Tuesday, September 17, 2013

CANADA MILITARY NEWS: P2Sep17/Afghanistan news/Sex in Military/Canada News/Aldershtot NS/Paedoophiles/Wounded/PTSD/Suicides/Military News-good bad ugly/Nato troops/General Intersest troops/

4 BLOGS: ALDERSHOT- CANADA HISTORY.... BELOW

RUSSIA- Our Russian Comrades in Arms
Canadian Military Inspectors to Fly over Russia, Belarus




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Child sex crimes to draw stronger penalties, PM Harper vows

Proposed measures include forcing spouse of person charged with child porn to testify in court




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Statement by the Prime Minister of Canada on the anniversary of 9/11 and on the National Day of Service

September 11, 2013
Ottawa, Ontario

Prime Minister Stephen Harper today issued the following statement on the 12th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States and the third annual National Day of Service:
"Today, our country remembers the thousands of lives lost - including 24 Canadians - in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
"Like the rest of the world, Canadians were shocked at the hateful acts executed by members of Al-Qaeda, which were an assault on the values and freedoms that Canada and western nations hold dear.
"Yet in those darkest hours, there were also remarkable displays of humanity: acts of bravery and generosity shown by first responders, the military, volunteers, and good Samaritans, such as those in Gander, Newfoundland, who joined together to help support, house, feed and comfort those in need.
"9/11 also prompted the United States and its allies, including Canada, to initiate stronger and more effective measures to prevent and fight global terrorism. Recent terrorism-related arrests in Canada and the United States have underscored the necessity of these tough measures to protect the security of all Canadians.
"I would also like to take this opportunity to mark our third annual National Day of Service.  On this day, we pay tribute to those who lost their lives.  We honour the ongoing service of the many who continue to fight terrorism and lend our support to the families, friends and all others who have suffered and sacrificed as part of this struggle. For those innocent victims and the brave men and women in uniform, we reaffirm together that terrorism will not undermine our way of life.
"On this day, we encourage all Canadians to learn from their example and lend a helping hand in their community in recognition of the compassion and kindness that was demonstrated on that tragic day and in the events and battles that have since followed."
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Prince William, David Beckham to fight illegal wildlife trade
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US, Canadian Ships Complete Replenishment at Sea

Sep 13, 2013 Navy News


USS RENTZ, At Sea -- The Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate USS Rentz (FFG 46), assigned to U.S. 4th Fleet during the annual UNITAS multinational maritime exercise, conducted replenishment at sea Sept. 11 with the Canadian supply ship HMCS Preserver (AOR 510).
 
 UNITAS 2013 includes partner nation forces from Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Peru, the United Kingdom and the United States that are operating off the coast of Colombia to strengthen interoperability, mutual cooperation and the ability to operate as a multinational task force through advanced maritime exercises.
 
 The replenishment at sea was part of that training, with a real-world requirement for fuel. From the Preserver, the Rentz took aboard 47,322 gallons of marine diesel fuel.

"The Canadians made everything simple by breaking down the entire process from how to request the fuel replenishment all the way down to making payment and documentation," said Lt. Stephen Mannila, the supply officer aboard Rentz.

HMCS Preserver is a Protecteur-class auxiliary oiler replenishment ship of the Royal Canadian Navy commissioned in 1970. After serving Canada's fleet in domestic and international exercises in the 1980s and 1990s, it underwent a major refit in 2005 and is now home ported in Halifax, Nova Scotia.


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Strengthening Measures Against Child Exploitation

September 16, 2013
Vancouver, British Columbia

Sadly, children continue to be particularly vulnerable to sexual abuse and exploitation. In 2011, children accounted for approximately half (44 per cent) of all victims of police-reported sexual assaults in Canada. There are also longstanding concerns about Canadian sex offenders who travel abroad. Internationally, approximately one million children are exploited by sex tourists and traffickers each year. 
Our Government is committed to helping ensure that communities are protected from sex offenders, particularly those who prey on the young. To this end, on September 16, 2013, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the Government's intent to introduce legislation this fall that will better protect children from sexual exploitation in Canada and abroad.
The legislation to be introduced will include proposed amendments that require registered child offenders to provide detailed information to National Sex Offender Registry officials when they are travelling outside of Canada. Having details of travel plans will help prevent and investigate sexual offences by Canadians overseas. Information-sharing between border officials and Registry Officials will ensure that both sides are appropriately alerted regarding the travel of high-risk child sex offenders. 
Furthermore, new legislation will also be introduced to authorize the establishment of a national publicly accessible database of high-risk child sex offenders who are already subject to public notification by the provinces and territories. The database will be administered by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
These amendments would build on the proposed measures announced by Prime Minister Harper on August 29, 2013, which would provide stricter sentences for sexual predators. Together, these reforms would strengthen penalties for child offenders, improve their accountability and increase information about convicted offenders.
The implementation of these measures would be undertaken in consultation with law enforcement officials and the provinces and territories, given their shared responsibility for the administration of criminal justice matters and policing. They would also be consulted regarding high-risk child sex offenders that would be included in a new national public database.
Since 2006, our Government has taken action to better protect children, including:
"         Putting in place, through the Safe Streets and Communities Act, new mandatory minimum penalties for seven existing Criminal Code sexual offences, including assault, assault with a weapon, and aggravated assault (where the child is under 16 years);
"         Making it illegal for anyone to provide sexually explicit material to a child for the purpose of facilitating the commission of an offence against that child - this process is often referred to as "grooming";
"         Making it illegal to use computers or other means of telecommunications to agree or make arrangements with another person to commit an offence against a child;
"         Strengthening the sex offender registry;
"         Increasing the age of protection - the age at which a young person can legally consent to sexual activity - from 14 to 16 years of age;
"         Putting in place legislation to make the reporting of child pornography by Internet Service Providers mandatory; and,
"         Strengthening the sentencing and monitoring of dangerous offenders.
Broader measures that our Government has taken to help young victims of crime include:
"         Providing over $10 million for new or enhanced Child Advocacy Centres (CAC) since 2010. So far, CAC projects have been funded in 20 cities or municipalities across Canada. Teams of professionals at these centres help young victims and witnesses cope with the trauma they've experienced and to navigate the criminal justice system;
"         Launching GetCyberSafe.gc.ca, the Government of Canada's public awareness website on online safety. The site contains information for parents on how to protect their children from people who go online with the purpose of exploiting, manipulating or abusing children;
"         Joining the Global Alliance Against Child Sexual Abuse Online in June 2013. The goal of the Global Alliance is to strengthen international efforts to fight Internet predators and child abuse images online. It focuses on identifying and helping victims, prosecuting offenders, increasing public awareness and reducing the availability of child pornography online;
"         Consulting with the public and stakeholders to better understand the various views of what rights should be recognized and protected by a federal Victims Bill of Rights. These consultations are critical in identifying and recognizing how to better entrench the rights of victims into a single law at the federal level, as part of the Government's commitment to victims of crime; and,
"         Allocating more than $120 million since 2006 to respond to the needs of victims of crime through programs and initiatives delivered by the Department of Justice Canada.







PM announces strengthened measures to combat child exploitation

September 16, 2013
Vancouver, British Columbia

Prime Minister Stephen Harper today announced additional new legislation that will be introduced this fall to better protect children against child sexual exploitation in Canada and abroad. The Prime Minister was joined by Steven Blaney, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, and Alice Wong, Minister of State (Seniors).
"Our Government is taking strong action to keep our streets and communities safe for families, and above all, for our most vulnerable citizens," said Prime Minister Harper. "We will ensure that Canada's justice system is on the side of victims, and take further action to protect our own children, as well as those in other countries, from sex offenders."
The proposed amendments to Canadian law include:
"         New notification requirements for offenders on the National Sex Offender Registry who travel outside of Canada; and,
"         Better information-sharing measures between the police and border security to keep track of travelling sex offenders.
Furthermore, new legislation will also be introduced to establish a publicly accessible national database that contains information on high-risk child sex offenders who have been subject to public notification by the provinces and territories.
These reforms build on the proposed measures announced on August 29, 2013 - which will also be introduced this fall - that would strengthen penalties against child predators.
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GG David Johnston visits flood-ravaged Siksika Nation

Canada's governor general touring Alberta's hardest-hit communities

CBC News Posted: Sep 17, 2013 5:56 AM MT| Last Updated: Sep 17, 2013 5:56 AM MT



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Battle of Britain remembered

Published on September 15, 2013



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Afghanistan, Battle of Britain remembered







By Emma Graney, The Leader-Post September 16, 2013 





Greg, Candy, Kellar and Lindsay Greff, left to right, sit during a ceremony at the War Memorial at the Legislature in Regina on Saturday. Master Cpl. Byron Greff, who died in Afghanistan in 2011, and Master Cpl. Allan Stewart, who died in Afghanistan in 2007, were also honoured during the ceremony to unveil a plaque on the memorial bearing the names of soldiers from Saskatchewan who died in Afghanistan. Seventeen names are on the plaque.



Photograph by: Michael Bell, The Leader-Post , The Leader-Post


Master Cpl. Byron Greff 's son, Kellar, remembers his dad as a happy, laughing guy, and loved it when they used to wrestle.

Eight-year-old Kellar, his mom Lindsay, and Greff 's parents Candy and Greg were some of the fallen soldier's family who were at the Saskatchewan War Memorial in Regina on Saturday, at the unveiling of a plaque to commemorate members of the Canadian military from Saskatchewan who were killed in Afghanistan.

"As hard as it is having his name up there, it's an honour that it's up there," Lindsay said.

"Just to be remembered that way, it's very important to us."

Speaking after the unveiling, Candy Greff remembered her son as an incredibly "fun-loving" man.

"He was full of jokes," she said, a smile on her face.

"You'd be in stitches laughing at that boy. We are just so proud of him and so thankful for this memorial."

The plaque lists all 17 men and women from Saskatchewan who have been killed in the conflict.

Saturday's service also commemorated the 73rd anniversary of the Battle of Britain.

Fifteen pilots from Saskatchewan fought in the battle, defending Britain from massive waves of German air attacks and ultimately prevented a planned invasion of the United Kingdom.

Lieutenant-Governor Solomon Schofield was on hand to unveil the Afghanistan plaque and was one of those who laid a wreath of remembrance at the service.

"When we speak about historic battles, it's easy to get caught up in statistics and dates, but it's important to remember individuals," she said.

"Today we remember their heroic actions, we honour their sacrifices and we pledge to keep their memories alive."

She also paid tribute to Greff and the 16 other Saskatchewan men and women who have died in the Afghanistan conflict.

"We're deeply indebted to the 17 individuals whose names are engraved on the Afghanistan plaque," she said.

"We're grateful that Master Cpl. Byron Greff cared about Canada and wanted to make a difference.

"This monument will stand as a lasting monument to his meaningful life."

egraney@leaderpost.com Twitter/LP_EmmaGraney
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Gay head priest shows how far Canadian military has come

Brig.-Gen. John Fletcher, an Anglican priest for more than two decades, is the first openly gay man to hold the position of head chaplain in the Canadian military.


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Seriously?? old golden voter feminist women and men fought 4 equality and NO abuses of  women and kids with human rights vigils etc and as unionists also NO Nato troops2 Syria or Heretic Muslim Nations


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Cate Blanchett: Equality For Women Being Lost

The Oscar-winning actress and star of new film Blue Jasmine tells Sky News about her fears for women's standing in society.





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DURING CHRETIEN'S REIGN AS PM- AGREEMENT MADE WITH PRESIDENT CLINTON 4 CANADA 2 HAVE AMERICAN PRISONERS TAINTED BLOOD- WHICH KILLED OUR RANDY CONNORS AND SO MANY OTHER INNOCENTS GIVEN 3 US BY CANADIAN RED CROSS-  THE BIGGEST BETRAYAL 2 CANADIANS BY TRUST CANADA RED CROSS AND OUR GOVERNMENT OF CANADA - we trusted u...



RANDY CONNORS DIED HORRIBLY.... AND WE WEPT... AND STILL DO...



In 1993 , the federal Health De­partment launched the Krever inquiry to look into Canada’s tainted blood supplies. Justice Horace Krever spent four years in his investigation and made 50 recommendations when he issued his report in 1997. Among them was that there be no-fault com­pensation for the thousands of Canadians who were in fected with HIV and Hepatitis C from tainted blood and blood products in the mid-1980s to 1990.








Reframing Medical Injury? Viewing People With Hemophilia as Victims of Cultural Injusticemore

by Michael Orsini



http://sls.sagepub.com/content/16/2/241Theonline version of this article can be found at:?DOI: 10.1177/09646639070765332007 16: 241

Social & Legal Studies

Michael Orsini

Cultural InjusticeReframing Medical Injury? Viewing People With Hemophilia as Victims of


and..






Nova Scotia compensates victims for tainted blood- the faces of Innocent murdered- ourRandy and Janet and son


A new disease was threatening the Canadian blood supply in the early 1980s: AIDS. But the Canadian Red Cross was slow to introduce donor screening methods and even slower to test the blood. With the Krever Commission, those infected by the AIDS virus and hepatitis C found a compassionate ear and the answers they sought about who was to blame for this public health scandal.


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War veteran receives medal during housecall



CTV Atlantic
 Published Monday, September 16, 2013 11:30AM ADT 



The Ambassador for the Republic of Korea is in the Maritimes handing out medals and thanking Korean War veterans for their service to his country.

Ambassador Cho Hee Yong made an unexpected stop on Sunday, visiting a Korean War veteran who, for health reasons, could not make it to one of the medal ceremonies.

On a whim, Yong and his wife decided to change their appointed itinerary and make a house call to meet Glen Morrissey at his home in Valley, N.S., near Truro.

Morrissey served on the front lines of the Korean War as an ambulance driver.

The 83-year-old veteran received the Ambassador for Peace medal while sitting in his favourite recliner.

This was the first ever home visit for the embassy. Yong will continue his week-long tour of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick with a visit to Halifax on Monday.












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Korean ambassador lays wreath at war memorial
CANADA -NOVA SCOTIA           Korean ambassador lays wreath at war memorial




Cho Hee-yong, the Republic of Korea's ambassador to Canada, lays a wreath in Halifax's Grand Parade Monday to remember the Canadians who fought in the Korean War. (IAN FAIRCLOUGH




Nova Scotians who fought in the Korean War were recognized Monday morning when Cho Hee-yong, the Republic of Korea's ambassador to Canada, laid a wreath in Halifax's Grand Parade.

The ambassador said it is important to his country to remember and recognize the efforts of Canadians who served in the conflict, which ended 60 years ago.











IAN FAIRCLOUGH STAFF REPORTER

ifairclough@herald.ca @CH_iFairclough

Nova Scotians who fought in the Korean War were recognized Monday morning when Cho Hee­yong, the Republic of Korea’s ambassador to Canada, laid a wreath in Halifax’s Grand Parade.

There was a brief ceremony at the cenotaph , after which the ambassador said it is imp or tant to his country to rememb er and recognize the efforts of Canadians who served in the conflict, in which hostilities ended 60 years ago.

This year is als o the 50th an­niversary of diplomatic relations between Canada and South Korea and has been declared the Year of Korea in Canada, and the Year of the Korean War Veteran in this country, and the Year of Canada in South Korea.

“I cannot think of a better time to deliver our deep thanks and profound gratitude for the Korean war veterans and their various sacrifices during the Korean War," the ambassador said. “Koreans have never forgotten the great history of the 27,000 Canadian soldiers, especially the 516 sol­diers, including 48 from Nova Scotia, who made ultimate sacri­fices."

He said the efforts of Cana­dians have allowed Korea to rise “from the destruction and poverty of the war to become a fruitful democracy."

The ambassador has been trav­elling throughout Canada to visit veterans of the Korean War. He is in the middle o f a swing through the Atlantic provinces that also involves meeting with various government officials to discuss relations between the region and his country.

He was also presenting Ambas­sador for Peace medals to Korean war veterans in Nova Scotia, and made a visit to Camp Hill hospital Monday afternoon as part of those presentations.

Tom Waters, the past district commander for the Royal Cana­dian Legion, said the fact the ambassador wanted to lay the wreath was very important to Korean war veterans.







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canada


Minister of Justice Participates in Iqaluit Consultation to Discuss Victims Bill of Rights




IQALUIT, September 17, 2013 – The Honourable Peter MacKay, P.C., Q.C., M.P. for Central Nova, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, today met with victims of crime and justice advocates in Iqaluit to discuss key priorities for the creation of a Canadian Victims Bill of Rights.

“The Government is committed to improving the justice system for victims of crime to ensure that courtesy, dignity and respect for victims are commonplace,” said Minister MacKay. “Travelling from coast to coast to coast this summer, I have heard directly from those impacted by crime about the need to re-balance the justice system to ensure that the needs of victims are addressed appropriately.”

This consultation follows the Government's commitment in February to entrench the rights of victims of crime by bringing forward legislation to implement a Canadian Victims Bill of Rights as a single law at the federal level. Views expressed by those at the Iqaluit consultation will add to information received through other consultations across the country and to the online public consultation being hosted on the Department of Justice website. The online consultation has been extended until September 27, 2013, and is available at http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/cj-jp/victims-victimes/vrights-droitsv/ . These consultations will ultimately contribute to enhancing victims’ rights in Canada.

      The development of a federal Victims Bill of Rights builds on the Government's record of achievements in giving victims a more effective voice in the criminal justice and corrections systems. These achievements include:
•Designating more than $120 million since 2006, to give victims a more effective voice through initiatives delivered by the Department of Justice Canada;
•Providing for $10.25 million for new or enhanced Child Advocacy Centres to address the needs of child and youth victims of crime;
•Creating the Federal Victims Strategy in 2007 and its permanent renewal  in 2011;
•Establishing the Office of the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime;
•Introducing legislation to double the victims' surcharge and make it mandatory; and
•Eliminating the faint-hope clause, which allowed murderers to obtain early parole.

The Victims Bill of Rights consultations are part of the Government's Plan for Safe Streets and Communities, which is one of four priorities identified by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. This plan focuses on tackling crime, enhancing victims' rights, and ensuring a fair and efficient justice system.



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CANADA

Remembering victims of 9/11




Today, we remember those going about their business 12 years ago on Sept. 11, at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and aboard Flight 93 when the fiendish plot against our friends in America commenced with a cold, calculated ferocity reminiscent of Japan’s unprovoked attack at Pearl Harbor.


