The Sandbox and Areas Reports Thread November 2010

[MarkOttawa]

Military trainers likely required beyond Kabul
Afghanistan's 'need for training is national,': NATO deputy commander
Postmedia News, Nov. 14, by Matthew Fisher
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Military+trainers+likely+required+beyond+Kabul/3826120/story.html

It is highly unlikely the military trainers the Canadian government intends to send to Afghanistan next year will all be based in Kabul -- as has been widely suggested in the Canadian media.

"The need for training is national," Canadian Maj.-Gen. Stu Beare, one of two deputy commanders of NATO Training Mission Afghanistan, told Postmedia News on Saturday, as he pointed at a brightly coloured map showing dozens of academies located across Afghanistan.

The mission is responsible for training local security forces.

While NATO would "certainly" tell any nation contributing trainers to Afghanistan where their services were most required "they can choose where to go," Beare said in his first interview since the federal government made a U-turn last week and committed to a new training mission in Afghanistan once the current combat mission in Kandahar ends next summer.

"It doesn't matter where they go. It's the same mission with the same force protection. The training centres are all over the country because that is where the trainees are."

Although Prime Minister Stephen Harper has confirmed that Canada would try to help meet NATO's urgent request for trainers, he has not yet provided details about the size of the force that would do the training...

"The distinction between being a trainer and being a mentor in the field is fundamentally that the training-base mission is to give skills in a training environment that is safe, secure and protected," Beare said.

He said it is a trainer's job to observe and advise the Afghan instructors, who did most of the actual teaching there .

"You can't avoid any risk, but you certainly are not participating in the risks associated with combat operations or partnering with Afghan forces who are doing combat operations."

It is expected that many of the Canadian trainers will end up assisting the Afghan National Police because that is what NATO has identified as "the No. 1 priority," said Beare, who personally oversees all training of police officers...

Among the specialties required, according to NATO publications, were infantry, artillery, intelligence, signals, public affairs, military police, medicine, air crew and aircraft maintainers, as well as logistics, human resources, finance and resource management, such as how to schedule shooting ranges and hundreds of advisers in the interior and defence ministries...

Mark
Ottawa

 

[GAP]

Exclusive: Afghanistan - behind enemy lines
Article Link
James Fergusson returns after three years to Chak, just 40 miles from Kabul, to find the Taliban's grip is far stronger than the West will admit
Sunday, 14 November 2010

The sound of a propeller engine is audible the moment my fixer and I climb out of the car, causing us new arrivals from Kabul to glance sharply upwards. I have never heard a military drone in action before, and it is entirely invisible in the cold night sky, yet there is no doubt what it is. My first visit to the Taliban since 2007 has only just begun and I am already regretting it. What if the drone is the Hellfire-missile-carrying kind?

Three years ago, the Taliban's control over this district, Chak, and the 112,000 Pashtun farmers who live here, was restricted to the hours of darkness – although the local commander, Abdullah, vowed to me that he would soon be in full control. As I am quickly to discover, this was no idle boast. In Chak, the Karzai government has in effect given up and handed over to the Taliban. Abdullah, still in charge, even collects taxes. His men issue receipts using stolen government stationery that is headed "Islamic Republic of Afghanistan"; with commendable parsimony they simply cross out the word "Republic" and insert "Emirate", the emir in question being the Taliban's spiritual leader, Mullah Omar.

The most astonishing thing about this rebel district – and for Nato leaders meeting in Lisbon this week, a deeply troubling one – is that Chak is not in war-torn Helmand or Kandahar but in Wardak province, a scant 40 miles south-west of Kabul. Nato commanders have repeatedly claimed that the Taliban are on the back foot following this year's US troop surge. Mid-level insurgency commanders, they say, have been removed from the battlefield in "industrial" quantities since the 2010 campaign began. And yet Abdullah, operating within Katyusha rocket range of the capital – and with a $500,000 bounty on his head – has managed to evade coalition forces for almost four years. If Chak is in any way typical of developments in other rural districts – and Afghanistan has hundreds of isolated valley communities just like this one – then Nato's military strategy could be in serious difficulty.
More on link

 

[GAP]

Taliban motivated by revenge against Western armies more than Islam: study

By: Murray Brewster, The Canadian Press
Posted: 14/11/2010
Article Link

A new report, partly funded by the Foreign Affairs Department, says western nations have misunderstood the war aims of the Taliban and it cautions any potential peace deal with them could be a threat to human rights.

The study, initiated by the U.S. Institute for Peace with help from Ottawa's Global Peace and Security Fund, comes as the Karzai government made more attempts over the weekend at reconciliation with top insurgents.

The report suggests many insurgent fighters have taken up arms in retaliation for perceived military aggression by NATO — a sentiment echoed Sunday when the Afghan president asked western armies to restrain their operations.

The Taliban cling to that perception despite the billions of dollars the international community is pouring into Afghanistan's reconstruction, the study found.

The research, which examined the motivations of insurgents through face-to-face interviews, sheds a different light on why the war has cascaded to new heights of violence.

Penned by a former foreign policy and defence adviser to the British Parliament, the document suggests some of the West's Afghan policies, including the emancipation of women, have served to inflame conservative elements in Afghan society — anger on which the Taliban has capitalized.

Researcher Matt Waldman, recently a fellow at Harvard University's Kennedy School, conducted over 80 interviews in Kandahar, Kabul and Quetta, Pakistan, last spring and many of his findings turn accepted notions about the insurgency upside down.

He says the longer the fighting has dragged on, the more the Taliban have convinced themselves and ordinary Afghans that they're fighting a war of liberation.
More on link

Military trainers likely required beyond Kabul
  Article Link
Afghanistan's 'need for training is national,': NATO deputy commander

By Matthew Fisher, Postmedia News November 14, 2010



It is highly unlikely the military trainers the Canadian government intends to send to Afghanistan next year will all be based in Kabul -- as has been widely suggested in the Canadian media.

"The need for training is national," Canadian Maj.-Gen. Stu Beare, one of two deputy commanders of NATO Training Mission Afghanistan, told Postmedia News on Saturday, as he pointed at a brightly coloured map showing dozens of academies located across Afghanistan.

