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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| Canada sends fresh troops to Afghanistan |
| 2004-07-26 |
| About 60 members of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry are heading to Afghanistan on Monday for six months. These soldiers, part of the 3rd Battalion and 600 other soldiers from Western Canada will replace a battalion from Quebec's Royal 22nd Regiment. Their duties will include assisting patrols in the Kabul area and one set of 15 soldiers will help train members of the new Afghan army. One corporal believes this battle group will find a friendlier climate in Afghanistan compared to the hostilities faced in 2002, but that could change with a fall election approaching. In late June, suspected Taliban guerrillas stopped a bus in the southern province of Uruzgan and killed 16 people who were carrying voter registration cards. Prime Minister Paul Martin has said Canada will maintain a scaled-back military presence in Afghanistan at least until the summer of 2005. A token presence at best, but probably all that Canada can afford. |
| Posted by:Rafael |
| #14 Well we did buy 28 new helicopters. |
| Posted by: Rafael 2004-07-26 11:18:38 PM |
| #13 The treatment of the Canadian in Iranian court was disgraceful. But will the Canadians stand up for themselves? |
| Posted by: Capt America 2004-07-26 11:05:23 PM |
| #12 We could use some Canadiens in Iraq, eh. It's the right thing to do yet Canada turns away, why? When the Iran thing hits the fan will Canada, it's people, be ready or will they snoot? |
| Posted by: Lucky 2004-07-26 8:56:29 PM |
| #11 Anon5902, you may be right. Chretien never confirmed or denied that Canadian soldiers were involved in such operations as AWACS, for instance. And it was the Canadian special forces escorting the perps from Afghanistan to Gitmo, as that famous photo revealed (Toronto Star??). Nothing to do with Iraq, but a little-known fact nonetheless. |
| Posted by: Rafael 2004-07-26 5:36:08 PM |
| #10 #4, Three infantry regiments of three battalions each. Three armoured regiments - upgraded Leopard 3s (I think). Then like a dozen or so reserver regiments that exist mostly on paper - maybe another two or three battalions combined. We had about a 1,000 troops in Afghanistan in 2001. The troops leaving now are the second rotation of 2,000. Our contribution is small (and shameful) BUT, even during the Iraq War we had the largest military presence in the mid east after the US and the UK (ie more than the Aussies). Not bad for being against the war! |
| Posted by: Anonymous5902 2004-07-26 5:03:31 PM |
| #9 Not Canadian, but they have exceeded the contributions of the French and other "so called" allies in Afganistan. |
| Posted by: Capt America 2004-07-26 3:44:43 PM |
| #8 Hell, take the rest of the day off. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-07-26 2:00:59 PM |
| #7 NO! Ima not going to. |
| Posted by: Lucky 2004-07-26 1:47:58 PM |
| #6 LOL Lucky. Get back to work! |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-07-26 12:02:23 PM |
| #5 60 ya say, eh! All good men too methinks. If it wasn't an olympic year, (outfitting a team is staggering) I'd bet Canada could double that. Hopefully, there wont be any more NATO commitments for awhile, eh? |
| Posted by: Lucky 2004-07-26 11:59:49 AM |
| #4 Rex my understanding is the Canada has 9 battalions of active duty infantry.... 3 deployed, 3 training and 3 nearly ready. Is that true or exaggerated? |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-07-26 11:33:25 AM |
| #3 I agree, Rafael, this is as good as it gets for what Canada has to offer Afghanistan. That idiot Chretien so decimated the Cdn. military that if there were an emergency[terrorism] in the country, at best or so I read, Canada could scramble 5000 men to respond the crisis. Think about it - a country of over 30 Million people with a broad sea-to-sea area and Canada has 5000 military on hand to cope. No doubt the USA would help, but that's not the point. The Liberal Party of Canada wasted tons of $ on useless crap like there was no tomorrow. Gun registry,Romanow medicare report, bullying in public schools report, museum in Chretien's backwater hometown...hopeless...zero for the military. Yes, #2, Canadian snipers are the best! |
| Posted by: rex 2004-07-26 11:19:50 AM |
| #2 Hopefully a few ore snipers.Those Canuck snipers gave a good accounting of the bad guys. |
| Posted by: raptor 2004-07-26 10:08:57 AM |
| #1 Perhaps token, true -- but what will they actually be doing? I won't complain about troop training, patrol and election protection duties. |
| Posted by: Edward Yee 2004-07-26 3:09:26 AM |