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Canadian Army To Train Eastern European Soldiers

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Statement by the Prime Minister of Canada on the Canadian Coast Guard helicopter crash

September 10, 2013
Ottawa, Ontario

Prime Minister Stephen Harper today issued the following statement upon learning that the Canadian Coast Guard helicopter assigned to the CCGS Amundsen crashed in Canada's Arctic yesterday, taking the lives of its three passengers:
"On behalf of Canadians, Laureen and I offer our deepest condolences to the families and friends of Mr. Marc Thibault, Commanding Officer of the CCGS Amundsen, Mr. Daniel Dubé, helicopter pilot, and Mr. Klaus Hochheim, Arctic scientist affiliated with the University of Manitoba, who perished in a tragic Canadian Coast Guard helicopter accident yesterday in the McClure Strait, in the vicinity of Banks Island, Northwest Territories, while on a routine ice reconnaissance mission to check ice conditions.
"It is a grim reminder of the very real dangers faced on a regular basis by those brave individuals who conduct research and patrol our Arctic - one of the harshest and most challenging climates in the world - to better understand and protect Canada's North.
"The courage and dedication of these three brave individuals will be honoured and remembered."








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Downtown Toronto memorial mural for fallen Canadian soldiers vandalized

Graffiti community helping police track down those responsible








Highway of Heroes mural
File photo/ANDREW PALAMARCHUK
In this file photo, Toronto police Const. Scott Mills, left, Nazley Pakrow, Tanzila Shaikh Kunal Chandidas, Maria Khan group mentor Jessey Pacho and Satheeskumar Varatharasa show off the new Highway of Heroes mural outside the Coroner's Building on Grenville Street in 2010.



City Centre Mirror
ByAndrew Palamarchuk 

Members of Toronto’s graffiti community turned against two of their own after a memorial mural for fallen Canadian soldiers was vandalized.

The “Highway of Heroes” mural, located in the laneway at the rear of the Coroner’s Building near Yonge and College streets, was designed by five teens from the Flemingdon neighbourhood in the summer of 2010.

Toronto Police Const. Scott Mills and graffiti artist Jessey Pacho oversaw the project.

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-Want Women to Join the Military? Stop Sexually Assaulting Them

Posted: 09/10/2013 6:02 pm



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Soldiers and Police Gather In Ottawa For The Canadian Armed Forces Small Arms Concentration

September 10, 2013. 5:32 pm • Section: Defence Watch



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Skarsgard of 'True Blood' to race Prince Harry to pole








Alexander Skarsgard lounges on the ice in the 'True Blood' season finale. / HBO


And a vampire shall lead them.

Well, to be fair, Alexander Skarsgard is not a vampire, he just plays one on TV, in HBO's True Blood.

But the Swedish-born actor, who plays Norse vampire Eric Northman in Blood, has joined the American team racing against Prince Harry's British team and British actor Dominic West's Canadian/Australian team in a grueling trek to the South Pole this winter to showcase wounded veterans.

It's called the Walking With The Wounded South Pole Allied Challenge, and the co-ed teams are made up of veterans with physical and/or mental injuries sustained in the line of duty. The celebs are there to help raise the profile of the effort.

Prince Harry, a captain in the British Army and a royal patron of wounded-vets charities, is probably the most famous celeb on the teams, but West, best known in the USA for beloved The Wire, is a boldfaced name, too.

Now add Skarsgard, 37, a former Swedish marine, to the training sessions in Iceland and Colorado, which themselves have been tough going. Harry even spent 24 hours recently locked in an ice chamber to prepare for the race.

Starting in mid-November and continuing four weeks into December (the summer season Down Under), the three teams are going to slog 208 miles across the Antarctic plateau toward the pole in what some polar experts are calling the largest modern-day expedition of its kind.

The idea is to raise money for walking-wounded charities in all the countries involved, to demonstrate the strength of human endurance, and to show that the walking wounded can make a difference.

"I'm honored to be working and training alongside these soldiers to raise money and awareness for this very worthy cause," Skarsgard said in a statement issued by Walking With The Wounded.

The U.S. team was thrilled to get him. "He is a great asset and has bonded really well with all the team members during training," added the U.S. team's polar guide, Inge Solheim.

Each team will include experienced polar guides and medical personnel; they're not going to let high-value actors and the fourth-in-line to the British throne, to say nothing of the veterans, set off across the icy landscape to face blizzards, treacherous crevasses, winds of up to 50 mph and temperatures way, way below zero on their own.

In a goofy irony, Skarsgard recently made headlines in an icy tableau: it's a picture of him lounging naked - on an icy mountaintop in Sweden - in a lawn chair, with a book strategically placed over his man parts. It was from a scene in the Blood season finale last month, and it immediately went viral.











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AFGHANISTAN



Commentary: The Countries Of The Region Should Not Leave Afghanistan Alone In War Against Terrorism
Written by  Manager 

  
Commentary: The Countries Of The Region Should Not Leave Afghanistan Alone In War Against Terrorism  


Monday, September 16, 2013
 Kabul (BNA) Hamid Karzai the president of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan delivering a speech in Shanghai Economic Cooperation organization summit emphasized that the aim of Afghan government and people is to provide a better future for their homeland and for getting this noble goal they see friendly cooperation and trust building with the countries of the region a must.
 BNA political and economic analyst writes, Hamid Karzai the President of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan delivering a speech in Shanghai recent summit touched on important and vital issues that indicate the strong will of Afghan people and government for restoring stability and extending cooperation and coordination among the countries of the region.
 The statement comes in a time; terrorist activities have imposed a grave threat to the countries of the region where the Shanghai member countries suffer the most.
 The Afghan president added, spreading of terrorism and extremism to the countries of the region not only fatal for Afghanistan and Pakistan but it will have grave consequences for the region and entire world.
 Mr. Karzai deeply understanding the situation of the region warns that this evil phenomenon by passing each day extends its dimensions and emerges as a problem knows no any border.
 The Afghan addressing the leaders of Shanghai member countries stipulated that the Afghan Taliban are not only involved in violent terrorist activities, at the mealtime the Islamic Movement of Turkmenistan, Lashkar-Taiba of Pakistan, Chechen’s Taliban who fight within the framework of Al-Qaida are a great threat to stability and security of Afghanistan.
 It is worth of mentioning that these terrorist groups try to use Afghan territory as a pass way to central Asian countries. The countries of the region even the entire world should seriously pay attention to this menace, which challenge the world community.
 The statements are open facts that Afghans are suffering the most in fight against terrorism. They have lost their sons and sustained heavy losses in fight against terrorism.
 Therefore, for preventing the spreading of terrorism in to neighboring countries, it requires those countries to assist Afghanistan in fighting against this terrible phenomenon.
 Afghan President insisted that terrorism is a grave problem of the region and not limited to Afghanistan.
 To fight this fatal problem, the countries that have gather in this summit should not expect powers outside the region to come  and settle the problem, because overcoming this challenging threat, first and foremost is the obligation of every country of the region, therefore they should fight jointly  against terrorism until complete eradication. Leaving Afghanistan alone in fight against terrorism will have grave consequences not only for the region but also for the entire world.
 President Karzai says, “Ensuring peace and stability is the main factor for ensuring security and peace in all countries of the region that share the same interests and challenges.”
In this way, the Afghan president encourages the Shanghai member countries to pay serious attention to the hideouts of terrorists in the region and the factors that further strengthen terrorism in the region, otherwise, their objectives which are boosting security, economic and social ties among the member countries will  never achieved under the threat of terrorism. Therefore, settling the grave problem of terrorism requires the honest and transparent cooperation of the countries of the region and entire world. 
 T. Nemat



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EDUCTION




New School Building To Construct 
 Written by Manager  
  
New School Building To Construct  


Monday September 16, 2013
 Kabul (BNA) The foundation stone of new building for Nazoana high school was laid down by education in charges of Nangarhar province the other day.
 BNA correspondent reported, the building of the school will be constructed with the financial assistance of a French organization within 8 months having 16 classrooms, 8 administrative rooms and other educational facilities.
 With construction of the building, better education opportunities will be provided for about 5000 students.
 T. Suraya-Yarzada

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 Teacher Training Center Set Up 
 Written by Manager  
  
Teacher Training Center Set Up  


Monday September 16, 2013
 Kabul (BNA) A teacher training center for female teachers of Baraki Barak district of Logar province was set up the other day.
 BNA  correspondent reported, a function was held with participation of the head of education department, governor of the district, ethnic influential and in charges of state offices at the yard of a girls’ school, speakers called the establishment of the center a good step toward the improvement of education in that district.
 T. Suraya-Yarzada

 


 

 Construction Work of Girls’ High School Building Begins 
 Written by Manager  
  
Construction Work of Girls’ High School Building Begins  


Sunday September 15, 2013
 Faizabad (BNA) The construction work of Gulki Girls’ High School building was started in Yaftel Paen district of Badakhshan province the other day.
 The foundation stone of the building was laid down by Fouzia Kofi member of lower house and Shah Waliullah Adeeb governor of Badakshan province.
 BNA correspondent reported from Badakhshan province, the building of the school will be constructed in one story from assistance of Italia embassy at the cost of 97,000 dollars.
 It should be said that the school will have 8 classrooms and other necessary facilities and will be completed within 6 month.

 

 Agriculture High School Set Up 
 Written by Manager  
  
Agriculture High School Set Up  


Saturday, September 14, 2013
 Kabul (BNA) Agriculture high school inaugurated and started activity in Mohmand Dara district of Nangarhar province the other day.
 BNA reported a function was held with the participation of technical and vocational education deputy ministry of education ministry, personnel, some officials from Nangarhar education department and some dignitaries of the province, the speakers called establishment of the agriculture high school is a good step toward improvement of education and asked further attention of teachers and in charges of the school for better education of the youths.
 So far the agriculture high schools have been established in 16 districts of Nangarhar province.
 T. Suraya-Yarzada

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CANADA
Children and Youth
 
Investing in Afghanistan’s future

Children and youth are Afghanistan’s greatest resource. Canada will continue to invest in education and health, building on our significant contribution to date in these areas.

Afghanistan has one of the youngest populations in the world. With an average birth rate of more than six children per woman, the population of children and youth will continue to grow. Furthermore, the youth of Afghanistan continue to face barriers to education and threats to their health. Afghanistan’s future prosperity and stability will depend on equipping its youth population with the necessary skills and resources to contribute to the country’s security and development, and ensuring that children have better access to health care.

What Canada is doing

Canada is continuing to support the formal education system in Afghanistan for long-term results, and community-based education to meet immediate needs in more remote areas. Our work will place particular emphasis on promoting greater access to education for both girls and young women, and on training new teachers, particularly women.

As part of Canada’s commitment to the G8 2010 Muskoka Initiative for Maternal, Newborn and Under-Five Child Health, we will support Afghanistan’s efforts to strengthen its health system, to prevent and treat diseases through polio vaccination programs as a basis for other health monitoring and evaluation initiatives, and to improve nutrition for mothers, newborns and children younger than five years of age.
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CANADA

Stories from the Field
 
 Afghan Customs Uniform Handover CeremonyAfghan Customs Uniform Handover Ceremony (Flickr)
August 12, 2013 - Marina Laker, Political Counsellor, represented the Embassy of Canada at a ceremony to mark the contribution to the Afghan Customs Department of over $1 million for standardized customs uniforms and equipment for the national customs laboratories. Full story....


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CANDA- FROM CHINA NEWS OUTLETS

canada proposes tougher laws against chld sex offencers



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World News




Canadian bill would tighten rules for sex offenders' travel







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Feds want database of high-risk child molesters
 32

 By Daniel Proussalidis   ,Parliamentary Bureau

First posted:  Monday, September 16, 2013 01:42 PM EDT  | Updated:  Monday, September 16, 2013 03:13 PM EDT


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Canadian was a ‘clear leader’ among Islamist terrorists who killed 40 workers in Algeria gas plant attack: report



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canada





Rehtaeh Parsons image appears on Facebook dating advertisements

          The young men implicated in the Rehtaeh Parsons case are facing child-pornography charges.

The young men implicated in the Rehtaeh Parsons case are facing child-pornography charges.Photo: The Canadian Press

The advertisements links users to ionechat.com, a matchmaking service. But the site is broken, asking people to pick a directory for Norway or Canadian users, which are poorly labelled as simply CA or NO.

Clicking on the Canadian directory leads users not to ionechat, but to b2.ca, another dating site that claims to have 34 million users.

B2 is registered in Luxembourg, but operates in 37 countries around the world. In turn, their employment link to work for the company leads to InSparx, another firm that specializes “running online dating services around the world.”

Insparx lists their head offices in Germany.
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With the strong European connections to the company and its subsidiary, it is unlikely that ionechat, b2 or Insparx intended to use Rehtaeh Parsons’ image in their Facebook advertising.

Instead, Facebook offers a service that allows photos gleaned from Facebook to be used as advertising images if the appropriate permissions are applied to the image. In the wake of Rehtaeh Parsons’ death, her image was widely circulated and even used in other people’s profile photos as a tribute or memorial.

The idea behind the service is that photos sourced locally are more likely to appeal to local audiences.

As Facebook notes in their Rights and Responsibilities note to users, under the “Advertising” heading:

You give us permission to use your name, profile picture, content, and information in connection with commercial, sponsored, or related content (such as a brand you like) served or enhanced by us. This means, for example, that you permit a business or other entity to pay us to display your name and/or profile picture with your content or information, without any compensation to you.

But it can backfire easily.

People across the Internet quickly reacted to the images appearing in advertising.
Insparx has not yet responded to the sudden outcry, but the marketing team behind the campaign will undoubtedly learn their own lesson from this.

Rehtaeh Parsons died following a suicide attempt in April after nearly two years of bullying following a sexual assault at a party. In August, two people were charged with child pornography for distributing images of the assault. One 18-year-old man faces two counts of distributing child pornography, while another 18-year-old man is charged with distributing and making child pornography.





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Nova Scotia to allow victims to sue cyber bullies, their parents

          Leah Parsons, left, lost her daughter, Rehtaeh, to suicide after images of the teenager\'s alleged sexual assault appeared online. Now the family\'s MP, Robert Chisholm, is urging the government to back his private member\'s bill.

Leah Parsons, left, lost her daughter, Rehtaeh, to suicide after images of the teenager's alleged sexual assault appeared online. Now the family's MP, Robert Chisholm, is urging the government to back his private member's bill. Photo: The Canadian Press

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 William Wolfe-Wylie
Published: August 7, 2013, 10:42 am

Updated: 1 month ago


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In response to the flurry of international attention around cyber-bullying, in Canada largely related to the deaths of Amanda Todd and Rehtaeh Parsons, the Nova Scotia government is introducing legislation to give victims the power to fight back.

On Wednesday, the province’s justice minister announced that a new Cyber-Safety Act is being introduced “to protect victims and hold cyberbullies accountable for their actions.”

But it also gives victims a club of their own. The act allows victims of cyber-bullying to sue their bullies, or their parents.

“Too many young people and their families are being hurt by cyber-bullies,” said Nova Scotia Justice Minister Ross Landry in a press release. “I committed to families that the province would work with them to better protect our children and young people. Court orders, and the ability to sue, are more tools that help put a stop to this destructive behaviour.”

“The parts of the Cyber-safety Act effective today allow victims to apply through the Justice of the Peace centre for a protection order that could place restrictions on, or help identify, the cyber-bully. Victims can also sue the cyber-bully, whose parents can be held liable for damages if the cyber-bully is a minor.”

“Think before you text,” he added.

The bill also makes changes to the Education Act, giving principals at schools a clear mandate to step in where they see bullying.

The province will also be establishing a new “CyberSCAN” unit, with five officers, to investigate all complaints of cyber-bullying.

Heading off any questions before they can arrive, the press release declares that the changes are largely in response to the death of Rehtaeh Parsons, a teenager who killed herself after an extended experience with cyber-bullying related to an alleged sexual assault at a house party.

“The province has also committed to an independent review by out-of-province experts into the Public Prosecutions Service and police actions in the Rehtaeh Parsons case. The review will begin after the criminal investigation is complete,” the release noted.

The province has also established a new anti-bullying website where parents, teens and educators can find resources and contact information.

The death of Rehtaeh Parsons struck a chord with thousands of Canadians who felt the young woman’s pain and demanded consequences for her tormentors. But an independent review into her death found no wrongdoing in the systems that failed her.

“We have been asked whether we would name names or assign blame. We have not done that,” the report read.

But the way the whole story unfolded was shockingly familiar to Canadians who had already seen too many children die.

The Nova Scotia legislation is empowering, and moves in the right direction. But bullying and cyber-bullying are not inherently different beasts to be conquered. They are two heads of the same hydra. Bullying in all of its forms is about the exertion of power. While the new legislation in Nova Scotia seeks to shift those power differentials, it will not bring energy to victims already beaten down by their abusers, made to think their shame is their own fault.

Rehtaeh’s death came just as Canada was recovering from the death of Amanda Todd, a B.C. teen who killed herself after being harassed relentlessly.

Those attacks were only investigated by RCMP after the teen’s death.




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Human-trafficking trial hears woman forced to work long hours for no pay


By The Canadian Press September 17, 2013 4:01 PM 



VANCOUVER - An African woman who says she was a victim of human trafficking told a trial she would never have come to Canada had she know she would be an unpaid housekeeper.

The 26-year-old woman, who can't be named under a publication ban, says she was forced to clean and serve meals when she worked for Mumtaz Ladha, the West Vancouver woman facing four charges.

The woman says she came with Ladha to Canada in 2008 because she was promised a job in a salon, instead she worked work long hours everyday for no pay at Ladha's $4 million West Vancouver home.

Contrary to defence arguments, she told the court she was never treated like a member of the Ladha family or as a guest because she had to do all the housework and eat separately from the family.

The trial already heard that Ladha applied for the woman to come to Canada with her because she was ill and needed help, but the woman says Ladha was healthy and physically capable of doing her own housework.

Ladha has pleaded not guilty to the human trafficking-related offences.




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Security Industry




Canada builds up arctic maritime surveillance


OTTAWA, Sept. 11 (UPI) -- Canada is going ahead with plans to keep closer tabs on arctic shipping amid competing claims on the region, especially those from Russia and northern European states.

Plans to build and put in orbit a constellation of monitoring satellites mean Canada is set to spend millions on a maritime surveillance program that will include additional tasks of maintaining control on resource development in the arctic region.

