Airbornelawyer
01-04-2006, 21:00
http://www.canada.com/components/print.aspx?id=42f8826a-fba4-483e-bda6-fa351644ff2f
Elite troops bound for Afghanistan
Allies consider backing out of dangerous mission
Chris Wattie
National Post
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
The Canadian Forces is sending up to 100 commandos from its elite Joint Task Force 2 to Afghanistan this month, the largest contingent of special forces Canada has ever sent overseas, the National Post has learned.
Between 75 and 100 soldiers of JTF-2 will arrive just ahead of a 2,000-member Canadian battle group that is deploying to the restive southern province of Kandahar amid growing warnings of high casualties and a looming enemy offensive in the region.
Defence sources familiar with the mission said the commandos will arrive in the Kandahar region by the end of the month, part of an unprecedented surge of troops by the secretive JTF-2. "They're coming in in a big way," one source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "This is more boots on the ground than they've ever had in one place before."
Captain Stephanie Godin, a military spokeswoman, would neither confirm nor deny the unit's deployment to Afghanistan. "We can't confirm the numbers or specific missions of JTF-2 for reasons of operational security," she said.
But military experts said it only makes sense to "flood the zone" with special forces after new warnings from key NATO allies to expect high casualties from the Kandahar mission.
"The situation's going to get more hazardous there, so they'd be foolish not to flood the whole area with special forces in advance of the deployment," said John Thompson, the director of the MacKenzie Institute, a Toronto-based think-tank specializing in defence and security issues. "The first few weeks of any deployment is one of the most dangerous times for the troops."
British officials have warned the public to expect high casualties from the mission to Kandahar, a hotbed of support for Afghanistan's former Taliban rulers and their al-Qaeda allies.
The Dutch, who were to provide a third of the troops for the Canadian-led Task Force Aegis in Kandahar, may pull out of the mission entirely. And Australia, which has an estimated 190 special forces in Afghanistan, is considering delaying a 200-strong military reconstruction team that was to be sent to the south.
However, Alain Pellerin, director of the Canadian defence lobby group Conference of Defence Associations, said the Dutch will likely join the mission despite their misgivings.
But he said the dangers should not be understated. "In the south of Afghanistan you're really moving into bandit country," he said. "The Americans have lost more than 100 soldiers there in the past year -- the war is not over in the south."
"There's bound to be encounters with fairly large groups of Taliban. ... The Canadians and other NATO troops will be a magnet. They'll be tested as soon as they arrive, I'm sure."
The large Canadian force will be comprised of soldiers from the Alberta-based Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, the same regiment that served in Afghanistan in 2001-02.
Mr. Thompson said the JTF-2 is being sent in such large numbers to help the Princess Patricia's deal with the Taliban threat.
The deployment to Kandahar would represent between a third and half of JTF-2's total strength. The military has never officially acknowledged the total strength of the special forces unit, based in a facility just outside Ottawa, but most observers place their numbers at between 200 and 250 soldiers.
"Al-Qaeda and the Taliban are planning a major offensive starting sometime in March -- a really big offensive," he said. "So this is the time for special forces to be out there looking for concentrations of Taliban forces, supply lines [or] infiltration routes and go after them."
The Canadian military has acknowledged that JTF-2 has been working with U.S. and allied special forces in the Kandahar region since last summer but has given no details.
Last month, a military spokesman issued a rare news release on the unit revealing that three of its members had been wounded in a firefight in Afghanistan, one of them seriously.
The Canadian Forces again refused to release any details about the incident, believed to be the first time a JTF-2 soldier had been wounded in a combat operation.
However, U.S. officers in Afghanistan issued a statement saying that three coalition troops -- believed to be JTF-2 commandos -- had been wounded during a Dec. 4 attack on enemy forces in a small village north of Kandahar. The American news release said 13 Taliban fighters were killed in that battle.
There has been a steady increase in fighting over the past year, particularly in the south.
The Sunday Times reported this week that British military intelligence officers expect that trend to continue and predict their troops could sustain losses on a scale not seen since the 1982 Falklands war, when 255 British servicemen died.
The British officers say Taliban and al-Qaeda forces in southern Afghanistan are preparing for a large offensive soon after the Canadian and British troops arrive, backed by sophisticated weapons and training from Iran and Iraq.
Britain is contributing a battle group to the Canadian-led task force in Kandahar and is to set up its own task force in the neighbouring province of Helmand, for a total of about 3,000 troops.
The warnings of increased danger in the region have given the Dutch pause. Their Cabinet approved the deployment of 1,400 Dutch troops, including Apache attack helicopters and F-16 fighter-bombers, last month, but the full Dutch parliament will vote later this month on whether to withdraw that commitment.
