2,300 NEW TRUCKS REVVING UP CANADIAN FORCES; $1.2B pledged for high-tech vehicles Delivery slated to begin in 2008

The Canadian Forces will get 2,300 new high-tech logistics trucks as part of a $15 billion cash injection into the military, Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor announced yesterday.

The trucks, which come with a $1.2 billion price tag, will allow the Forces "to do correctly the work Canadians expect of them, inside the country and abroad," O'Connor said at Canadian Forces Base Valcartier, near Quebec City.

O'Connor's shopping list includes 1,500 vehicles built exclusively for military purposes, and 800 commercial trucks which will be adapted for the army.

The trucks come on top of plans to acquire 300 defence systems for the Forces' armoured vehicles, 300 special tow trucks and 1,000 pieces of equipment for specialized vehicles, such as mobile kitchens and offices. Delivery of the equipment is expected to begin in 2008 following a call for tenders, and continue until 2010.

O'Connor said it's about time the Forces' aging fleet of trucks was replaced.
"The replacement of our current fleet of trucks, which came into service in the early 1980s, is long-overdue," he said.

It's the second straight day that O'Connor has announced defence spending, and other announcements are expected this week.

In Halifax on Monday, O'Connor revealed a $2.1 billion plan to build three navy supply ships.
The new trucks will allow the military to reduce transportation costs and cut down deployment time, O'Connor added.

About 800 of the vehicles will be set aside for use in Canada, while as many as 300 trucks will be outfitted to suit needs in Afghanistan.

Public Works Minister Michael Fortier said Canada will look to companies from its NATO partners to build the new fleet. But he added that didn't mean Canadian companies won't stand to benefit from the defence spending.

For every dollar a supplier receives from his contract with the government, it will have to reinvest an equal amount into the Canadian economy, Fortier said. "The money will be spent over many years, in some cases up to 20 years."

O'Connor defended the huge cost outlay for the equipment.

"The armed forces have been under-financed for 12 years," he said.

"We have to spend a lot of money to correct that and allow them do their job fully."

PUBLICATION: The Toronto Star
DATE: 2006.06.28
BYLINE: Martin Ouellet Canadian Press
SOURCE: Canadian Press

TALIBAN WEAKEN IN NORTHERN KANDAHAR: Rift among factions, Canadian forces say

Taliban fighters have had a falling-out in one of their strongest mountain redoubts in northern Kandahar province, with one faction apparently prepared to give up the fight against Canadian combat forces deployed in the area, coalition officials say.

"What I'm seeing is very positive here. There has been a split in the local leadership," said Lt.-Col. Ian Hope, commander of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry battle group. "There are indications that one group does not want to fight any more. There have been yelling matches with words that are not characteristic in the culture. That is tremendous for the people here and has really boosted our morale."

The Canadian battle group is wrapping up its part in Operation Mountain Thrust, which has been the biggest coalition offensive in Afghanistan in more than four years. The operation has involved Canadian, U.S., British and Dutch forces moving into remote Taliban-held areas across Afghanistan's four southern provinces to counter a large and violent push by Taliban insurgents infiltrating back into the country from Pakistan. The offensive has been backed by U.S. air power including B-1 and B-52 bombers.

"The Taliban are literally watching us all the time, but they are unable to mount co-ordinated attacks," said Maj. Kirk Gallinger of Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, PPCLI. "They are very cognizant that they cannot meet our force with force. We are convinced the days o f the Taliban are over. Every now and then they do something that the media thinks is spectacular. They are a threat and a security issue, but they run from us.

While there has been no fighting between Canadians and the Taliban in northern Kandahar recently, Hope said that Panjwai, an agricultural area just to the west of Kandahar City, remained "the main centre for Taliban now. That's where their numbers are."
Canadian troops already have been involved in several deadly battles with the Taliban in Panjwai's labyrinthine orchards and vineyards. Commanders have indicated they will return there as often as necessary to deal with the Taliban threat.

But in southern Afghanistan yesterday, violence raged across the region, killing 29 suspected militants, two British soldiers and two Afghan troops and the U.S.-led coalition pressed on with its largest military offensive here since 2001, officials said.

Resurgent Taliban militants and extremist allies are waging their fiercest campaign against Afghan and coalition forces since the extremist regime was toppled after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

British forces came under attack early yesterday in the Sangin valley of southern Helmand province, where Britain has 3,300 troops, the British Defence Ministry said.

Two British soldiers were killed and one wounded in the firefight, said Capt. Drew Gibson, a military spokesperson. Five suspected militants were also killed.

The last British combat death was June 11. In all, 10 British soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since November 2001.

Militants also ambushed an Afghan army patrol in Musa Qala, a remote Helmand provincial district about 30 kilometres north of Sangin, said Gen. Rahmatullah Roufi, the Afghan army commander in southern Afghanistan.

Two Afghan soldiers and 11 Taliban insurgents were killed in the fighting, Roufi said.
Online Extra: For thousands of soldiers, celebrating Canada Day in the sweltering emptiness of the Afghan desert is at best a wistful experience.

PUBLICATION: Montreal Gazette
DATE: 2006.06.28
BYLINE: MATTHEW FISHER

TALIBAN SAID SPLIT OVER FIGHTING CANADIANS

ZAMTO KALAY, Afghanistan -- Taliban fighters have had a falling-out in one of their strongest mountain redoubts in northern Kandahar province, with one faction apparently prepared to give up the fight against Canadian combat forces deployed in the area, coalition officials say.

"What I'm seeing is very positive here. There has been a split in the local leadership," said Lt.-Col. Ian Hope, commander of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry battle group. "There are indications that one group does not want to fight any more. There have been yelling matches with words that are not characteristic in the culture. That is tremendous for the people here and has really boosted our morale."

The Canadian battle group is wrapping up its part in Operation Mountain Thrust, which has been the biggest coalition offensive in Afghanistan in more than four years. The operation has involved forces moving into remote Taliban-held areas to counter a large and violent push by Taliban insurgents infiltrating into the country from Pakistan.

"The Taliban are literally watching us all the time, but they are unable to mount co-ordinated attacks," said Maj. Kirk Gallinger of Alpha Company, 1st Bn, PPCLI.

PUBLICATION: Vancouver Sun
DATE: 2006.06.28
BYLINE: Matthew Fisher

WOUNDED SOLDIERS ARE BACK IN CANADA

EDMONTON - Three Canadian soldiers who were wounded in Afghanistan returned to Canada on Tuesday.

Capt. Joseph Larose flew to Edmonton and Corp. Ryan Elrick and Master Corp. Gregory White landed in Winnipeg.

All three were wounded by roadside bombs on June 21.
Land Force Western Area spokesperson Katie McLaughlin said the soldiers' injuries are serious but not life-threatening.

PUBLICATION: Edmonton Journal
DATE: 2006.06.28
BYLINE: Laura Payton

NATO PLANS TO OCCUPY SPACE USED BY TALIBAN: Bringing more troops to Afghanistan will help 'establish governance,' spokesperson says

NATO's top priority when its International Security Assistance Force takes over southern Afghanistan from a U.S. general at the end of July is to use a much larger force of Canadian, British, Dutch, Romanian and U.S. troops to occupy space now used freely by the Taliban.

"We all know that just killing the Taliban is not really the game," NATO's spokesperson on Afghanistan, Mark Laity, said during a brief visit to Afghanistan's second-largest city on behalf of ISAF's commander, Lt.-Gen. David Richards.

"What we need to do is establish governance and move the matter of space and that is what ISAF intends to do. A lot of these spaces are effectively ungoverned, and that means the Taliban, criminals, they feel they've been able to operate."

However, he warned, "If the Taliban wants to fight, they will be fought."

Part of the strategy already being used by the Canadians to win the Afghans over in what is the Taliban heartland is to conduct clinics. About 450 people attended one such gathering yesterday in the town of Gumbad where Canada keeps a platoon house.

Canadian and U.S. medics, doctors and vets brought to the scene in British helicopters provided medical and dental checkups and de-worming medicine. About 150 of those who showed up were also given polio vaccine.

There were gifts, too, of rice, beans, windup radios that don't require a battery, blankets and shovels - and a political message contained in a comic-book style pamphlet celebrating the virtues of democracy.

"We are here to show support for the government of Afghanistan," said Capt. Marilyn Shenette, a hospital administrator with 1 Ambulance in Edmonton. "This is an underserved village. We are just providing them with more medical aid that they are used to having."

NATO's Laity went to great lengths not to criticize the United States, which has used a carrot and stick approach, but which has sometimes had a greater emphasis on the stick than the carrot.

"If you listen carefully, the Americans are not just talking about attacking the Taliban. They are moving into space and bringing in aid and reconstruction," Laity said. "The tactics and strategy of General Richards is to build on what the Americans have done."

When NATO takes over in the south, it will be able to call on about double the combat forces - 4,000 fighting troops - that the U.S. has had available in the south since ousting the Taliban in late 2001. Those forces include the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, which has been temporarily under U.S. command since arriving in March, but will switch to NATO/ISAF in five weeks.

Elsewhere yesterday, a U.S.-led coalition soldier was killed fighting insurgents in eastern Afghanistan, while a suicide car bomber targeted a military convoy and wounded two Afghan boys, officials said.