The mission is responsible for training local security forces.

While NATO would "certainly" tell any nation contributing trainers to Afghanistan where their services were most required "they can choose where to go," Beare said in his first interview since the federal government made a U-turn last week and committed to a new training mission in Afghanistan once the current combat mission in Kandahar ends next summer.

"It doesn't matter where they go. It's the same mission with the same force protection. The training centres are all over the country because that is where the trainees are."

Although Prime Minister Stephen Harper has confirmed that Canada would try to help meet NATO's urgent request for trainers, he has not yet provided details about the size of the force that would do the training.

Aides have suggested that it could number as many as 1,000, including support staff.
More on link

 

[MarkOttawa]

ARTICLES FOUND NOV. 15

Daily brief: Petraeus reportedly "frustrated" with Karzai's call to end night raids
Foreign Policy, "AfPak Channel", Nov. 15 (links in original)
http://afpak.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/11/15/daily_brief_petraeus_reportedly_frustrated_with_karzais_call_to_end_night_raids

Mixed messages

Afghan President Hamid Karzai gave an interview to the Washington Post over the weekend in which he called for the reduction in military operations in Afghanistan and the end of night raids (Post). Excerpts of the interview are here (Post). NATO officials said Karzai's remarks frustrated Gen. David Petraeus, top commander in Afghanistan, and that NATO had received assurances that Karzai was on board with the coalition's strategy (AP, AFP). Karzai's spokesman said the comments were a sign of a "maturing partnership" (Post).

At the NATO summit in Lisbon at the end of this week, the Obama administration will reportedly present a plan to begin transferring control of certain areas of Afghanistan to Afghan security forces over the next 18 to 24 months, with the aim of keeping U.S. combat forces there until 2014, a date originally set by Karzai (NYT, Post). By the end of 2014, though combat forces could be withdrawn if conditions permit, "tens of thousands" will likely remain in training roles (NYT). Obama administration envoy to the region Amb. Richard Holbrooke said, "From Lisbon on, we will be on a transition strategy with a target date of the end of 2014 for Afghanistan taking over responsibility for leading the security" (Reuters).

Gen. Petraeus is reportedly upping efforts to increase Afghan police forces drawn from local villages in southern Afghanistan, with the help of former mujahideen commanders to aid the recruiting efforts [i.e. local militias] (NYT). NATO commanders hope to raise at least 30,000 local officers in the next six months. The Obama administration is also seeking to halt the flow of ammonium nitrate, the main ingredient in roadside bombs in Afghanistan, into the country, though is facing trouble from Pakistan, "where the police routinely wave tons of ammonium nitrate shipments across the border into Afghanistan despite that country's ban on imports of the chemical" (NYT)...

Taliban war aims misunderstood: study
CP, Nov. 14
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/101114/national/afghan_talking_taliban

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - A new report, partly funded by the Foreign Affairs Department, says western nations have misunderstood the war aims of the Taliban and it cautions any potential peace deal with them could be a threat to human rights.

The study, initiated by the U.S. Institute for Peace with help from Ottawa's Global Peace and Security Fund, comes as the Karzai government made more attempts over the weekend at reconciliation with top insurgents.

The report suggests many insurgent fighters have taken up arms in retaliation for perceived military aggression by NATO — a sentiment echoed Sunday when the Afghan president asked western armies to restrain their operations.

The Taliban cling to that perception despite the billions of dollars the international community is pouring into Afghanistan's reconstruction, the study found.

The research, which examined the motivations of insurgents through face-to-face interviews, sheds a different light on why the war has cascaded to new heights of violence.

Penned by a former foreign policy and defence adviser to the British Parliament, the document suggests some of the West's Afghan policies, including the emancipation of women, have served to inflame conservative elements in Afghan society — anger on which the Taliban has capitalized.

Researcher Matt Waldman, recently a fellow at Harvard University's Kennedy School, conducted over 80 interviews in Kandahar, Kabul and Quetta, Pakistan, last spring and many of his findings turn accepted notions about the insurgency upside down.

He says the longer the fighting has dragged on, the more the Taliban have convinced themselves and ordinary Afghans that they're fighting a war of liberation.

He says it's one of the reasons the insurgency has grown in strength...

Mark
Ottawa

 

[GAP]

Articles found November 15, 2010

Teaching Afghans more important than combat: army trainer
  Article Link
By Matthew Fisher, Postmedia News November 14, 2010

Col. Paul Scagnetti’s small unit at the Afghan Army Command and Staff College has already been doing for 18 months what the Harper government is about to order hundreds of soldiers to do after Canadian combat operations cease in Kandahar next summer: train Afghans to bring security to their country.

"If Canadians want bang for their dollars, this is it," he said.

"Every soldier wants to be on a combat mission, but if they have to do something else, training is actually more important," said Scagnetti, who was a high school teacher in Timmins, Ont., for 31 years and who has been an army reservist for almost as long.

"In the long-term, this (training) is an enabler for peace, because you end up with an Afghan teaching an Afghan, who brings security to other Afghans. And there is now a generation of Canadians with combat experience with lessons to pass on."

Canada has more than 40 soldiers working as trainers with the Afghan army and police in Kandahar. Another six, including Scagnetti, are responsible for a course for junior army officers in Kabul.
More on link

Protecting Afghan women a possible post-combat role for Canada
Article Link
Tobi Cohen, Postmedia News · Saturday, Nov. 13, 2010

Championing the emancipation of Afghan women is emerging as a possible non-military, post-combat role for Canada as politicians and activists debate the future of the costly mission in Afghanistan.

While the focus has shifted in recent days toward an 11th-hour decision to keep as many as 1,000 troops in Afghanistan until 2014 to train Afghan security forces, there’s been a fractured attempt over the past few weeks and months to explore the issue of women’s rights — which some argue has captivated the Canadian public and kept dwindling support for the mission alive.

Ottawa has yet to unveil its full strategy for Afghanistan once combat troops pull out of restive Kandahar in July 2011 but, on Monday, the Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights will begin hearing from experts on what role Canada might play in supporting the promotion and protection of women’s rights in the war-torn country.