Canada has actively pursued defense and security programs to assert its claim on the region after incidents involving Russian navy vessels which Canada considered to be too uncomfortable for Canadian defense interests.

Diplomatic exchanges on arctic naval incidents so far have been couched in political language. In Ottawa, however, officials are in no doubt they want to assert Canadian national authority on the northern territories before Russia or other European countries attempt another challenge.

It will be another five years before a Canadian satellite surveillance program focused on arctic maritime traffic comes into play.

In January Ottawa confirmed it would go ahead with Radarsat Constellation Mission which will see the launch of at least three satellites by 2018.

Before the satellites are launched, however, Canada will need to build capacity for receiving and processing vast amounts of information that the space-based intelligence-gathering operation will produce.



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Arctic green initiatives encouraged for Canada’s military







By Lee Berthiaume, Postmedia News



Canadian solders with Lord Strathcona's Horse haul a tow cable from a LAV Bison to a LAV III that was deliberately stuck in a snow pile to test their ability to rescue military vehicles on an ice road created near Behchoko, N.W.T. during Exercise Arctic Ram near Yellowknife in this 2012 file photo.

Photograph by: Ryan Jackson/Postmedia News/Files , Postmedia News


OTTAWA — Canada’s military has been urged to go green in the Great White North.

A group of Defence Department advisers has concluded that the spread of renewable energy, electric vehicles and new sewage treatment technologies in the Arctic will go a long way to bolstering the military’s activities and presence in the region.

For that reason, the Defence Science Advisory Board has recommended the Department of National Defence work with northern communities, energy companies and territorial governments to spread these innovations for the benefit of all parties.

The Defence Science Advisory Board is made up of academics, analysts and industry representatives who provide the department with advice. Their final report was given to senior military leaders in April 2012, but only recently made public through access-to-information laws.

The Arctic has been a priority for the Department of National Defence since the Harper government first promised to protect Canadian sovereignty and foster economic development in the region in 2007.

The advisers found that all military installations must have electricity, water, garbage disposal and sewage treatment, no matter where they are in the country.

However, they also noted “in the remote communities in the Arctic, unlike in southern Canada, there is little surplus available in the services provided by the utilities present in the isolated communities.”

“In fact, in many communities these services are already overloaded or inadequate.”

Co-operation and collaboration with local communities and governments offer a real opportunity of addressing these concerns, the advisory board said.

One example was to work with Nunavut’s Qulliq Energy, which is the only energy company in the country that relies entirely on imported fossil fuels to supply electricity to the communities within its distribution area.

The electricity generation and distribution system in each of those 25 communities are not linked, and there is no backup grid.

“This situation provides a significant opportunity for DND as well as other agencies of the Federal government to work together with Qulliq Energy to introduce renewable energy into these communities to enhance energy security by reducing their dependency on imported fossil fuels,” the advisory board wrote.

It would also provide a more secure energy source for military facilities located near those communities and served by Qulliq, the advisers added.

The advisory board noted supplying water to northern communities and removing sewage was a laborious, expensive yet necessary process.

They recommended that the Department of National Defence push new, more environmentally sound and energy-efficient water purification and sewage treatment technologies in Arctic communities situated near Canadian military installations.

“These should be used whenever possible as old facilities are replaced and new facilities built to handle the rapid growth in population being experienced throughout the North,” the advisers wrote.

The advisers also looked at the high cost of fuel for transportation in the North, and noted that some work is being done on introducing electric and fuel-efficient vehicles in other cold-weather places such as Alaska.

They recommended the military “consider participating in the introduction of fuel efficient and alternative energy technologies in vehicles planned for their Arctic operations since fuel costs so much in the Arctic.”

The Canadian Press reported Sunday that the military has been testing a new hybrid-electric snowmobile nicknamed Loki.

However, the Defence Department said it unable to respond to questions about the advisory board’s report on Monday, including whether it had taken any action on the recommendations put forward.

A Qulliq Energy spokesman could not comment on whether there had been any recent talks between the company and the Defence Department.

Michael Byers, an Arctic expert at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, said when it comes to the Arctic, “anything that reduces your reliance on diesel being shipped in during the summer will make your operations easier and more flexible.”

However, he said in other countries, such as the U.S., the military are years ahead of Canada when it comes to introducing alternative technologies to the Arctic.

He also noted that the Harper government and military have had limited success when it comes to new initiatives for the North, with a deepwater port and new armed Arctic vessels in particular having run into delays.

“It’s good that some people are pushing this change on the Canadian military,” Byers said of advisory board report. “But I haven’t seen anything myself. And the one really striking thing about the Department of National Defence is the across-the-board failure to deliver on the Arctic.”

lberthiaume@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/leeberthiaume
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Canada, U.S. may be missing boat on Arctic shipping

08/19/2013 05:49 AM Bob Weber, The Canadian Press

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Workers move shipping containers in Halifax on Nov. 16, 2006. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Andrew VaughaN

         


Canada may be missing the boat on using Arctic shipping to encourage development at the same time Russia steams ahead on its own northern waters.

“At this stage, we’re not really in the game,” said John Higginbotham, a Carleton University professor and former Transport Canada deputy minister.

“The marathon started some time ago, but we haven’t sent in our application yet.”

As Prime Minister Stephen Harper makes his annual visit to the North to observe military exercises, Arctic experts suggest he would be wise to also take a look at what’s happening in Russia. Shipping on that country’s Northern Sea Route across the top of the continent is booming and hauling resource projects in the Russian North along with it.

“I had an email from someone from a Greek shipping company a few days ago who commented that Russia is actually 50 years ahead of any Arctic country in terms of seizing on the opportunity,” said Michael Byers, author of a forthcoming book on international law and the Arctic.

The contrasts are stark.

A total of 421 commercial vessels have applied for permission this season to use Russia’s Northern Sea Route, which cuts days off the shipping time between Asia and northern Europe. They will be aided by nearly two dozen icebreakers and protected by a string of 10 up-to-date search-and-rescue centres along the route.

Ports are being upgraded. Sea lanes are well-understood and comprehensively mapped. Co-operation with maritime neighbours such as Norway is strong.

Canada has no Arctic commercial ports. Mapping is so poor that cruise ships have run aground and captains use old Soviet-era charts to supplement Canadian ones. The Coast Guard’s six icebreakers are not available to accompany routine commercial voyages.

Arctic search and rescue remains based in southern Ontario and depends on planes that were scheduled to have been replaced long ago. And disputes with the United States about border issues and the status of the Northwest Passage add legal uncertainty for shippers.

Only 61 tankers and cargo ships entered the Canadian Arctic last season, most of them related to community resupply. Crossing the Northwest Passage remains largely a goal for adventurers — including, this summer, two crews in rowboats.

Russia is starting to see the benefits, said Byers, who is a professor at the University of British Columbia.

Shippers are paying fees, which helps defray costs of the improved sea route. And the busier transportation corridor is already starting to stimulate development inland.

A railroad between Russia’s mineral-rich interior to its Arctic coast is planned. Liquid natural gas facilities on the coast are also slated.

“There’s a clear link between the Northern Sea Route as the international cargo route and the focus on the economic development of northern Russia,” Byers said.

Higginbotham, who oversaw a billion dollars worth of federal spending on the Asia-Pacific Gateway transport project to boost trade with the East, said the Arctic is a clear priority for Russian president Vladimir Putin.

“It’s part of the renaissance of Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The opening of the Arctic, I think, Putin sees as one of his half-dozen highest priorities in terms of restoring Russian greatness.

“I’m pretty familiar with what an active strategy to use transport to drive development looks like, and I don’t see any sign of that in either the U.S.A. or Canada.”

Byers said the case is strong for increased spending on all northern transportation links, including the Northwest Passage.

“You can be a Nervous Nellie and say we might make economic investments that don’t pay off, at least not in the short term. But we build highways and railroads and ports and airports in southern Canada on the basis of projected and desired increases.

“The Russians are building their Arctic gateway right now,” said Byers. “A 10-fold increase in shipping volumes over four years speaks volumes to how prescient the Russian government has been.”
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Canadian Military Inspectors to Fly over Russia, Belarus


MOSCOW, September 16 (RIA Novosti) -Canadian military inspectors will fly over the territories of Russia and Belarus starting from Monday as part of the international Open Skies Treaty, a Russian Defense Ministry official said.

“In the period between September 16 and 20, a group of Canadian experts will make a surveillance flight above the territories of Russia and Belarus on board of a [Lockheed Martin] C-130J observation aircraft,” Sergei Ryzhkov, the head of the ministry’s National Nuclear Risk Reduction Center, said.

Russian and Belarusian experts will also be on board the aircraft, to oversee the proper use of surveillance and filming equipment, he added.

The Open Skies Treaty, which entered into force on January 1, 2002, establishes a regime of unarmed aerial observation flights over the territories of its 34 member states to promote openness and the transparency of military forces and activities. Russia ratified the deal in May 2001.

Under the treaty, each aircraft flying under the Open Skies program is fitted with a sensor suite including optical panoramic and framing cameras, video cameras with real-time display, thermal infrared imaging sensors, and imaging radar.

The image data recorded during the observation flights can be shared among all signatories to support the monitoring of compliance with existing or future arms control treaties








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Snowden Nominated for Human Rights Award

By DAN BILEFSKY

Published: September 17, 2013

     
PARIS — The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, considered Europe’s top human rights award, has been bestowed on luminaries like Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and Nelson Mandela. This year, in a slap against Washington, the award could go to Edward J. Snowden, known as either the N.S.A. whistle-blower or a traitor, depending on perspective.



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ANOREXIA-



'Starvation was my default mode': Meet two anorexia sufferers who plan to eradicate eating disorders by raising money for treatment denied by insurance companies


By Olivia Fleming

PUBLISHED: 19:48 GMT, 17 September 2013  | UPDATED: 20:15 GMT, 17 September 2013

Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Two women who met while undergoing treatment for anorexia nervosa in middle school are entering their senior year of college with a mountainous challenge: conquer eating disorders.


Through their non-profit organization, Project HEAL (Help to Eat, Accept and Live), Liana Rosenman and Kristina Saffran are raising money for people with eating disorders who are unable to afford treatment, while also promoting healthy body image and self-esteem.

'Insurance companies routinely deny coverage,' Miss Saffran, a Harvard senior from Queens, New York, told MailOnline. 'Since treatment is imperative for a full recovery, this leaves most who suffer without access to care and less likely to recover fully.'


Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
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UK


The 87-year-olds who wear Doc Martens and mini-skirts: World's most glamorous pensioners revealed in new documentary



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RUSSIA


Russia to restore Soviet-era naval base in Arctic _ Putin RUSSIA: Russia is to reestablish its military presence in the resource-rich Arctic by re-opening a Soviet-era base to patrol the increasingly navigable Northern Sea Route, President Vladimir Putin said Monday. Putin said 10 naval ships had arrived at the New Siberian Islands in the Arctic Ocean, as Russia asserts its rights over an area where vast energy resources are becoming more accessible as the sea ice retreats. “Our forces left in 1993, but this is a very important point in the Northern Arctic,” Putin said during a video-conference with defence ministry officials. He said Russia wanted to “ensure the security and effectiveness of work on the Northern Sea Route, so Russia can effectively control this part of its territory.” - See more at: http://www.dailynews.lk/world/russia-restore-soviet-era-naval-base-arctic-putin#sthash.NmV47APT.dpuf

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AFGHANISTAN



U.N.: Female Afghan Police Sexually Harassed
in 7 hours

Seventy percent have personally experienced it.


Ninety percent of female police officers in Afghanistan say sexual harassment within their ranks is common, with an eye-popping 70 percent saying they have personally experienced it, according to an unpublished United Nations report. The high numbers were questioned by some in the Afghan government (men), who said they felt policewomen would be the first to report sexual harassment. The Interior Ministry officials said they are trying to improve conditions for female officers. Sexual behavior still remains a taboo subject in Afghanistan—and just 1 percent of the entire police force are women. The report surveyed 10 percent of the Afghan police force.

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News -   Afghanistan 


Released Taliban Commander on a Killing Spree After Rejoining Insurgency

Tuesday, 17 September 2013 20:28 Last Updated on Tuesday, 17 September 2013 20:38 Written by Jawed Stanakzai



Maulawi Ghulam Mohammad, a senior Taliban commander who was released last month from the Bagram Prison, has reportedly joined the Taliban again and gone on a rampage against security forces, casting doubts on the wisdom of the Afghan government's efforts to have Pakistan release militants in order to kick-start peace talks with the insurgent group.

The Taliban commander was said to have rejoined the group right after he was released and has since killed 13 Afghan Local Police (ALP) officers and injured 20 others in Badghis province within a span of one month.

Sharafuddin Sharaf, the Badghis Police Chief, said that Maulawi Ghulam Mohammad had been appointed as the Deputy Shadow Governor of the Taliban in Badghis province after his release.

Mr. Sharaf added that the Taliban commander is now leading a group of 400 insurgents and has launched several deadly attacks on security forces' check-posts in the province.

Maulawi Ghulam Mohammad was the Deputy Governor of Ghor province during the Taliban regime before the U.S. invasion in 2001. He was arrested by the foreign forces immediately after the collapse of the regime. He was in prison for several years, until the Bagram Prison was handed over to the Afghan Government, at which time he was released.

Several Afghan military experts said that the government should not have released the insurgents without mechanisms in place to guarantee they would not rejoin the militancy. The experts believe that such irresponsibility on the part of the government would undermine the morale of the security forces.

"The people will stop supporting the government if it does not stop such actions," Nurul Haq Olomi, a military expert told TOLOnews.

However, it would appear Kabul plans on doing just the opposite of stopping the release of Taliban prisoners. Following his visit to Islamabad last month, news of President Hamid Karzai's entreaties to the Pakistani government to release Taliban prisoners broke. Reportedly the Afghan government wants to see top Taliban leaders like Mullah Baradar released in order to build good-will with the Taliban and better enable productive peace talks once the recommence.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's government has already announced the release of seven mid to low level Taliban prisoners, and has suggested that it would soon be releasing Mullah Baradar.

Officials in Washington along with many Afghan security experts have expressed anxieties about prisoner releases, citing examples like that of Maulawi Ghulam Mohammad as proof that most detainees released simply return to the battlefield. However, with the peace process having been frozen since June, and the with draw of foreign troops at the end of 2014 drawing nearer, the government in Kabul seems increasingly urgent to get the negotiation process back on track. And it seems willing to try just about anything to do so.
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News -  Afghanistan 


ATR Survey Says 79% Intend to Vote in Presidential Elections

Monday, 16 September 2013 18:19 Last Updated on Monday, 16 September 2013 19:12 Written by Karim Amini



In a recent pre-election survey conducted by the firm Assess, Transform and Reach Consulting (ATR), in five provinces, it was found that 79% of respondents intended to vote in the 2014 Presidential elections. When asked what conditions could lead them to change their mind, the majority of respondents cited the security situation.

The survey was organized in Khost, Baghlan, Kandahar, Faryab and Kabul provinces. The respondents in the 1,927 person sample were randomly selected in public places in both urban and rural areas.

The figures reported in the survey far surpass the total number of registered voters reported by the Independent Election Commission (IEC) of 18 million out of the estimated total Afghan population of 30 million. However, a significant amount of the young Afghan population are not eligible to participate in the elections due to being under the age of 18. Of those who participated in the survey, 65 percent said they were registered to vote.

The indication of security concerns being the major disincentive for voting came as no surprise as officials and experts alike have been raising the alarm about the threat insurgents and Illegal Armed Groups (IAGs) pose to voter participation, transparency and the overall legitimacy of the elections. A number of registration centres were unable to open due to security issues and the IEC recently acknowledged that a little less than half of all planned polling centres remain under a certain level of threat.

When the respondents were asked whether or not they thought elections should be cancelled if they could not take place in several districts of a province due to insecurity, 61 percent said no, 18 percent said yes and 8 percent said maybe. In contrast, however, when asked if the elections should be cancelled if they could not be held in "most insecure areas of the country," 51 percent of respondents said yes and only 17 percent said no, with 22 percent answering maybe.

The survey indicated that an overwhelming number of respondents thought elections were the best way for a new leader in Afghanistan to come to power. Specifically, 78 percent of the respondents agreed on that while only six percent favored a religious leader take power and create an "Islamic Emirate," and eight percent supported a "Loya Jirga" deciding on the next leader by consensus.

ATR's survey also looked to uncover what people thought about the management of preparations for next spring's elections. Over 33 percent said that they thought the elections would be better organized than before, while 32 percent disagreed. An additional 24 percent reported thinking the elections would "maybe" be better organized than before.

Just under a majority of respondents – 44 percent – said that they trusted the Independent Election Commission (IEC) in counting votes, while 26 percent said they did not and 21 percent answered maybe.

The survey conducted by ART offered some significant revelations about the public and what they think about the upcoming elections. Next spring's elections are scheduled to take place on April 5, and while a startling number of people announced their intention to participate in the elections in the survey, the IEC and others remain keen on getting more Afghans to register to vote.

With security issues clearly a major issue that could keep people away from the poll next April, however, getting more people voting cards does not seem the silver bullet to participation. Security officials and the IEC will have their work cut out for them to assure that polling centres are not only effectively secured, but that eligible voters perceive them as so and feel safe turning out to cast their ballots.
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arts and culture- Afghanistan






UN Focuses On Afghan Youth



Friday, 16 August 2013 20:24 Last Updated on Saturday, 17 August 2013 11:34 Written by Karim Amini

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The Office of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) announced on Friday that working with the Afghan youth is a top priority for the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon.

The UN recently helped organize a music concert in Bamyan in front of the Buddha statue to honor International Youth Day.

"For UN secretary general Ban Ki Moon, working with and for young people is one his top priorities. For International Youth Day he has encouraged member states, youth led organizations and other stakeholders to act to promote the rights of your young people and maximize the development potential of the youth around the world including of course in Afghanistan," an official from the UNAMA office in Kabul said".

At the concert in Bamyan, many youth and women showed up to watch and participate in the performances.

"I don't understand what kind of people are those who engage in warsand violence, because they disturb the general public and their own families," said Afghan singer Ms. Farzana.

Coexistence, tolerance, peace and youth mobilization against corruption were the focus messages of the UN-sponsored concert.

"Youths of the country should speak out against inequalities in society and they shouldn't remain silent. In the past, it was not like this, but the youth don't effect change, because they lack hope, confronted by all the problems in the country," famous Afghan signer Wahid Qasemi said".

