HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK ---------------------------
[With the exception of tiny Finland, all the nations sending combat troops to Afghanistan - the U.S., Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Turkey and Canada - are members of NATO, which has for the first time in its 52 year history invoked its Article 5 to engage in joint military operations outside of Europe. Not only have multinational forces of all key NATO members been deployed in Afghanistan, but they are also present - air force, navy and infantry - in and near Kuwait, Oman, Somalia, Sudan, Djibouti and elsewhere. If NATO's 1999 war against Yugoslavia was the opening salvo in its drive toward unlimited expansion and aggression abroad, its current international 'war against terrorism' signals a drive for world military presence.] Canada sending 700 troops to conflict Combat forces may assist in operation to secure parts of Afghan countryside By�CAMPBELL CLARK The Globe and Mail�� �� Saturday, January 5, 2002���Print Edition, Page�A1 OTTAWA -- Canadian ground troops will ship out to Afghanistan to take part in a U.S.-led coalition operation to secure parts of the Afghan countryside, a government source said yesterday. The government is expected to announce on Monday that about 700 Canadian soldiers -- mostly drawn from the 1,000-strong light-infantry battle group that was offered for an international peacekeeping force in Kabul -- will take on the mission. The Canadian troops will not be part of the British-led International Security Assistance Force of peacekeepers that will patrol the streets of the capital, but will instead be sent under the auspices of the U.S.-led coalition that launched attacks ousting Afghanistan's former Taliban regime. The forces will be mainly from the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry battalion, based in Edmonton, that was offered for the peacekeeping operation. The source said they will be sent to Afghanistan "in a few weeks." The ground troops will join about 40 soldiers from Canada's crack JTF2 antiterrorism unit who are already on the ground in Afghanistan. About 4,000 U.S. soldiers are in Afghanistan battling Taliban and al-Qaeda forces. It was not clear yesterday where in Afghanistan the Canadian ground troops will be posted, or what their task will be. One official suggested that they will be involved in sweeping mines and securing transport routes, but that was not confirmed. The deployment will be the first major commitment of Canadian troops, despite the involvement of a Canadian naval task force in the Arabian Sea with about 1,300 crew. Captain Robert Ramsay with the public relations office at the Edmonton Garrison, home of the Princess Patricias, confirmed that the unit would go to Afghanistan. "There has been no date set . . . only a deal struck that we will participate," he told Canadian Press. "We have no idea what our role would be." The Liberal government came under heavy criticism this week from opposition politicians and some former Canadian military officers when Canada was not included in the British-led international peacekeeping force that is to patrol Kabul. Some said Canada was not chosen to participate because planners doubted whether its financially strapped forces could do the job. But Canadian officers continued talks with officials from the United States and other coalition partners at the U.S. Central Command Headquarters in Tampa, Fla. The Canadian deployment was agreed upon late yesterday. Plans for the British-led ISAF were being finalized yesterday without Canadian involvement. A British spokesman identified eight countries as "substantial" contributors to the 4,500-member force, and said the "fine details" were being arranged. The force will include contingents from France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey and Finland. An agreement signed yesterday with Afghanistan's interim administration restricts the British-led force to patrols in the capital, Kabul, and surrounding areas. The condition had led many critics to complain it will be too restricted in its mandate, because the soldiers must remain in Kabul, one of the safest areas of Afghanistan. Some in the interim Afghan administration, notably Defence Minister Mohammed Fahim, had called for a small, low-profile force that would not challenge Afghan authority. However, Afghan interim Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah insisted yesterday the ISAF is welcome, and the leader of the interim administration, Hamid Karzai, echoed that sentiment at the signing of the peacekeeping agreement. "We hope that this signature will bring to Afghanistan the stability and peace that we needed for so many years," Mr. Karzai said. Some warned that the restrictions remained too tight, however, and welcomed the prospect of another ground mission to secure more unruly areas of the country. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send FREE video emails in Yahoo! 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