The soldier was fatally wounded Sunday during combat operations in the Pech district of Kunar province, the U.S.-led coalition said in a statement. His nationality was not released pending notification of his family.

Also yesterday, five kidnapped Afghan aid workers, including three attached to a Swedish agency, were released after four days in captivity in eastern Afghanistan, police said. No details were revealed on the kidnappers, who freed the hostages Sunday after warnings from tribal elders and police.

PUBLICATION: Montreal Gazette
DATE: 2006.06.27

BYLINE: MATTHEW FISHER

CANADIAN MEDICS ENTER TALIBAN AREA

GUMBAD, Afghanistan (CP) -- With a rifl e in one hand and medical supplies in the other, Capt. Marilynn Chenette strikes an image that just about captures the essence of the coalition's mission in Afghanistan -- security and humanitarian aid.

On Monday a medical team of Canadians, Americans and Afghans jammed aboard two British Chinook helicopters and landed deep in Taliban country to hold what the military calls village medical outreach.

Within minutes of the choppers noisily thumping down the jagged valley, hundreds of poor farmers and their children, some with herds of goats and cattle in tow, began lining up to wait in the hot sun.

For many it will be their fi rst time ever seeing a doctor.
"We are here to help these people, we want to make them healthier," said Chenette, a health administrator with the Edmonton-based 1 Field Ambulance, who strides around carrying a C-5 rifle.

The medical team hopes to cajole the villagers into taking deworming medicine and to vaccinate the children against polio, a disease that is sweeping Afghanistan.

"We are telling them basically that this is a safe area today.

Come out and we will get you the vaccines." As the doctors and medics set up shop, Canadian and Afghan troops scan the ridges that frown over the compound for Taliban.

Three men are seen on a far-off hill watching the gathering crowd. When Afghan Army soldiers excitedly train a heavy machine-gun on the hill, the trio melts away into the landscape.

"There are Taliban all over the place," said Warrant Offi cer Chris Thorne, who warns the medical team about improvised explosive devices -- military jargon for roadside bombs.

In the past few months there have been a half-dozen such bomb explosions around Gumbad. Canadian soldiers have dubbed the area IED Alley.

Less than a kilometre away from the clinic, two platoons of light armoured vehicles -- the LAV IIIs -- stand by in reserve in case of trouble.

Seemingly oblivious to the threat, groups of men and boys begin entering the compound and into a human assembly line of medical staff.

A team of U.S. navy corpsman and an Afghan interpreter patiently explain the benefi ts of the vaccines to the village elder and his oldest son, who agree to not only take the medicine, but to help administer it.

Soon more than 100 of boys are wincing at the "taste" of the vaccines, which they manfully swallow under the intense gaze of their peers.

Then it is off to see a doctor with their fathers or grandfathers.

The men have not allowed their wives to attend the clinic, although a few of their daughters are on hand to be screened by female doctors.

PUBLICATION: The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon)
DATE: 2006.06.27

SOURCE: Canadian Press

CANADIAN SOLDIER KILLED IN MULTI-VEHICLE ACCIDENT

A Canadian soldier was among three people killed in a multi-vehicle collision on the weekend near Parry Sound.

OPP say four vehicles and 14 people were involved in the crash.

The soldier, identified as 21-year-old Mitchell Emms of Fredericton, N.B., was driving a small car occupied by six people when it crossed the centre line of Highway 69.

Emms, based at Canadian Forces Base Borden, near Barrie, was killed along with two 20-year-old women from the Parry Sound area who were passengers in the car.

Three other passengers in that vehicle -- also soldiers based at CFB Borden -- suffered serious injuries.

Two people in a second car -- 61-year-old Bruce Summers and his 54-year-old wife, Martha -- also suffered serious injuries, and six people in two other vehicles were treated for minor injuries.

The cause of the collision is still under investigation.

PUBLICATION: The London Free Press
DATE: 2006.06.27

SOURCE: BY CP

TOP SOLDIER TAKES AIM AT AFGHAN CRITICS

Gen. Rick Hillier fired a shot yesterday at critics who claim Canada's mission in Afghanistan has not been successful.

"Many of those defence analysts, almost all of them, have A: never been in Afghanistan, B: don't know what individual progress has taken place and C: are focused only what's occurring in the south," the chief of defence staff said.

Speaking at CFB Petawawa's Military Family Day, Hillier told reporters that what analysts have neglected to include in their assessment is the massive progress made in and around Kabul, as well as significant progress in the north, east, centre and western regions of the country.
As part of the international coalition, Canadian troops are now focused on the southern provinces where they've encountered increased Taliban resistance.

Although Afghan President Hamid Karzai recently expressed concern about the number of Afghan deaths, Hillier said those self-criticisms are a "very healthy sign of the relationship that we have in the operation."

When asked if he felt Canada was winning, Hillier said "absolutely."

He called troops a "flickering light at the end of a long, dark tunnel for the Afghan population" and noted that while the mission is risky, he firmly believes it's worthwhile.

"We put actions where words are not sufficient," he said. KEYWORDS=CANADA

PUBLICATION: The Ottawa Sun
DATE: 2006.06.26
BY HOLLY LAKE

CANADIAN MEDICS PUSHED TO THE LIMIT IN KANDAHAR

Despite the hideous burns that cover his body and the charred skin that hangs from his blackened face, Rozi Khan is going to make it.

A week ago the skinny, energetic Afghan police officer was on patrol near Spin Boldak along the Pakistan border when his vehicle was blown apart by a roadside bomb.

Then a better fate intervened. Instead of being sent to an Afghan medical facility, where he almost surely would have died, Khan was whisked to the Canadian-run hospital at the coalition base in Kandahar.

"I'm starting to feel much better after seeing the doctors and nurses here," said Khan, 40, gesturing with his bandaged hands in a ward filled with wounded Afghan soldiers.

The 19-bed hospital made of old plywood and canvas tents looks deceptively ramshackle. Garish paintings and graffiti drawn by the U.S. troops who captured the building from the Taliban in 2001 still cover some of its walls.

A raw board with the letters "ICU" scrawled in black ink is nailed to the entrance of the intensive care unit. But inside Canadian doctors and nurses run the place with an efficiency that would rival any major trauma unit in Toronto or Vancouver.

"You see more penetration wounds in two months here than you will see in your whole career in Canada," says Lieutenant-Commander Peter Clifford, an emergency surgeon from Esquimalt, B.C.

The small but fully equipped hospital is very busy, with staff gliding around the crowded rooms with a grace and purpose that one officer called a medical ballet.

It was here that six Canadian soldiers were treated last Thursday after they were wounded in separate roadside bomb and suicide bomb attacks. The troops were quickly stabilized. Four of the men were then airlifted to a hospital in Germany for long-term care and to free up beds for future casualties. Late Saturday night, wounded American soldiers were flown in by helicopter following a firefight near Panjwai.

While these casualties capture headlines, the vast majority of the wounded - - about 90 per cent -- are Afghan National Army troops and Afghan National Police officers. The care they get here is better than anything they could hope to receive in most Afghan hospitals.

"These people are very resilient," said Lieutenant-Colonel Jacques Ricard, the commanding officer of medical services. "They do not complain. They just let us work on them. They are tough."

The staff, which includes doctors and nurses from other coalition countries, work up to 12 hour shifts, but can be called in whenever there is a flood of casualties. With clashes with the Taliban more frequent, the staff have been working full out for weeks.

"They are coming in wave after wave and they are increasing," said Ricard, a 26-year army veteran from Quebec City, his face lined with fatigue.

"They are giving everything that they have. They are being squeezed like sponges."
Most of the doctors fly into Kandahar for intense two-month tours of duty. Many of the nurses and other technicians are here for six months.

The Canadian Forces faces a shortage of hundreds of medical staff and plans to use signing bonuses in recruitment. But those who volunteer to work in Kandahar are people who want to serve their country and help people, he said.

"People actually care," he said.

"That's why the people are showing up. They think this is something they actually have to do."

PUBLICATION: The Hamilton Spectator
DATE: 2006.06.26
BYLINE: John Cotter

LACK OF CANADIAN HELICOPTERS IN AFGANISTAN "COSTS LIMBS"

ZABUL PROVINCE, Afghanistan - Every suicide bomber and every improvised bomb the Taliban has aimed at a Canadian resupply convoy underscores the point. Canada's Achilles heel in Afghanistan is its lack of a helicopter to move supplies and troops by air.

The U.S. Army has a dozen bus-sized twin-rotor Chinook choppers in Kandahar. Every day, the air crew of the Kansas-based 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment -- the Spartans -- moves more than 10 tons of cargo and hundreds of troops to and between austere U.S. forward operating bases such as Wolverine, a dusty patch of nothing about an hour's flight north of Kandahar.

The Spartans' commander, Lt.-Col. Walt Bradley, was unequivocal. His Chinooks save lives.
"By flying resupply for our troops, we are staying off the roads, avoiding ambushes and suicide bombers, not having breakdowns or hitting IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices)," said the reservist.

"By virtue of taking everyone out of harm's way, we save lives. It removes danger from the equation."