"Singing is the only way that helps to convey any message to the people including the message of peace, it is the only means that support us to convey the message of peace to the world," said Aryana Saeed, a female Afghan singer.

The idea for the musical event in Bamyan was originally received with mixed feelings. While local clerics were opposed to it, civil society groups spoke out in favor and agreed to help organize.

Ultimately, with the UN's leadership, the concert was held successfully, although heavy security was needed.

 Arts & Culture -   Music 





Afghan Movie Nominated in US Film Festival



Monday, 18 March 2013 12:17 Last Updated on Tuesday, 19 March 2013 12:32 Written by TOLOnews.com

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Afghan film "A Man's Desire for a Fifth Wife" has been nominated for the US's Boston International Film Festival (BIFF) which will held in April.

The film festival will be held from the April 12 to April 21 at the Boston Massachusetts which showcases over 90 films annually.

The film, directed by Sediq Abedi, was made in northern Faryab and Balkh provinces and took about a year to make.

It tells the story of an Afghan man who desires to take a fifth wife, and through the story line explores the issues of violence against women. It also shows aspects of the traditional culture of Afghanistan.

The film runs for about 90 minutes and boasts more than 70 Afghan actors.

"The movies have been selected from more than 2500 movies for the US's Boston International Film Festival and it also registered in France's the Cannes International Film Festival and an international Australian film festival," said the director of the movie Sediq Abedi.

"I am sure that the movie has a good massage to the world and it's about the Afghan traditional cultural," he said.

The film festival, established in 2003, features independent films from around the world and the US. The festival has presented many acclaimed films including Academy Award winner for short film West Bank Story and includes feature films, short films and documentaries, with a strong emphasis on multi-culturalism.

 Arts & Culture -   Cinema & Theatre 





Young Afghan Actors to Walk Oscar Red Carpet



Sunday, 24 February 2013 16:43 Last Updated on Monday, 25 February 2013 12:02 Written by Karim Amiri

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Two young Afghan actors will walk the red carpet at the 85th Academy Awards Monday after their US-directed film was nominated for Best Live Action Short.

Jwanmard Paeez and Fawad Mohammadi are the protagonists of Buzkashi Boys, the first Afghan-acted film to get an Oscars nomination.

Paeez and Mohammadi play two friends - one working in his father's blacksmith shop, the other working as an ispandi boy, asking people for money in return for blessing them with smoke from ispand to ward off evil spirits. They dream of national glory by aspiring to become champion buzkashi players.

The kids in real life, however, are very different; Fawad Mohammadi is an orphan who never acted in any films previous to Buzkahi Boys. He sells maps in the upscale Shahr-e-Naw district of Kabul. Jawanmard, the son of an established Afghan actor, has been acting since the age of five.

Director Sam French said his intention behind making the film was to reflect a different side of Afghanistan, one beyond the popular characterization of it as a country at war.

The Oscar nod seems to have inspired Afghan filmmakers to focus on developing indigenous Afghan cinema. Filmmaker Faqir Nabi urged his Afghan counterparts to develop the artistic merits of their own movies instead of imitating Indian or Pakistani movies.

"The nomination of Afghan actors for Oscars is a remarkable honor and achievement for Afghanistan. The Afghan filmmakers were previously imitating Indian and Pakistan movies and were focusing on action movies. This movie is a step forward for the Afghan film industry to be more artistic and professional," Nabi said.

Buzkashi Boys is squaring off against four other films in its category.

 Arts & Culture -   Cinema & Theatre 


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Afghan Film Wins Top Gong in International Film Festival



Tuesday, 23 October 2012 20:20 Written by Anwar Hashimi

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Afghan film Sang-e Saboor received top gong of best feature film at the 5th international 'Didor' Film Festival held in Tajikistan on the weekend for its heart-breaking portrayal of a woman struggling to care for a husband seriously wounded in battle.

The feature film Sang-e Saboor (The Patience Stone), produced by Atiqullah Rahimi, depicts the life of an Afghan woman whose husband is paralyzed after he was hit with a bullet in his neck during the civil war and who has also lost his ability to talk.

Starring Golshifteh Farahani, Hamid Javedan, Massi Morowat and Hassina Burganm, the film explores the woman's trials and tribulations as she takes care of her husband in his much-changed state.

The film has also been selected as Afghanistan's entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards.

The Afghan film Nasima impressed in the short film category but was beaten by Russian filmmaker Shota Gamisoniya for his film "The Sea of Wishes".

Nasima, produced by young Afghan film-maker Sahra Karimi, portrays the memories of a young Afghan woman who travelled to Europe.

Didor was first inaugurated in 2004 as a Persian film festival, but gradually expanded its range to include films from the Middle East, Russia, Mongolia, Azerbaijan, Australia, and several European countries.

 Arts & Culture -   Cinema & Theatre
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HAFT AURANG: Documenta Art Exhibition Held in Kabul
HAFT AURANG: Afghan New Year
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Home » Travel News » Airline News »

Emirates flies in to Kabul, Afghanistan


Emirates flies in to Kabul, Afghanistan

Emirates has announced it is to commence a daily passenger service to Khwaja Rawash Airport, Kabul, Afghanistan from December 4th 2013.

The daily flight to Afghanistan’s capital city will be the first destination in the country which Emirates has served.

The route will be operated by an Airbus A340-500 configured in a three cabin configuration, offering 12 First Class, 42 Business Class and 204 Economy Class seats.

“Emirates has identified a demand for a premium service airline offering between Dubai and Kabul.

“With this new route Emirates will be able to offer passengers travelling to and from the city excellent global connections via Dubai, combined with the award-winning product and service the airline is renowned for.

“This includes operating the only First Class cabin between Dubai and Kabul”, said Barry Brown, Emirates’ divisional senior vice president, commercial operations east.

We expect the flight to be particularly popular with corporate business travellers, as well as Afghan nationals returning home to visit friends and family.

“It will also present a new opportunity for cargo operations to the country, particularly for the shipment of pharmaceuticals, perishable foodstuffs and construction materials.”

EK 640 will depart Dubai daily at 09:55 and arrive in Kabul at 13:15.

The return flight, EK 641 will leave Kabul at 15:30 hours and arrive back in Dubai at 18:00.

Kabul will be the 138th destination on the Emirates route network, following shortly after the commencement of services to Clark, Philippines on October 1st, Conakry, Guinea on October 27th and Sialkot, Pakistan on November 5th 2013.
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history of canada:

In 1755 , the deportation of 14,000 Acadians from Nova Sco­tia began. The British forced the French farmers to leave because they refus ed to swear allegiance to England. The British army destroyed their homes and forced the Acadians into exile in the 13 colonies from Massachusetts to Georgia .

Many ended up in Maine and Louisiana, where there are still vibrant Acadian communities. Many returned secretly over the years, and then openly after 1764, when they were granted permis­sion to return.




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Eight confirmed dead, 1,600 homes destroyed in Colorado floods

Search-and-rescue teams bolstered by National Guard troops fanned out across Colorado's flood-stricken landscape on Monday, as a week of torrential rains blamed for eight deaths and the destruction of at least 1,600 homes finally gave way to sunny skies.


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Rim Fire Near Yosemite Ranks Among Top 3 Largest Wildfires in California History

Chris Dolce Published: Sep 11, 2013, 9:59 AM EDT


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Almost all boardwalk businesses destroyed by fire in NJ town still recovering from Sandy
 Article by: BRUCE SHIPKOWSKI , Associated Press
 Updated: September 13, 2013

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Does this sound like Phoenix Sinclair 2 u-  ripped out of the love of foster family and brutally tortured and murdered by mother and her latest lover-  Phoenix... never... made... it... 2... 5...yrs of age.




UNITED KINGDOM



Daniel Pelka: Calls For Child Protection Law

A mother-of-two is leading calls for the introduction of mandatory child abuse reporting to help protect children.

Four-year-old Daniel was beaten, starved and poisoned by his mother and her partner, who hid the abuse by claiming he had an eating disorder.


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Canadian Forces survey asks troops to shed light on sexual assault, harassment





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Citizens’ Group Applauds Court Decision Supporting Afghan Veterans, Calls for Settlement of Case





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blogged:





HONOURING SOLDIERS OF SUICIDE- CANADA  2013

CANADA- National Military Cemetery Canadians Ottawa, September 15, 2013 has 13h30. Unveiling of the plaque-shaft dedicate to the soldiers of the Suicide



and..... ARTICLE  The Suicide Problem FAcing the Canadian Forces -2013

The Suicide Problem Facing the Canadian Forces
Sep 11, 2013
by Daniel Hart | Daniel Hart
Members of the Canadian Forces experience dangerous situations every day while in combat. However, there is another danger that plagues the ranks of the Canadian Forces: suicide. It is an omnipresent threat that can be as hard to predict and defend against as attacks on the battlefield.

Suicides have proven to be a tremendous cost to the ranks of Canada’s military, both among full-time soldiers and the reserves. Canadians should be concerned by this ongoing problem, because it is a huge threat to the readiness and sustainability of the Canadian Forces. In over a decade of combat in Afghanistan, Canada has lost 158 soldiers, which is the most casualties in a single mission since the Korean War. Meanwhile, 187 soldiers have been lost to suicide since 1996.
Military Funeral

The Statistics

Interestingly, in the past two decades, active members of the Canadian Forces have actually had a noticeably lower suicide rate than the Canadian general public. This trend reverses, however, when examining the suicide rates of Canadian Forces members who have left the military. In fact, there was actually a noticeable increase of suicides among service members that coincided with the drawdown of Canada’s mission in Afghanistan. In 2011, the year that Canada ended its combat role in Afghanistan, 22 soldiers committed suicide. From the beginning of Canada’s mission in 2002 until 2007, there were 11 to 13 suicides per year.

A study conducted by the Canadian Forces found that from 1995-2008, the suicide rate of former service members was 46% higher for males and 32% higher for females as compared to civilians. Even more strikingly, men aged 16 to 24 were twice as likely to commit suicide as civilian men of the same age group. These numbers demonstrate that soldiers remain in a precarious situation even after returning home. Some of the oft-cited factors include post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), financial hardships, and the understandably difficult transition from the battlefield.

Canada has gained a reputation for doing a good job of treating returning soldiers with awareness programs and post-deployment screening with mental health workers. However, there are several major problems with the way that the Department of National Defence assesses the suicide problem in the military. For instance, the DND only includes regular force members in their studies on suicide rates, leaving out the large number of reservists who spent time in Afghanistan. Suicides among reservists are generally reported independently outside of the purview of the Defense Department or the Canadian Forces. Even though there are three different military departments that track suicides, none of them has cause-of-death records for part-time reservists. Suicides among reservists go unrecorded unless they occur while on duty.
Remembrance Day Ceremony

Outlook for Returning Soldiers

A study that was recently commissioned by Parliament found that approximately 3,000 of the soldiers who fought in Afghanistan are anticipated to suffer from a severe form of post-traumatic stress disorder, while approximately 6,500 will suffer from mental health issues. As a result, the leadership of the Canadian Forces should provide reservists the same mental health treatment, access to decompression centers, and PTSD testing that full-time soldiers receive. Returning reservists don’t only deserve proper treatment of their mental health and assistance with their transition to civilian life, but all Canadians would benefit. Without adequate treatment of all returning service members, the Canadian public will be left to deal with the cost of young, able-bodied people unable to work and contribute to society. Furthermore, there will be an increased possibility of losing a family member or friend who has served in the military.

About the Author
Daniel Hart is a recent graduate of McGill University and double majored in Political Science and History. During his undergraduate years, he was involved with organizing McGill’s Model UN (McMun) and the Students’ Society on NATO Issues (SSNI). His areas of interest include American and Canadian foreign policy, the Middle East, and the impact of international organizations.

Disclaimer:
Any views or opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and the news agencies and do not necessarily represent those of the Atlantic Council of Canada. This article is published for information purposes only.


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CANADA- THE FACTS- NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD SURVEY

OTTAWA — Statistics Canada’s third and final release of 2011 National Household Survey data illustrates, among other things, how much Canadians have been earning and where they have been living . S ome highlights:

• Fully one-quarter of Ca­nadian households, about 3.3 million, spent 30 per cent or more of their total income on shelter, ex­ceeding the Canada Mor tgage and Housing Corporation’s “affordabil­ity threshold." They paid an average of $1,259 a month, surpassing the 30 per cent mark by an aver­age of $510.

• Ten per cent of Cana­dians ear ned more than $80,400 in 2010, aver­aging $134,900; the top one per cent averaged $381,300, and 64 per cent of them lived in Ontario and Alber ta. The bottom 90 per cent of Canadians ear ned an average of $28,000.

• Men accounted for 79.5 per cent of the top one per cent ear ners, and 62 per cent were between 45 and 64 years of age.

More than two-thirds of Canada’s top one per cent have a university degree.

• Sixty-nine per cent of households in Canada — 9.2 million out of 13.3 million — owned their dwelling in 2011, a mar­ginal increase from 2006 compared with the big­ger spikes in ownership of the previous 15 years.

• 4.8 million Canadians, or 14.9 per cent, lived in low-income households in 2010.

• Four out of five house­holds that purchased a home between 2006 and 2011 had a mortgage; one in five bought a con­dominium.
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CALGARY - r vets matter

Cenovus to give priority to veterans

One of Canada’s energy giants has joined a program that makes military veterans a priority when hiring new employees.

Federal Veterans Affairs Minis­ter Julian Fantino was in Calgary for the announcement by Cenov­us Energy, which has a workforce of about 5,000.

Fantino said Cenovus is the first energy and utility company to participate in the program an­nounced last fall as part of a gov­ernment veterans transition plan.

He said many Canadian sol­diers leaving the military have useful skills, including the ability to work as part of a team. (CP)

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Global community ‘inept’ at dealing with mass atrocities, Syria, says Sen. Dallaire
 
And critics say PM Stephen Harper has no interest in putting these policy decisions into the hands of Parliament.



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PTSD walk hits its stride

Ex-Sea King officer, companion Thai raising money for therapy dogs



PET CONNECTION


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comment:

If this happened in Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, or any other oil rich state they'd already be bombing. Syria is not sitting on top of billions of gallons on crude, unlike most other middle eastern nations. Hence why it is a tough sell. I actually think Obama is in the right on this, but because there is no money to be made in Syria nobody is interested. The public is also disinterested in Syria because they are too busy watching Brad Pitt and Colin Firth at TIFF; you know, the really important stuff, not silly little chemical weapons attacks on your own citizens.


comment:
There is no question at this point that Obama and his cronies have zero proof of Assad's involvement in chemical attack. The extent of the attack is also likely exaggerated. The real question is why the CIA, Obama, and the military industrial complex are pushing for an invasion? Is it pure profit and push to speed up the US bankruptcy, is it a push to radicalize more muslims so that the massive funding for "the war on terror" continues? The media isn't asking the right questions of the criminals who hijacked the power in Washington


comment:
That explains the weekend propaganda storm in the US press. Its really unacceptable that Obama is abusing the office in this way. I like the part about a strike on Assad is also a strike on Iran.



How not to sell war with Syria: Analysis

Barack Obama, a year after his “red line” on chemical weapons, has just 24 hours left to convince Americans of the rightness of military action.

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NDP call Trudeau ‘Harper-light’
 
Firmly in third place for months, New Democrats vow to fight hard to regain momentum.
 NDP MPs say party leader Tom Mulcair, whose party is in third place in public opinion polls, will have a much higher profile in the coming months and will fight hard to regain the party’s momentum after winning more than 100 seats in 2011. But they’re also portraying Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau as an empty-headed celebrity politician, calling him  “Harper-light,” and say, unlike Mr. Trudeau, their leader has substance.
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Rona Ambrose makes family violence a priority in health portfolio

Canada’s new Health Minister Rona Ambrose wants to make ending family violence a major theme of her tenure in the portfolio.


By: Joanna Smith Ottawa Bureau reporter,  Published on Mon Sep 09 2013



OTTAWA—As an emergency room physician who has dedicated his career to promoting the prevention of injuries, Dr. Louis Hugo Francescutti has seen his share of victims of domestic abuse.


He welcomes the news that Rona Ambrose, who replaced Leona Aglukkaq as federal health minister in the cabinet shuffle this summer, plans to make ending family violence a major theme of her tenure in the portfolio.


“As medical professionals, you have a vital role to play in helping to address violence by recognizing the signs, reporting violence and ensuring your patients get the physical and mental support they need,” Ambrose told physicians at the annual meeting of the Canadian Medical Association in Calgary last month, where Francescutti was installed as president of the professional body representing more than 78,000 doctors nationwide.


Still, years of experience in the real world of emergency medicine had Francescutti diluting his praise with a strong word of caution, noting his own reluctance to ask his ER patients about violence at home because a bed in a safe shelter is so often unavailable.




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New Aussie PM, Harper cut from same cloth
September 9, 2013 — Simon Kent
As you read this, Australia is waking to a new prime minister named Tony Abbott. The 55-year-old former boxer and Rhodes Scholar claimed the job following Saturday’s general election Down Under. Abbott leads a coalition of conservative parties into power after beating the worn out six-year government of Labour’s Kevin Rudd. Should Canada care?
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TO POST




Halifax, NS
Vandals have destroyed a downtown mural commemorating fallen Canadian soldiers.

Highway of Heroes mural vandalized




Jessey Pacho was the mentor artist for a team of five youths who created the Highway of Heroes mural at 26 Grenville St. It was part of the Graffiti Transformation Project, a program for marginalized youth who face barriers to employment. The mural was destroyed by vandals sometime Friday night.

AMY DEMPSEY / TORONTO STAR FILE PHOTO

Jessey Pacho was the mentor artist for a team of five youths who created the Highway of Heroes mural at 26 Grenville St. It was part of the Graffiti Transformation Project, a program for marginalized youth who face barriers to employment. The mural was destroyed by vandals sometime Friday night.

By: Raju Mudhar Tech Reporter, Paul Clarke Staff Reporter,  Published on Sun Sep 08 2013


A mural created to honour the last stop of the Highway of Heroes in Toronto has been vandalized in what police are describing as a “despicable” act.


The colourful mural, featuring a dove and a field of poppies, was painted as a symbol of respect and a call for peace by a community youth group in 2010. Sometime over the weekend, it was obliterated by spray paint, sparking a flurry of outrage.