The hearings come weeks after CARE Canada released a report that calls on the government to make the plight of Afghan women its top priority. It also follows on the heels of a much-anticipated and long-delayed Foreign Affairs action plan released weeks ago on a series of United Nations resolutions aimed at addressing women’s issues in all conflict zones.
More on link

On Afghanistan, we’re getting propaganda
NORMAN SPECTOR Globe and Mail Update Monday, Nov. 15, 2010
Article Link

Last December, when President Barack Obama unveiled his plan to send additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan, he made no mention of 2014 as the end-date for the mission. Instead, to mollify an anti-war base that presumably did not believe his campaign rhetoric about Afghanistan being the “good war,” July 2011 was the President’s target date for at least the beginning of the end: “After 18 months, our troops will begin to come home,” he stated boldly at West Point.

That date must have been music to the ears of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who – referring to the parliamentary resolution – rode a similar end-date through the 2008 election campaign. A month after Mr. Obama spoke at West Point, Mr. Harper stated in an interview that all Canadian troops would be out of Afghanistan by the end of 2011, with the exception of the odd guard at the embassy.

Mr. Harper’s problem began in July, when General David Petraeus agreed to save the President’s face by assuming command in Afghanistan and, in the process, exacted his pound of flesh. Shortly thereafter, the end date of 2014 for the mission entered the scene at a UN-sponsored security conference. By early Fall, it began to show up in statements from NATO. Now, it’s the only date you hear coming from Washington – accompanied by considerable propaganda about how the situation on the ground is improving.
More on link

Battle lines drawn in Ottawa over Afghan mission
Article Link

Joanna Smith Ottawa Bureau

OTTAWA—A decision to keep Canadian troops in Afghanistan for another three years is expected to dominate federal politics this week, but all that talking is unlikely to reveal many details yet.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper confirmed last week he wants some Canadian troops to remain in Afghanistan until 2014 in a non-combat role that would involve training the local military.

The New Democrats and the Bloc Québécois are against extending the Canadian military presence past what was once a firm deadline of July 2011, but the Liberals are onside with the idea so long as more details are provided.

“I think the key problem so far is that we just don’t have a full description of what the mission actually is and answers to some questions about what other countries are involved,” Liberal MP and foreign affairs critic Bob Rae said in an interview Sunday. He later added that his party will also want to know what the government plans to do in terms of development and democracy in the country. “There are a number of questions we want to ask and work our way through.”

But despite reports that Canada will provide as many as 1,000 trainers — including support staff — to meet NATO demands, official details are unlikely to be revealed in Ottawa this week.

That’s because any plans will be finalized first at a NATO meeting in Lisbon this week before being announced back home.
More on link

 

[MarkOttawa]

Afghanistan: Transition Strategy - 2014
Conference of Defence Associations' media round-up, Nov. 15:
http://www.cdaforumcad.ca/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1289845558/0#0

Mark
Ottawa

 

[GAP]

Articles found November 16, 2010

Canadian Helicopters foresees strong revenues from Afghanistan contracts
Article Link
By: Ross Marowits, The Canadian Press  15/11/2010

MONTREAL - Canadian Helicopters Income Fund expects the ramp up of U.S. military contracts in Afghanistan will strengthen its revenues in the coming quarters and offset normal seasonal domestic weakness.

"The likelihood we are projecting of greater revenues than previous years over the next two quarters in spite of normal domestic seasonal fluctuations is grounded in very solid expectations," CEO Don Wall said Monday during a conference call.

The Montreal-based transportation fund's optimism flows from its third contract with the United States Transportation Command and the renewal of two earlier deals.

The Oct. 1 contract would generate more than US$360 million if all options are exercised and hours flown by June 2016 and be the largest since the company's initial public offering in 2005.

It will use two heavy-lift Sikorsky S61 and four Bell 212 medium helicopters for the contract. Five of the aircraft will be acquired.

The contracts to carry goods and passengers to forward military operating locations in war-torn Afghanistan should ramp up in the first quarter of fiscal 2011 and more than offset two large unrenewed contracts.

Ontario air ambulance service Ornge recently decided against exercising its option to extend a services agreement beyond the end date in 2012.

The United States Transportation Command also didn't renew a North Warning System operation and maintenance contract.
More on link

Church group helps kids in Afghanistan
Published Tuesday November 16th, 2010
Article Link

GAGETOWN - A village of Gagetown church group is helping to educate children in Afghanistan.

Neighbours For Peace, a Grace United Church fundraising committee, has raised $4,300 that it will donate to the Canadian Rotary Centennial Afghanistan Challenge.

It's a joint initiative between Rotary and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

The two organizations are working together to construct a school in Afghanistan that will educate 4,000 children a day in three shifts.

"It's our way of supporting our troops here," said Clair Ripley, co-chairman of the committee. "It's also a way for us to provide education for both girls and boys and to give Canadian troops some recognition for their community service."

CIDA is matching money raised by Rotarians across Canada to a maximum of $518,000. The Gagetown and Area Rotary is kicking in an extra $700 to the local Neighbours For Peace contribution, for a total of $5,000.

CIDA's matching formula will expand that donation to $10,000.

This time around, Neighbours For Peace received financial support from a variety of sources, including a joint fundraiser with the Old Boot Pub featuring harpist Jane Ogilvie.

Personal donations, Sunday givings and a contribution from the United Church Women in Oromocto rounded out the offerings.

Ripley said the other churches in the Gagetown-Grand Lake presbytery - in Young's Cove and Cambridge-Narrows - were also supporters.
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The detainees file appears lost in the fog of committee
LAWRENCE MARTIN Globe and Mail  Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2010
Article Link

Remember the Afghan detainees’ controversy? You might not because the Liberals, who had the government cornered on this explosive file, have let it fade from public view.

The dispute over the question of whether the government knowingly allowed war captives to be tortured by Afghan authorities is an issue that has visited more embarrassments on the Conservatives than perhaps any other.

