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Military hopes Afghans tune in:
Radio kandahar; 'We have made advances in the security situation'
Lee Greenberg, Montreal Gazette, 2 Nov 06
Article Link (Subscription needed)
The Canadian military is launching a radio station to help
convince Afghans in the volatile south that their country is a safer
place, says the man who yesterday took command of Canada's nearly
2,200 troops stationed here.
"We have not been really good at telling our story," said
Brig.-Gen. Tim Grant. The station "will go a long way to making sure
that people realize that we have made significant advances in the
security situation ... of the average Afghan."
Grant disputed numbers showing Afghanistan is in the midst of its
bloodiest year since a U.S.-led invasion toppled the Taliban in
2001.
More than 3,000 people have died in fighting this year, including
rebels, hundreds of civilians and about 150 soldiers, it was
reported. A total of 42 Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have died
in Afghanistan since 2002 - 34 of them since March.
A suicide car bomber struck a NATO convoy yesterday, wounding two
U.S. soldiers and damaging a vehicle, while a NATO air strike killed
three suspected insurgents in the east, the Associated Press
reported.
"The professional assessment from the coalition on the ground is
that the situation is safer," Grant told reporters. "If you look at
the markets, if you look at the number of people on the roads doing
business, all of those are positive indications that people are more
comfortable with the situation in Kandahar than they were last year
or the year before."
Yet British General David Richards, NATO's top commander in
Afghanistan, told the Financial Times in an interview published
yesterday that he doesn't have enough forces to defeat the Taliban
within the next six months, but they can still make "sufficient
improvements" to keep Afghans confident in the government and
international community.
Officials say the radio station will counter the implicit promise
by rebels of a safer, more stable country - a statement military
personnel call Taliban propaganda.
There is evidence that insurgent tactics, which include suicide
bombs, roadside explosive devices and various forms of death threats
to anyone who associates with coalition troops, are stifling
development.
Members of the provincial reconstruction team in Zhari District
rarely leave their fortified compound. Interpreters live under
threat of death and have been ordered to remain on base.
Cash offers of compensation for battle-damaged homes have been
rebuffed as have offers of on-base employment.
About 40 soldiers from the Royal 22e Regiment in CFB Valcartier,
who left for Afghanistan Monday, are to provide a security force for
the PRT.
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