Canada has no rotor aircraft capable of flying in the extreme heat and mountains of Afghanistan after years of questionable helicopter decisions in Ottawa, such as when the Chretien government aborted the purchase of the EH-101, which cost half a billion dollars in penalties -- the price of 40 Chinooks.

As a result, front-line combat troops with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry fighting in the neighbouring province of Kandahar have been resupplied mostly by convoys that run a daily gauntlet of landmines, improvised explosives and suicide bombers.

The shortcoming may be resolved soon with a government announcement, expected this week, of the purchase of more than a dozen Chinook CH-47 refurbished D or new F models. However, to get the choppers into action will take time. Aside from jostling for priority places for aircraft in the Boeing assembly line, it will take pilots a few months and avionics specialists up to a year to be fully trained on the aircraft.

Getting water, food and ammunition overland to combat troops can be a grim business. Four Canadian soldiers have died while on convoy duty here this year.

Canada's helicopter problems were brought into sharp focus again last week when two convoys struck roadside bombs left by the Taliban and another patrol was targeted by a suicide bomber.
That Canada has no helicopters in Afghanistan is a fact its allies in southeastern Afghanistan find odd. A senior coalition officer said earlier this week he was astonished that a country of Canada's wealth and size had not bought any military transport helicopters for its domestic needs, let alone for its troops at war. Bradley, the U.S. Chinook boss at Kandahar Airfield, expressed similar amazement. "For the size of your country, with a geography that is similar to ours, with the same mountains and prairies, the Chinook is ideal."

Canadian officers and senior NCOs in Afghanistan have been vexed by the helicopter problem for some time.

"It is quite possible it has cost limbs, if not more, because we have had to sustain on the ground," Lt.-Col. Ian Hope, commander of the Canadian battle group, said in a recent interview. "That has produced a risk that would be reduced if we could take helicopter flights.

"It does not take a military tactician to know this. We have mitigated the risks. Losses have been reduced, but you can't get to zero."

A warrant officer with the Canadian battle group said nothing would make the troops happier than to know Ottawa was finally going to purchase a small fleet of transport helicopters for duty in Afghanistan and elsewhere.

PUBLICATION: Edmonton Journal
DATE: 2006.06.26
BYLINE: Matthew Fisher

CANADIAN SOLDIERS CLASH WITH TALIBANS IN FIREFIGHT: Coalition troops kill 82 militants in assaults

CP Wire Tini Tran KABUL, Afghanistan -- Afghan and coalition forces killed about 82 militants in multiple assaults across southern Afghanistan, the military said yesterday.

On Friday, troops fought more than 40 extremists during a five-hour gunbattle after receiving enemy fire near the village of Mirabad, northeast of the capital in southern Uruzgan province, the military said in a statement.

Most of the militants, who were firing from hidden positions in an orchard, ridgeline and compound near Mirabad, were believed killed, the coalition said. No coalition or civilian injuries were reported.

Clashes with the Taliban forced Canadian troops to cancel plans to hold medical clinics yesterday in villages west of Kandahar City.

Canadian troops came under fire from insurgents in the area and became embroiled in a firefight.

There were no Canadian casualties, said Maj. Mario Couture.

In a separate assault, Afghan and coalition forces battled a large group of militants in the Zharie district of Kandahar province, killing about 25 during the three hours of fighting.

"Several extremists broke contact by using innocent Afghan civilians as shields to escape into nearby villages," the statement said.

Late Friday, the coalition reported that another 17 insurgents had been killed when an enemy bunker had been destroyed in Uruzgan province on Wednesday.

Coalition forces intercepted enemy fighters on Wednesday setting up an ambush site near Tirin Kot, the capital of Uruzgan province, a military statement said.

Troops "observed extremists with heavy weapons travelling back and forth from a bunker establishing an ambush site," the military said. Soldiers fired on the enemy bunker, killing 17 militants.

The military believed militants were using the bunker to fire on Afghan and coalition forces on three separate occasions during the past week.

Coalition forces have launched a massive offensive against Taliban forces in a bid to stop a wave of suicide attacks and ambushes in the last few months.

More than 10,000 Afghan, British, Canadian and American troops are deployed across Kandahar, Helmand, Uruzgan and Zabul provinces -- areas where Taliban forces have regrouped and gained strength and sympathy.

More than 200 insurgents have been killed since Operation Mountain Thrust got underway earlier this month, according to the coalition.

On Friday, provincial officials in Zabul said the decapitated bodies of four men -- who were abducted at gunpoint earlier in the week-- were discovered in Shahjoy district near the village of Chinoh.

The bodies had been found Thursday and Friday, said Ali Khail, a spokesman for the provincial governor.

PUBLICATION: WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
DATE: 2006.06.25

MORE KIT, LESS CABOODLE Boost in defence spending long overdue

Gerald Flood GERALD FLOOD CANADIANS were reminded again last week that it is members of their armed forces who pay a price in blood for the failure of previous governments to pay the cost in dollars of properly equipping them.

On Wednesday, six Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan were wounded by roadside bombs. Four of those injuries, and damage to the armoured vehicles they were operating to resupply outposts, would have been prevented had the Canadians been doing what their coalition partners do -- resupply by air with heavy lift helicopters.

Canada doesn't resupply by air because it can't. Its ancient Sea King helicopters are unreliable in the best of conditions, and the high deserts of Afghanistan represent some of the worst possible conditions, even for new choppers.

But that's about to change, and if common sense prevails, it could change very quickly.
Beginning tomorrow and continuing through the week, Prime Minister Stephen Harper is expected to roll out $15 billion of spending on military equipment. What exactly will be announced cannot be known until the actual announcements are made. The consistency of lists provided to national news sources, however, suggests that it will include: z Two new supply ships that can double as helicopter platforms so as to be able to refuel our frigates at sea while also being capable of supplying troops on the ground while standing offshore in, say, the Persian Gulf. Our two existing supply ships are more than 40 years old and lack a lot of modern mechanization that could cut crew size by half to about 150 sailors. A big saving, that.

z - A fleet of new transport trucks to replace the 25-year-old transports now in service at an estimated maintenance cost of $25,000 a year each.

z - Heavy lift helicopters like the Chinooks that the Mulroney government foolishly sold to the Dutch in the early 1990s. The Dutch are using some of those aircraft today in Afghanistan while Canadian soldiers are being injured for lack of them.

z - Heavy lift transport planes capable of short runway takeoff and in-air refueling so as to be able to move Canadian personnel and equipment anywhere in the world.

That Canada lacks such equipment is a disgrace that the former Liberal government must wear despite its deathbed conversion to military spending when it finally realized that you can't ramp up military commitments or expound a "responsibility to protect" philosophy if there's no ramp to up or ability to protect.

Former prime minister Jean Chretien, who infamously scrapped a contract to buy new helicopters on taking office, claimed there were no votes in military spending, and perhaps that was true and remains true.

But I suspect that if it was true, it was cynical to act -- or not act -- on it.
I further suspect that after more than a decade of embarrassment, as our helicopters fell from the sky while our used submarines could not dive in the sea, and after seeing Canadians hitch-hike into harm's way without proper kit, that there are votes in military spending if for no other reason than Canadians feel guilty about not doing it sooner regardless of where they stand on peacemaking.

But now, having brought us to a point where massive layouts are required to fix the backlog, the opposition parties are playing politics with the issue by warning that Harper might skirt tendering practices and won't get sufficient spin-off benefits for Canadian industries.

In theory that might be a good line to take, but in practice what is needed now is common sense to ensure the equipment is brought on line as quickly as is possible.

You can almost bet we won't be tendering for ships. Expect all parties to see the wisdom of sending that work to shipyards in Quebec and the Maritimes.

Going to tender for aircraft would ensure Canada was at the end of production lines for the Boeing C-17, the smaller Airbus A-400 and the even smaller new version of the familiar Hercules. Holding a competition for three different aircraft that perform three different functions makes no sense. Better is to decide what you want, and what's available quickly.
That would be the C-17, which Canada could buy directly from the U.S. Air Force, as Australia did. With luck, those planes would be in service by this time next year instead of four and more years out.

The opposition fulminates about ensuring that Canada gets the bulk of maintenance work for the C-17s but doesn't answer the question: Why build a maintenance facility for four or six planes? The Brits don't do it, nor do the Aussies.

Buying from the Yanks wouldn't be fair to our European friends, they say. Maybe not. But it would be just as fair as it was when those same friends cut Canada's Pratt and Whitney out of the competition to build Airbus engines in order to keep the jobs in Europe.

Having asked nicely once for C-17s, why not ask twice for Chinooks? The U.S. Army has an order in for 460 of the new Foxtrot Chinook, also made by Boeing. Could they sell us six or eight right now? We're familiar with the Chinook. We once owned them, after all.

And if the Americans agree, could Canada not come to some pact with Boeing for future considerations, perhaps building parts for the next generation of jets under design to replace the 737? Defence analyst and former Winnipegger David Rudd thinks that's a better and more creative way to pursue spin-offs for Canadian industries.

Trucks? It seems odd that Harper is scheduled to announce a truck package in Quebec -- aerospace central. And it is odd until you learn that Oerlikon Aerospace builds armoured cabs for U.S. Army supplier Stewart and Stevensen. Bet they'd be happy to build 500 or 750 more armoured cabs for a Canadian fleet of, say, 1,000.

