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CANinKandahar

This version was saved 13 years, 8 months ago View current version     Page history
Saved by milnewstbay@yahoo.ca
on July 20, 2010 at 7:37:04 am
 

News

Updated ~12:30UTC and ~01:30UTC

Background Information & Research Information

 


20 Jul 10

Robert Semrau Murder Court Martial:  Cleared of Murder Charges, Guilty of Behaving in a disgraceful manner, Sentencing to Follow - More - more - more - more - more - more - more - more

 

Canada's Post-2011 Mission in AFG:  CAN Foreign Affairs Minister:  We Want a Strong AFG Army, Police Force by 2014 (But We're Still Leaving in 2011)

 

Khadr Trial:  "Omar Khadr agrees to be defended by U.S. lawyer"

 

"Nine police personnel were killed and several injured in separate incidents in Kandahar and Uruzgan provinces during the last twenty-four hours"

 

Blog Watch:  "Today, culture trumps the idea of universal rights. But not in the minds of many of the women we as Canadians have belittled by listening too seriously to the claim that abuses and misogyny in other cultures are somehow acceptable." (h/t to Brian Platt)

 

Kabul Conference:  Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister in AFG for Kabul Conference - CAN Foreign Minister Lays Out Reconciliation Rules - Analyst on Reintegration Plan:  "It is impossible to envisage this plan being actually implemented, but very easy to see how the money will get spent" - More - More on the Conference Karzai Speech (PDF) - "Afghan forces to take lead by 2014: Karzai" - More - more - "More plans and programs, but what has happened to the earlier ones?"

 

Taliban Propaganda Watch (links only to non-terrorist sites):  NDS agent allegedly assassinated in Kandahar City

 

New Report: "Although the Taliban remain a largely Pashtun movement in terms of their composition, they have started making significant inroads among other ethnic groups"


 

19 Jul 10

"Soldiers in the Panjwaii district west of Kandahar city are getting the full impact of foreign fighters coming in for the summer fighting season." - "Danger in the desert for Canadians in Afghanistan"

 

"After months of complaints from NATO troops about strict rules of engagement, Canada's trigger-pullers are expressing universal approval of a new written tactical directive from Brig.-Gen. Jon Vance that clarifies when soldiers in Task Force Kandahar can shoot at the Taliban."

 

Kandahar PRT Handy Man Assassinated - More

 

Big Man in Kandahar: "Mainly the Taliban want to have an address .... they want to show something this summer. To show they are still around. That is why there is a good need for a military operation."

 

"Military police records describe spousal sexual assault, hitting, shoving and screaming matches on or near Canadian Forces bases — family violence that counsellors link to repeated tours in Afghanistan." - More

 

" 'Little Woman' from Canada raises big funds for Afghan teachers" - Little Women for Little Women in Afghanistan web site

 

Robert Semrau Murder Court Martial:  "Deliberations in Semrau trial continue" - More - more

"Afghanistan's ambassador to Canada says Tuesday's international conference on Afghanistan will focus on how Afghans intend to take more responsibility"

 

"An Australian CH-47 Chinook helicopter was fired upon by insurgents .... as it was taking off from a coalition patrol base in the Arghandab Valley region of Kandahar." - "Having worked closely with Australian forces during the past four years, the Netherlands (has) officially passed command of a patrol base in the Chora Valley, Uruzgan Province, to the Afghan National Army (ANA) and Combined Team-Uruzgan (CT-U)"

 

Taliban Propaganda Watch (links only to non-terrorist sites):  80+ NATO, AFG deaths claimed in RC-S, SW attacks alleged by Taliban

 

"Gurkha ordered back to UK after beheading dead Taliban fighter" - More - "A communiqué containing a blueprint for British troops to pull out from Afghanistan in four years' time has been leaked ahead of a major international conference this week"


 

18 Jul 10

"With Canada set to begin its troop pullout from Afghanistan next year some veterans are reflecting on the Afghan mission."

