RUSSIA-
Our Russian Comrades in Arms
Canadian
Military Inspectors to Fly over Russia, Belarus
---------------
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
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/child-sex-crimes-to-draw-stronger-penalties-pm-harper-vows-1.1310542
-----------------------------
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."
________________________________________
-----------------
Prince
William, David Beckham to fight illegal wildlife trade
------------------
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.
--------------------------------
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.
________________________________________
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
----------------------
Battle
of Britain remembered
Published
on September 15, 2013
-----------------------------
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
-------------------------------------------
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.
________________________________________
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
-----------------------
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.
------------------------
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.
-----------------
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.
Read
more: http://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/war-veteran-receives-medal-during-housecall-1.1456702#ixzz2f9LT6Cp7
------------------------
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.
------------------------------------
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.
---------------------------------
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.
-------------------
Canadian
Army To Train Eastern European Soldiers
--------------------------
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."
-------------------
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.
------------------------
-Want
Women to Join the Military? Stop Sexually Assaulting Them
Posted:
09/10/2013 6:02 pm
----------------------
Soldiers
and Police Gather In Ottawa For The Canadian Armed Forces Small Arms
Concentration
September
10, 2013. 5:32 pm • Section: Defence Watch
------------------------
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.
---------------------------
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
-----------------------
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
--------------------------------
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
------------------------
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.
------------------------------
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....
--------------------------
CANDA-
FROM CHINA NEWS OUTLETS
canada
proposes tougher laws against chld sex offencers
------------------------------
World
News
Canadian
bill would tighten rules for sex offenders' travel
------------------------
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
---------------------
Canadian
was a ‘clear leader’ among Islamist terrorists who killed 40 workers in Algeria
gas plant attack: report
--------------------------
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.
View
Larger Map
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.
---------------------------
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
comment
Share on email 22
William Wolfe-Wylie
Published:
August 7, 2013, 10:42 am
Updated:
1 month ago
A
A A
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.
-------------------------------
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.
-------------------------------------
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.
--------------------
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
----------------
Canada,
U.S. may be missing boat on Arctic shipping
08/19/2013
05:49 AM Bob Weber, The Canadian Press
Share
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.”
----------------------------------
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
------------------------
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.
-------------------
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
--------------------------
UK
The
87-year-olds who wear Doc Martens and mini-skirts: World's most glamorous
pensioners revealed in new documentary
---------------------
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
------------
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.
---------------------------------
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.
-------------------------------
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.
---------------------------------------
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
alt
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
alt
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
alt
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
------------------------
Afghan
Film Wins Top Gong in International Film Festival
Tuesday,
23 October 2012 20:20 Written by Anwar Hashimi
alt
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
More
Articles...
Afghan
Filmmakers Fear for Cinematic History
Afghan
Singer Cancels Concert in Herat After Mullahs Protest
HAFT
AURANG: Documenta Art Exhibition Held in Kabul
HAFT
AURANG: Afghan New Year
------------------------------------
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.
-------------------------------------------
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.
-----------------------------
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.
-------------------------
Rim
Fire Near Yosemite Ranks Among Top 3 Largest Wildfires in California History
Chris
Dolce Published: Sep 11, 2013, 9:59 AM EDT
----------------------------
Almost
all boardwalk businesses destroyed by fire in NJ town still recovering from
Sandy
Article by: BRUCE SHIPKOWSKI , Associated
Press
Updated: September 13, 2013
------------------------------------
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.
--------------------------
Canadian
Forces survey asks troops to shed light on sexual assault, harassment
------------------------------------
Citizens’
Group Applauds Court Decision Supporting Afghan Veterans, Calls for Settlement
of Case
--------------------------------
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.
---------------------
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.
-------------------
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)
-----------------
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.
------------------
PTSD
walk hits its stride
Ex-Sea
King officer, companion Thai raising money for therapy dogs
PET
CONNECTION
---------------
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.
------------------
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.
----------------
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.
---------------
------------
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?
---------------------
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.
----------------------------
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
---------------------------------
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.
----------------
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
---------------------
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.
--------------------
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.
------------------
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
--------------------
Wounded
Warriors Canada Launches 2014 Battlefield Ride
-----------------
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
Inside
and outside the frames
Pearce
posts personal bests at worlds
25
years for Fifth Avenue Collection
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
----------------
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.
-------------------
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
-----------------
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.
-------------------
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.
-----------
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.
--------------------
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.
----------------------------
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)
--------------------
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
---------------------
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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