“There is an unwritten rule that you don’t vandalize any piece of artwork, but something like this is a national treasure. What this person did is basically an act of treason,” said Chris Ecklund, CEO and president of Canadian Heroes, an organization dedicated to raising awareness and support for Canadian troops and their families.


Photos View galleryToronto police Const. Scott Mills, right, and Chris Ecklund of Canadian Heroes were on scene to survey the damage to the Highway of Heroes mural outside the coroner's office in downtown Toronto Sunday. The destruction of the mural has sparked outrage. zoom


The mural painted in a back alley behind the coroner’s office near Yonge and College streets marked the final stop for hearses carrying the remains of fallen soldiers from Canadian Forces Base Trenton. Dozens of families who lost loved ones in Afghanistan have made that journey, ending at the coroner’s office.


“This is something that cannot be explained away,” said Ecklund, who was on the scene Sunday to inspect the damage. “So for that person that actually had the audacity to put his signature on it, he’s going to be found and that person will have to explain his or her reasoning behind this.”


Ecklund said this was the spot where the colour guard would stand, and the last thing that families would see before the fallen soldiers were taken into the coroner’s office.


It is unknown when the mural was defaced, but Tom Stephenson, who lives in the neighbouring building, immediately noticed the changes when he walked by.


“You get to the point when you don’t really see things, but the colours were so different, it was like, ‘whoa, when did that happen?” he said.


“It shows no respect for the people that did it, for our war heroes, and the fact that the people that did it were from out of the area, from Flemingdon Park. They worked all summer on it, a couple of summers ago,” Stephenson added. “It’s rude. Like they didn’t just do a random wall, like say on our building, they attacked a significant mural. I don’t know what else to say.”


The mural was completed in 2010 as part of the Graffiti Transformation Project, an annual community program that hires marginalized youth who face barriers to employment. Toronto Police constable and legal graffiti art co-ordinator, Scott Mills, was the driving force behind the mural.


“I’m hoping that the person that is actually responsible for it just doesn’t quite understand the significance of what they’ve done and that perhaps we can educate them as a result of this,” said Mills, who also went to the scene Sunday.


“I have been working with graffiti artists for a number of years, and this is a dedication piece to soldiers that gave their lives out of respect for them and their families. This is a complete disrespect and a despicable act, not just in the graffiti community, but disrespect to our fallen soldiers. It is a disrespect to all Canadians as far as I’m concerned.”


Mills said he would love for the person responsible to come forward, and be a part of the process to repair the mural, but added that person will be charged with mischief. He called the vandalism “unacceptable.” Mills said he was already looking at photos of graffiti with similar tags.


Mills has also been in contact with the two main artists, Kedre Brown, who inspired the design and Jessey Pacho, who mentored the youth group who painted it. They have already had discussions to restore it, with the hope of getting something underway by Sept. 20. Ecklund said the replacement costs to the artists would be covered, and that they are also thinking of adding a security camera to the area to make sure something like this wouldn’t happen again.

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 CANADA'S WARRIORS OF THE NORTH-  Idlen No More Canada- 10,000 years First Peoples of the Ameericas


Canadian Rangers: the thin red line patrolling our harshest terrain


Some 5,000, mostly aboriginal reservists keep watch over Canada's Arctic


Sean Davidson, CBC News


Last Updated: Sep 7, 2013 5:12 AM ET




The 5000-plus Canadian Rangers conduct surveillance and report anything unusual to other branches of the military. They are perhaps most respected for their intimate knowledge of the north and its unforgiving climate. The 5000-plus Canadian Rangers conduct surveillance and report anything unusual to other branches of the military. They are perhaps most respected for their intimate knowledge of the north and its unforgiving climate. (Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press)


Imagine maintaining a military presence over roughly four million square kilometres of exceedingly harsh terrain using the residents of just one small town — a place like Smithers, B.C., for instance, which boasts a little more than 5,000 people.

That's the tricky thing about keeping "boots on the ground" in Canada's Arctic, where the Canadian Rangers have, since 1947, been patrolling the front lines.

The Rangers enjoyed a rare moment in the spotlight recently when Prime Minister Stephen Harper made a stop on his tour across the North — to spend a night on the tundra and shoot targets with a few of the largely aboriginal part-time reservists who, in his words, "defend our territory from potential threats and emergencies."

    Harper goes target shooting with Canadian Rangers
    Read James Cudmore on the politics and policy of Harper's tour

Shooting at these threats is not a very big part of the job, mind you. The Rangers mainly watch over the North. The 5,000-plus members conduct surveillance and report any "unusual sightings or activities" according to the Canadian Armed Forces website.

They are the military's "eyes and ears," it adds.

Or — as one Ranger recently put it to author Whitney Lackenbauer — its "eyeglasses, hearing aids, and walking stick."

The Rangers are perhaps most respected for their intimate knowledge of their home territory and its unforgiving climate, says Lackenbauer, a historian at the University of Waterloo whose book The Canadian Rangers: A Living History came out earlier this summer.

"The Rangers ensure that the military's footprint doesn't crush communities," he says. "They’re not trained for combat, so they're not like any other element of the Canadian regular forces or the primary reserve."

"But that should not detract from their value," Lackenbauer adds. "They are absolutely essential when it comes to being guides … and bearers of traditional knowledge."
Antique rifles

Rangers get up to 12 days of pay per year, plus extra for any additional duty or wear and tear on their personal equipment. They are issued a bright red sweatshirt and cap, and equipment including a rifle and ammunition.

The rifles are very old, 1950s-era Lee Enfields which are updated Second World War- versions of guns first introduced to the British Army in 1895.
Rangers' rifles are very old, 1950s-era Lee Enfields which are updated Second World War- versions of guns first introduced to the British Army in 1895.Rangers' rifles are very old, 1950s-era Lee Enfields which are updated Second World War- versions of guns first introduced to the British Army in 1895. (Shaun Best/Reuters)

The rifles are still in service partly because they, like the Rangers themselves, can operate reliably even under harsh Arctic conditions.

"Just because something's not ultra-modern doesn't mean it's not appropriate or relevant," says Lackenbauer.

He says many of the Rangers that he has met are motivated by a mix of patriotism, community service and a love of being on the land.

One Ranger in B.C. described the job as "being paid to go camping," he recalls.

The Rangers began as the Pacific Coast Militia Rangers (PCMR) in 1942, at the height of the Second World War. They were volunteers who watched the coastlines of British Columbia and Yukon against the threat of a Japanese invasion.

At their peak they numbered 15,000 volunteers in 138 communities.

The PCMR disbanded in 1945. The Canadian Rangers took over on May 23, 1947, charged with Northern and Arctic surveillance, most often by means of "sovereignty patrols."

Their motto "Vigilans" is often interpreted as "The Watchers."

Rangers also conduct search and rescue operations and assist during other crises — for example, lending support during the drinking water crisis in Kashechewan, Ont. and in the aftermath of the 1999 avalanche at Kangiqsualujjuaq in northern Québec.

They also often come up whenever there is talk of protecting Canada's Arctic sovereignty, though that issue has cooled quite a bit since its heyday a few years ago.

Senior military officials are agreed the country faces no short- or medium-term threats in the Arctic, "but at the same time they always have to be prepared," says Lackenbauer. "That’s just the responsibility of any self-respecting nation state."




COMMENT:


Don't knock those old bolt action rifles. Note the level of accuracy below.

Mad minute

Mad minute was a pre-World War I term used by British Army riflemen during training at the Hythe School of Musketry to describe scoring 15 hits onto a 12" round target at 300 yards within one minute using a bolt-action rifle (usually a Lee-Enfield or Lee-Metford rifle). It was not uncommon during the First World War for riflemen to greatly exceed this score. Many riflemen could average 30+ shots while the record, set in 1914 by Sergeant Instructor Alfred Snoxall, was 38 hits. During the Battle of Mons, there were numerous German accounts of coming up against what they believed was machine gun fire when in fact it was squads of riflemen firing at this rate




COMMENT:
Here are my impressions of the Lee Enfield rifle, strong, reliable, and accurate.
I've been using a SLE Enfield that was made in 1917 for the past 36 years and have never had a problem with it unlike some of my friends using modern semi automatic rifles.
I have also used the same rifle being used by our rangers on the rifle range in competition shooting up to the 900 yards at a target with a 30 inch bulls eye and had no problem hitting it.
The long history of the rifle and caliber speaks for itself and if I was in the north its the rifle I would want to use.



COMMENT:

It's interesting to read some of the comments here of people making fun of the Rangers, making fun at how poorly equipped they are, and making fun of the Canadian military because these are some of them same people who whine and complain when the govt plans to upgrade the equipment of the Canadian military.

It's also high time to be teaching more of our history to our younger people(probably some older folk too...). There are those who have no idea about our military or it's history. Canadians in war have not been pushovers and in past wars I cannot think of any battles we lost except for the allied effort at Dieppe and Hong Kong during WW2. Some of you need to ask the North Koreans and Chinese about how they couldn't beat Canada in the hills of Kap'Yong even though Canada was running out of ammo and outnumbered 13 to 1. Shame on yourselves, and shame on those who think they are real Canadians.

Lastly, those who think there are no real sovereignty issues in the north need to think again.



comment:
@leslieemslie Something else a lot of folks and reporters fail to grasp, is besides being utterly reliable at -50C, it's using a nice, big .303 bullet.
Handy for taking out critters like a polar bear.
A .223/5.56mm? Not so much....

COMMENT:

Actually with the leaves turning color above treeline now things like bright orange flagging tape are hard to see and a bright red Ranger hoodie isn't as obvious as one would think.




COMMENT:

We should remember that before the rangers and the equipment they have today, the voyageur and courer de bois, and the settlers, lived and died defending the continent and their homes from the far north to the gulf of Mexico.

Never discount the strength of our people. the Metis and the Native population because without them Canada would not be

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As Canada’s Afghanistan mission winds down, there’s much work ahead: Editorial

As Canada approaches the end of its mission in Afghanistan, there’s a new set of challenges to secure the benefits and reduce the human costs.


In October, Canada’s remaining contingent of 800 troops in Afghanistan will be reduced to 650. By the New Year there will be only 375. And in March, they too will come home, ending a long and painful war and presenting new challenges to secure its benefits and reduce its human costs.


The current group, responsible for training, has overseen an impressive transformation of the Afghan security forces, which have nearly doubled in size since 2009 and taken on increasing responsibility since then. This summer, despite growing casualties, the Afghan forces have managed to fend off Taliban fighters’ attempted incursions into the country’s major cities.


That Canada was able to transfer security duties to Afghan forces at all speaks to the accomplishments of the military mission that enabled the current focus on training. Over 10 years, Canadians led NATO efforts to overthrow the Taliban, support a moderate, anti-terror government and provide interim security, keeping insurgents at bay as the Afghan forces learned from our troops the skills needed to take over.


Meanwhile, our development work helped to establish thousands of new schools, trained 1,500 health workers and vaccinated 7 million children against polio. And then, in 2011, despite pressure from the Obama administration to extend the mission, the Harper government rightly kept its promise to end our military role in the conflict and relieve our war-weary troops.


In retrospect, the Chrétien government’s decision in 2001 to heed the United Nations Security Council’s forceful call to strike a hotbed of terror in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, and put in place the tools for Afghanistan to build a better future for itself, remains the right one. Unlike the proposed strikes on Syria being debated at this week’s G20 meeting and elsewhere, this was a mission built on a foundation of international consensus, with relatively clear objectives and an exit strategy.


Of course, Canada’s part was not without mistakes and failures of consequence, or the inevitably steep human and financial costs of war. And a peaceful future for Afghanistan has by no means been secured. But the country’s current turmoil is mostly a result of factors beyond our control: Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s unpopularity among his own people; Pakistan’s collusion with the Taliban; the refusal of many of our allies to contribute to the mission. All in all, however, Afghanistan is in better shape for our efforts.


Still, as the mission’s end comes into view, the obligations entailed by the undertaking, both to the country we invaded and to the troops we sent to do it, must not be obscured.


A Star report by Paul Watson last year revealed that several of the projects paid for by Canada’s $2-billion aid program in Afghanistan over the last decade were on the verge of falling apart. Water irrigation systems require major repairs; some of the 52 schools we built were already dilapidated; despite our work with local lawyers and judges, the justice system remains so corrupt that many Afghans still look to the Taliban for rectification. We have a responsibility to continue the development work we’ve begun, even in the face of a significantly reduced aid budget.


Meanwhile, as a new wave of veterans prepare to return home, the Harper government, which has taken every opportunity to trumpet its support of our troops, will have to do a better job of actually providing that support. The New Veterans Charter, established by Harper in 2006, substantially cut pensions and services for veterans, leaving the most severely disabled soldiers most vulnerable. As Mike Blais, president of Canadian Veterans Advocacy, put it: “We went to war, signed up to serve this nation, nobody told us we would be abandoned.” We owe them better.


At last, the war is almost over. As we look back on it, we should celebrate the bravery of the roughly 40,000 Canadians who served, including the 158 who lost their lives, as well as the mission’s many accomplishments. But as we go forward, we ought not to forsake the lasting obligations forged in war.
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Ex-soldier denied permission to walk for mentally injured vets is on the road again


By CHRIS COBB, OTTAWA CITIZEN September 7, 2013



Ex-soldier denied permission to walk for mentally injured vets is on the road again

Kate MacEachern, the retired army corporal who hit headlines in July after CFB Gagetown brass blocked her from launching a second charity walk for mentally injured soldiers, has started her second charity walk for mentally injured soldiers, a 1,864-kilometre fundraising trek to Ottawa. File photo by Brian Atkinson, Ottawa Citizen.
Photograph by: Brian Atkinson , Brian Atkinson

OTTAWA — Kate MacEachern, the army corporal who hit headlines in July after CFB Gagetown brass blocked her from launching a second charity walk for mentally-injured soldiers, has started her 1,864-kilometre fundraising trek to Ottawa.

“It’s going great,” she told the Citizen while on her way to New Glasgow, N.S.

“It started quiet but people are stopping and donating and giving their support.”

This year she is raising money for the online-help organization Military Minds.

The former tank driver MacEachern, who raised $20,000 for the military charity Soldier On during a much-shorter walk last summer, quit the military in August shortly after base bosses rejected her request to repeat the effort.

Instead of the enthusiastic support she was expecting from Gagetown brass this year, the 34-year-old single mother got the ultimatum: ‘Do the walk if you like but not as a serving soldier.’

MacEachern, a member of the Armour School at Gagetown, had been confident of getting her boss’s backing because in 2012, then-Defence minister Peter MacKay walked part of the way with her and afterwards was effusive in praise of her efforts.

“Your family, friends, your neighbours here, all Nova Scotians, all Canadians are so proud of your accomplishment, your compassion — your passion for your friends, your colleagues, your comrades — to undertake this enormous journey on their behalf is such a living tribute to those who wore the uniform (and) who continue to wear the uniform.” said MacKay. “As the minister of National Defence and your local MP, I am so thankful for what you have done for your community and your country. Thank you, Kate.”

MacKay also told her she “epitomized leadership” and personally gave her two weeks off.

Despite this ringing endorsement from the defence minister, her chain of command remained unimpressed and said they couldn’t afford to give her the time and had insurance and cost concerns over the walk.

But a shocked MacEachern, who has three sponsors this year, insists there would have been no cost to her base and on her official permission form made no mention of money or any other form of assistance from the military.

With her army career now in the rear-view mirror, MacEachern says she is getting promises of support from paramedics, firefighters and police as she wends her way toward a planned final stop at the War Museum in Ottawa on Oct. 18.

“This is how I hoped it would go,” she said, “because now I’m no longer in the military I wanted to involve more people — anyone who has any contact with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).

“I was military, and Military Minds is obviously about the military, but PTSD affects many others,” she added. “It doesn’t stand for Post Traumatic Afghanistan Disorder.”

MacEachern is also getting moral support for all stages of her walk from Canadian Army Veteran Motor Cycle Units — a national network of bikers.

Military Minds members are driving her support RV that was donated for the walk by a Gananoque RV dealer.

By the end of her walk last year, MacEachern said her army pack was crammed with mementoes gathered from passersby.

“Along the way, people I met were beyond heartfelt,” she said. “They would give me a hat or a pin or a name tag or something from their son or daughter to carry with me. I never knew what to do with them but this year what I have done is fix Velcro on the front of my bag and as I get them I am putting them right on the outside of my ruck.

“To me that’s a huge part of this,” she added, “because it becomes a walking memorial to their struggle.”

Although she’s heard nothing official from her base, MacEachern says former colleagues have sent messages of support and just 40 kilometres into her walk, a guy stopped and handed her an envelope with the word ‘CHIMO’ on the outside — the nickname and cheer for Canadian Military Engineers.

Inside was a cheque for $1,000.

More information at MacEachern’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Thelongwayhomemm.

ccobb@ottawacitizen.com

twitter.com/chrisicobb




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Medic couple save hundreds of lives in Afghanistan

The Szymanskis were deployed at locations merely 100 miles apart


By Master Sgt. Kevin Wallace
DVIDS

MOUNTAIN HOME AIR FORCE BASE, Idaho – Separation isn’t new to the military.

 For hundreds of years, the strength of families has been tested and proven as service members continually deploy to foreign and hostile lands.

 For one Idaho-based Air Force family, miles apart hasn’t been an issue at all.

 Two Airmen, both medics, deployed simultaneously twice, to geographically-separated Afghan provinces. There, they tackled the atrocities of combat medicine alone, yet returned to heal together.

 Some doubt they’d have the vigor to prevail in the face of violence and brutality; others question whether they’d have the willpower to endure without their life partner.

 According to these medics, it’s all possible and in doing so, naysayers will probably find a wealth of untapped strength.

 Tech. Sgt. Tyler Szymanski, or “Ski,” and Staff Sgt. Maria Szymanski, both 366th Surgical Operations Squadron medical technicians, first deployed together in 2011, and again in 2013.

 Ski’s first combat tour was nine months as a combat medic at Provincial Reconstruction Team Lagman in 2010. Ski, a Eugene, Ore., native, facilitated reconstruction, development and economic growth in the province.

 Then, in 2011, Ski once again boarded a plane to Afghanistan; this time to serve as a medical mentor for Afghan National Army medics, on an embedded training team at Camp Hero, Kandahar Province.

 A few months later, Maria, a Pittsburg, Calif., native, got on a very similar plane, headed for Camp Leatherneck, where she supported Marine Corps combat operations in nearby Helmand Province as the medic on a team responsible for convoying equipment to various forward operating bases (FOB) and combat outposts (COP), during surge operations.