The detainees’ imbroglio figured prominently in the resignation of defence minister Gordon O’Connor. It prompted revelations by diplomat Richard Colvin that tore holes in the government’s credibility. It prompted a mea culpa by Chief of the Defence Staff Walter Natynczyk. It was a factor behind Stephen Harper’s much-regretted decision to prorogue Parliament, a move that sparked a national protest. It led to an extraordinary ruling from House Speaker Peter Milliken condemning the government for breach of parliamentary privilege in its refusal to release uncensored documents.

The issue is still potentially lethal. The documents, if released, could show that the Prime Minister’s Office orchestrated a major cover-up. They could show that the Conservatives were in breach of the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners.
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[GAP]

Articles found November 17, 2010

Canada to pull civilian staff from Kandahar, base trainers in Kabul
CAMPBELL CLARK OTTAWA— From Wednesday's Globe and Mail Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2010
Article Link

Canada is slashing aid to Afghanistan and abandoning any presence in Kandahar by withdrawing not only troops but civilian aid officials next year.

Despite the approval of a new training mission, the moves mark a turning point where Canada is significantly disengaging from Afghanistan: dramatically reducing the outlay of cash, reducing the risk to troops, and quitting the war-scarred southern province where Canada has led military and civilian efforts.

There will be a deep cut to aid for Afghanistan. International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda said Canada will provide $100-million a year in development assistance for Afghanistan over the next three years, less than half the $205-million the government reported spending last year.

And the focus will be shifted away from Kandahar. The Harper government’s decision to mount a 950-strong training mission in Afghanistan when it cuts off the combat role next July was accompanied Tuesday by confirmation of a complete pullout from Kandahar. The training mission will be mostly in Kabul, and possibly other Afghan centres, but not in Kandahar – and civilian officials who manage development projects from a Provincial Reconstruction Team will also leave.

“The [civilian] people who are in Kandahar will be either reassigned to Kabul, as needed, or will be returning to Canada,” Ms. Oda said.
More on link

Afghan ambassador returns home to help
  Article Link
By Jennifer Campbell, The Ottawa Citizen November 17, 2010 4:08 AM

Afghan Ambassador Hamid Karzai is so pleased with Canada's decision to extend its military mission in a non-combat role that he's recalled his ambassador.

Clearly it's not the traditional recall, which is done to express displeasure at a foreign government's position. Rather, Ambassador Jawed Ludin is being called home to Kabul so his skills can be put to use there.

"They're very happy," Ludin said. "The president called me and was very happy with Canada's decision. He thought I had a role in this -- which is quite optimistic. I don't think anyone had a role in it except for the prime minister himself, who should take credit.

"It was a very important issue for me and I tried to give a perspective of an Afghan but I was always very realistic about how much influence this would have because there are many factors the prime minister would take into account."

Ludin said Karzai hasn't told him what he'll be doing in Kabul but he said his recall is definitely a promotion, though he regrets having to leave Canada, which he'll do by the end of 2010.

On Canada's decision, Ludin said he's as pleased as his president. "It's a good decision and we're very grateful. We did wait for a long time and we were anxious about it but it was well worth the wait. The prime minister quite rightly took the time.
More on link

Kabul Is Offered Wider Role in U.S. Missions
Article Link

By ADAM ENTOUS And JULIAN E. BARNES

WASHINGTON—The White House sought to ease tensions with Hamid Karzai on Tuesday, promising to gradually give Afghans greater control over Special Operations missions that the Afghan president has sharply criticized.

Washington hopes to smooth over differences with Mr. Karzai and present a united front at a NATO conference this weekend in Lisbon, where coalition leaders are expected to endorse a plan that sets the goal of handing over security control to the Afghans by the end of 2014.

In recent months, Special Operations raids have assumed a higher profile, with U.S. and North Atlantic Treaty Organization military officials in Afghanistan touting the number of insurgent leaders who have been killed or captured, and saying the missions are a critical part of the war strategy. But the raids, mostly at night, have long been a sore point with Mr. Karzai because of concerns about civilian casualties.

The Afghan leader, in an interview with the Washington Post this past weekend, called for an end to raids by Special Operations forces, spotlighting tensions between the U.S. and Afghanistan on how to conduct the war.

U.S. officials have rejected calls to halt the raids. But in a news briefing Tuesday, administration officials sought to play down the rift with the Afghan government as temporary.

"As Afghan special forces capacity increases, we'd expect to transition from what is today a predominantly international special operations forces role to one that's increasingly Afghan," White House Afghanistan adviser Douglas Lute told reporters.
More on link

 

[MarkOttawa]

Afghanistan: Before fighting season ends, one last push
GlobalPost, Nov. 9
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/afghanistan/101108/afghanistan-war-photos-horn-panjwaii?page=0,0

TALUKAN, Afghanistan — After days of waiting for the big mission in the Horn of Panjwaii to begin, a room full of infantrymen watched two Chinook helicopters packed with Special Forces touch down in the tilled fields outside the village of Talukan.

On a black and white monitor in the headquarters at Forward Operating Base Ramrod, the huge birds kick up clouds of dust as tiny figures race through it and are lost in the flickering image. A huge AC-130 gunship darts across the frame, then back. Little flashes of gunfire light up the night.

The Horn of Panjwaii is a narrow spit of fertile land between two rivers that separate the Taliban hotbed of Zhari from the virtually uninhabitable Registan Desert to the south. The Horn has not seen coalition or Afghan troops since 2007, and is considered an important command and resupply area for Taliban operating in Kandahar province.

In late October, U.S., Canadian and Afghan troops began pushing into the Horn from the east and west, while simultaneously clearing Zhari from north to south and setting up blocking positions in Registan to catch fighters fleeing into the red desert.

[See this:
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Canadians+work+corral+Taliban+major+operation+begins/3686216/story.html ]

Talukan is the largest village in the Horn, although fewer than 1,000 residents live here. It lies in the geographic center of the clearing operations. The mission to take Talukan was the last big push against the Taliban during this fall’s all-important offensive in Kandahar province, the traditional stronghold of the Taliban...

