[R-G] Canada to send 200 more troops to Afghanistan

[Anthony Fenton]

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/War_Terror/2008/07/26/pf-6272556.html
July 26, 2008
Emerson: Canada to send 200 more troops to Afghanistan
By Alexander Panetta, THE CANADIAN PRESS

Foreign Affairs Minister David Emerson listens to a question during a  
press conference in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Saturday, July 26, 2008.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Canada may expand its troop commitment in  
Afghanistan by almost 10 per cent in order to service the helicopters  
about to be deployed to the region, Foreign Affairs Minister David  
Emerson indicated Saturday.

Emerson told a Kabul news conference that while major troop additions  
are expected from other NATO countries, Canada will also be making a  
smaller contribution.

He appeared to be referring to the half-dozen helicopters Canada  
expects to have in place by February.

Government officials have pointed out that those aircraft will require  
pilots, mechanics, and ground-and air-traffic support. But until now  
they have not put a number on the additional staff requirements.

Emerson made the remarks at the end of a two-day trip to Afghanistan -  
his first visit since becoming foreign minister this spring.

He was asked whether Canada would send more soldiers to Kandahar. He  
replied that the force could expand by 200 members - an eight per cent  
increase from current numbers.

"Canada has had 2,500 troops here in Afghanistan," Emerson said.

"That number could expand to 2,700 as we put more equipment here in  
theatre. So we're really talking about a significant increase in  
contribution from other countries and that contribution is forthcoming."

Any major new deployment would be led by the U.S., which appears set  
to send thousands more troops to Afghanistan on top of the 36,000  
Americans already there.

Canada's own increase would seek to address its limited air  
capability, which would allow for safer troop movements above the bomb- 
infested roads of rural Kandahar.

With no helicopters of its own, Canada frequently relies on lifts from  
its allies. Emerson himself hitched a ride with a British helicopter  
crew to tour a Canadian reconstruction site during his visit.

The helicopter purchase was one of the key recommendations made by the  
recent Manley panel on Canada's role in Afghanistan.

The Canadian Forces now expect to have six Chinook helicopters as well  
as unmanned aerial vehicles in the skies within six months.

Defence sources have said the helicopters will cost "a couple of  
hundred million dollars," above the government's long-planned $4.7  
billion purchase of 16 other Chinooks.

Emerson's first trip to Afghanistan offered some sharp contrasts with  
those by his predecessor.

He did not hand out cupcakes, did not cause a diplomatic incident, and  
did not falsely declare that insurgent attacks were down - all of  
which Maxime Bernier did during his two trips here.

Emerson became foreign minister following Bernier's ouster from  
cabinet this spring, after one final gaffe in which he forgot his  
Afghan briefing documents at his girlfriend's house.

During his tour, Emerson said he's been struck by the magnitude of the  
challenges in Afghanistan.

He suggested the Taliban threat could last for years and that the  
country's biggest problems will not be solved by the time Canada ends  
its current combat mission in 2011.

"The insurgency is not going to be amenable to a short-term fix,"  
Emerson told a Kandahar news conference Friday.

"The Taliban is not going to go away in my opinion - not in the near  
term. . .

"It will be something that will have to be managed with great care,  
and vigour, for a long time to come."

He described the daunting task of co-ordinating efforts between four  
Canadian government departments, between military and civilian staff,  
and between Afghanistan and its neighbours.

The emerging 3-D approach to foreign interventions - combining  
defence, development, and diplomacy - has thrust together a diverse  
group of Canadians in one unprecedented project.

They include diplomats from Foreign Affairs, aid workers at the  
Canadian International Development Agency, soldiers and engineers from  
the Canadian Forces, agents from Correctional Service Canada, and  
police trainers from the RCMP and other forces.

"I've been struck by the magnitude of the managerial challenge,"  
Emerson said.

"But nevertheless I found it to be very satisfying in the sense that I  
think we've come a long way."

Emerson concluded his visit with a meeting with President Hamid Karzai  
on Saturday.

He said he leaves the country feeling optimistic that Canadian efforts  
will bring progress, as personnel will soon have clear development  
goals to be set out over the coming month.

After a series of delays the government will finally publish its long- 
awaited benchmarks for the country over the next three to five weeks,  
he said.

They will set out a series of statistical objectives Canada hopes to  
reach by 2011 in areas like education, training for Afghan forces, and  
development initiatives.

The most expensive of Canada's construction projects will be the $50  
million refurbishment of a dam that would irrigate land for thousands  
of farmers in the restive rural areas north of Kandahar city.

Emerson arrived by British helicopter for a tour of the Dahla dam site  
Friday, before holding a four-hour meeting with Canadian personnel  
ranging from the ambassador to top military and civilian officials.

He cited the dam as one source of optimism.

He said he was inspired by the lushness of the land next to the  
Arghandab river, and by the farming potential for the surrounding  
region once the dam is repaired.

Emerson also said he was heartened that the dam appeared to be in  
better shape than he previously believed, and expressed confidence  
that insurgent attacks can be staved off during the construction.

A similar project to build a power-generating dam in neighbouring  
Helmand province has prompted vicious gun battles between the  
insurgents and British troops.

Such optimism aside, the foreign minister laid out some of the  
challenges Canada faces.

Insurgent attacks have risen drastically every year and are up again  
this year; the Taliban are burning down schools as fast as the  
international community can build them; and security concerns have  
forced a number of Kandahar businesses to close.

Emerson avoided citing any of those grim stats, and simply described  
the increasing violence as part of a cyclical ebb-and-flow.

But he offered a more sober assessment than the one Bernier provided  
during his visit here last fall, when he defied all empirical evidence  
by declaring Taliban attacks were down.

"We have a very acute sense of realism as to what can be accomplished  
by Canada in the next few years - culminating in 2011," Emerson said.

"Will the job be completely done for the whole country by 2011?  
Clearly not."