 The Szymanskis were deployed at locations merely 100 miles apart, yet emotionally, there were days the small distance felt like infinity, Ski said.

“There are days there when a man desperately craves the embrace of his wife and visa-versa, I’m sure,” he said.

 Ski and Maria both had many such times.

“The most medically and emotionally challenging day for me naturally happened at the worst possible time,” recounted Ski, reflecting on when his PRT’s doctor and nurse visited another FOB for a medical meeting, leaving only him and another junior medic behind.

 A major battle ensued on the outskirts of the village, leaving 32 ANA soldiers wounded and several dead. Ski and his partner had to receive the carnage, triage the patients, and provide what medical care they could, given the horrific circumstances.

“People literally kept pouring in and I don’t mean the ‘walking wounded’ Soldiers with gunshot wounds and shrapnel I normally cared for. I’m talking about ANA who had multiple high-caliber gunshot wounds, missing appendages and guys who were barely holding on to any hint of life,” said Ski. “It was the worst day of my life.”

With the help of his fellow medic and many American Soldiers, who utilized their combat lifesaver skills to help stop bleeding and sustain lives, Ski was able to save some of the ANA, but others were lost in the defense of their homeland.

 Merely a province away, Maria was dealing with a different type of stressors. While Ski and his team typically patrolled by foot, Maria was a convoy medic, and despite the protection armored vehicles provide, the constant threat of improvised explosive devices kept her and the Marines on high alert.

 A day of peace finally came to the Szymanskis when they met face-to-face, on what came as a completely surprise visit to Maria.

“I heard we had an ambulance going to Maria’s base, so I literally begged a ride, cleared it with leadership, and rode over,” said Ski, who said he felt so thankful to spend an afternoon with his wife.

 Then, it was back to the mission for both medics, and they both knew their teams counted on them.

 The Szymanskis returned to Idaho at relatively the same time, and enjoyed a few months with each other and helped one another emotionally as they got back to their normal lives.

 Normalcy didn’t last long and they were soon jolted when deployment orders dropped again – for both of them.

 This time Maria was to deploy to Bagram Airfield (BAF) and performed retrograde missions, convoying out to various FOBs and COPs scheduled to close as part of the draw-down. Her team returned similar equipment to what she delivered a year earlier back to the Army supply system.

 Ski was assigned to a Special Forces Operational Detachment Alpha, which was composed of 12 men, each with separate military specialties, supporting U.S. Army Green Beret and ANA Commando operations.

 Ski spent roughly six months in Regional Command-North’s Kanduz Province and his final few months in RC-East’s Kunar Province at FOB Asadabad.

 Ski and Maria flew into Afghanistan together and were located on opposite sides of BAF, until Ski forward-deployed to Kanduz.

“When you get into country, you just want to get to your unit and dive into the mission,” said Ski. “But, due to bad weather, I got stuck at Bagram for about a week. I felt like it was driving me crazy – I just wanted to get to work. Now, with 20-20 hindsight, we were damn lucky to be on Bagram together, where I could just walk a few miles across base and see her.”

Maria called the circumstances, “blissful.”

Heightened alertness, insurgent attacks and combat medic duties quickly eroded that bliss, as the Szymanskis quickly found themselves in the thick of it again.

 Ski frequently found himself embedded with small, eight- to 10-man Special Forces teams, and would launch into insurgent clearing operations a few days ahead of infantry units. Once inserted onto a battlefield, Ski’s job was to set up a forward surgical team on location.

“Sometimes I’d set up an FST out in a field, and other times we’d borrow a small ANA facility in the area, utilize uninhabited mud huts, or whatever we needed to make sure I had a place, near the fight, to treat Coalition or ANA forces,” said Ski.

 Ski said the role of an Air Force medic has shifted a lot since he joined the Air Force 12 years ago. Pre-deployment and battlefield medicine training has increased, and the likelihood of a medic working hand-in-hand with a combat unit on the ground is very real.

“When I was coming through technical school and got to my first base, all the older NCOs and docs were ‘hospital people,’” said Ski. “I mean, we’re all still hospital people, but there are so many medics out there now who have been in direct combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, we’re a force multiplier and we now have so many experienced and battle-tested medical professionals on all bases, everywhere. It’s overwhelming.”

Between his three deployments, Ski has hundreds of battlefield saves and has performed even more humanitarian surgeries, he said, adding: the battlefield saves are always profound, but some medical dealings with the local Afghans really stick with a man.

“I remember well the time some ANA brought in two young girls with full-circumference burns from their torso to their feet,” said Ski. “I guess their mom was immune to her husband’s beatings so he had to step it up to make an impact when he was angry at her, then dipped his own kids in boiling water. It’s unimaginable … it’s horrible … it’s Afghanistan.”

Meanwhile, Maria, an 8-year Air Force veteran, was executing the retrograde mission on 24- to 36-hour convoys from BAF to remote FOBs and COPs.

“Those days were long, really, really freaking long,” recounted Maria. “We would frequently leave in the evenings and not arrive at our destinations until two mornings later. Then we’d immediately get to work loading reverse logistics gear to bring back. On lucky missions we’d get some time to sleep in a transient tent, or wherever, before getting back on the road. All missions weren’t that lucky, though.”

Maria recalled many days, or roughly 70 percent of her deployment, sleeping wherever she could lay her head and eating whatever food was available, mostly meals-ready-to-eat.

 As missions progressed and insurgent attacks intensified, Maria’s idea of what was lucky changed, and she eventually found herself and two fellow medics, Senior Airman Taylor Savage and Staff Sgt. Amber Fredrick, making a pact that if anyone’s vehicle should strike an IED on a convoy, they’d take care of each other. After all, they were the only females on the missions and the only Airmen.

 That pact would become a reality on May 30, 2013, during a retrograde mission in Wardak Province.

“We were on the road for about 19 hours on May 29, and came up on a FOB,” said Maria. “Our convoy commander was nice and allowed us to stop and get some rest. I got about two hours of sleep, which was really needed.”

The next morning when we were getting ready to leave, Savage and Maria were told to switch trucks.

 Savage left the FOB riding with three others: truck commander Army Staff Sgt. Joe Nunez, the driver and a turret gunner. Maria moved to the rear vehicle in the convoy.

 A few hours into day two of the mission, tragedy struck.

“Savage’s vehicle hit about a 300-pound IED and was flipped over,” said Maria, who’s vehicle rushed forward to deliver the medic to assist. “We got up there as fast as we could but convoys are spaced out so we were quite a ways back. When we got there, (Afghan National Police) were out there and I saw Fredrick on top of a Soldier, performing (cardiopulmonary resuscitation).”

At first, the scene unfolded in slow motion, as if it was merely a movie act. But the real screams, real blood, real pain and unforgettable smell quickly brought Maria to action; she acted quick and sprung to aid.

 Nunez, 29, from Pasadena, Calif., was already dead when Maria arrived on scene, so her focus immediately shifted to Savage.

“It’s like before I knew what was going on, I was straddling over Taylor and cutting off her clothes. She was bleeding in multiple places, had a broken her pelvis, pubic bone, a rib, both ankles, her left leg, and she had a large laceration on her face,” said Maria.

 Despite being disoriented, Savage recognized Maria, and even smiled. She was moved to a medical evacuation helicopter, and Maria began CPR on another patient.

 Soaked in blood and patient urine, Maria performed CPR so intensely she didn’t realize when nine Soldiers picked up the gurney the Soldier was strapped to and moved him to the MEDEVAC helicopter, with Maria still on top resuscitating.

 Once the scene was secure and wounded patients were MEDEVACed out, the convoy continued and finished their mission. The rest of the ride was grim, but marked with emotion.

“I didn’t know how to feel, no one did. I felt anger and devastation,” said Maria. “I guess I always had it stuck in my head that ‘I’m a medic, I can’t get hurt because I have to take care of other people.’ That fallacy changed for me real quick, and perhaps no one knows better than (Savage).”

Despite the multitude of challenges, Maria and Ski finished their deployments. Maria returned to Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, in June, and Ski came home in July.

 The two are already back at work at the MHAFB surgery clinic, but perhaps carry with them more baggage than they departed with. They said they rely on each other for emotional support, and hope their experiences downrange may benefit other servicemembers.

“You never know when your number will be called or where you’ll deploy to, but every man or woman wearing a uniform ought to never forget that their time could come, so stay ready,” said Ski. “When I say ready, I mean that I never imagined I’d be out patrolling with Green Berets. That could be any one of us. Maria never asked to run convoys with Marines, but that could be any one of us. We’d all better keep our heads in the game and be ready.”

Maria agreed.

“Taylor and I have been through a lot together, home and downrange,” she said. “Having someone to rely on, or something to anchor you is as important as knowing your job and staying fit. Sometimes I think I couldn’t have done any of this without Ski … but, I’m wrong. I could have. We all will prevail when it’s necessary.”

The time Maria and Ski spend together means so much and is so important to their healing processes, Maria said, stating:

“It’s not just the little things that will bring you home from war, it’s everything. It’s everything you do now, do there and do afterward. It all matters.”




------------------------








Canada's Afghanistan involvement is winding down


Simon Kent
By Simon Kent   ,Toronto Sun
Saturday, September 07, 2013 07:04 PM EDT

Dean Milner 080913 Canadian Army Maj-Gen. Dean Milner, centre, meets with U.S. Army Col. Mark Migaleddi, right, in Kabul, Afghanistan on Aug. 12, 2013. (Photo courtesy the Canadian Contribution to the Training Mission in Afghanistan Headquarters)




TORONTO - Victory belongs to the most persevering.

These words belong to French general and politician Napoleon Bonaparte, acutely defining the key to soldiering in a far off land.

Taken at its most literal, there can be no denying that Canada’s military contribution to the war in Afghanistan has been one of perseverance. The victory might be a little harder to define.

Canada sent its initial soldiers secretly within weeks of the Sept. 11, 2001 attack that convulsed the U.S. homeland.

The detachment from Joint Task Force 2 was the first to arrive in Afghanistan and more contingents of regular troops followed in January 2002. They have been going ever since.

More than 40,000 soldiers eventually served in Canada’s largest single military deployment since the Second World War — more than in Korea in the 1950s or the Balkans in the 1990s.

A total of 158 have made the supreme sacrifice.

All that will end by March 2014. Canada has its final rotation working to train Afghan security forces and Maj.-Gen. Dean Milner, who’s in charge of Canadian troops and doubles as deputy commander of the NATO training mission, says the Afghan National Army and police will be able to meet the challenges left when international forces eventually depart.

Speaking via telephone conference call from Kabul, Milner said he was pleased with Canada’s efforts and proud to have commanded them on this, his own second tour of duty.

He left no doubt about his confidence in local security forces to secure the country’s future despite the inevitable human cost.

“The Afghans, as you know, are 100% in the lead. So there’s no doubt in my mind they’re taking more casualties,” he said, before adding there is “nothing that is precluding them from defeating the Taliban.”

Milner speaks from experience. He is a 33-year army veteran and graduate of Royal Roads Military College who first went to Afghanistan as commander, Joint Task Force Afghanistan 5-10, deploying from September 2010 to July 2011.

Maj.-Gen. Milner returned to Kabul in May 2013 where he is currently assigned as Commander, Canadian Contribution to the Training Mission in Afghanistan (CCTM-A) and the Deputy Commanding General-Operations, NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan.

Milner says he has personally witnessed a huge change in the country, its ability to provide for its own security as well as the general health and welfare of the people.

Canada has been part of that regeneration and our ability to stay the course since 2001 has not gone unnoticed.

“There are Canadians today in 14 different locations and I could not be more proud of them, mentoring local forces in advanced combat skills. We are now in drawdown but the Canadian mission to train, advise and assist has been vital to the country’s future.”

Milner maintains that as long as local forces are fighting and winning at the tactical level then there will be hope.

“We have always been focused on the long term sustainability of Afghanistan,” Milner said, “and this can be seen in the steady transition from combat to traditional rule-of-law policing.”

As the world watches and waits to see if U.S. politicians give the go ahead Monday for President Barack Obama to launch attacks on elements of the Syrian armed forces, we know we will not be a part of it.

This new conflict will again be in a far off land and will require fresh reserves of military perseverance without Canadian input.

Our goodbye to Afghanistan will be goodbye to military conflict. For now.

********

Canadian Forces left Germany at the end of 1993, their European duties ending with that of the Cold War.

They did leave something behind.

The Canadian Army Trophy (CAT) competition started in 1963 when Ottawa donated a silver replica of a Centurion tank to the country that obtained the highest score during a tank gunnery contest hosted by the forward-deployed Canadian Army 4th Mechanized Brigade.

This tank replica later became known as the Canadian Army Trophy for NATO Tank Gunnery.

The most frequent competitors alongside Canada included Belgium, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, West Germany and the United States.

The winner got to keep the CAT until the next competition. The contest evolved over the years and its final format was very similar to one Russia began using just 12 months ago for its own tank crews.

Word is, now the Russians want to challenge old foes to a shooting contest and seek the CAT as the overall prize.

All they have to do is find it.

------------------




Canada To Continue Contributing Financially To Afghan Security Forces, Says Maj.-Gen. Milner. Insider Attacks Down Significantly, Says General
September 5, 2013. 12:27 am • Section: Defence Watch

By David Pugliese
Defence Watch

Major-General Dean Milner, the most senior Canadian officer in Afghanistan, held a teleconference on Wednesday from Kabul. He talked about a number of issues (pull-out timetable, etc.). Also on the agenda were the future contributions to the Afghan security forces.
All Canadian troops will be home by the end of March 2014, says Milner. But Canada will continue to provide up to $110 million annually for Afghanistan’s security forces.
Milner also noted that the number of so-called “insider attacks” have dropped.
That is because of improved screening of Afghan recruits.
“They’re just better systems in place,” he explained. “We’re also focusing on working closely with the Afghans. Cultural awareness is critical.”
Milner also noted that the Afghan leadership has made fighting the “insider threat” a priority.
He noted that while Canadian soldiers have robust rules of engagement to allow them to defend themselves in case of insurgent attack (i.e., firefights, attacks on bases, etc.), they have not had to do that.
“We’ve had no incidents like that since we’ve been up in Kabul but obviously we need to be prepared,” he said.
Milner took command of the Canadian contribution to the Afghan training mission in May. He also holds the position of Deputy Commander for Operations of the NATO Training Mission in Afghanistan.


===============



Photos: Canadian Armed Forces installs new Chaplain General




Newly-appointed Brigadier General the Venerable John Fletcher was installed as the new Chaplain General during a change of appointment ceremony and service of installation for the Chaplain General of the Canadian Armed Forces on Wednesday, September 4, 2013. The newly appointed Chaplain General John Fletcher is Canada's first openly gay chaplain to hold the position of Chaplain General.



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Revving up for Rolling Thunder   


photo:

 Wednesday, September 4, 2013 10:02:10 MDT PM 




“Preparations for the annual Cochrane area Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Rally are well under way with just over $2,500.00 raised so far,” says Betty Anne Jansen of the rally organizing committee.
 Now in its third year, the Rolling Thunder Rally hopes to raise at least $5,000 for Wounded Warriors of Canada. It takes place Sat. Sept. 14.
 The committee is made up of its chairperson, Betty Anne Jansen, Mick Gee and wife Carol, who are themselves bikers,  and Lloyd (Tex) Leugner; retired businessman, Canadian Army Warrant Officer and Veteran’s advocate.
 Up to 100 bikers are expected to register for the rally that starts after breakfast at the Cochrane Legion, travels to checkpoints at the Exshaw and Canmore Legions and on to the Nakoda Resort and Casino before returning to the Cochrane Legion for prize draws, a steak dinner and entertainment by the Smoking Aces.
 According to Leugner, committee treasurer; “Cochrane and area businesses have been very generous with donations, gift certificates and sponsorships, but we can use much more help.  Those companies’ will receive as much publicity as we can provide before, during and after the rally. So far, cash donations have been made by ATB Financial of Cochrane, Foothills Motorcycle Apparel (who also provided draw prizes), Group 10 Engineering of Calgary and the RCEME Military Association of Western Canada.  In addition, donations or gift certificates have been provided by the Portofino Restaurant, Sure-Print Copy Centre and Mark’s No Frill’s Foods, all of Cochrane, the Rose & Crown Pub of Canmore and Oil City Press of Calgary.  We expect many more commitments that have been promised for follow-up.”
Leugner went on to explain, “The new Veteran’s Charter introduced in 2006 by the Canadian Government has many inadequacies and deficiencies. The Wounded Warriors Program of Canada recently entered into a partnership with the Royal Canadian Legion and is one way for Canadians to assist Canada’s wounded veterans, many of whom have lost limbs, suffer from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other serious injuries resulting from Canadian UN peacekeeping missions and the Afghanistan war.  We have a responsibility to serve these wounded warriors and Rolling Thunder, as a non-profit organization (registration # 5017441477), is determined to help. ”
More information concerning donations or registration for the Rolling Thunder Rally may be obtained by contacting Leugner at (403) 932-7618 or texleug@shaw.ca or Betty Anne Jansen at (403) 851-0611 or bajansen@shaw.ca or rollingthunder.ab@gmail.com.   


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Canadian troops ready to end Afghan training mission


By Staff Torstar News Service

         


OTTAWA—After nearly a dozen years in Afghanistan, Canadian soldiers are getting ready to return home for the last time, leaving the uncertain security of the war-torn country in the hands of Afghan soldiers and police.

Canada’s current mission training Afghan police and soldiers begins to wind down in October, marking the end of a military presence in the country that began in the months after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.

Returning soldiers leave behind questions whether Afghans are up to the task to securing their own country from the terror threats that prompted Canada and its allies to deploy to the country in 2001.

But Maj.-Gen. Dean Milner, commander of the Canadian force and deputy commander of the NATO training mission, said the police and Afghan National Army are already taking the lead.

“We continue to see their confidence growing. It’s significant,” Milner said Wednesday.

“We’ve built a very large, capable force . . . the biggest focus for us right now is sustaining this force. . . . There’s no doubt in my mind that it’s going to take more time to assist them,” Milner said.

Since 2009, the Afghan security forces has grown from about 192,000 with limited mobility and firepower to an army and police contingent that today numbers around 345,000 personnel, Milner said.