 

"The chair of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission has asked the Harper government to leave some military trainers and mentors in the country after the scheduled withdrawal of the Canadian Armed Forces a year from now."

 

Opinion: "National Post editorial board: A job well done in Kandahar City"

 

Taliban Propaganda Watch (links only to non-terrorist sites):  Taliban Claims Strike Against Canadian Tank in Arghandab; No MSM Confirmation

 

Robert Semrau Murder Court Martial:  Jury Preparing to Consider Case - More - more - more - more - "The murder case against Capt. Robert Semrau made national headlines because it involved sensational allegations of a battlefield mercy killing. But Semrau's trial unfolded an even more compelling story: that of four soldiers faced with a searing moral crisis. Each man must now live with the decisions he made." - More

 

"Meet ‘Team Canada' — the last major aid group remaining in Kandahar takes a uniquely daring approach to the struggle for Afghanistan, operating almost invisibly on a mission to put tens of thousands of Afghans to work" - More - Free Range International Blog, Tracking Some of Team Canada's Work

 

"A powerful blast rocked Taliban birthplace Kandahar in south Afghanistan Sunday morning, killing three persons and injuring two others" - Reporters: "Taliban rocket attacks rise at Kandahar airbase" - "Insurgents Captured, Killed in .... Kandahar and Zabul Provinces" - Updates from Kandahar

 

Mullah Omar's Latest:  Kill Anyone Co-operating with ISAF, AFG Gov't - More - more

 

"Most in south Afghanistan believe NATO operations are bad for locals" - ICOS Survey: News Release - Report (PDF)

 

17 Jul 10

Michael James Alexander Seggie, 1986-2008, R.I.P.: "The decision to name a lake after Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews in his native Manitoba was not met with universal approval, as the mother of a fallen soldier believes her son should have received the honor before the hockey star."

 

"Afghan summer causes spike in water demand "

 

"Hundreds of Afghanistan contractor deaths go unreported"

 

"55 percent of Afghans surveyed by the International Council on Security and Development (ICOS) thinktank believed NATO and the Afghan government were winning the war against Taliban insurgents" - "Afghan men 'mistrust' foreign troops: Survey says many think NATO forces are occupiers intending to harm Islam"

 

"How Tribal Are the Taleban?  Afghanistan’s largest insurgent movement between its tribal roots and Islamist ideology" (PDF)

 

"NATO Launches Afghan Intelligence - Sharing Drive"

 

16 Jul 10

Michael James Alexander Seggie, 1986-2008 and Lane William Thomas Watkins, 1987-2007, R.I.P.:  "The mothers of two Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan are leading a growing chorus of voices decrying the Manitoba government's decision to expedite the naming of a lake after 22-year-old hockey star Jonathan Toews, an honour commonly bestowed upon casualties of war." - More - more - more - MB Protocol Officer: "The process for naming a lake after Jonathan is completely separate from the process used when a soldier is killed in Afghanistan" - More - Editorial:  "Honours for Toews a bit rich" 

 

"Since Brigadier-General Jon Vance took command in June, Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan are finding it easier to fight insurgents"

 

"Canada relinquished command of Kandahar City in southern Afghanistan to the US army's 82nd Airborne Division" - More - more - more - more

 

Book Coming on CAN Engineers in AFG - More

 

Khadr Trial:  "Canadians Remain Split on Guantanamo Inmate"

 

"The attack this week on a major Afghan police base in Kandahar that killed nine — including three American soldiers — was the best planned and most advanced that U.S. soldiers who fought it off have seen in the past year"

 

15 Jul 10

"Three 'R's a must for Afghan National Army"

 

Operation MALAJAT: "The first fully Afghan-led operation in ISAF Regional Command (South)"

 

Work Begins on Wounded Warrior's House in Sudbury

 

Blog Watch:  Study Shows CAN, NLD Forces Right about Using Tanks in COIN

 