France says Afghanistan is a trap
Reuters, Nov. 17
http://www.torontosun.com/news/world/2010/11/17/16179641.html

PARIS - The war in Afghanistan is a trap for all parties involved and France will discuss how to draw down its troop presence at a NATO summit this week, the newly-appointed defence minister said on Wednesday.

"Afghanistan is, I would say, a trap for all the parties involved there," said Alain Juppe, a former prime minister who was appointed defence minister on Sunday in a reshuffle of conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy's cabinet.

Juppe's remark added weight to expectations that France will start bringing home troops based in Afghanistan next year and withdraw from the country entirely ahead of a 2012 presidential election.

France has about 3,500 troops in Afghanistan, although the U.S.-led war has been largely unpopular at home. At least 50 French soldiers in Afghanistan have been killed since 2001.

Former defence minister Herve Morin had said France would try to hand over responsibility in one of the two zones it controls there to Afghan forces next year.

Juppe told Europe 1 radio France was trying to hand over fighting duties "bit by bit" and would study how the zones under French control could be transferred to Afghan forces at a NATO summit in Lisbon on Friday and Saturday...

Mark
Ottawa

 

[GAP]

Non-combat role? Canada doesn’t operate ‘inside the wire’: Worthington
By Peter Worthington November 16, 2010 9:01pm
Article Link

Believe what you want, but assurances from the PM and defence minister that Canadian soldiers who remain in Afghanistan after the 2011 withdrawal deadline will be “inside the wire,” is a lot of hooey.

The formal “combat” role may end, but Canadian soldiers do not function “inside the wire.” Never have, unlikely ever will.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s and Defence Minister Peter MacKay’s assurances make no sense — and this is not meant as criticism of them, but as recognition of reality.

If, as is widely touted, 750 to 1,000 Canadian soldiers are to remain in Afghanistan after the bulk of the 3,000-member battle group has departed, they will be responsible for training the Afghan National Army (ANA) and providing security for aid workers and reconstruction teams that will become Canada’s main priority.

Fair enough.

But “training” Afghans to be soldiers is not an “inside the wire” job. Afghans need neither training nor encouragement to fight, but they do need discipline if they are to be an effective army that can impose security and something resembling “peace.”

The more detailed the training, the more involved Canadian soldiers will likely be.

Our guys will almost inevitably be in the field mentoring the ANA — on patrols, providing security, doing what soldiers do to maintain or impose stability. In Afghanistan, as elsewhere, that means being outside the wire. And “outside the wire” means fighting when necessary to pacify those who would subvert the status quo.

“Reconstruction,” which is building schools, dams, restoring normal life, takes place “outside the wire.”

Canadians involved in aid work are justified in feeling more secure if Canadian soldiers are responsible for their security.

That’s as it should be, and will be.

Maybe the Harper government feels it has to sugar the pill to condition the public on what ending our combat role in Afghanistan really means. But not too much sugaring. Canadians prefer straight talk, which doesn’t come easily to politicians.

Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff and his understudy, Bob Rae, have already voiced approval of a continuing military role in Afghanistan. Putting Canada’s interests ahead of political expediency is a credit to them both.

Having visited our troops in Afghanistan, both Ignatieff and Rae have a better understanding of the situation than, say, the NDP’s Jack Layton whose forte is posturing and pronouncing.

That the Americans are virtually pleading with Canada to remain in Afghanistan in some capacity is testimony to our effectiveness. U.S. Senator Lindsay Graham lavishly praising the professionalism of Canadian soldiers is not just massaging Canadian egos.

Rather, it is heartfelt recognition of our worth and is reflected in the U.S. military’s realization (somewhat to their own surprise) that “outside the wire” our guys know what they are doing and at every occasion have thumped the Taliban enemy.

For a peace-loving people, Canadians make excellent soldiers — as witnessed in all our wars which have been fought mainly by citizen soldiers who, once the job is done, return to their peaceful lives.

An oddity of the world today is the most effective soldiers tend to be those from English-speaking countries. That doesn’t mean others aren’t good, but that English-speaking countries produce soldiers who usually win — or are damned hard to defeat.

That can work to advantage in peace as well as war — as Afghanistan may yet prove.
end

 

[MarkOttawa]

Our trainers won't be 'Omleteers'
Ottawa Citizen, Nov. 17, letter from Lew MacKenzie:
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/SOMNIA/3840182/story.html

Re: You can't train troops from 'behind the wire,' Nov. 15.
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/train+troops+from+behind+wire/3828207/story.html

I frequently agree with Senator Colin Kenny in spite of our ideological differences, but not this time. He needlessly and unfortunately raises unwarranted concerns regarding the proposed role for our soldiers post-2011.

Let's be clear that "behind the wire" is an euphemism for a benign environment absent a significant enemy threat and definitely not involving combat. Our Canadian soldiers "outside the wire" have done a pretty darn good job in Afghanistan and every one of them, without exception, received their basic training including those leaders further up the food chain "inside the wire" in Canada.

To suggest that our trainers would have to seek out combat for their trainees is absurd. That phase of an Afghan soldier's development comes after he graduates from training in a secure environment.

Based on information to date, there is no intention or suggestion that our trainers will be taking on the role of "Omleteers," the name our soldiers have given themselves when operating as a member of a four- or five-member strong Operational Mentor and Liaison Team (OMLT, which is pronounced omelette) that regularly accompanies Afghan Army units into combat as advisers.

To dwell on the speculation that, in 2005, Afghan soldiers being trained by Canadian soldiers based in Kabul "weren't prepared to listen to our guys who wanted to talk the talk without walking the walk" conveniently ignores the fact that the majority of our trainers we deploy post- 2011 will be proven battle-hardened soldiers, the envy of most, including their students. Trust me, the Afghans will listen.

Since the second "leak" regarding the training role, a number of misinformed military "experts" (not Senator Kenny) have predicted that our 750 trainers would find themselves assigned to a combat role during their deployment. If it wasn't outright fear-mongering, it would be funny.

Our trainers will be non-commissioned officers, warrant-officers and officers. You can't create a fighting unit without the vast majority of its members coming from the ranks of junior corporals and privates. No one would want to, or could, command a unit comprised of only leaders.