The tack the opposition is taking -- save Liberal Senator Colin Kenny who wants the Tories to do even more -- on a common sense procurement agenda for jumbos, helicopters and trucks is hypocritical, wrongheaded and potentially harmful to our military.

We need the kit now. Let's get it.

PUBLICATION: WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
DATE: 2006.06.25

QW - Success

"Success can not be administrated"

- Admiral Arleigh Burke, 1962

SPECIAL FORCES ANTI-TERROR UNIT PLANNED FOR BC: Joint Task Force 2 commandos could be moved to protect West Coast from attack

The Defence Department is looking at creating a special forces unit based on the West Coast to deal with maritime threats, a move that could see Ottawa-based Joint Task Force 2 commandos spending more time at sea.

Defence officials are releasing few details about the unit, but privately military officers say consideration might be given to using members of JTF2 at Canadian Forces Base Comox on Vancouver Island.

Rear Admiral Roger Girouard, commander of maritime forces in the Pacific, noted in a recent speech there are plans in the works to establish a special forces unit at the base. Such a unit would be made up of navy personnel and specially trained officers, he said in a speech to the chamber of commerce in Victoria.

Rear Admiral Girouard did not release further details, but noted that ferries and cruise ships are particularly vulnerable to a terror attack.

Gerry Pash, a Victoria-based military public affairs official, said the admiral was speaking generally about defence forces in the Pacific region.

"(The admiral) was trying to be as open and transparent as he could be within possibilities, but no decisions have been made," he said. "People are looking at things all the time."

Additional inquiries about the potential for a B.C.-based special forces unit were referred to National Defence headquarters in Ottawa. But headquarters defence spokeswoman Karen Johnstone said the department would not comment on special forces issues.

Currently, JTF2 handles threats on the country's coasts. It is unknown whether the Defence Department is considering a similar unit for the East Coast.

During the federal election campaign, the Conservatives promised to boost the numbers of regular force military personnel in British Columbia. Vancouver will host the Winter Olympics in 2010 and defence planners are already laying the groundwork to protect that event from a terror attack. JTF2 is to be on standby to respond to a crisis at the Games.

The Canadian military is in the process of substantially boosting the size of its special forces, which will number around 2,300 by the end of the decade. That includes not only JTF2 and chemical, nuclear and bio-logical defence specialists, located in Ottawa, but a special forces helicopter squadron and a new special forces regiment at Canadian Forces Base Petawawa.

JTF2 also has a cadre of scuba divers and other specialists, as well as high-speed rigid inflatable boats for its naval missions.

On Thursday, the Senate's defence committee released a report which called on JTF2 to be capable of reaching the location of a terrorist attack or emergency incident anywhere in Canada within nine hours.

JTF2 officers have acknowledged the unit must further develop such skills if it's to deal with a nightmare scenario involving terrorists seizing a ship or outfitting a vessel with a weapon of mass destruction and detonating it on Canadian territory. In such a case, the unit would be used to take control of the vessel from terrorists while another specialized military team would deal with the weapon.

Some security experts have been predicting that with increased vigilance over the world's air transportation system after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the U.S., groups such as al-Qaeda would shift their attention to ground and maritime transportation.

PUBLICATION: The Ottawa Citizen
DATE: 2006.06.24
BYLINE: David Pugliese

"TASTE OF CANADA" IN KANDAHAR: Troops will finally be able to order a double-double in the desert

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - A pair of Illyushin-76 aircraft landed with an unlikely cargo at one of the world's busiest military airfields early yesterday.

Stuffed inside four refrigerated sea containers in the bellies of the huge Soviet-era transport aircraft were tonnes of dough chilled to exactly -10C.

The first batch of batter for Tim Hortons doughnuts and bagels had arrived at the Canadian outpost at Kandahar Airfield after a 10,000-kilometre flight over the North Pole from the land of the double-double.

A team of six start-up experts from Tim Hortons in Canada will follow this weekend to help train 15 Canadians hired by the Canadian Forces Personnel Support Agency (CFPSA) to run the franchise.

The first coffee has already been test brewed in Tim's special coffee machines. If all goes according to plan, the first doughnuts should be served early next week.

A gala ribbon-cutting ceremony is planned for Canada Day, with Brigadier-General David Fraser presiding. Many of the 2,300 Canadians who are not at the front line or on sentry duty are expected to attend.

For several days, Canadian troops have been eyeing the Tim Hortons kiosk set up in a trailer on the base alongside such U.S. fast-food giants as Burger King, Pizza Hut and Subway.

"It's going to be a taste of Canada," said Warrant Officer Tim Turner of Edmonton. "It's what we have been talking about all the time."

Corporal Jarrit Turnell, also of Edmonton, joked it would not only be "a great morale boost for the boys. Now the [officers] will always know where to find us."

The plan is for Tim's to be open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. The menu offered in the Afghan desert will be somewhat limited: coffee, iced cappuccino, bagels, muffins and seven kinds of doughnuts, but no chili, soup or sandwiches.

The currency of the Kandahar Airfield is U.S. dollars, but prices will be about the same as in Canada. Doughnuts will cost 75 cents, a bagel will be $1, and a large coffee $1.50.
"Afghanistan is not downtown Halifax or Montreal, so we have had to deal with some very special issues to get to this point," said Frank Cleyson, manager of the CFPSA in Kandahar, the franchise holder.

"Of course, it is a theatre of war here, with all that that involves. There was also the question of how we could get refrigerated containers into an airplane. Because Tim Hortons puts a lot of emphasis on quality control, another big concern has been how reliably can refrigeration work when it is 50C or 60C."

Another problem was how to transport the two trailers that are to serve as the outlet's bakery and sales kiosk. The U.S. Air Force flew a C-17 transport aircraft to the Canadian Forces base at Trenton, Ont., to pick up the trailers but could not use the loading equipment there. The flight to Afghanistan was scrubbed, and the trailers were driven to an air base in New Jersey, causing a two-week delay.

How Canada's iconic fast-food chain came to be in Afghanistan is a curious tale.
The idea was first mooted last fall by Canada's top soldier, General Rick Hillier, but it was still on the back burner early this year when a visiting journalist quoted Mr. Cleyson as saying Tim Hortons did not wish to be involved because an Afghan outlet did not fit its corporate plans.
"It was unfair to Tim Hortons. They did not deserve the rap, but that totally false story got the ball rolling," he said.

The CFPSA acquired the franchise "without the financial obligations that go with owning a franchise in Canada." While the company will make a small royalty on sales, "it is certainly not involved in this project to make money."

Canada is in Afghanistan until at least the spring of 2009. When the operation ends, the franchise that bears the name of one of Canada's iconic hockey stars will move on to wherever Canadian troops are next deployed.

Lieutenant-Colonel John Conrad, who worked with the CFPSA to bring the company to Afghanistan, credited support from Gen. Hillier and Tim Hortons' Paul House with making it possible.

"The plumbing and electricity are in place. Everything is almost ready to go," Lt.-Col. Conrad said.

Some members of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry battle group fear Tim's will prove so popular with the American, British and Dutch troops who share the base that the wait for a double-double will be too long.

Lt.-Col. Conrad's riposte: "The only thing worse than having allies is not having allies."
Hamming it up with a stetson on his head beside the Tim Hortons trailer, Warrant Officer Turner said he planned to be on hand on Canada Day to taste his first Afghan "coffee and toasted bagel with lots and lots of butter."

PUBLICATION: National Post
DATE: 2006.06.23
BYLINE: Matthew Fisher

EIGHT SOLDIERS INJURED IN AFGANISTAN: But Canadian military says Taliban attacks were probably not co-ordinated

In one of the bloodiest 24-hour stretches for Canadian troops since they moved south from Kabul this spring, six soldiers were wounded when the Taliban struck with roadside bombs, a suicide bomber and gunfire in four separate incidents between late Tuesday night and yesterday at dusk. Two other Canadians were injured in a separate vehicle rollover.

While a possible reaction to Operation Mountain Thrust - the coalition offensive now under way - the Canadian military said yesterday it did not think the Taliban attacks on Canadian vehicles were co-ordinated.

"These attacks were in different parts of the area at distances of 80 kilometres or more," said Major Mario Couture, the senior Canadian spokesperson. "We've put pressure on these people and they are pushing back.

"This was definitely a bad day for us, but nobody died," he said, adding that fact was a testament to the equipment and counter-measures taken by the Canadians to thwart such attacks.

The last of the four incidents occurred at sundown yesterday when a suicide bomber hit a LAV III armoured vehicle that was part of a patrol returning to Kandahar from the hotly contested Panjwai District. One of the two Canadians injured was listed in serious condition with non-life-threatening wounds. The other had mild injuries.

One Afghan was killed and seven were injured in the same attack, which reportedly took place at an Afghan police checkpoint.

The two roadside bombings occurred near a Canadian platoon house at Gumbad, about 75 kilometres to the north of Kandahar. In both cases, LAV III's were hit. In the most serious of the attacks, a member of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry battle group was seriously wounded when his convoy was hit as it was returning to Kandahar from Gumbad, where it had dropped off supplies.

After the explosion, two Afghans believed to have been surveying the scene from an observation post were taken into custody. One was wounded and is receiving medical treatment.
The attack near Gumbad followed by only two hours a similar IED strike that disabled another LAV, about 15 kilometres away from the village.