CAN Detainee Fracas:  "The federal government appointed three former high-court jurists ... to a blue-ribbon panel that will examine sensitive documents in the Afghanistan detainee controversy." - Justice Canada news release

 

Khadr Trial:  Column: "Left-wing lawyers are using imprisoned Canadian as a way to undermine war on terror"

 

Taliban Assassinate Uruzgan Tribal Elder - "Day Kundi Residents Push Out Insurgents Through Local Policing Initiatives" - "The Netherlands' partnership with Australia in Uruzgan province, Afghanistan, will come to an end on August 1." - British Ghurka Rifles Troops Killed by AFG Soldier Identified

 

Fewer Bombs Being Dropped = Fewer Civvy Cas - More

 

Talkin' to the Taliban:  "Viewpoint: The US must choose to talk or fight the Taliban"

 

Taliban Propaganda Watch:  Taliban Claim 40+ ISAF Cas in Kandahar City Suicide Bomb Attack (Scribd.com Version of Suicide Attack Statement) - Reality:  Three Killed - ISAF Rejects Taliban Statement that Suicide Bombs Only Aimed at NATO or AFG Troops in Helmand

 

Taliban Training Killer Monkeys?  Chinese Media Source 1 - Chinese Media Source 2 - Taiwanese Computer Video - "The Rumor Doctor" on This One - More from "The Rumor Doctor"

Karzai OK's Plan for Village Militias - More


 

14 Jul 10

"In June 2009, then commander of international forces in Afghanistan Gen. Stanley McChrystal hailed the counterinsurgency strategy employed by Canadian troops here as a “thinking man’s effort” .... Now U.S. soldiers, who took over operations here in April, are trying to replicate the Canadian “key village” approach in other areas throughout Dand district, on the southern outskirts of Kandahar city."

 

"The former Canadian commander of troops in Afghanistan has already been penalized for an alleged relationship with a junior soldier and shouldn’t face any more punishment, his lawyer says."

 

"Insurgents Attack Afghan Police Post in Kandahar" - Eight Dead (Including 3 US Troops) - More - more

 

"Members of a U.S. Special Operations team delivered enough supplies and classroom furniture to outfit 90 students at an Afghan school in northern Kandahar province"

 

Three Royal Ghurka Rifles Killed by AFG Soldier (UK MoD) - "Hunt for rogue Afghan soldier who murdered three British servicemen" - "Rogue attack raises doubts about NATO strategy"

 

Taliban Propaganda Watch:  Taliban claim responsiblity for assassinating NDS employee in Kandahar

 

13 Jul 10

"Facelift for Canadian memorial in Afghanistan"

 

Charges Laid Against Former TF AFG Commander, Female MCPL

 

Khadr Trial:  "Feds appeal Khadr ruling" - Statement - Meanwhile, Khadr Boycotts Proceedings - More - What He Said - Fires His Lawyers, Too (Again) - More - Trial Date (For Now):  10 Aug 10

 

Blog Watch: "Our stats came out last night and make for interesting reading. The three that stood out for me are insurgent ambushes have risen while our convoy damage / destruction has fallen, at the same time as our ammo expenditure has declined. This tells me that my guards are doing an excellent job protecting and moving the convoys while also exercising professional fire discipline despite regular and sustained attacks."

 

Latest Human Rights Stats:  Taliban Killing 3 Civvies a Day (While NATO Civ Cas #s Dropping) - More - Jan-Jun 2010 Stats Summary (PDF) - More

 

"A joint ANSF and ISAF patrol found eight IEDs planted by insurgents in the vicinity of an old school in the Zharay district of Kandahar province" - Taliban Bad Boy Nailed in Uruzgan

 

Taliban Propaganda Watch:   Taliban Claims Responsiblity for Killing Four AUS Troops in Uruzgan (Only One Reported Dead by AUS)

 

Talkin' to the Taliban:  "Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, plans to seek the removal of up to 50 former Taliban members from a UN terrorism list in a bid to advance reconciliation talks." - Human Rights Watch:  Be Sure Women are Protected when Talking to Taliban - Links to Report - More - more