Kenny wants us to stay "for real" in Afghanistan if stay we must. Anyone familiar with building an army knows the most important step in the process is basic training for soldiers, leadership training for the various levels of command and collective (team) training before you venture "outside the wire." Just because it's not dangerous in no way reduces its importance.

Mark
Ottawa

 

[MarkOttawa]

New Canadian Commitment to Afghanistan
Conference of Defence Associations' media round-up, Nov. 17
http://www.cdaforumcad.ca/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1290016090/0#0

Mark
Ottawa

 

[MarkOttawa]

ARTICLES FOUND NOV. 18

Moscow Expands NATO's Routes
Russia to Allow More Supplies to Flow to Afghanistan Amid Efforts on Both Sides to Improve Ties
WS Journal, Nov. 18
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703688704575620882049694928.html

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will sign an agreement with the leaders of the NATO alliance on Saturday aimed at expanding the use of supply routes through Russia into Afghanistan, as part of an effort to improve ties between the former antagonists...

The transit agreement with Russia will expand the goods that can be sent on rail routes through Russia to include armored cars, such as U.S. MRAPs, according to NATO officials. Some 4,000 containers have passed through Russia to Afghanistan since 2008, according to NATO and Russian officials, and the number of shipments has accelerated since June.

Supplying Afghanistan from the north is 90% cheaper than airlifting in supplies, and less hazardous than transporting them by truck through Pakistan.

Mr. Rasmussen said Russia also is expected to permit goods to be shipped out of Afghanistan through its territory.

At the moment, railroad cars return empty from the border with Afghanistan, so that change could be a big help as the alliance reduces its combat role in the country.

Mr. Rasmussen said that only nonlethal materials would be allowed to go through Russia...

Russia completes small arms deliveries to Afghanistan
RIA Novosti, Nov. 12
http://www.en.rian.ru/russia/20101112/161303989.html

Russia has completed deliveries of small arms and ammunition to Afghanistan under a military assistance program.

The last of nine Il-76 cargo planes landed on Friday in Kabul carrying weaponry and ammunition for the Afghan police forces to assist the legitimate government in the fight against crime, drug-trafficking and Taliban militants.

Russia has delivered a total of 20,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles and over 2.5 million rounds for these rifles. The weaponry will be distributed among police units in and around the capital, Kabul...

Other Russian contributions to the fight against the Taliban in Afghanistan include the supply of Mi-17 helicopters and crews to train Afghan pilots [emphasis added], possible Russian assistance in training Afghan national security forces, increased cooperation on counter-narcotics and border security, and improved transit and supply routes for NATO forces.

Mark
Ottawa

 

[MarkOttawa]

ARTICLES FOUND NOV. 19

U.S. sending tanks to hit harder at Taliban
Washington Post, Nov. 19
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/18/AR2010111806393.html

The U.S. military is sending a contingent of heavily armored battle tanks to Afghanistan for the first time in the nine-year war, defense officials said, a shift that signals a further escalation in the aggressive tactics that have been employed by American forces this fall to attack the Taliban.

The deployment of a company of M1 Abrams tanks, which will be fielded by the Marines in the country's southwest, will allow ground forces to target insurgents from a greater distance - and with more of a lethal punch - than is possible from any other U.S. military vehicle. The 68-ton tanks are propelled by a jet engine and equipped with a 120mm gun that can destroy a house more than a mile away.

Despite an overall counterinsurgency strategy that emphasizes the use of troops to protect Afghan civilians from insurgents, statistics released by the NATO military command in Kabul and interviews with several senior commanders indicate that U.S. troop operations over the past two months have been more intense and have had a harder edge than at any point since the initial 2001 drive to oust the Taliban government...

A U.S. officer familiar with the decision said the tanks will be used initially in parts of northern Helmand province, where the Marines have been engaged in intense combat against resilient Taliban cells that typically are armed with assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and homemade bombs. The initial deployment calls for about 16 tanks, but the overall number and area of operations could expand depending on needs, the officer said.

"The tanks bring awe, shock and firepower," the officer said. "It's pretty significant."

Although the officer acknowledged that the use of tanks this many years into the war could be seen as a sign of desperation by some Afghans and Americans, he said they will provide the Marines with an important new tool in missions to flush out pockets of insurgent fighters. A tank round is far more accurate than firing artillery, and it can be launched much faster than having to wait for a fighter jet or a helicopter to shoot a missile or drop a satellite-guided bomb...

The Marines had wanted to take tanks into Afghanistan when they began deploying in large numbers in spring 2009, but the top coalition commander then, Army Gen. David D. McKiernan, rejected the request, in part because of concern it could remind Afghans of the tank-heavy Soviet occupation in the 1980s. As it became clear that other units were getting the green light to engage in more heavy-handed measures, the Marines asked again, noting that Canadian and Danish troops had used a small number of tanks in southern Afghanistan [emphasis added]. This time, the decision rested with Petraeus, in charge since July. He approved it last month, the officials said...

 

Mark
Ottawa

 

[GAP]

Articles found November 23, 2010

Enduring' ground being gained in Afghanistan: Canadian commander
By Matthew Fisher, Postmedia News November 22, 2010
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Military successes in southern Afghanistan are "not just fleeting," but have set the stage for more dramatic gains in the near future, says the Canadian commander of a 200-strong group of army trainers.

"Some people say it is only because the Taliban have gone back to Pakistan because it is the winter," said Col. Ian Creighton, in charge of the operational mentor liaison team (OMLT) that has gone to war alongside the Afghan army as advisers. "And, you know, it is the truth. Some have. But others have died or given up.

"A lot of Taliban fled because a lot of key players were being killed," added Creighton, whose Afghan travels include Kandahar City, Arghandab, Zhari, Panjwaii and Dand.

What is crucially different than previous autumns when the Taliban also went to ground is that previously, there had never been enough NATO and Afghan forces to ensure "a proper, enduring hold," of territory that had been gained during the summer fighting season, he said.

