Frankly, I suspect the spin doctors are letting their egos get the better of them ... (I really don‘t get a warm and fuzzy feeling from comments such as "This will blow the socks off the retired amigos").
Personally, I always presumed Canada would have better reasons than pettiness or spite for deploying troops ... and besides - get real - it‘s only a very small battalion - not even a brigade! Taken in the context of NATO, this wouldn‘t blow the socks off a Barbie doll (... which makes me wonder what certain "unnamed officials" were playing with ...)
January 5, 2002
Canadians to join Afghan force
Contingent of up to 900 combat troops ‘will blow socks off‘ defence critics: official
Robert Fife, Ottawa Bureau Chief
National Post
OTTAWA - Canada will contribute between 700 and 900 combat troops to an expanded U.S.-led stabilization force in Afghanistan, senior government officials said last night.
The Canadian soldiers, mostly from the Edmonton-based Princess Patricia‘s Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI), will not join the first phase of the United Nations-authorized security force being assembled by Britain to guard the Afghan capital of Kabul, sources said.
The Canadian troops will form part of a separate U.S.-led force that will be deployed to other parts of Afghanistan. Details of the deployment are still being worked out by Canadian and U.S. military planners in Tampa, Fla., where General Tommy Franks, commander of U.S. Central Command, is based.
Art Eggleton, the Minister of National Defence, who has been deeply involved in the secret discussions with the Americans, will unveil the details of the agreement on Monday in Ottawa.
"The government will make an announcement on Monday of ground force participation within the next few weeks," a senior official told the National Post. "There will be a substantial contribution somewhere between 700 to 900 [soldiers]. It is going to be big."
Canada had been asked by Britain to send 200 to 300 troops as part of the 17-nation contingent that will act as peacekeepers in Kabul, but this request was rejected. The Canadian government insisted on deploying a self-contained combat-ready battalion trained to work as a cohesive group, particularly in the face of what is likely to be a dangerous situation in Afghanistan.
Officials say the contribution of as many as 900 infantry troops will undermine the criticism of opposition critics and former military officers who have claimed Canada‘s allies would reject Canadian troops because the country‘s military is ill-equipped and poorly trained.
"This will blow the socks off the retired amigos,"one official said, referring to some former officers who argued Canada‘s military had become so weakened by years of underfunding that British and U.S. forces had little use for the Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan.
The PPCLI was put on 48 hours‘ notice on Nov. 14 when Jean Chrétien, the Prime Minister, announced Canada was ready to send 1,000 troops to Afghanistan.
The alert status was subsequently downgraded to seven days during negotiations to create an interim government in the war-ravaged country and while there was jockeying among Britain and other allies over the make-up of the 17-nation, 4,500-troop security force.
Officials say the PPCLI is ready to move on a week‘s notice and a small advance party could go on 48 hours‘ notice.
The stabilization force has a tougher set of rules of engagement than are normally given to UN peace forces. The mission was authorized under Chapter 7 of the UN charter, which covers peace enforcement efforts as opposed to peacekeeping.
Afghanistan‘s interim government yesterday formally endorsed an agreement that will pave the way for the multinational peacekeeping force.
The agreement, signed by Major-General John McColl of Britain and Yunus Qanooni, Afghanistan‘s Interior Minister, is worded to give the British-led International Assistance Security Force the autonomy and authority to protect itself and its six-month mission.
A substantial part of the force is expected to be in place by mid-January.
The agreement represents yet another move forward on the accord reached in Bonn last month by various Afghan factions on how to move their country from war to peace.
But by UN mandate, the peacekeepers will be confined to Kabul and its vicinity, which increasingly seems an island of security in a relatively lawless country.
Maj.-Gen. McColl did not rule out extending the force to other parts of the country, but said it would require a new UN mandate.
Stephanie Bunker, a UN spokeswoman, said there were Taliban fighters and "Arab and other elements" in and around Kandahar and the city was rocked regularly by rocket and gunfire.
In western Afghanistan, the situation south of Herat has become increasingly hazardous. UN personnel are not travelling south of Shindand, about 80 kilometres south of Herat, and gunmen have been disrupting seed distribution in Farah province, she said.
One official in Ottawa said the Canadian soldiers may find themselves handling assignments "above and beyond" traditional peacekeeping roles. He would not elaborate.
Canada already has 40 to 50 members of the JTF-2 anti-terrorist unit working with other special forces in Kandahar. Five Canadian ships are also in the Arabian Sea, escorting U.S. aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships helping to interdict ships to ensure terrorist suspects don‘t escape the area by sea.
A Canadian Airbus transport has been flying cargo into the region and two CP-140 Aurora maritime patrol planes will help in surveillance operations.
Canada currently has about 1,700 military personnel assigned to Operation Apollo, the Canadian name for the international coalition against terrorism set up after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
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(and, another view)
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Childish behaviour
By ADAM SCOTT
Saturday, January 5, 2002 – Globe and Mail
Ottawa -- I didn‘t expect anything to be more embarrassing to Canada than the government‘s whining when George W. Bush failed to include us in the list of countries he thanked following Sept. 11. I was wrong. The whining and excuses made following the rejection of Canadian peacekeepers is the most shameful and childish behaviour I‘ve ever seen.
If Canada does end up sending peacekeepers to Afghanistan, it will be due to a patronizing gesture from the British, just as Mr. Bush, in a follow-up statement, patronizingly said that it was unnecessary to thank a brother. He might as well have patted us on the head.
During the planning of the peacekeeping mission, Canada has behaved like a little kid at the neighbourhood ballpark waving his arms and shouting "pick me," despite lacking the skills of the other players and not even having a ball glove. If we weren‘t the little brother of the biggest kid on the block, we wouldn‘t get in the game at all.
Becoming a respected player on the international team requires commitment to skills development, acquisition of appropriate equipment and a willingness to act decisively. Canada just doesn‘t have what it takes, regardless of how loudly we yell "pick me."