 

Renegade AFG Soldier Kills Three Brits in Helmand - Karzai Apologizes, Probe Underway - NATO Sec-Gen: "David Cameron’s signal of a five-year timetable for withdrawing British troops from Afghanistan risks encouraging the Taliban to step up their attacks on Western forces" - More - more

 

12 Jul 10

"The Canadian air force is planning to withdraw all of its helicopters from Afghanistan within a few weeks of the end of Canada's combat mission next July"

 

"Canadian UAVs fly 500th Afghan mission"

 

Blog Watch:  Just How Long HAS Canada's War Been?

 

Khadr Trial:  Pre-trial Hearings Beginning Today - Or Are They? - "Can a terror suspect who was captured as a teen and has spent a third of his life at Guantánamo be his own attorney? The war court will decide." - Editorial:  "Keep Khadr out of Canada"

 

Report:  Taliban Killing More Civilians - "Britain's most senior general in Afghanistan has admitted that rules for opening fire on Taliban insurgents must be "re-examined" following complaints from soldiers that they were too restrictive"

 

Taliban Propaganda Watch:  Taliban Claims Responsiblity for Alleged Assassination of Int official in Zabul

 

11 Jul 10


"Slow, deadly road to peace for U.S. troops in Kandahar"

 

CAN Detainee Fracas:  MPs Poring Over Documents

 

Blast Near Major Hotel in Kandahar - More - more - more

 

"Armed attacks on non-governmental organisations and humanitarian agencies working in Afghanistan have lessened over the past six months, not only because of their own security measures, but also because the Taliban have stopped targeting them"

 

Karzai Not Keen on Village Militias

 

10 Jul 10

New ISAF Boss Drops By to Visit CAN TF Commander - More

 

Khadr Trial:  "Khadr in limbo; Pentagon eases scribe ban"

 

Blog Watch:  "What a smashing victory we scored--both in Iraq and Afghanistan--in the first few months. If only we had left then and there, we could have left with our heads held high. The part they don't add is: screw the people who live in these countries, and screw what happens afterward."

 

AUS Soldier Killed in Uruzgan IED Blast - AUS Military Statement - Family Statement

 

Taliban Propaganda Watch:  Attacks alleged across Kandahar, Helmand & Zabul

 

9 Jul 10

'I am a piper. A soldier has died, so I must play'

 

Khadr Trial:  "Omar Khadr’s Guantanamo hearing suspended" - More - Khadr Fires Lawyers (Again) - "Khadr's Aug. 10 trial may still proceed"

 

Taliban Propaganda Watch:  Taliban claims shoot-down of helicopter in Zabul, asks why US doesn't just leave now

 

8 Jul 10

CAN Helicopter Squadron Preparing for Last ROTO in AFG

 

CAN TF Commander: Presence of foreign fighters in AFG = harder to win local support for peace, security

 

"Bid to win the Afghanistan war, one shura at a time" - Brits Teach Kids in Kandahar

 

Robert Semrau Murder Court Martial:  "Judge to instruct jury as court martial concludes" - Testimony Done - "Military ‘failed’ to prove case, Semrau’s lawyers say"

 

Khadr Trial:  "Omar Khadr axes U.S. lawyers ahead of hearing" (again)

 

Blog Watch:  "No, Afghanistan is not Northern Ireland, nor are the Taliban the IRA. But there’s definitely something to be learned here"

 

Brits Throw Another Battalion Into Helmand - "Over 3000 Dutch soldiers apply for combat badge"

 

Taliban Propaganda Watch:  Attacks alleged in Kandahar, Zabul & Helmand

 

"Al Qaeda appoints new commander for Afghanistan"

 

7 Jul 10

Kristal Giesebrecht, R.I.P.:  "Medic remembered for her love of life" - More

 

Canada's Post-2011 Mission in AFG:  "Ahmad Wali Karzai, head of the Kandahar provincial council, said he is disappointed that Canada and the United States intend to leave Afghanistan before completing the mission that they began."

