Month: September 2006

Earlier this year, The Senlis Council called Canada’s foray into Afghanistan a “suicide mission”. Today, the Council, which is a security and development policy group based in the U.K., says that the mission in Afghanistan is failing. An excerpt from its press release:

The Taliban frontline now cuts half-way through the country, encompassing all of the southern provinces, including Kandahar where over 2000 Canadian troops are deployed. Senlis Afghanistan reports  that five years after the 2001 US-led invasion, a humanitarian crisis of starvation and poverty has gripped the south of the country and that the US and UK-led failed counter-narcotics and military  policies are responsible. The subsequent rising levels of extreme poverty have created increasing support for the Taliban, who have responded to the needs of the local population.

Taliban’s return to power is a direct consequence of the flawed approach that the US-led international community has taken in Afghanistan since 2001

“When you first came here we were so glad to see you. Now we have lived with you in our country for five years and we see you tell a lot of lies and make a lot of false promises,” says a former Mujaheedin commander from Kandahar quoted in the Report.

The latest report from the Council also references Canada, with a section that seems straight out of the playbook from Jack Layton and the NDP:

Canada faced with pivotal role in Afghanistan

Canada has a vitally important role to play in Afghanistan. The high level of expertise that Canadian troops can contribute is critical to reconstruction in Afghanistan, but should be used in a radically different way to stem the vicious circle of violence in the country. Canadian troops would have more of a positive impact if involved in stabilisation and humanitarian poverty relief.

[Just out on the various newswires, distributed by the Department of National Defence]

CFB GAGETOWN, NEW BRUNSWICK–(CCNMatthews – Sept. 4, 2006) – Warrant Officer Frank Robert Mellish (LEFT), age 38, an 18-year veteran of the Canadian Forces was killed Sunday while deployed to Afghanistan.

Frank was the son of Barry and Sandra Mellish, loving husband of Kendra Mellish, and devoted father of Matthew and Koven. He is greatly missed and our family will never be the same.

Frank had always dreamed of being a soldier and joined the army right after graduating from high school. Throughout his career, Frank was a driven soldier and never one to pass up a challenge or take the easy way out. Frank set an example for everyone he served with and was highly respected by his leaders and subordinates. He served with distinction and great pride in both the Royal Canadian Regiment and the Canadian Airborne Regiment.

Frank loved NASCAR, working with his hands, and anything else that let him spend time with his boys. He spent much of his leave prior to deploying putting the finishing touches on the new family home and teaching his sons how to ride their new dirt bikes.

This was Frank's seventh deployment overseas, and his second to Afghanistan. He was aware of the risks and accepted them as part of getting the job done. Frank would not have wanted to be anywhere other than in Afghanistan serving beside the friends and fellow soldiers that he trained with. We are proud of Frank's service and accomplishments on this and previous missions.

We will sorely miss Frank and ask that Canadians continue to support the soldiers in Afghanistan and their families.

Please respect the family's request for privacy during their time of grief.

Amicicide is a term coined by U.S. Army LCol Charles Shrader for a reference book he wrote chronicling incidents in which U.S. forces killed their own or allies. Shrader’s book is one of the documents that Canadian military officers at CFB Kingston consulted as they prepared a document published last October which is aimed at helping Canadian soldiers from becoming victims in “friendly fire” incidents or firing on their own or allies.

The document is part of a periodical series called Dispatches: Lessons Learned for Soldiers. The October, 2005 issue is simply titled Fratricide.

Whatever you call it — fratricide, amicicide, ‘blue on blue’ or ‘friendly fire’ — it’s back in the news today.

So, for the record, here’s what the Canadian Forces researchers who wrote up Fratricide say in Chapter 11 of that document:

PART 11—WHAT SHOULD I DO IF MY UNIT COMES UNDER FRIENDLY FIRE?

A useful SOP [Standard Operating Procedure] for reaction to friendly fire:

• React to the Contact.  As per your unit SOPs, respond to the contact. Transmit that contact report up to your higher HQ.  It may be the first clue in identifying that you are being engaged by friendly forces.  
• Identify the Source of Fire.  Although some unit SOPs may require the immediate return of fire, you must endeavour to confirm that you are really engaging the enemy.
• Cease Fire and Report. If you realize you have fired upon friendly forces, cease fire immediately and report the incident.  Reporting is critical to ensure no further fratricide incidents take place, particularly within the (by now) confused environment.
• Provide a Visual Signal.  When engaged by friendly forces, a visual signal should be given as an identification aid.  Visual signals must be identified within Orders and would include both a day and a night signal.
• Take Protective Measures.  If under fire, take protective measures.  Moving men and/or vehicles under cover allows for protection and provides an area to conduct any necessary tactical combat casualty care.
• DO NOT RETURN FIRE.  Although the temptation is to fire upon someone firing on you, doing so only reinforces in the other person's mind that you must be the enemy.  Your actions would, in effect, confirm their expectations.

 

It was tougher in August to get visitors to drop by here: Just 34,235 unique IP addresses were recorded by the Blogware server here, down from over 50,000 in July. By comparison, nearly twice that many visitors – 59,829 — dropped by in August, 2005. Ah, well. Onwards and upwards in September.

