance of restoring peace to Afghanistan outweighs the casualties they might sustain says Leslie, who served in Germany and Cyprus.
"Canada has a high interest in ensuring that Afghanistan does not become a failed state, where terrorists could prepare and launch attacks on Canadians."
Though most of his troops have never been to Afghanistan, they speak plainly about the importance of their mission.
Pte. Michael Freeman left a job in the oil patch in northern Alberta to enlist a day after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
"I think if we deal with the causes of the problem instead of the problem itself we can make a difference," he says.