 

Robert Semrau Murder Court Martial: "A Canadian captain charged with murder on the battlefield is back from Afghanistan and will be in a military courtroom Wednesday to hear the closing arguments of his case." - More - more - "Ethics of war emerge in Semrau military trial"

 

Khadr Trial "Ottawa's 'defiance' dampens hope for Khadr repatriation"

 

AFG Civil Order Police Help Keep the Peace in Kandahar - "Grenade Attacks Prompt A Partnership In Kandahar" - "Afghan National Police (ANP), assisted by international security forces, destroyed an improvised explosive device (IED) planted in a soccer field in Khakrez district in northern Kandahar Province" - "The key to success in the Afghanistan war, Sen. John McCain said yesterday, is Kandahar. But despite efforts under way to improve governance, locals say they prefer the Taliban's quick justice to corrupt local courts."

 

Think Tank Study: "In Afghanistan we find strong evidence for a revenge effect in that local exposure to ISAF generated civilian casualties drives increased insurgent violence over the long-run." - One Blogger's Read:  "Even if the insurgents possess a “total disregard for human life and the Afghan people,” as an ISAF press release reacting to this weekend’s insurgent bombings in Herat put it, Afghans effectively would rather be killed by other Afghans than foreigners."

 

Is Mullah Omar in Jail?  Yup - yup - Nope - nope - nope

 

Taliban Propaganda Watch:  30+ ISAF, AFG troops claimed killed in RC-S; 60+ claimed killed in RC-SW

 

UK Troops Moving Out of Sangin, Hand Over Control to USA - More - more - Opinion:  "Withdrawing British troops from Sangin is a propaganda coup for the Taliban "


 

6 Jul 10

Talkin' to the Taliban:  CAN Envoy to AFG: "Canada could be convinced to back plans for political reconciliation in order to bring peace to Afghanistan but only if a number of stiff conditions are met first"

 

Khadr Trial:  "Court gives feds 7 days to right Khadr wrong" - More - more - more - more - more - Federal Court Decision (PDF) - Summary (PDF)

 

Taliban Propaganda Watch:  Attacks alleged in Uruzgan, Zabul & Helmand

 

5 Jul 10

Andrew Miller, R.I.P.:  Weekend Funeral in Sudbury

 

"A Canadian soldier injured in a fatal Afghanistan blast has returned home determined to help other wounded soldiers."

 

Canada's Post-2011 Mission in AFG:  "With Canadian troops scheduled to pull out of Afghanistan next year, our continuing role could be sending bureaucrats" - "The running gag in Ottawa lately is that the looming end of the Afghan war has left Canada with a pretty little army that's all dressed up with no place to go. Those in uniform don't consider it very funny."

 

"The arrival of Gen. David Petraeus and his assumption of command of NATO forces in Afghanistan barely created a ripple for U.S. troops celebrating Independence Day in Kandahar." - More - more

 

Four AUS Troops Wounded in Uruzgan IED Blast - More - US Stryker Cav Regiment Takes the Lead in Zabul - ISAF, AFG Forces Release Civilians from Taliban Jail in Helmand

 

Taliban Propaganda Watch:  Taliban claims responsibility for Helmand national security boss assassination - Seeing More Claims of Uruzgan Attacks (Dutch - Google English)

 

Talkin' to the Taliban:  "I still believe that the general line remains what it was under McChrystal: let’s try to weaken the Taleban militarily with the ‘surge’ and then we see." - PAK Army Boss Says He Didn't Facilitate (Alleged) Talks Between AFG, Taliban - "The General must support the reconciliation process, as this is the only way leading to an honourable exit of US and NATO forces from Afghanistan."