Now, because of a U.S. troops surge and far greater numbers of soldiers and police being produced by Afghan training academies, this is possible.
More on link

U.S. Senator thanks Canada for staying in Afghanistan
By BRYN WEESE, Parliamentary Bureau  November 22, 2010
Article Link

OTTAWA — Canada's decision to stay in Afghanistan past 2011 won't go unnoticed in either the United States or around the world, according to U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman.

The longtime American political veteran offered his heartfelt thanks to Canada Monday for the Canadian government's recent decision to keep about 1,000 Canadian Forces personnel in Afghanistan until 2014 to help train the Afghan army.

Lieberman, a Democrat Connecticut senator since 1988, praised Prime Minister Stephen Harper's decision as a principled one, "not made as the result of a public opinion poll.

"I understand how politically difficult it is to sustain support for this fight in Afghanistan. I also understand how people naturally become weary of war, but I want to emphasize to you how important Canada's contribution has been, and how grateful the people of the United States are that you will continue to be there with us in a training role," Lieberman said. "It matters to us. It matters to the people of Afghanistan."

Lieberman was speaking in Ottawa at the annual forum of Kollel of Ottawa, a Jewish education centre.

He acknowledged Canadian casualties have been "disproportionate.

"(But) their determined efforts have been absolutely essential to keeping us safe back here at home ... as well as to protect the human rights of millions of innocent people who are threatened by the most mid-evil kind of Islamist barbarism," he told the crowd of several hundred at the Government Conference Centre. "As one American senator speaking, I think on behalf of a bipartisan majority of members of Congress and certainly the president of the United States, I thank you for your principled commitment to a future Afghanistan that reflects the rule of law and gives its people a chance to live as we do in a democratic country."

The senator, the first Jewish candidate ever on a serious presidential ticket (Al Gore's in 2000), also warned the crowd about Iran's nuclear program and how it must be stopped at all costs, even militarily if necessary, and also praised Harper for his unwavering support of Israel.
More on link

Taliban impostor 'dupes Afghans and vanishes with cash'
Article Link
23 November 2010 Last updated at 08:26 ET

An impostor posing as a leading Taliban negotiator held secret talks with Afghan officials, report US media.

The Afghans thought they were dealing with Mullah Akhtar Mohammed Mansour, a top Taliban commander.

But he may not even have been a member of the Taliban, reports the New York Times, which broke the story.

He was paid "a lot of money", then he disappeared, say diplomatic sources. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has denied reports he met the impersonator.

The man is said to have travelled from Pakistan, where it is thought the Taliban's leadership is based, and reportedly had three meetings with government officials.

The fake Taliban leader was flown to Kabul on a Nato aircraft and taken to the presidential palace to meet Mr Karzai, unnamed Nato and Afghan officials told the New York Times.

It is not clear why Afghan officials would have had any difficulty identifying the real Mr Mansour as his face should have been well known to them, BBC correspondents say. He was civil aviation minister during Taliban rule.
Shopkeeper?

Doubts about the man's identity arose after someone who knew Mr Mansour told Afghan officials he did not recognise the impersonator.

"It's not him," an unidentified Western diplomat in Kabul, said to be deeply involved in the negotiations, was quoted by the newspaper as saying. "And we gave him a lot of money."
More on link

 

[MarkOttawa]

ARTICLES FOUND NOV. 24

Progress in Afghan war called 'uneven'
Washington Post, Nov. 24
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/23/AR2010112307000.html

Pentagon Reports Afghan Setbacks
Wall St. Journal, Nov. 23
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703730304575632942345740212.html

Pentagon Report Cites Gains in Afghanistan
NY Times, Nov. 23
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/24/world/asia/24military.html?ref=todayspaper

Pentagon offers grim status report on Afghanistan
LA Times, Nov. 23
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-afghan-report-20101124,0,5646558.story

Mark
Ottawa

 

[GAP]

Articles found November 24, 2010

Van Doos take over outposts; begin patrols as last Kandahar battle group
Article Link
By: The Canadian Press  24/11/2010

BAZAAR-E-PANJWAII, Afghanistan - Soldiers from the battle group that will close out Canada's combat mission in Afghanistan started to take over desert outposts and patrol the winter-scorched fields west of Kandahar this week.

Members of the famed Royal 22e Regiment also took part in their first operation, a push with fellow Canadians and Afghan forces through a troublesome farming region where a team of Taliban bombers was on the loose.

The official handover between the 1st Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment battle group and the incoming Van Doos has yet to take place.

Soldiers from the incoming unit, based in Valcartier, Que., partnered with some of their predecessors as they helped Afghan forces hunt a bomb-making cell in central Panjwaii district.

At least two soldiers were wounded by either a roadside bomb or other booby traps over the last two days — something the Canadian military does not acknowledge because information on injuries is considered an operational secret.

The Van Doos will see the country's mission through to its end in July next year.
end

Training female Afghan police officers rewarding, but challenging for Canadian
  Article Link
By Matthew Fisher, Postmedia News November 23, 2010

KANDAHAR CITY, Afghanistan — Cpl. Karen Holowaychuk found out the hard way about the dangers of being a female cop in Afghanistan.

One of the Mountie's former students, Shoa Gul Bari, was murdered three months ago. Two insurgents shot her to death at the home she shared with her husband and their six daughters and one son.

That Gul Bari was the target was obvious from the fact that nobody else was hurt in the attack and from numerous threats the Taliban had made against women who dared to become police officers.

The six students that Holowaychuk recently had in another all-female class often brought up the murder of their colleague, who had been a member of the Afghan National Police for five years.

"What made them angry was the waste of it," said the corporal, who returns to the RCMP training depot in Regina in December after nine months instructing male and female members of the Afghan National Police.

"I feel quite helpless," she said. "I don't know who did it and whether they will held responsible."
More on link

DiManno: The slide from Kandahar to Kabul
Article Link

There are two occupying armies in Kabul: NGOs and ISAF.

The non-governmental agencies are in their element, many underscrutinized in their aid and development budgets, as literally billions of donation dollars flow through the capital.