Milner said the “absolutely impressive” improvements in abilities of the Afghan security forces are “like night and day” compared to what he saw during his previous tour in Kandahar two years ago.

He said the Afghan army, police and intelligence services have assumed responsibility for security operations — and as a result are suffering heavier causalities from their place on the frontlines.

During the traditional summer fighting season, he said the Afghans have done an impressive job preventing the Taliban from achieving their objectives.

“There have been a few high-profile attacks here in Kabul and other large cities but far fewer than the Taliban were hoping for,” Milner told journalists in a teleconference.

But Milner’s commander, U.S. Gen. Joseph Dunford, has warned that the Afghans are suffering heavy losses in combat that may require further intervention by western forces.

“I’m not assuming that those casualties are sustainable,” Dunford said in an interview with the Guardian.

Canadian infantry soldiers, engineers, medical personnel, signallers and air force staff are all on the ground teaching Afghans their respective trades, Milner said. Most of the training happens at sites around Kabul with a smaller contingent based at Mazar-e-Sharif in the north.

The 800-strong contingent will be reduced to 650 in October and 375 by Christmas. By January, a small team of 100 will be left to wrap up the mission. By the time the last soldier returns home in March, almost 40,000 Canadian troops will have served in Afghanistan, from Kabul to a gruelling combat mission in Kandahar that ended in 2011 and back to Kabul.

“It has been both a painful and productive mission,” Milner said, adding that he’s mindful of the 158 Canadian soldiers who died during the Afghan mission.

But he said experiences in Afghanistan have been good for the Canadian military, giving it exposure to tough military operations working alongside coalition partners.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that it’s been a good experience for us,” Milner said.

“Working with our coalition partners. Fighting a difficult fight. It’s a complex fight, the counter-insurgency. We’ve learned lots of lessons.”

While troops are pulling out, Milner said Canada will continue to back Afghan security forces with financial help of up to $110 million a year.

“I know that Canada is absolutely going to continue to support Afghanistan into the future,” Milner said.
----------------------





Op Attention Photos – Canadian Troops In Afghanistan On Mission

PHOTOS

Members of the Canadian Contribution to the Training
 Mission in Afghanistan, ROTO 3, Quick Reaction
 Force and the French Army pose
for a group photo following
a joint training session at
Kabul Military Training Centre in
 Kabul, Afghanistan
during Operation ATTENTION
 on August 3, 2013.






and..



Sergeant Josh Mathers, Canadian Contribution to the Training Mission in Afghanistan, fires a grenade rifle during a joint coalition weapons training session with the Armée de Terre (French Army) at KMTC in Kabul, Afghanistan during Operation ATTENTION on August 5, 2013.  Photo: Pte Claluna-Venasse





and..


Master Corporal Joe Wilson assists a member of the Armée de Terre
(French Army) as they take aim with the C9 machine gun
 during a coalition training session at Kabul
 Military Training Centre in Kabul,
Afghanistan on August 3, 2013
 during Operation ATTENTION.
   Photo: MCpl Frieda Van Putten





and...

Colonel (Col) Lee Hammond, Deputy
Commander of CMCT-A Roto 3 (centre left)
 and Col John Fife (centre background),
 Commander of the Combined Forces
Command-Kabul Military Training Centre
(KMTC) Training Advisory Group,
 observe an Afghan National Army
 training session at the KMTC
 in Kabul, Afghanistan on July 30,
 2013 during Operation ATTENTION.
 Photo: MCpl Frieda Van Putten




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Wounded Warriors Canada Launches 2014 Battlefield Ride




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Memories from 'over there'

Justin Justin CrannPublished on September 03, 2013



Melanie Graham has a grand ambition to share the stories of Canadian men and women — civilian and military — who served on the ground in Afghanistan.


© Justin Crann

Lt. (retired) Melanie Graham (centre-left) discusses her "legacy project" book Afghanistan: A Soldier's Story following the screening of four films at the Western Development Museum in Moose Jaw Tuesday.

Other news
Notice
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A new way to get within physiotherapy
New mural celebrates stock growers' history
What’s happening at Monday’s executive committee meeting
Today file – September 6, 2013

           

  
For what she calls a "legacy project" — a book titled Afghanistan: A Soldier's Story — Graham is traveling across the country and showcasing films on the conflict in an attempt to generate interest and draw contributions from Canada's community of veterans.

"The book is vitally important," Graham, a retired naval lieutenant, told the Times-Herald Tuesday. "I look at it as a boots-on-the-ground perspective … I want Canadians to know our military the way that I do, as ordinary people doing an extraordinary job."

Graham's travels with the film series, which includes a number of documentaries on the war, have come at her own expense — an expense she said she happily bears to promote Canada's military, which she calls the country's "best-kept secrets."

"I believe one person can make a difference, and so this is my way of quietly making that difference," she said. "I'm just sharing with Canadians a glimpse of the remarkable men and women who are very ordinary people, but are setting aside their lives to do something extraordinary on a regular basis, no questions asked."

Capt. Susan Magill, who serves as public affairs officer at 15 Wing Moose Jaw and is assisting Graham on the project as an editor, said the book will be about "personal memories."

"It isn't an official DND (Department of National Defence) book. It's going to be about what people experienced when they were over there," she said. "It's the things they brought home with them that will always stay with them. This is a way to share it with anyone who walks into a Chapters and decides to pick up the book."

Ultimately, said Graham, the goal is to give Canadians a tangible way to evaluate the Afghan War.

"Most people still think in terms of 19th and 20th Century warfare: who won or who lost. We won't now who won in Afghanistan for decades," she explained. "I believe the influence and the impact our men and women — the military, police, corrections, civilians and media —have had on ordinary Afghan people, in giving them the confidence and empowering them to make a difference in their own country, will take decades to come to fruition.

"To think that just one person can make a difference, and we've had 35,000 over there over 12 years? I think we've made a pretty significant difference. It just won't show for a while."

For more information about the Afghanistan: A Soldier's Story legacy project, or to submit a story for the project, visit the project's website.

You can follow Justin Crann on Twitter or like him on Facebook



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God bless our Canada Military, Militia, Reservists, Rangers- land, sea and sky- God bless our troops in Afghanistan- we remember












Canada's culture of French and English languages, 800 cultures, 1500 languages and our lifestyle and way of life in blending in with everybody allowed the Afghanistans 2 love us as much as we love them.... because our Canadian troops adapt.... with the real people of Afghanistan...and our troops refuse 2 suck up to $$$media who betrays all in it's wake (Canada remembers Romeo Dallaire UN Peacekeeper's Rwanda)- we love ya all so much.






comment: libs,tories,ndp,bloc-  all parties let the troops down- only Canadians did NOT.

comment:
They did the job Ottawa set-out for them while Ottawa cut their disability benefits and changed disability pensions for a one time lump-sum kiss-off.

These men and women did a great job not for but in spite of Ottawa.

COMMENT:
Bravo Zulu CAF each and every one of you.






Afghan military, police training cost Canadians $500M


Updated
3:01 pm, September 4th, 2013

photo

OTTAWA - Canada's participation in NATO's effort to put Afghan military and police recruits through their paces has cost taxpayers roughly $500 million over the last three years.

The commander of Operation Attention, Maj.-Gen. Dean Milner, announced the estimated cost Wednesday.

He added that Canadian mentors have helped field more than 50 Afghan battalions so far and have about 10 more to build.

"So that's going to keep us busy right through until the end of our mission," said Milner. "We're still training a lot of recruits. We're still focusing on counter (improvised explosive device) training, medical training and our air component training."

Milner said Canada's forces have also been able to avoid many of the insider attacks by Islamist infiltrators that have killed British and U.S. trainers since 2011.

"There's been big efforts to work closely with the Afghans," he said, adding that screening of recruits to filter out Taliban sympathizers has improved.

While Milner said he's impressed that Afghanistan's 345,000-strong security forces plan and conduct their own anti-Taliban missions, he admitted their casualty rate is higher than what NATO forces faced.

"We continue to see their confidence growing," said Milner. "I think they'll work through this."

Right now, there are about 800 Canadian military and police trainers spread out over 14 locations - mostly in and around Afghanistan's capital, Kabul.

Canada will begin reducing its presence in Afghanistan next month, leaving just 375 people there by Christmas, and bringing everyone home by the end of March.

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ON PUTIN.... YA GOTTA SMILE.... am honest here.....finally refreshing political leader who just doesn't give a sheeeeet....... Putin hates Obama because Obama is BLACK..... and indifferent 2 Europe because Europe needs his gas and oil..... and Muslim countries just don't matter.... and China is exactly the same mindset..... the world has changed folks... time we looked after our own...

Richard- Putin called UK England a tiny island that is nothing 2 worry about- Putin is saying outloud what Russia and China have been quietly saying 4 years.... and their progressive style of $$$$ over human rights of United Nations is far surpassing any free Industralized Nation - especially since we are hijacked by Heretic Muslim oil etc from Muslim nations who kill Muslims in the Muslims 4 sport..... God bless our planet eh? Hugs Richard... ya don't miss a trick darlin... hugs from old momma Nova... and Putin does occasionaly make me smile.... cause he just don't give a sheeeeet.




Well this has been quite the Day!

Equitas – Class Action proceeding

 And this jewel from Russia

 I do believe President Obama has got it right
 ST. PETERSBURG Hopes for a positive G20 summit crumbled today as President Obama blurted to Russia’s Vladimir Putin at a joint press appearance, “Everyone here thinks you’re a “jackass.”
If you think I’m the only one who feels this way, you’re kidding yourself,” Mr. Obama said, jabbing his finger in the direction of the Russian President’s face. “Ask Angela Merkel. Ask David Cameron.
 Shortly after Mr. Obama’s volcanic performance, Mr. Putin (Ex – KGB) released a terse official statement, reading,
“I should be afraid of this skinny man? I wrestle bears (Tethered Bears that is).”

Not to detract from the Russian People, as they are the finest, they too are fed-up with the situation in Russia, we heard their dissatisfaction when we visited St. Petersburg












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Thanks Jason 4 the wonderful share of our Canadian troops - Afghanistan- refuse to allow shortsighted media crap 2 take away the enormus successes over the years that our Canadian troops achieved over the years in Afghanistan- in 2005 emailed they had cut 14 districts off at the knees of the drug planting.... helped rebuild 4 villages, built 5 schools and started on 18 roads in Afghanistan...... DON'T TELL ME WHAT NATO TROOPS DIDN'T DO ......... SHARE WITH THE MILLIONS OF US WHO WATCHED THE BACKS OF OUR TROOPS- WHAT OUR TROOPS DID ACTUALLY DO...... regardless of political interferance from politicians globally and the despots and thieves who make up United Nations and the China, Russia, Pakistan, India, Iran etc. who help the Heretic Muslim Monsters who destroy all and everything Muslims on the planet.... That's my story and I'm sticking 2 it.


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NOTHING IS EVER GOING 2 CHANGE- PAKISTAN IS AFGHANISTAN'S BIGGEST ENEMY- THANK GOD INDIA HAS HUGE NUCLEAR WEAPONS 2 OFFSET PAKISTAN.... except Indians believe in Recarnation..... versus the 72 virgin crap of Heretic Muslims.... am sticking with India....



Pakistan releases seven Afghan Taliban prisoners

The prisoners are Mansoor Dadullah, Said Wali, Abdul Manan, Karim Agha, Sher Afzal, Gul Muhammad and Muhammad Zai.


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Pakistan to release all Afghan Taliban detainees: FO

Published 2013-01-18 15:51:14 

—File Photo

ABU DHABI: Pakistan plans to release all Afghan Taliban prisoners still in its detention, including the group’s former second-in-command, an official said on Friday, the clearest signal yet that it backs reconciliation efforts in neighbouring Afghanistan.

“The remaining detainees, we are coordinating, and they will be released subsequently,” Jalil Jilani, Pakistan’s foreign secretary, said at a news conference in Abu Dhabi.

Asked if the former Taliban number-2 Mullah Baradar would be among those to be released, he said: “The aim is to release all,” without elaborating further.

Jilani was speaking after meeting the acting US special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, David Pearce, and Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Jawed Luddin at the Afghan embassy in Abu Dhabi.

Luddin told reporters the purpose of the meeting was to discuss “security and political dimensions of bilateral relationships” between the three countries.

Luddin said the peace process had gained momentum in recent weeks with the release of some Taliban detainees by Pakistan, preparations by the Afghan Taliban movement to open a political office in Doha, and Afghan President Hamid Karzai's visit to Washington.

“Steps have been taken forward in an environment of cooperation and shared concerns ... 2013 is a very crucial year and we agreed we need to maintain the momentum,” he said.

“2013 will see concrete outcomes in the peace process.”

At their meeting a week ago, Karzai and US President Barack Obama agreed to speed up the handover of combat operations in Afghanistan to Afghan forces, raising the prospect of an accelerated US withdrawal.

Karzai also appeared to give ground on US demands for immunity from prosecution for any American troops who stay in Afghanistan beyond 2014, a concession that could allow Obama to keep at least a small residual force there.

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The mystery persists Missing containers

Updated 2013-09-07 07:18:27 

THE recent denial from the US embassy that 19,000 Nato/Isaf containers had gone missing from Karachi has added to an already brewing controversy. The initial disclosure that came last week was startling enough. The previous Friday, the media quoted the DG Rangers (who has not issued a denial) as telling the Supreme Court that thousands of containers had gone missing. These numbers were large and startling enough to make a good headline — so good that few media men pointed out that this appeared to be but a passing remark along with a longer account of how a shipload of weapons had been brought to Karachi, the whereabouts of which were never ascertained. Interestingly, in the court order issued the same day, the focus too was on the shipload that the DG said went missing; there was no reference to the containers. And the one-man commission that the court set up to investigate the matter has also been ordered to inquire into the smuggling of weapons through ships; the shipload alleged to have gone missing; and the collection of customs duty at the Karachi and Bin Qasim ports.

Now that the US embassy has issued a denial (followed by an even stronger one by the MQM), it is perhaps time to remind ourselves of the importance of context or the larger picture, so that there is no confusion when assessing remarks. This is especially true for high-profile court cases where it is, at times, difficult to distinguish between passing remarks made in the courtroom and formal statements submitted by high-ranking officials on behalf of the departments they represent. For the sake of clarity, coverage should focus on the official exchange rather than random remarks.

But, now that this confusion has been created, perhaps it would help if the DG Rangers set about clarifying matters. He must explain what he originally said; why he said it; what information and intelligence led him to assert that thousands of containers had gone missing; and what kind of containers, commercial or otherwise, he had in mind. Karachi is a complex and sensitive issue, especially now that the federal government has made clear its intention to address the violence within the city. Against this background, any statements by any intelligence or law-enforcement personnel about weapons being smuggled into the city and under the watch of specific politicians can be and are seen as loaded and biased ones. This is hardly the message that needs to be sent out at present.
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Haqqani leader killed in second U.S. drone strike in North Waziristan
By ANI | ANI – Fri 6 Sep, 2013

Islamabad, Sept. 6 (ANI): A senior leader of the Haqqani network was allegedly killed in a second U.S. drone strike in North Waziristan.

At least six militants were reported to have died in the unmanned missile attack in the residential area of Dargah Mandi, 10 kilometers from Miranshah, North Waziristan's main town, the Express Tribune reports.

The identities of the Haqqani Network leaders and activists killed were not disclosed.

The Haqqani Network is a powerful Taliban faction that operates in eastern, central, and northern Afghanistan, and is reportedly headquartered in North Waziristan.

The terror group has close links with al Qaeda, and is said to be supported by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Directorate, the report added.

This was the second drone strike in a single day on the soil of North Waziristan, the report added.

Earlier, the first drone strike of the day had killed around four people in the area.

Pakistan strongly condemned the U.S. drone strike saying that it was a violation of the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity. (ANI)
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Assignment Afghanistan: Go Down Nightmare
January 1, 2011 by Adam Day

Oscar Company just after dawn, crossing a field near Chalghowr.
PHOTO: ADAM DAY
They knew there would be bombs buried in the dirt. They knew their metal detectors probably wouldn’t detect the bombs’ wooden pressure plates. They knew that after the bombs they would be ambushed and the air would zing with high-velocity metal.
The Canadians knew they were advancing to detonation, that some of them were going down, that it was unlikely they’d all make it back to base.
They knew there would be mayhem and nightmare explosions and the dirty fear of dying.
They went anyway.
They walked across the field and into the war, and everything that they knew, happened.
It’s August 2010 and the war in Kandahar is shifting into a gear so high it’s not clear what’s going to come apart first. The allied airbase just outside Kandahar City is city-sized already and the Americans keep coming. Thousands upon thousands of clear-eyed, rifle-carrying Western youths are piling into southern Afghanistan, looking for action.
From inside the base’s safety the war out there in the districts seemed to be constructed mainly of far-off explosions and other people’s fables. The conflict felt so vague and had so many angles that straight information seemed impossible—NATO was either about to win or the insurgents were about to overrun the airfield, or both, strangely—the war was the same as it ever was: progress in one sector, total chaos five kilometres away. Anything looked possible and the only way to get a grip on the puzzle was by charting the rumours that swirled across the base and hung in the air like the scent of something difficult.
This year in Kandahar the rumour’s smell was all blood and malice, as if doom itself had a flavour. Louie Palu says it’s “the summer of the IED” and if anyone would know it’s him. Palu, an amusingly rebellious and war-battered Canadian photo-journalist, says the kids in Panjwai are greeting Canadian patrols by building piles of dirt with their hands to mimic IED emplacements and then jubilantly yelling “boom,” teasing the soldiers about their impending detonation.
No evidence of this was ever seen.
Palu has likely spent more time in Panjwai than just about any other Canadian and his appreciation of the war’s insanity approaches artistry. He tells stories of a Canadian outpost so deep in the shit that their base gets shot up every day and they can’t even go 100 metres outside the wire without getting ambushed and torn apart by IEDs, which are everywhere—in the trees, in the walls, in the fields—all hidden and made of wood and plastic and essentially undetectable. But still, Palu said, the soldiers keep going out. He said he attributes this to their unit’s almost suicidal machismo. Any other unit would stop, he said, but these guys keep walking into the bombs, as if to say: “Go ahead and blow our legs off, we’ll keep coming back.”
Like all the worst rumours, this one turned out to be pretty much true.