Four Canadians were killed in a similar roadside attack in the same area April 22. The first of the spate of incidents occurred just before midnight Tuesday when another Canadian convoy came under small-arms fire on the main highway to the west of Kandahar. The Canadians returned fire and there were no casualties.

PUBLICATION: Montreal Gazette
DATE: 2006.06.22

BYLINE: MATTHEW FISHER

SIX CANADIAN SOLDIERS WOUNDED BY EXPLOSIONS: Suicide bomber, roadside bomb blamed

KANDAHAR -- Several explosions hit Canadian armoured vehicles on the roads of southern Afghanistan yesterday, wounding six soldiers as well as causing civilian casualties on a tough day for Canadians in the intensifying conflict with Taliban militants.

Two Canadians were injured by a suicide-bomb attack near Kandahar City only hours after four soldiers were wounded when their armoured vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb north of the provincial capital.

The suicide bomber blew himself up last night, killing one civilian and injuring seven others.
The two wounded Canadian soldiers were in a light-armoured vehicle -- or LAV 3 -- as part of a convoy that included a damaged vehicle being transported on a flatbed truck. One of the injured soldiers was in serious condition, the other suffered minor injuries, said Maj. Mario Couture, a Canadian Forces spokesman at the coalition base in Kandahar.

The suicide attack capped a bloody, violent day for Canadian troops.

"Today was definitely a bad day for us," Couture said. "But at the end of the day no Canadian soldier died. All of our soldiers made it home. They are being treated and looked after.

"We are applying tremendous pressure on the Taliban. What we are seeing is a reaction to that pressure."

The coalition says more hard combat lies ahead as it pushes on with an offensive against Taliban strongholds in southern Afghanistan. "People should expect significant fighting in certain areas of the south over the coming months," coalition spokesman Maj. Tom Collins said in Kabul.
For the Canadians, the most serious explosion yesterday happened at 8 a.m. near a forward base at Gumbad, 75 kilometres north of Kandahar City. A LAV 3 was hit by an improvised explosive device west of the Gumbad platoon house.

"Four soldiers were wounded," Couture said. "They were evacuated to the multinational hospital at Kandahar for treatment. One is in serious condition. The other three are in good condition."

The vehicle was returning from a resupply mission to the base when the bomb exploded. Two men were captured in the area following the blast and were being handed over to Afghan government authorities.

The area has been the site of at least five other roadside bomb explosions in the past, including one April 22 that killed four Canadian soldiers.

In a third incident yesterday, another LAV 3 was hit by a roadside bomb northwest of Kandahar City. The explosion disabled the vehicle but there were no casualties, Couture said.

A Canadian convoy was also involved in a firefight with insurgents just outside of Kandahar City late Tuesday. No Canadians were hurt.

In a separate incident early yesterday, a Canadian Bison armoured vehicle tipped over while moving over rough terrain near Kandahar City. Two soldiers suffered bruising.

Yesterday's casualties were the first involving Canadians since Operation Mountain Thrust was announced a week ago, although two Canadians were wounded in a battle with insurgents on June 12.

PUBLICATION: The Province
DATE: 2006.06.22

SOURCE: The Associated Press

SOLDIER PUTS LIFE ON HOLD TO FULLFILL DUTY IN AFGANISTAN: Wedding delayed

Dustin Waters takes after his mother in his determination to get the job done.
The Red Deer reservist has been serving with Canadian troops in Afghanistan since January and will soon head back there from leave to complete an eight-month tour of duty sometime in September.

And while the uncertainty of that end-date has meant his wedding plans have been put on hold, Waters, 25, said that's just something he must accept.
"It can be frustrating at times," he said in Red Deer on Tuesday, "but it's just a matter of focusing on the job at hand."

An artillery man attached to the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry near Kandahar, Master Bombardier Waters was also the inspiration behind the recently concluded Afghani Kids Campaign to provide school supplies to local children.

Co-ordinated by his mother, Susan, the project raised sufficient donations to provide as many as 2,500 children with supply-stuffed backpacks.

Waters said the idea came up when his mother asked him to describe conditions around Kandahar.

"Every time you drive somewhere you'll see people on the side of the road asking for things like a pen - making a sign like they're drawing on their hands, and you know they're looking for a pen or a pencil," he said. "I only planted the seed for the idea and my mom just took off with it."
Waters said he wasn't exactly surprised at the extent to which his mother took that idea - involving her church and local businesses in her months-long campaign. Like her, he credits everyone who contributed to the effort.

"It's really the people of Central Alberta who made this thing happen."

On the ground in Afghanistan, where temperatures can reach 55C, Waters gives credit to the Canadian Forces.

On the intensification of the military campaign and an increasing number of casualties among Canadian troops, he expressed confidence in the campaign.

"We have very good leadership and people who take care of our soldiers," he said. "So having confidence in all those things helps a soldier's confidence, and that's where everything is good for us."

PUBLICATION: Red Deer Advocate
DATE: 2006.06.21

BYLINE: DANIEL MACISAAC

CANADIANS COME UNDER HEAVY ATTACK IN AFGANISTAN

LLOYD ROBERTSON: Good evening. Canadians were warned there would be good days and bad days for our troops in Afghanistan. This was definitely one of the bad ones. There were four insurgent attacks on Canadian convoys across the volatile south. First, a patrol came under fire in Kandahar City. Then, 60 kilometres north, a roadside bomb. Two hours later, another roadside attack in Gumbad. And after that, a suicide bomber struck near Kandahar. In all, six soldiers were wounded, one seriously. This coming just days into Operation Mountain Thrust, a major multi-national offensive against the Taliban. With more we go to CTV's Steve Chao in Kandahar. Steve? STEVE CHAO (Reporter): Lloyd, when operation mountain thrust began last week, commanders warned it would stir up a hornet's nest. The last 24 hours is evidence of that. The remains of a suicide bomber's vehicle. A car witnesses say that was loaded with explosives and driven into a Canadian patrol. We were playing and then suddenly there was this loud explosion, says this man. All over the street people were injured. One civilian died, nine others were wounded, including two Canadian soldiers.

MAJOR MARIO COUTURE (Military Spokesperson): Today was definitely a bad day for us, but you know what? At the end of the day, no Canadian soldier died.

CHAO: The attack in front of a police checkpoint was just one of four against Canadians in a span of 24 hours. The most bloody, in Gumbad, a mountainous area infamous for Taliban ambushes. A roadside bomb struck a Canadian Light Armoured Vehicle, known as a LAV, wounding four soldiers. Private Andy Social arrived on the scene moments after.

PRIVATE ANDY SOCIAL (Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry): There was a G-wagon and lav that was blown out from the bottom, underneath the turret, and it looked pretty serious.
CHAO: One seriously wounded soldier was airlifted back to Kandahar airfield for immediate surgery. Three others are said to be in good condition. All of these attacks, say Canada's top General, underscores the need to purchase new helicopters like the Americans have to transport and supply the troops.

GENERAL RICK HILLIER (Chief of Defence Staff): We need a variety of major equipment and fleets. I've been pretty clear, I think, in the past and I don't think there's any beating around the bush of the needs of the Canadian forces.

CHAO: With operation mountain thrust aimed at pushing deep into insurgent territory, Canadian military officials say they expected days like this.

COUTURE: You have to understand that we put a lot of pressure on these people, and this is a pushback that we felt today.

CHAO: A pushback that could continue for some time. Operation mountain thrust is expected to last through the summer. And while military officials say this was a bad day, they warn it could get much worse. Lloyd.

ROBERTSON: Steve, obviously the Canadians need helicopters there for these resupply missions. Up to now they've been hitching rides, is that it?

CHAO: Well Canadians have been begging from Americans for some time now, however they still use the roads quite a bit and, according to soldiers, it has increased the risk that they become targets. Even according to one Canadian commander, the fact that they are using the roads and don't have helicopters has cost some Canadian soldiers their limbs if not much more.
ROBERTSON: And what are you hearing from the Kandahar base about the operation mountain thrust and how well it's doing in the south?

CHAO: Well there are more than 2,000 Canadian soldiers involved in this operation; however, one battle group involving about a few hundred make up the group that is going out into the Taliban safe havens. Now this group is very tired from months of intense fighting. But according to their commander, they have been making several gains over the past few days. Specifically they're gaining intelligence from the local population as to when the Taliban may strike next. Lloyd.

PUBLICATION: CTV - CTV News
DATE: 2006.06.21

REPORTED BY - STEVE CHAO

4 CANADIAN SOLDIERS WOUNDED IN AFGANISTAN

Four Canadian soldiers were wounded, one seriously, after their light armoured vehicle was attacked with roadside bomb on Wednesday in Afghanistan.
The soldiers were in a LAV III near a forward base 75 kilometres north of Kandahar when the roadside bomb exploded.

Maj. Mario Couture, a spokesperson for the Canadian Forces, said the wounded soldiers were airlifted to hospital. One of the soldiers is in serious condition, while the condition of the other three is good.

The identities of the injured have not been released.

These are the first Canadian casualties since Operation Mountain Thrust was officially announced last week.

A second LAV III in a different area was also damaged in a similar explosion, though no one was hurt.

