Afghans listen to speeches after raising the Afghan national flag at an administrator department in Marjah, Helmand province south of Kabul, Afghanistan on Thursday, Feb. 25, 2010.
A well respected and knowledgeable reporter from the CBC has this to say about the current situation in Afghanistan.
Brian Stewart of the CBC.
These are just Bits and pieces for full story go to:
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/02/24/f-vp-stewart.html
Dry run
Think the current, weeks-long fighting around Marjai in Helmand province is a hard slog? This is just a dry run for the far larger operations now being planned for the more populated areas of Kandahar, the Taliban heartland.
Brig.-Gen. Daniel Mnard, the Canadian head of the coalition forces in Kandahar, talking with American commanders in December 2009. (Colin Perkel/Canadian Press)
That includes Kandahar city, population 500,000, which has always been a primary object of the insurgents.
What's more, this allied counterattack is to be undertaken by Canadian, U.S. and Afghan troops in the notorious heat of a Kandahar summer and on a scale far larger than what's going on in Helmand.
Since we Canadians have not been paying much attention to Afghanistan of late, it's worth emphasizing that what we are contemplating here would be the most significant Canadian infantry action in almost 60 years, since Korea.
U.S. soldiers will take the lead, but expect a huge Canadian effort alongside.
The U.S. has even taken the extremely rare move of putting four of its battalion-size units under the Canadian Joint Command in Kandahar.
That gives Canadian Brig.-Gen. Daniel Mnard the comparative luxury of 5,200 troops to direct instead of the usual 2,800. His expanded group will fight alongside 20,000 U.S. troops now pouring in for the offensive.
The Canadian military, meanwhile, appears to have squeezed every able body it can get from its reserves and regular forces to maintain the endless rotations of soldiers and support personnel to Kandahar.
Whether you are for or against Canada's involvement here, it is hard not to admire the extraordinary professionalism and commitment that so many Canadians are putting forward, and under such extremely demanding and often dangerous circumstances.
Equally remarkable is that, in reality, the Canadian military is being asked to gear up for two contrasting missions at the same time.
First it must launch its largest military offensive of the war this summer, likely a costly one, to chase out the Taliban. Then, officers must reverse course 180 degrees to pull off the complete withdrawal of all Canadian troops from the combat zone in less than a year, in accordance with Parliament's decree.
This is very foreboding news for our troops and indeed for the Invisible Army at home concerned about their loved one.
A prayer or two will certainly not harm our troops, so I ask whether you Pray at Church, Chapel, Synagogue, Temple or indeed the Mosque a prayer for our troops and if you are a non believer then please think of our troops and the dangers they face daily.
Tomorrow Night Support the Troops Bingo at the HMCS Queen Charlotte Buiding. Be there or be Square Best of Luck to Charlene and her Team of Heroes.
Nil Sine Labore
Robby