Little of that largesse has substantially improved civilian life. But the humanitarian hyenas drive around in chauffeured SUVs, usually reside in highly secured compounds with extensive domestic staff, and enjoy a lively social whirl in restricted clubs where Afghans are rarely found — beyond serving alcoholic drinks they're not permitted to imbibe.

Planet ISAF is equally insulated behind high UN and NATO walls, though officials in tandem with Afghan ministry representatives conduct weekly media briefings where not much of significance is ever discussed. The Kabul bureau for journalists is a surprisingly soft gig as most reporters rely ever more on stringers to bring back the goods, take all the risks.

Though International Security Assistance Force convoys venture out daily, the city's security responsibility has for the past year been Afghan-led. Unlike their ISAF counterparts, barely visible from within their heavily armoured vehicles, Afghan security forces — national army and police — are dangerously exposed in mini pickup trucks.

If the Afghan National Police, in particular, is loathed by the citizenry as hooligans and extortionists, a considerable number in cahoots with insurgency elements, one can almost understand their treason and criminality: Pay is negligible, dangers omnipresent, command-and-control corrupt. For many Afghans who enter the police training program, the true objective is a year or two of shakedown opportunity, after which they can return to their villages with a useful nest egg.
More on link

 

[MarkOttawa]

ARTICLES FOUND NOV. 26

Canadian colonel says Taliban defeated on battlefield
AP, Nov. 26
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Canada/20101126/taliban-afghanistan-canadian-101126/

The outgoing commander of Canada’s mentoring team in Kandahar says the Taliban were routed this fall and won’t present a significant threat in the future.

Col. Ian Creighton says the lull in violence that’s trickled across southern Afghanistan over the past few weeks has nothing to do with onset of colder weather, as in previous years.

He says the Taliban were defeated on the battlefield.

The blatantly upbeat assessment is at odds with American officers at NATO’s southern Afghan command, who last week said it will be the spring before they can be sure the recent offensive through the Taliban heartland was successful.

Creighton, whose soldiers teach and fight alongside Afghans, says militants that managed to flee will find NATO and Afghan forces holding their ground and will run into a “brick wall” if they try to return…

Mark
Ottawa

 

[GAP]

Articles found November 26, 2010

Pakistan suicide attack 'foiled'
Article Link
26 November 2010 Last updated at 06:07 ET

Police in Pakistan have prevented two would-be suicide bombers from attacking a mosque in the capital Islamabad, officials say.

One of the two men was wearing an explosives vest and was on his way to bomb a mosque during Friday prayers, a police official said.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the place of worship was in the upmarket F8-1 residential neighbourhood.

The district is home to many wealthy Pakistanis and Westerners.

Authorities learned of a possible attack late on Thursday and stepped up security, Mr Malik said.

"We took all the required measure without creating a panic," he added.

Police official Bin Yamin told AP news agency the suspects were connected to the Pakistani Taliban in South Waziristan.
More on link

Karzai aide blames British for Taliban impostor
Article Link
26 November 2010 Last updated at 20:45

President Hamid Karzai's chief of staff has said British authorities brought a fake Taliban commander into sensitive meetings with the Afghan government.

The British embassy refused to confirm or deny the remarks, made in an interview with the Washington Post.

A man described as Mullah Mansour, a senior Taliban commander, was flown to Kabul for a meeting with President Karzai.

Now it is claimed he was really a Pakistani shopkeeper.

British government sources say the man was introduced to British agents by the Afghan security service and that the UK was merely helping to facilitate Afghan-to-Afghan negotiations.

Reports say he vanished after being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars.

UK officials told the BBC's security correspondent Frank Gardner that no British taxpayers' money was used to fund the bogus negotiator.

They say the money paid to him was Afghan government money and was a fraction of the amount mentioned in some press reports.
More on link

'It's in the blood': Canadian military family reunites in Afghanistan
  Article Link
By Matthew Fisher, Postmedia News November 25, 2010

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan — Cpl. James McKenzie got the surprise of his life and his best birthday present this week.

James' father, Warrant Officer Alistair McKenzie, flew out to a forward operating base to congratulate him on the safe conclusion of his seven-month combat tour in the Taliban heartland.

"It was amazing. Seeing my father made my day," said James, 26, who returns to Canadian Forces Base Petawawa from Panjwaii with the Royal Canadian Dragoons early next week. "But we couldn't even manage a handshake as I got on the helicopter because I had to carry my rifle, my duffle bag, a carry-on and a rucksack."

Alistair, 51, and a "scope dope" or radar expert for 32 years for the air force, said he was "extremely happy" his son was "out" of volatile Panjwaii district, where Canada's combat forces have been concentrated since last year.

Working at Task Force Kandahar's main command post, the older McKenzie could instantly see whenever Category A and Category B casualties popped up on the board. If these casualties had occurred where his son's reconnaissance squadron was operating "my heart would drop," he said.
More on link

 

[George Wallace]

Articles found November 27, 2010

Afghanistan: Suicide bombs target police in Paktika

Article Link
27 November 2010 Last updated at 06:01 ET

Two suicide bombers have attacked a police HQ in Afghanistan's south-eastern Paktika province, officials say, killing at least 12 officers.

A Taliban spokesman said its fighters had carried out the attack, which also injured at least 13 policemen.

The suicide bombers reportedly detonated devices in the compound of the regional police headquarters.

Paktika, which borders Pakistan, has been the target of numerous attacks from insurgents.

The BBC's Paul Wood in Kabul says that as Nato pursues offensives in Helmand and Kandahar, other parts of Afghanistan have become more violent.

'Covered with blood'

Both attackers were dressed as police officers and entered the main police compound some 20 minutes apart.

They made it through three security checkpoints on the roads outside before reaching the main police headquarters.

One attacker detonated his explosives inside the building, another one near the entrance.

Nawab Waziry, the head of Paktika's provincial council, told Associated Press news agency: "There are lots of casualties. The site was covered with blood."

The Paktika region has been the target of many US drone attacks on insurgents.

Nato forces also killed 19 Taliban fighters who attacked an outpost in the province in October.

In May a group of suicide bombers attacked a police base in Urgun district. At least one policeman and four militants were killed.