Canadian forces on the ground confirm that two people seen near the site of one of the attacks were apprehended, CBC reporter David Common said.

Two Canadian soldiers were slightly injured when their armoured vehicle rolled over Wednesday, but it is not believed there was any enemy involvement in that incident.

Last Updated Wed, 21 Jun 2006 07:16:44 EDT

CBC.CA

A HERO'S WELCOME HOME

A man of little words, Regina reservist Rob Wagman broke into a wide grin Tuesday evening when he spotted members of his family and friends who showed up at the airport arrival gate to welcome him home.

"I'm just bagged ma'am, it's been a long trip,'' Wagman said, declining an interview with the Leader-Post.

While Wagman, a reserve sergeant with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry and a reservist with the Royal Regina Rifles, was reticent to talk about his six-month tour of duty in Afghanistan, his parents Jim and Lin Wagman shared their delight in having their son back in Canada.

"I am relieved he is coming home on his own two feet. It has been eight months actually, six over there in Afghanistan and two months of training in Edmonton. Eight months. He said it went fast, but it seemed pretty long for us,'' said his father, Jim.
"It was a hot mission they were on.''

The almost daily media reports of insurgent activity in Afghanistan, particularly in and around Kandahar where his son was stationed, Jim said, kept the family on edge.
"If I heard it on the news then I knew we were probably all okay. But when you look out the window and you see two people -- a padre and another one -- walking up your steps that is when you know you've got problems. A lot of people in the military are pretty good -- if there is an accident or a death over there they get the survivors to phone home as soon as they can to let their parents and families know everything is okay,'' he said.

Jim said his wife got one phone call and then the lines went dead. "That is when those four Canadians were killed. So I think when there are casualties all outgoing calls are cancelled. Rob phoned home the next day to say he was OK.''

According to his father, the 31-year-old provincial government employee, has seen four active tours of duty. He went to Croatia when he was 19 as a machine gunner and then he did two tours in Bosnia before his last mission to Afghanistan.

Being a part-time soldier is something that their son has chosen to do, said Lin, adding while they are supportive of their son's decision at the back of their mind there is always a niggling fear for his safety.

"I'm delighted he is home and he is safe. You think about it whether you want to or not. It is always there, but this is what he wants to do,'' she said.

On June 9, Lin said she got a phone call from her son saying he was out of Afghanistan on leave and was heading home.

"When he phones you never know where he is and sometimes he has to keep the conversation short because there are 2,500 other guys in line for the phone. So when he phoned I told him to bring gifts, I have no problem with that,'' Lin said with a laugh.

Lt.-Col. Murray Allan with the Royal Regina Rifles said a total of six reservists from his unit were sent to Afghanistan -- one of whom was there for a month tour to upgrade some of the armour on the vehicles and has since returned.

"Rob is the first one back , mind you he left before the others and completed his tour of duty. We are expecting the other four guys back at the end of August or in early September,'' Allan said.
With a commitment by the federal government to extend Canada's mission in Afghanistan, Allan said, he expects more reservists will volunteer for duty. "We haven't been asked or tasked to provide any more soldiers for any overseas missions coming up in the next little while, but we are sure that will come within the next year or so. So I am sure they will be asking for more reservists to serve in the future.''

PUBLICATION: The Leader-Post (Regina)
DATE: 2006.06.21

BYLINE: Anne Kyle

CANUCK TROOPS HELP INJURED SOLDIERS ONE ROMANIAN DEAD, 3 OTHERS AND INTERPRETER HURT AFTER CONVOY HIT IN ROADSIDE ATTACK

A Romanian soldier was killed and four other men were hurt when an armoured vehicle was destroyed by a roadside bomb yesterday, just a few kilometres from the coalition base in Kandahar.

Canadian soldiers travelling in the convoy provided medical aid.

Among the casualties was a Romanian soldier who got out of another vehicle in the convoy to help his comrades. He suffered severe leg injuries when he stepped on a landmine. "An intervention team specialized in demining was sent on the scene to assist the troops," said a Romanian defence official, adding three of the soldiers are in stable condition at a base hospital in Kandahar.

A fourth was in critical condition and may be transferred to a hospital in Germany for more treatment.

The troops were from 341st Infantry battalion, a unit that provides perimeter security for the massive base.

One of the other injured men was an Afghan interpreter working for the coalition. He was in stable condition in hospital.

INTERPRETERS KILLED
The interpreter force has been hit hard over the past month. Five "Terps" were killed in a bomb blast in Kandahar City last Thursday.

Another interpreter lost both his legs May 25 when the Canadian Forces G-Wagon he was travelling in was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade.

Two Canadian soldiers in an armoured jeep that was part of the convoy provided first aid and helped secure the area after the explosions.

"They were in the second vehicle in the convoy. But they are okay," said Capt. Julie Roberge, spokeswoman for the international brigade.

The Taliban attack came as coalition forces, including Canadians, continued Operation Mountain Thrust in the northern sector of southern Afghanistan.

About 7,000 coalition combat troops are operating in a huge area that includes Kandahar, Helmand, Zabul and Uruzgan provinces.

NO MAJOR CLASHES
So far, there have been no major clashes with Taliban forces, said Col. Chris Vernon, chief of staff of the brigade.

However, about 110 suspected militants have been killed, according to coalition estimates.
At least 10 coalition soldiers have died in combat since mid-May.

PUBLICATION: The Ottawa Sun
DATE: 2006.06.21

SOURCE: BY JOHN COTTER

COALITION CONVOY HIT BY ROADSIDE BOMB

A Romanian soldier was killed and several other men were hurt when an armoured vehicle was destroyed by a roadside bomb yesterday just a few kilometres from the coalition base in Kandahar.

Canadian soldiers travelling in the convoy provided emergency medical aid.
"An intervention team specialized in demining was sent on the scene to assist the troops," said a Romanian defence official. "Three of the injured soldiers are in stable condition at the base hospital in Kandahar."

A fourth soldier was in critical condition and may be transferred to a hospital in Germany.
The troops were from 341st Infantry battalion, a unit that provides perimeter security for the massive base.

One of the other injured men was an Afghan interpreter working for the coalition. He suffered head and eye injuries and was in stable condition in hospital.

The interpreter force has been hit hard over the past month. Five "Terps" were killed in a bomb blast in Kandahar City last Thursday.

Another interpreter lost both his legs May 25 when the Canadian Forces G-Wagon he was travelling in was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade.

Two Canadian soldiers in an armoured jeep that was part of the convoy helped secure the area after the explosions.

"They provided first aid and security," said Capt. Julie Roberge, spokesman for the international brigade. "They were the second vehicle in the convoy. But they are OK."

The Taliban attack came as coalition forces, including Canadians, continued Operation Mountain Thrust in the northern sector of southern Afghanistan.

About 7,000 coalition combat troops are operating in a huge area that includes Kandahar, Helmand, Zabul and Uruzgan provinces. They include American, British, Dutch and soldiers from other countries.

So far in the campaign there have been no major clashes with Taliban forces, said Col. Chris Vernon, chief of staff of the brigade.

However, there have been minor contacts with insurgents every day, he said.
"The initial operations and movements are going to plan," said Vernon. "But it is far too early to measure if it has had a significant impact at this stage."

Afghan and coalition forces reported killing five insurgents Monday in Helmand province.
Vernon said the intent of the operation is to extend the rule of law in remote rural areas. He warned that people in coalition countries should not expect quick results.

"This is not a war, it is a counter-insurgency," he said. "These are long struggles. They are not quick-fix military operations."

Vernon said media reports that suggest Kandahar City could be hit by a major Taliban offensive are not accurate.

He said the economy in the provincial capital is doing very well, thanks in part to the presence of the international coalition.

PUBLICATION: The Edmonton Sun
DATE: 2006.06.21

SOURCE: BY JOHN COTTER, CP

QW - A Rule to Live By

"Action is faster than reaction"

- a Training Sergeant

PERIL REAL, BUT CANADIAN TROOPS' MORALE HIGH: Test will be how they fare over time

Skeptics in Canada and elsewhere should not overstate the perils facing the Princess Patricia's Battle Group and their coalition allies.
It is a grim fact that eight Canadian soldiers have died here this year. It is also true that far more Taliban fighters are operating in the south than in the recent years and that they rule the roost in some parts of the countryside.

On the other hand, it has often been weeks between Taliban attacks on Canadian convoys and until now there have only been a few pitched gun battles between the two belligerents.
One reason is that the Taliban have quickly learned that they cannot possibly match the Canadians on the battlefield. To survive, they must carefully pick when and how to attack. Another factor is that the Canadians have not often been fooled more than once because they have apparently adapted well to Taliban tactics.

A few apocalyptic reports in the media have created the impression that the Canadian-led coalition down here is already back on its heels and that the Canadians are detested by Kandaharis because they have not been able to protect them from suicide bombers.
The truth is that the Patricias have only been conducting combat operations here for a couple of months. Many locals do not even know that there are now Canadians in their midst.
Observing some of the Canadians last week as they carefully combed the Taliban-infested Panjwai District, from which the enemy clearly hope to launch attacks on nearby Kandahar, was a revelation. Fuelled by as much as 15 litres of water per day, the Pats were as fit as Olympians. Despite the intense heat and the constant possibility of ambush, they took the initiative, forcing the Taliban to melt away after decisively losing one prolonged gun battle. It was a small victory that allowed the local population to come out of hiding and resume farming.