 

NATO:  No Weapons, Ammo on PAK Convoys; Not Damaging PAK Roads

 

4 Jul 10

Nicholas Ashley Bulger, 1979-2009, R.I.P.:  Remembering, A Year Later

 

On Wounded Warriors: "Parliament's mandate for the combat mission in Kandahar expires in 12 months, but the fallout from the conflict will continue for years to come."

 

Two AUS Troops Wounded in Uruzgan IED, Firefight

 

Brits Figure 10 Years More Work in Helmand

 

Taliban Propaganda Watch:  Taliban statement on projected mineral wealth:  "In order to prolong the war, the American aggressors are persuading their allies for further stay in Afghanistan through political and monitory bribe."

 

3 Jul 10

James Patrick MacNeil, R.I.P.:  "Family members, comrades among 600 at funeral" - More

 

"It's business as usual for Canadian troops in Afghanistan as U.S. Gen. David Petraeus takes command of coalition forces in the country."

 

Taliban Propaganda Watch:  Two IED Strikes Alleged Against Canadian "Tanks"; no media confirmation

 

"IEDs sap, strengthen Canada's Afghan efforts"

 

Zhari: "Troops call it the Heart of Darkness" - "NATO officials in southern Afghanistan are admitting that two civilians, including a woman, were accidentally killed in a military operation Friday night."

 

Canada's Post-2011 Mission in AFG:  "We can leave and lose, or stay and lose. Instead, we seem inclined to declare (a partial) victory and move quietly towards the door." - "Canada's withdrawal from Afghanistan will be a lengthy, complicated process and the only thing the government will say with certainty is that all troops will be home by the end of next year" - "Our MPs shouldn't make the mistake of thinking that there's some comfy role waiting for any troops we leave in place. As Petraeus reminded us, nothing about Afghanistan is going to be easy."


 

2 Jul 10

"Canadian soldiers and civilians in Afghanistan marked Canada Day with beer, barbecue _ and a rocket attack."

 

"A ring of security was set in place on the major routes in and out of Kandahar city on Thursday - NATO's first major step to try to bring a degree of calm to Afghanistan's second largest city." - CAN Hands Off Zhari, Arghandab to US Command

 

Taliban Propaganda Watch:  Taliban’s Lies o’ the Month for June

 

"Canada pins Afghan legacy hopes on Dahla Dam"

 

Wounded Warrior Denied Elevator Access in Edmonton - More - Wounded Warrior Attends Royal Garden Party

 

Canada's Post-2011 Mission in AFG:  AFG Envoy to Canada: "Afghans will die if Canada does not play a part in the Afghanistan recovery after the planned military withdrawal in July 2011" - Senator Wallin Speaking to U.S. Audience:  "Our job is not done .... I hope we can find some flexibility in the Canadian approach"

 

Blog Watch:  Whatever Happened to Unity of Effort

 

"NATO intensifies attacks on Taliban leaders" - "Children, aged 5, used to plant Taliban bombs in Afghanistan"

 

Talkin' to the Taliban:  "The Taliban may say they have no need to enter talks, but there is little substance behind the points-scoring rhetoric" - "The Afghan Taliban has denied reports that senior officials from the group held a face-to-face meeting with Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai"

 

"Russia is willing to provide transport helicopters to assist the NATO-led military contingent fighting Taliban militants in Afghanistan"


 

1 Jul 10

James Patrick MacNeil, R.I.P.:  More on Scumbags "Interrupting" Repatriation Convoy - Accident On Route

 

Canada's Post-2011 Mission in AFG:  "The final countdown to end of Afghan mission"

 

ISAF:  Helmand Taliban District Boss Nabbed - More - more

 


Archives 

CAN in Kandahar April 2010

CAN in Kandahar March 2010

CAN in Kandahar February 2010

CAN in Kandahar January 2010

 

CAN in Kandahar December 2009

CAN in Kandahar November 2009

CAN in Kandahar October 2009

CAN in Kandahar September 2009

CAN in Kandahar August 2009

CAN in Kandahar July 2009

CAN in Kandahar July 2007


 

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