Elite troops bound for Afghanistan
Allies consider backing out of dangerous mission
Chris Wattie
National Post
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
The Canadian Forces is sending up to 100 commandos from its elite Joint Task Force 2 to Afghanistan this month, the largest contingent of special forces Canada has ever sent overseas, the National Post has learned.
Between 75 and 100 soldiers of JTF-2 will arrive just ahead of a 2,000-member Canadian battle group that is deploying to the restive southern province of Kandahar amid growing warnings of high casualties and a looming enemy offensive in the region.
Defence sources familiar with the mission said the commandos will arrive in the Kandahar region by the end of the month, part of an unprecedented surge of troops by the secretive JTF-2. "They're coming in in a big way," one source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "This is more boots on the ground than they've ever had in one place before."
Captain Stephanie Godin, a military spokeswoman, would neither confirm nor deny the unit's deployment to Afghanistan. "We can't confirm the numbers or specific missions of JTF-2 for reasons of operational security," she said.
But military experts said it only makes sense to "flood the zone" with special forces after new warnings from key NATO allies to expect high casualties from the Kandahar mission.
"The situation's going to get more hazardous there, so they'd be foolish not to flood the whole area with special forces in advance of the deployment," said John Thompson, the director of the MacKenzie Institute, a Toronto-based think-tank specializing in defence and security issues. "The first few weeks of any deployment is one of the most dangerous times for the troops."
British officials have warned the public to expect high casualties from the mission to Kandahar, a hotbed of support for Afghanistan's former Taliban rulers and their al-Qaeda allies.
The Dutch, who were to provide a third of the troops for the Canadian-led Task Force Aegis in Kandahar, may pull out of the mission entirely. And Australia, which has an estimated 190 special forces in Afghanistan, is considering delaying a 200-strong military reconstruction team that was to be sent to the south.
However, Alain Pellerin, director of the Canadian defence lobby group Conference of Defence Associations, said the Dutch will likely join the mission despite their misgivings.
But he said the dangers should not be understated. "In the south of Afghanistan you're really moving into bandit country," he said. "The Americans have lost more than 100 soldiers there in the past year -- the war is not over in the south."
"There's bound to be encounters with fairly large groups of Taliban. ... The Canadians and other NATO troops will be a magnet. They'll be tested as soon as they arrive, I'm sure."
The large Canadian force will be comprised of soldiers from the Alberta-based Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, the same regiment that served in Afghanistan in 2001-02.
Mr. Thompson said the JTF-2 is being sent in such large numbers to help the Princess Patricia's deal with the Taliban threat.
The deployment to Kandahar would represent between a third and half of JTF-2's total strength. The military has never officially acknowledged the total strength of the special forces unit, based in a facility just outside Ottawa, but most observers place their numbers at between 200 and 250 soldiers.
"Al-Qaeda and the Taliban are planning a major offensive starting sometime in March -- a really big offensive," he said. "So this is the time for special forces to be out there looking for concentrations of Taliban forces, supply lines [or] infiltration routes and go after them."
The Canadian military has acknowledged that JTF-2 has been working with U.S. and allied special forces in the Kandahar region since last summer but has given no details.
Last month, a military spokesman issued a rare news release on the unit revealing that three of its members had been wounded in a firefight in Afghanistan, one of them seriously.
The Canadian Forces again refused to release any details about the incident, believed to be the first time a JTF-2 soldier had been wounded in a combat operation.
However, U.S. officers in Afghanistan issued a statement saying that three coalition troops -- believed to be JTF-2 commandos -- had been wounded during a Dec. 4 attack on enemy forces in a small village north of Kandahar. The American news release said 13 Taliban fighters were killed in that battle.
There has been a steady increase in fighting over the past year, particularly in the south.
The Sunday Times reported this week that British military intelligence officers expect that trend to continue and predict their troops could sustain losses on a scale not seen since the 1982 Falklands war, when 255 British servicemen died.
The British officers say Taliban and al-Qaeda forces in southern Afghanistan are preparing for a large offensive soon after the Canadian and British troops arrive, backed by sophisticated weapons and training from Iran and Iraq.
Britain is contributing a battle group to the Canadian-led task force in Kandahar and is to set up its own task force in the neighbouring province of Helmand, for a total of about 3,000 troops.
The warnings of increased danger in the region have given the Dutch pause. Their Cabinet approved the deployment of 1,400 Dutch troops, including Apache attack helicopters and F-16 fighter-bombers, last month, but the full Dutch parliament will vote later this month on whether to withdraw that commitment.