Glad you liked it. larry
On 3/13/06, Loathe <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I've got a buddy who's a recon guy out of CFB Edmonton that's going to be > going over pretty soon. > > It's good that the Canadians are working that area. The locals seem to get > along with them sooner than us. They expect us to throw money at > everything, while they expect the Canadians just to help. > > Good article man, thanks. > > > -- > Tim Heald > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > 703-300-3911 > -----Original Message----- > From: Larry C. Lyons [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Monday, March 13, 2006 5:37 PM > To: CF-Community > Subject: For Tim: Kandahar Road Trip > > Tim, > > I thought you'd find this article about Canadians soldiers operating in the > Kandahar region interesting: > http://www.antiwrap.com/?939 > > On patrol near Kandahar: The dangers and the diplomacy CBC News Online | > March 7, 2005 Road Stories From The National March 6, 2006 > Reporter: Patrick Brown > Producer: Kas Roussy > The big Canadian presence in Afghanistan had been in the capital, Kabul. Now > it's more than 400 kilometres to the south in Kandahar, which is Taliban > country. > > Colonel Ian Hope, the commander of the Canadian Battle Group, and Regimental > Sgt.-Major Randy Northrop give the final briefing. > > They've been soldiering together for 20 years. Col. Hope outlines what to do > if things go wrong. > > "Throwing rocks (at) the carrier, no problem at all," he says. "Then, if > there's trouble," Hope says, "Look to me. I will dismount. RSM > (Northrop) will mitigate the rest of the column, any damage that's done to > the column. Organize the column if there's no damage. Be prepared to move, > dismounted, with me towards the threat." One key to this mission is to reach > out to local people. > > "We're there for us to help them," says Sgt.-Major Northrop. > > He reminds everyone what to do if things go right. > > "They are not our enemy, the people that we will be engaging on these type > of ventures. They're not our enemy. Don't give them the steely-eyed cold > look, all right. They don't deserve it." > > Heading north from Kandahar, the convoy passes construction crews rebuilding > the road. It is a vital supply line for Canadian outposts and for Dutch > troops that are moving into neighbouring Oruzgan province. The road is > vulnerable to Taliban attack. > > "The road here, the Tirin Kot Road, runs from Kandahar City, which is about > 45, 50 kilometres to the south, to Tirin Kot, which is about 25 kilometres > to the north," one soldier says. "Taliban leaders are in those caves. We > know they visit this village. We know there are safe houses in some of these > villages." > > Today, Col. Hope isn't looking for enemies, he's looking for friends. > There are frequent stops for meetings known as "shuras" with local leaders, > trying to build bridges, discussing alternatives to growing opium poppies. > > "I'm going to ask the district leader to identify which villages are growing > poppies, which we can change to these fruit trees in the next three, four, > five weeks," Col. Hope says. > > The shura is interrupted by the arrival of a district security chief > concerned that the men guarding the road construction are intruding on his > jurisdiction. > > "They should take care of their own project," he says, "everything else is > our responsibility." > > Col. Hope is keen to keep the peace between local rivals. "We need his > security forces because of the Taliban," he says, promising to keep the road > contractor in line. > > In the middle, trying to help Canadian soldiers and Afghan villagers to find > common ground, is the colonel's interpreter, Bashir, a former Vancouver > teacher. > > "I'm an Afghan-Canadian. By coming here, I actually do something for both > countries. Yeah, I love this country. I want to do something. > These people, they suffered a lot. I know what they went through," > Bashir says. > > People gather when the convoy stops. > > When a Canadian convoy arrives for the first time, the villagers are > sometimes suspicious, even fearful. But with several return visits, several > long conversations over tea, and a few gifts, the welcome gets warmer every > time. > > The convoy makes an unscheduled stop to help out farmers with a tractor > stuck in a dried out riverbed. This is more of a neighbourly helping hand > than a combat operation, but combat operations will get nowhere if local > people aren't on the Canadians' side. They got a chilly reception here a few > weeks ago, for example. > > "It was pretty cold, pretty wary, not very trustful, but little acts like > this go a long way," says one of the soldiers. > > By late afternoon, it's time to make camp and test the guns. > > The day ends as it began, with a briefing about what comes next. > > As night falls, sentries are posted, including the best sentry of all, the > radar mast known as "the barber chair," which can spot anything that moves > for 30 kilometres. > > It keeps watch while the camp sleeps. > > > -- > Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and > he betrays instead of serving you if he sacrifices it to your opinion. > > Edmond Burke > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:199981 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