For those that did hang around here in August, here’s the top 20 posts last month, ranked according the number of times they were viewed with the date of their original appearance here in brackets:

1. [What they said] Apple calculator a bad joke (Tue 10 Aug 2004)
2. Chrysler's Dieter Zietsche (Mon 10 Jan 2005 11:33 AM EST 
3. Jane Austen (Sat 18 Jun 2005)
4. Conservative statement on the nomination issue (Wed 16 Aug 2006)
5. Camille Paglia (Sat 18 Oct 2003)
6. Hard at work (Sat 05 Mar 2005)
7. A Porsche moment (Mon 10 Jan 2005)
8. Boeing and tactical airlift – not gonna happen (Wed 16 Aug 2006)
9. Who pays for this blog? Some disclaimers (Fri 13 Aug 2004)
10. Canada's multi-billion dollar military aircraft purchases — someone wants to steal Boeing's pie (Fri 04 Aug 2006)
11. For the record: Media pays its own way for travel with PM (Tue 01 Aug 2006)
12. Digital voice recorders (Fri 04 Aug 2006)
13. Chinooks and Globemasters: Boeing wins nearly $4 billion from Ottawa (Fri 11 Aug 2006)
14. Sitting Tory MPs gear up to defend their seats (Tue 15 Aug 2006)
15. For the record: Bill Graham, then Borys Wrzesnewskyj on Hezbollah (Mon 21 Aug 2006)
16. Harper at Vimy Ridge (Tue 18 Jul 2006)
17. Conservatives smashing opponents on fundraising (Wed 02 Aug 2006)
18. A grave at Vimy (Tue 18 Jul 2006)
19. Kennedy asks Harper to repudiate “tasteless” fundraising letters (Mon 31 Jul 2006)
20. [What they said] Mobile phone detects bad breath  (Wed 22 Sep 2004)

Folks in the capital are interested in this project: The City of Ottawa wants to build a north-south commuter rail system that would run from a shopping centre a few blocks from Parliament Hill out to a suburban development on the city’s southern edge. This week, the Canadian Transportation Agency signed off on the deal.

Some excerpts from the CTA decision:

• “the North-South light rail transit line (hereinafter the LRT) Project is not likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects taking into account the implementation of the mitigation measures proposed by the City of Ottawa. “
• “The total LRT Project consists of some 31 kilometers of twin-track electrically powered Light Rail Transit service running from its southern terminus in the future Barrhaven Town Centre to the Mackenzie King Bridge, including a link to the Macdonald-Cartier International Airport. The LRT Project will be constructed in phases. “
• “The City of Ottawa's notice of application and environmental assessment was published in local area newspapers and eight interventions from the City of Ottawa's residents or citizen/business associations in respect of the construction application were filed with the Agency. Interventions were received from Mr. Clarke, Albert/Slater Coalition, Bentall Real Estate Services, City Centre Coalition, Mr. Berthiaume, Citizens for Safe Cycling, Ms. Allogia, Crowne Plaza Ottawa and SaveOurGreenspace.”

The intervenors’ concerns can be lumped, broadly, into three areas:

• The proposed route will hurt Albert Street and Slater Street businesses in the downtown core, inhibiting pedestrian traffic and access to some buildings.
• The proposed route has not been optimized for safety.
• The proposed route does not do enough to protec the natural environment.

The City of Ottawa had replies for each of the intervenors (a summary of the objections and their responses is at the CTA link above) and, if the City didn’t satisfy the intervenors, it satisfied the three-person tribunal from the CTA which reviewed the decision.

Canada is arming it border guards; the U.S. is upping the user fees for Canadian air traveller and cargo shippers. Once we were such happy neighbours … 🙂 I reported yesterday for CTV on the border guard story. Some notes that didn’t make it into that file:

• The Conservatives say it will take ten years to train, arm, and deploy 4,400 border guards but yesterday officials could not say how many points-of-entry will get an armed guard. Canada has 1,200 points-of-entry, including 119 land crossings with the U.S., but officials with the Canada Border Services Agency and Minister of Public Safety Stockwell Day’s office did not know if the plan was to put an armed guard at each one of those 1,200 points-of-entry.
• The Conservatives announced a plan that will take ten years to fulfill but only announced funding for two years. In the run-up to last year’s election, the Conservatives often criticized the Liberals for the ten-year horizon on the Liberal daycare plan.
• In June of this year, Alain Jolicoeur, the head of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), told a Senate Committee that of the 119 land crossings with the U.S., 21 were not wired into any data network or the Internet. So, if a bad guy named David Akin showed up at one of these posts, the guard there could not run the name “David Akin” through a central database to see if I ought to be detained. Senators, at the time, were more than a little unhappy about this state of affairs. Yesterday, a CBSA official said that all 21 had now been wired up.
• The vast majority of land border crossings are single-officer posts. The CBSA said that of the 119 land border crossings, 95 are normally staffed by just one person. Including those 95 land crossings, there are a total of 138 single-officer posts. That’s an improvement over 2005 when there were 139 single-officer posts. Some crossings, as several news outlets have reported over the last year, consist of a videophone terminal where visitors are asked to phone in and identify themselves.
• Some other stats provided to in the backgrounder issued by the Prime Minister’s Office: 260,000 travellers are processed into Canada every day. In 2004, there were 621 weapons seizures, 8,711 drug seizures valued at $290–million, and currency seizures of more than $12–million that were believed to be the proceeds of crime.