Well it's been a long time coming. They still suck shit and are more or less as useless as tits on a bull compared to Western troops but it's something. And hopefully it will help take some of the pressure off of us. They are of course going to take heavy casualties. That's if the Taliban just don't ignore them in favour of continuing to wear us down.O'Connor points to signs of hope in Afghanistan
Updated Sun. Jul. 22 2007 12:19 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
If all goes according to plan, Canada could begin backing away from its heavy combat role in the south of Afghanistan in about six months as the Afghan National Army matures -- something it is showing signs of doing, said Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor.
O'Connor was responding to new poll numbers that suggest support within Canada for the deployment is dropping while opposition is rising.
According to the Strategic Counsel poll conducted for CTV and The Globe and Mail, 59 per cent of Canadians are now against sending troops to Afghanistan, up from 56 per cent a year ago, while 36 per cent support the deployment, down from 39 per cent.
During an appearance on CTV's Question Period that aired Sunday, O'Connor said those numbers are largely due to Canadians' lack of clear understanding of Canada's successes in Afghanistan, as well as the challenges faced there.
He said there is reason to believe that the situation in Afghanistan is improving, and Canada's frontline role will soon be reduced.
O'Connor said Canadian troops recently sponsored an Afghan infantry battalion, providing intense mentorship and training, and as a result the battalion is now out conducting its own operations.
He described it as a success that will be used as a model for training other battalions, and will eventually take pressure off the Canadians.
"Over the next four or five months were going to be picking up four or five additional Afghan battalions to train and mentor and get them out into the field," O'Connor said.
"We're hoping by the end of this rotation that's going in now, the so called Van Doos rotation, we'll have about 3,000 Afghan army operating within the Kandahar province, and as we train more and more of the Aghan army to carry out their own operations we'll continue to withdraw, put more emphasis on training, and at some stage basically be in reserve."
The Van Doos rotation in Afghanistan will last six months.
O'Connor also renewed his call for other NATO nations to step up their involvement and allow their troops to take part in combat operations in the more volatile regions of the country. At the moment, most of the heavy lifting is being done by Canada, the U.K., the Netherlands and the U.S.
"It would help the situation if more NATO nations sent troops to the south and the east but we can't put all our eggs in one basket. We have to train the Afghan army as quickly as possible and that's what we're doing," O'Connor said.
Note: I don't actually expect this to offer us any break. There's always something else for us to do in country and the Afghan Army is pretty tiny and horribly underequipped for this kind of thing. I expect them to be calling us for help for a long time.