Notwithstanding the frustration at facing an enemy that usually drops its weapons or caches them and melts into the local population at the first sign of trouble, the morale of the Canadians operating "outside the wire" remains high.

Still, these are early innings in Kandahar. The great test for the Patricias and the infantry of the Royal Canadian Regiment and Royal 22nd Regiment who follow them, is how they fare over time.

Can Canada's only three fighting regiments maintain the present high tempo of operations for months and years in what is a remote, rugged, parched, furnace-like environment? Will their most obvious military weakness, the lack of any transport or assault helicopters capable of operating in this theatre, somehow be exploited by a savvy enemy?

Most crucially, will doves at home, including several Liberal leadership candidates, do the Taliban's bidding and turn every Canadian casualty into a cause celebre, eating away at national will to continue with a mission that is crucial to Western and Canadian interests because if it fails, Islamic holy warriors intent on attacking our societies, will have their way?
Or will the Taliban achieve this, its top short-term goal, by killing a large number of Canadians in a suicide bombing, a lucky mortar strike or by taking down a big American or British helicopter transporting a Canadian platoon to or from battle?

Very real dangers exist for Canadian troops in southeastern Afghanistan. But suggestions that the security situation here has deteriorated to the point that it is almost out of control are unfounded.

Where things are dire are in the Iraqi city of Ramadi, which insurgents have styled "the graveyard of the Americans." I would commend interested readers to look at Michael Fumento's vivid article in the June 19 Weekly Standard about his days with the 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. According to Fumento, a third to a half of U.S. combat deaths in Iraq are in this one "hellhole" which is about a third the size of Baghdad.
Embedded Canadian journalists in Afghanistan have had a few close calls with suicide bombers and improvised explosive devices. But they have not witnessed big gun battles because there have been few of them.

The few embedded journalists that have made it to Ramadi are guaranteed protracted gun battles and bombings every time they set foot outside the wire.
This is all to say that while the Patricias battle group operates in a vicious neighbourhood against an implacable enemy, the situation here until now remains militarily speaking, relatively stable.

PUBLICATION: National Post
DATE: 2006.06.19

COLUMN: Matthew Fisher

TROOPS HUNT TALIBAN

CP Wire John Cotter ZANGADIN, Afghanistan -- In the pre-dawn darkness, under shoals of brilliant stars, the weary troops of 9 Platoon waken after a few hours sleep for another day of hunting Taliban.

"Reveille, reveille," a corporal chants as soldiers struggle into grimy boots and smelly uniforms so caked with dried sweat they feel like cardboard.

Without stopping to eat, they drive to their assembly point to prepare for a sweep of dangerous villages and farms west of Kandahar.

It will be their fourth day in a row of patrolling an area where Canadian soldiers have been killed and wounded in firefights over the past six weeks.

"Men, hundreds of insurgent fighters are coming into this area.

Your efforts are keeping them on the move and we are not going to let up," says Lt.-Col. Ian Hope, commander of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry battle group.

The effort is part of Operation Mountain Thrust, an international coalition plan to root out Taliban from their strongholds in southern Afghanistan that was officially announced last week. For the Canadians, the operation has been underway for more than a month.

Hope, a lean, driven man with piercing blue eyes, sounds like a high school football coach giving a pep talk. But this is no game.

Officers gather around to listen to his exhortations as roosters crow in the nearby village and the hot sun begins to burn off the morning mist.

"I know it's hard and it's hot and dirty but we have to do it," Hope says. "I'll keep pushing you out there because it is the only way we will win." Maps in hand, the leaders drift back to the soldiers of their platoons who are preparing for battle.

Weapons are checked and wiped clean. Ammunition magazines are stuffed into pockets. Body armour is adjusted.

Medics cajole troops to drink and carry plenty of water.

Shouldering more than 30 kilograms of gear in 45 C heat can be as deadly as a Taliban ambush or a roadside bomb.

A blunter version of Hope's orders is then delivered to the privates and corporals.
"We are going to sweep through Zangadin to kill or capture Taliban," says Brad Worth, a veteran sergeant from Toronto.

The patrol begins near where Capt. Nichola Goddard was killed last month by insurgents.
Soldiers emerge from the protective armour of their vehicles and slowly move through the village and farms, rifles and machine-guns at the ready. Using hand signals, they stop and silently drop to a crouch, scanning homes and the horizon for trouble through the scopes of their weapons.

The soldiers of 9 Platoon glide deeper in a deserted village in the searing afternoon heat. They begin to search each house, kicking in every locked door looking for insurgents.

"Three guys for each house, door by door," shouts a sergeant as the troops started bashing their way inside.

Soon a young Afghan man and a village elder emerge from a doorway.

Lieut. Craig Alcock, the platoon commander, calls for his interpreter.

The men sit under a tree as he questions the nervous villagers.

They tell the Canadians the Taliban were here but fled the previous night.

Alcock tells the villagers the area is controlled by the Afghan government and urges them not to support the insurgents. "We are going to aggressively pursue any Taliban and we are going to kill them," Alcock says.

"Any people that are found to have been helping the Taliban will have their houses seized by the government, their property seized.

They will be left with nothing."

PUBLICATION: WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
DATE: 2006.06.19

SAILOR DIGS IN AFGAN DIRT TO HELP ARMY FIND BOMBS: Overseas work keeps navy diver busy in the desert

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Petty Officer (first class) John Smith marvels at his good fortune.
Trained as a navy clearance diver, the Haligonian says he's having the time of his life working 700 kilometres away from the ocean in what he fondly calls "the sandbox."
Smith has one of the most dangerous jobs in what has become the most volatile corner of Afghanistan.

The sailor, whose superiors would not allow his real name to be used or for him to be photographed, is the top Canadian in a secretive cell of combat engineers who study how and where the Taliban place landmines and improvised explosive devices and what they use to build these lethal weapons and trigger them.

Amassing this institutional knowledge is vital because the most effective way the Taliban has found to kill coalition soldiers has been to attack their convoys with suicide bombers or to place mines and IEDs on or near the roads and dirt tracks those convoys travel on.
Of the eight Canadian soldiers who have died here since Ottawa switched its military focus from Kabul to Kandahar last year, four of them were killed in such hit-and-run attacks. A Canadian diplomat was also killed in a suicide bombing.

While quick to volunteer that front line units and army combat engineers attached to them here were in even more danger than him or his team, Smith added, "Everything we deal with is unstable.

"I think the public is very interested in what we do. Unfortunately, we can't really talk about it in any detail. We don't want the enemy to know what we know, because they would change it."
The cell where Smith works alongside specialists from several other western countries is responsible for the pivotal work of analysing and devising ways to prevent suicide bombings and other IED attacks against coalition forces and Afghans in the province of Kandahar, where the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry operates. To acquire this knowledge, the unit is rushed out with a multi-national Rapid Reaction Force to the neighbouring provinces of Helmand, Uruzgan and Zabul whenever there is an attack involving IEDs.

"This is the pointy end of the stick," Smith said.

"What you can see here in a few weeks equals what I might see in my whole career in Halifax. If there is a gunfight, the Taliban don't stand a chance. So, it's generally guerilla warfare.

"Guys who drive the vehicles may be low level, may be pushed into it, but the others are pretty indoctrinated and are willing to do just about anything."

Except for a small anchor on his tan battle fatigues, and his navy-issue 9-mm Sig-Sauer side arm, Smith looks like every Canadian soldier here. How a career sailor ended up giving up the sea for "a hootch" in the desert is something surprised infantrymen and army engineers ask Smith about all the time.

"My primary job is to clear harbours of surface mines, drifting mines and bottom mines, basically any explosive device in the water," Smith said.

It's a special skill set that the army, which was skeptical at first, has turned to the navy for help with because after being stretched to the limit by 15 years of non-stop tours in such places as the Balkans, Africa and Afghanistan, there are no longer enough army combat engineers to go around.

So all but one of the six Canadian combat engineers studying this arcane but vital piece of the battlefield in Afghanistan and suggesting remedies are, like Smith, navy divers.

PUBLICATION: Edmonton Journal
DATE: 2006.06.19
BYLINE: Matthew Fisher
SOURCE: CanWest News Service

TROOPS SWEEP FOR TALIBAN CANADIAN SOLDIERS ARE PART OF A JOINT EFFORT TO ROOT OUT INSURGENTS IN AFGHANISTAN.

In the pre-dawn darkness, under shoals of brilliant stars, the weary troops of 9 Platoon waken after a few hours sleep for another day of hunting Taliban.

"Reveille, reveille," a corporal chants as soldiers struggle into grimy boots and smelly uniforms so caked with dried sweat they feel like cardboard.

Without stopping to eat, they drive to their assembly point to prepare for a sweep of dangerous villages and farms west of Kandahar.

It will be their fourth day of patrolling an area where Canadian soldiers have been killed and wounded in firefights over the past six weeks.

"Men, hundreds of insurgent fighters are coming into this area. Your efforts are keeping them on the move and we are not going to let up," says Lt.-Col. Ian Hope, commander of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry battle group.