The gun battle rages.
PHOTO: ADAM DAY
Combat Outpost PANJSHIR
The only road to the most embattled little base in Canada’s whole war is called Route Nightmare and nobody really wants to go down it.
At first I wasn’t allowed to go there at all—too dangerous for media. Then things changed and became even more dangerous and I definitely wasn’t allowed to go. Then a compromise was reached and I was allowed to go, but not allowed to leave the outpost. While that compromise was itself eventually compromised, I first had to get to the base, which was not easy because the place was almost constantly under fire.
After a few days of playing a fairly intense game of standby to standby, the time came to make the actual move. Slowly.
Waiting, the big green armoured convoy had been bursting idle diesel fumes all over Forward Operating Base Masum Ghar for a good couple hours already and the delays seemed set to increase. Combat Outpost Panjshir was currently taking fire and visitors were being discouraged. The trip was in danger of being postponed because it was getting late and getting down Nightmare could take a long time, an unforeseeable amount of time. It could take forever—or at least the rest of the afternoon.
As it turned out, the convoy made the trip in one mad sprint and we were in Panjshir before anyone knew it.
Not that there was much to look at. Panjshir is a small square little outpost stuck in the middle of a disused field dead in the heart of the Panjwai district. It is an austere position, a collection of tents and sand and weapons and not much else.
Nestled in the razor wire at the base’s entrance is a plywood board declaring ‘Keep Out’ in sloppily spray-painted English. It’s safe to say the Afghans in the town of Chalghowr, whom the Canadians are theoretically here to protect from the enemy, do not speak English. But that’s really the least of the problems.
The town of Chalghowr is a couple of hundred metres south, but beyond inaccessible to the soldiers at the base. Every time they go toward the village something catastrophic happens. Not like once, either, but again and again over weeks of patrols until the unit was scorched and visibly reduced.
Every soldier at Combat Outpost Panjshir deserves a medal, their company commander would later say. These are the soldiers who walk knowingly into undetectable minefields, who play an almost inexplicable game of advance to detonation—these were Palu’s reputedly suicidally-machismoed soldiers, the men and women of 7 Platoon, Oscar Company, 3rd Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment.
The story of their unit at Panjshir is all about life on the front lines of a difficult war; where not everything makes sense and where the tactical problems aren’t necessarily solvable. It is a harsh situation, but life on the front lines for soldiers is harsh, it always was. Out there the enemy attacks in ways they sometimes can’t do much about and it seems like there’s nothing to be done but to keep going.
We Get Exploded
So far, keeping going had cost a lot. The platoon and all their various supporters had taken a hell of a beating at Panjshir. Many had been wounded, but the toll among their leadership was especially heavy—first they lost one section commander (shot in the chest at close range) and then another (foot blown off), then they lost their engineer detachment commander (leg blown off), they lost their canine handler (arm and leg blown off) and they lost their platoon commander and platoon warrant officer (relieved of command and sent home after the company commander lost confidence in them).
Twenty-seven-year-old Lieutenant Stephen Martin is the replacement platoon commander. He’s been in the army for about three years and until a few weeks ago he was in Petawawa, never really believing he’d be plucked from the battalion’s replacement pool and dropped in a place like Panjshir.
Despite his predicament, Martin is calm and thoughtful and, while he’s currently being a little bit careful, he has come to terms with the tactical situation at the little base. The keyword for Panjshir is stalemate: both the enemy and the Canadians are too strong to lose and too weak to win. Meanwhile the basic counter-insurgency strategy of clearing the enemy out, holding the ground and then building something better clearly can’t happen now in Chalghowr. “Well,” Martin said with a laugh, looking around the base, “we’re holding Panjshir pretty good.”
Stalemate was a fairly agreeable term for the soldiers—they were proud of their hold on this small patch of ground in such a rough place. There hadn’t been more than a few days in the last two months that anyone can remember the outpost not being shot up, but the enemy had no chance of taking their base. Going anywhere south of Panjshir, on the other hand, well, that was like walking into the enemy’s base.
“New guys come in and say ‘it’s not so bad’ but they don’t know,” a soldier told me shortly after I arrived. “We just have to go out there,” he said, nodding south, “and entire sections can disappear.”
Another soldier was listening. He looked south too. “We go down there, we get exploded,” he said distantly.

In the tower for a sniper duel.
PHOTO: ADAM DAY
Sniper Duel At Noon, Every Day
The sniper is hardcore in the quiet way snipers tend to be hardcore. He looks like a cross between a surfer and a bodybuilder and, while he seems friendly and quiet, I suspect he is not really that friendly or that quiet. In any case, the sniper is currently distracted and not saying much because he’s in a tower nine metres off the ground, staring into enemy territory and in a duel with an enemy marksman.
The sniper’s been up in the tower crouched over his massive C-14 rifle for hours, scanning Chalghowr and hoping his opponent makes even the slightest error so he can shoot him in the head.
The sniper and the spotter are patient, mapping out the terrain and village with memorable names—pizza hut, sketchy mosque, open gate, spotter tree, whoop-de-doos, closed gate, and on and on. This is basic, classic warfare—a couple of humans patiently trying to kill each other with all the skill and ingenuity they can muster.
“This guy is not easy to get,” said the sniper, who doesn’t want you to know his name, which is understandable, because he pretty much kills people for a living. “I could sit up here for hours, which I have, and nothing.”
The sniper doesn’t like calling his opponent a sniper; doesn’t think the enemy shooter has earned the title, even though he almost killed him once—the enemy marksman once planted a round about 12 inches above the Canadian’s head from over 800 metres away. “He’s smart. He’s been trained well. He knows what he’s doing,” the Canadian said grudgingly. “Yeah, I’d call him a marksman.”
These insurgent marksmen are a recent development in southern Afghanistan. While the shooter firing at Panjshir hasn’t hit anyone yet, there have been stories of similar shooters at other bases in the south and eventually it seems many of them get a lucky hit.
The enemy marksman hides in Chalghowr and only takes single shots, maybe only once an hour or so, and according to the sniper, the enemy shoots from deep within buildings, with the bullets exiting through windows and doors. Or at the very least, that’s one theory—all the sniper really knows is that despite being in the tower and on the scope for dozens of inbound shots, he’s never seen any flash or dust from his opponent’s firing position.
“He’s got to make a mistake sometime. It’s all about whether we’re here to pick that mistake up,” said the sniper.
In this particular duel, the enemy shooter hadn’t fired a round in hours, ever since the sniper and the spotter climbed the tower, in fact. So the enemy shooter was watching.
The sniper decided that enough was enough; he was done for the day. He pulled his big rifle down and set it on the floor, the large silencer sticking over the sandbags, visible to the enemy. “I’m going to leave my rifle up here as bait,” said the sniper. “If he shoots off the can [silencer], I’ll upgrade him to sniper.” He laughs.
Just then the enemy takes a shot and everyone ducks in unison.
Both guys immediately go back to their scopes. The spotter puts his helmet on. Everyone stays much lower. I get off the ammo box I’m sitting on and crouch on the floor.
Nobody heard the round, had no idea where it went actually, but that didn’t mean much.
The sniper was laughing quietly, eyes still glued to the scope. “We duck every time, but it’s always far too late by the time you hear the shot,” he said, scanning for his kill.

Death mask in place, 7 Platoon advances.
PHOTO: ADAM DAY
Bring The Armour
Inside the sagging command tent, Lieut. Martin informally briefs a group of soldiers on tomorrow’s battle plan. Chalghowr is the target, but instead of going straight south they are going to do a flanking manoeuvre, head east about 800 metres across the barrens and then south into a part of town they call Little Chalghowr. They will set out early and on foot in an attempt to surprise the enemy.
A group of infantrymen sat quietly thinking about this. Martin had a tough position, he was new, he was fairly inexperienced and he was in command.
Master Corporal Colin Bridger, currently acting as a section commander, spoke up. “I think we should bring the [armoured vehicles].”
Martin didn’t like the idea. He thought an armoured column would tip off the enemy. Martin asked Bridger why they should bring the armour.
Bridger had been fighting this particular war for months. He refused to offer justification. It was a very delicate situation. “We should bring the [armoured vehicles],” he said.
Martin thought it over. While he may have lacked experience, he was not unwise. “OK.”
Later Bridger explained what he was thinking. “I knew we were going to get hit; we always get hit there.”
He was right.
Just after first light the next day Martin and Bridger and about 16 other Canadians piled into four armoured vehicles and drove the short distance to where the patrol would dismount and walk south across a field and into Little Chalghowr.
Just before the patrol stepped off the road and into the field, I asked the soldier behind me what he thought the chances were that we’d hit something. He grimaced like he just smelled something bad. “About 100 per cent,” he grumbled before donning a black half-mask emblazoned with a human skull.


The IED explosion that wounded Corporal Troy Carleton.
PHOTO: ADAM DAY
Replaced By A Shrieking Blast
Two engineers with mine detectors led the way into the field. There was a small bridge across an irrigation ditch about 100 metres away and we were going to cross there to go south.
The engineers, sweeping their detectors, left the field and joined a small path under a row of trees. The whole patrol was in the field now. The engineers had made it to the bridge. The quiet was early-morning serene; the only noise was of combat boots crunching dirt.
While I am substantially certain that what happened next had a sound, things as I saw them were silent.
Corporal Troy Carleton’s body arced skyward in a pillar of smoke and dirt, like a ragdoll punched from beneath by a malevolent geological force. It looked unnatural, reprehensible—the earth itself seemed to kick Carleton upwards until his body hit the tree, which smacked him back down with its branches. Carleton spiralled a bit and then crunched into the ground.
Everyone froze. It was hard to believe what just happened. Carleton yelled something. The patrol was strung out and at first no one moved and then soldiers started running to Carleton.
Carleton was fifth or sixth in the line of Canadians. The mine’s wooden pressure plates—besides being undetectable to the engineers’ metal detectors—were small and Carleton was the unlucky one who stepped on them in just the right way to complete the circuit.
Luckily enough, the bomb was constructed using home-made explosives and it had failed to explode entirely correctly. While still a heavy blast it had been a ‘low-order’ explosion.
Carleton was sitting on the path more or less where he’d landed. His leg was messed up, but he would turn out to be pretty much physically intact.
The interpreter was standing beside Carleton. A very slight and impossibly gentle Afghan who never had a bad word to say about anyone, he had been metres away from the blast. “F–k their mothers,” he muttered toward Chalghowr with the kind of sincerity perhaps accessible only to those recently nearly killed.
In the blast’s aftermath, the enemy’s radio net sparked up and the talk was all about an imminent ambush. According to the translator and the few Afghan army soldiers accompanying 7 Platoon, several groups of insurgents were trying to manoeuvre into position to start shooting.
The First IED contact of the morning.
Meanwhile, a group of explosive ordnance disposal guys were inbound in order to examine the IED and check for secondary bombs.
Most of the platoon had taken cover in a ditch across the field from where Carleton blew up, but a few engineers were still over on the path, looking around.
M. Cpl. Ken Wilson was standing there on the path. And then he wasn’t.
He was replaced by a shrieking blast of rocks and shrapnel.
It wasn’t immediately explicable how a human body could be at the centre of such violence and not disintegrate. But it did not need to be understood, Wilson was there writhing on the ground, yelling sounds that didn’t form words, evidently deeply unhappy but miraculously alive.
This was not a low-order blast. From six metres away, where I was laying in the ditch, the blast felt like a body check and my ears seemed to momentarily stop working. Again.
Wilson was lying about three metres from the bomb’s epicentre and as the blast cloud cleared, soldiers began yelling and running towards him.
Things were about to get worse. The enemy radio chatter had reached some critical state and Martin began yelling that the guys in the field giving first aid to Wilson needed to right now get him back under cover.
The platoon was lined up on the berm of an irrigation ditch, weapons facing south, towards Little Chalghowr. The soldiers picked Wilson up and carried him behind the berm. He was on the ground covered in dirt, his mouth open. You could see that everybody was trying to stay calm.

Master Corporal Ken Wilson and the American medevac team that rescued him.
PHOTO: ADAM DAY
The battle’s first shots were Canadian, an armoured-vehicle gunner opened up with his C-6 machine-gun at someone moving in the field a few hundred metres away.
The enemy began firing and then for a long time it was just all shooting. The enemy rounds were mostly zipping high over the Canadians’ heads, and the Canadians in turn were simply blasting bullets and grenades at the fields and whichever of the village’s compounds were in range. A few Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers appeared from wherever they had been sheltering and randomly fired a few rocket propelled grenades toward the town and then disappeared again.
Just after the first American helicopter gunship appeared overhead, the enemy stopped firing and so the Canadians stopped firing too.
The enemy generally know they will be killed if they shoot while the helicopters are around, so they don’t.
With the battle over, the soldiers stood up and began chattering in the way that people chatter when they have huge amounts of adrenaline in their veins.
“Two of our dudes got blown up today,” said one of the soldiers, smiling as he watched six-metre-high flames burst out of a compound in the distance. “So let those f–kers burn.”
The second IED contact.
Carleton and Wilson were now lying in the dirt behind an armoured vehicle. Wilson was strapped to a stretcher, his shattered rifle beside him.
Both were evacuated from the battlefield, Carleton for a long stay in Kandahar and Wilson for advanced care at the coalition hospital in Landstuhl, Germany.
Just before Wilson was loaded on the helicopter I asked if it was all right to publish the pictures I’d taken of him. “Yeah,” he said, “just don’t make me look like a whiney bitch.” Strapped to the gurney, his combat helmet cinched down tight, the lower part of his fatigues shredded, his face etched with dirt and sweat, he looked about as far from that as possible.

Master Corporal Ken Wilson on a stretcher, a few minutes after being wounded.
PHOTO: ADAM DAY
An ambush and a long gunfight.
Lollipops For The Amputees
There’s a strange symmetry to the battle: we attack most convincingly from above the earth, the enemy attacks from beneath it. And in the middle there’s a war of some kind.
It’s a strange war. It’s a war where the soldiers’ mission is to protect the villagers of a village they can’t enter, and from an enemy that mostly attacks in ways they can’t do anything about.
To me it seems like a bewilderingly futile game of advance-to-IED-contact. I don’t know how they do it. I keep telling them this. They don’t care. They don’t really want to hear my ideas.
While we were waiting for the medevac, another soldier told me the story of the engineer at Panjshir who recently got his leg blown off.
Apparently, the medic fell into a stream while running across the battlefield. When he reached the stricken engineer, the medic unwisely complained about his fall.
As the soldier tells it, the engineer said: “Yeah, you fell down, but I got my leg blown off. Do I get a lollipop now?”
The storytelling soldier just laughed. “Yeah, we’re in the shit,” he said.
But it feels worse than that.

Chalghowr burns after the battle.
PHOTO: ADAM DAY
No One Came Here To Kill Kids
The next day it doesn’t take long for the bad news rumours to start bouncing around the outpost—according to the ANA commander, his sources inside the village are reporting that a 10-year-old boy had been killed during the battle at Little Chalghowr.
The rumour was not entirely a surprise. During the battle a woman had come running up to the Canadian lines from the direction of the enemy. She was waving her arms and yelling. She was told to go back before anyone could hear what she wanted, but it wasn’t hard to see that she was beyond distressed.
Major Steve Brown is the Oscar Company commander and he’s thoroughly decent and hyper-smart and lacks any kind of pretence. Brown and his headquarters are based at Patrol Base Folad in Salavat, but he visits Panjshir as often as he can.
He didn’t know if a child was really killed during the battle. It would have been almost impossible to know for sure just a few days after it happened; but still, he was not taking it lightly. To say that the prospect of a child’s death at Canadian hands was a kind of torture for him would not be an exaggeration.
“Every report of civilian casualties, we take very seriously,” he said, before proceeding to get just a little bit angry. “The insurgents have been using children in their operations, they use them at all levels. And they are active in the insurgency. They actively use children. And it is a huge issue for our soldiers because none of them came here to kill kids.
“In the past we have seen women and children put on rooftops,” he pauses and considers what to say next. He sighs. “We may have hit a legitimate target who was a youth.
The Gap Of Known Futility
Seven Platoon has been hit hard but they won’t let go. The unit was offered a chance to rotate out of Panjshir but they refused. It’s hard to explain why they want to stay, but the story I heard was that if Canadians had to be in Panjshir, they wanted it to be them.
“Every one of them deserves a medal because each and everyone one of them goes out every day and takes the risk of getting brewed up,” said Brown. “To know that one in four patrols is going to lead to serious injuries….”
He pauses.
“And that’s what frustrates them, because it feels like in order to kill the bad guys they have to trip these IEDs. And that is not the case, but it sure feels like that.”
It does feel like that. It does feel like every time the soldiers go toward Chalghowr they blow up.
That said, the stalemate at Panjshir is nothing serious, in military terms. The insurgents in Chalghowr number in the dozens at most and their homemade bombs don’t pose a great threat to our strongest mine-clearance equipment. But the platoon at Panjshir doesn’t have this equipment; all they have are their metal detectors and their bodies.
If they had a robust route clearance capability—blast-resistant minesweepers—they could do daily sweeps down Route Nightmare and into Chalghowr, disrupting the insurgents and breaking the stalemate. But they don’t.
“It just comes down to resources,” said Brown. “We can always talk about the things we’d like to have, but unless Canada is willing to make a more substantial commitment to Afghanistan…it’s just a limitation that they have to deal with.”
There’s pressure at every level—on the soldiers to go out, on the commanders to show progress, on the Canadian task force to defeat the enemy in Panjwai and for the coalition to win the war.
“Who’s rushing to get to the end? It’s us,” said Brown. “We have to satisfy certain yardsticks of progress at home. The Afghan security forces are going at a slow and steady pace. The insurgents say ‘we have the watches, but they have the time.’ If we rush to defeat them, we do so at our own peril. Do we need to rush? We need to kill insurgents, but do we need to rush to clear these IEDs?”
The pressure pushes down and it seems all that’s left is to advance despite the cost.
At Panjshir the enemy have successfully adapted their tactics to defeat our capabilities. The soldiers know this but they still persist. They are in a bad place; it is the gap between the time when their tactics have been defeated and when they are discarded. Call it the gap of known futility.
Which is to say: they keep going, even if their ideas have become the wrong ideas. Maybe that’s just how things are on the front lines, down in the nightmare.
Email the writer at: aday@legion.ca
Email a letter to the editor at: letters@legionmagazine.com
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2 all the troops- then, now, always waiting with God 4 us-we love u and we remember 9/11

 Go Rest High On That Mountain-Vince Gill

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