The effort is part of Operation Mountain Thrust, an international coalition plan to root out Taliban from their strongholds in southern Afghanistan that was officially announced last week. For the Canadians, the operation has been underway for more than a month.

Hope, a lean, driven man, sounds like a high school football coach giving a pep talk. But this is no game.

Officers gather around to listen to his exhortations as roosters crow in the nearby village and the hot sun begins to burn off the morning mist.

"I know it's hard and it's hot and dirty but we have to do it," Hope says. "I'll keep pushing you out there because it is the only way we will win."

Maps in hand, the leaders drift back to the soldiers of their platoons who are preparing for battle.

Weapons are checked and wiped clean. Ammunition magazines are stuffed into pockets. Body armour is adjusted.

Shouldering more than 30 kilograms of gear in 45 C heat can be as deadly as a Taliban ambush or a roadside bomb.

A blunter version of Hope's orders is then delivered to the privates and corporals.
"We are going to sweep through Zangadin to kill or capture Taliban," says Brad Worth, a veteran sergeant from Toronto.

The patrol begins near where Capt. Nichola Goddard was killed last month by insurgents.
Soldiers emerge from the protective armour of their vehicles and slowly move through the village and farms, rifles and machine-guns at the ready. Using hand signals, they stop and silently drop to a crouch, scanning homes and the horizon for trouble through the scopes of their weapons.

Tensions rise when it becomes clear there are no people around despite the well-tended grape vineyards and fields of marijuana.

The terrain is a military nightmare of blind corners, dead-ends and open ground commanded by tall, thick-walled mud buildings honeycombed with loopholes.

A thousand Taliban could be watching and the Canadians wouldn't know it.

PUBLICATION: The London Free Press
DATE: 2006.06.19

SOURCE: BY JOHN COTTER, CP

"IT'S HOT AND DIRTY BUT WE HAVE TO DO IT," Canadian Soldiers hunt for Taliban durning major coalition operation in southern Afganistan

In the pre-dawn darkness, under shoals of brilliant stars, the weary members of 9 Platoon awaken after a few hours' sleep for another day of hunting Taliban.

Soldiers struggle into grimy boots and smelly uniforms so caked with dried sweat they feel like cardboard. Without stopping to eat, they drive to their assembly point to prepare for a sweep of dangerous villages and farms west of Kandahar.

It will be their fourth day in a row of patrolling an area in which Canadian soldiers have been killed and wounded in firefights over the past six weeks.

"Men, hundreds of insurgent fighters are coming into this area. Your efforts are keeping them on the move and we are not going to let up." Lt.-Col. Ian Hope, commander of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry battle group, tells the officers in his command. "I know it's hard and it's hot and dirty but we have to do it."

The effort is part of Operation Mountain Thrust, an international coalition plan to root out Taliban from their strongholds in southern Afghanistan that was officially launched last week. For the Canadians, the operation has been under way for more than a month. The patrol begins near where Capt. Nichola Goddard was killed last month.

Soldiers emerge from the protective armour of their vehicles and slowly move through the village and farms, rifles and submachine-guns at the ready. Using hand signals, they stop and drop to a crouch, scanning homes and the horizon through the scopes of their weapons.
Tensions rise when it becomes clear there are no people around despite the well-tended grape vineyards and fields of marijuana. The terrain is a military nightmare of blind corners, dead-ends and thick-walled mud buildings honeycombed with loopholes.

A few days ago, a firefight exploded in just such a labyrinth when a soldier suddenly turned a corner and saw an insurgent only 50 paces away. The two men blazed away at each other. While neither man was hit, their shots sparked a two-hour battle that resulted in two Canadians being wounded.

PUBLICATION: The Toronto Sun

BY JOHN COTTER
DATE: 2006.06.19

More click HERE

CANADIAN SOLDIERS INCREASE PRESSURE ON TALIBAN FORCES

Canadian soldiers are increasing the pressure on Taliban forces in Afghanistan. Coalition troops are in the midst of the largest military offensive since the Taliban government was ousted in 2001. In the latest tactic, US forces set up positions to cut off Taliban supply routes in a remote mountain region. More than 10,000 troops have spread out across southern Afghanistan in an offensive dubbed Operation Mountain Thrust. Coalition soldiers say they've killed more than 80 suspected insurgents this week.

- Reported by: SANDIE RINALDO

PUBLICATION: CTV - CTV News
DATE: 2006.06.18

QW - No Alternatives

"How many things apparently impossible have nevertheless been performed by resolute men who had no alternative but death”

– Napoleon

SENIOR TALIBAN FIGHTER THANKS & PRAISES CANADIAN SOLDIERS

SANDIE RINALDO: In Kandahar today, there was something so unexpected that even battle hardened Afghan citizens were surprised. A senior Taliban fighter stood beside Canadian soldiers and announced he's laying down his arms for good. As CTV's Steve Chao reports from Kandahar, he credits his change of heart not to military force, but to Canadian kindness.

STEVE CHAO (Reporter): His name is Mohammad Ibrahim, but to Afghans he's known as the one-legged fighter. One of the fiercest of Taliban who's decided to end his fighting days. I want all Afghans to abandon hostilities, he said, and to unite for peace. Afghan authorities say for months Ibrahim was orchestrating attacks against Canadian soldiers, including battles in the same area where Captain Nichola Goddard was killed. He's also credited for planning several roadside bombings on coalition convoys.

ASADULLAH KHALID (Kandahar Governor): He was not the normal Taliban. He was a planner for all suicide and IED attacks.
CHAO: It was during heavy fighting with Canadians last month that Ibrahim was captured. These are photos of him in hospital shortly after. Severely ill with liver disease, Canadian doctors nursed him back to health. But it was Canada's battle group commander that in the end won the militant over. In hospital, Lieutenant Colonel Ian Hope shared about his mother's battle with liver disease and life in general.

LIEUTENANT COLONEL IAN HOPE (Canadian Battle Group Commander): I did not question him about his connections to the Taliban, not once. We talked about farming, we talked about chocolate and tea.

CHAO: A very human conversation that convinced him that Canadians were the good guys. I would particularly like to thank Canada, Colonel Hope, and the doctors for helping me. Ibrahim will join thousands of former Taliban at this Afghan run centre where they are reintegrated into civilian life. Not all get this chance, others are jailed for their crime. Some suggest Ibrahim should pay a price for his past.

MAJOR MARIO COUTURE (Military Spokesperson): It's not our decision. It's an Afghan decision, and whatever they decide is best for their country, we are here to support them.
CHAO: The centre's director says forgiveness is the hallmark of the program. Just how effective ensuring fighters don't go back to fighting is in question. But in Ibrahim's case, the Canadian military hopes his standing with the Taliban will win more converts and ultimately save soldier's lives. Steve Chao, CTV News, Kandahar.

PUBLICATION: CTV - CTV News
DATE: 2006.06.16

ONE OF THE FIERCEST OF TALIBAN has decided to end his Fighting Days

16 June 2006 23h00

Sandie: In Kandahar today there was something so expected that even battle hardened Afghan citizens were surprised. A senior Taliban fighter stood beside Canadian soldiers and announced he's laying down his arms for good. As CTV's Steve Chao reports from Kandahar, he credits his change of heart not to military force but to Canadian kindness.
Reporter: His name Muhammad Ibrahim, but to Afghans he's known as the one-legged fighter, one of the fiercest of Taliban who's decided to end his fighting days. "I want all Afghans to abandon hostilities, and to unite for peace," he says. Afghan authorities for months Ibrahim was orchestrating attacks against Canadian soldiers, including battles in the same area where Captain Nicola Goddard was killed. He's credited for planting several roadside bombings on coalition bombings.
Asadullah Khalid: It was not the normal Taliban. He was planner for all suicide and IED attacks.
Reporter: It was during heavy fighting with Canadians last month that Ibrahim was captured. These are photos of him in hospital shortly after. Severely ill with liver disease, Canadian doctors nursed him back to health. But it was Canada's Battle Group Commander that in the end won the militant over. In hospital, Lieutenant-Colonel Ian Hope shared about his mother's battle with liver disease, and life in general.
LCol Ian Hope: I did not question him about his connections to the Taliban, not once. We talked about farming; we talked about chocolate and tea.
Reporter: A very human conversation that convinced him that Canadians were the good guys. "I would particularly like to thank Canada, Colonel Hope, and the doctors for helping me." Ibrahim will join thousands of former Taliban at this Afghan run centre where they are reintegrated into civilian life. Not all get this chance. Others are jailed for their crime. Some suggest Ibrahim should pay a price for his past.
Major Mario Couture: It's not our decision. It's an Afghan decision, and whatever they decide is best for their country, we are here to support them.
Reporter: The centre's director says forgiveness is the hallmark of the program. Just how effective ensuring fighters don't go back to fighting is in question. But in Ibrahim’s case the Canadian military hopes his standing with the Taliban will win more converts and ultimately save soldiers lives

Reported by - Steve Chao, CTV News

QW - Determination by Napoleaon

"How many things apparently impossible have nevertheless been performed by resolute men who had no alternative but death”

- Napoleon

QW - Eisenhower's Definition of Leadership

"Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.”

- Dwight Eisenhower