memphiz
09-21-2004, 01:43 PM
OUR SOLDIERS READY TO TAKE ON AFGHAN WARLORDS
Prime Minister Paul Martin is expected to answer a call today to send Canadian troops into Afghanistan's badlands. Martin will meet privately today with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai in New York at the opening of the UN's General Assembly to discuss Canada's contribution to a provincial reconstruction team.
A senior federal official said Martin will discuss creating the team in an effort to boost security in the war-torn border regions of Afghanistan, where warlords and Taliban factions continue to fight for control.
"And I think that we will likely end up with a provincial reconstruction team sometime in the next several months," the senior official said.
That could see some of the 700 troops from CFB Petawawa, set to replace the existing Canadian contingent in Kabul this February, head into rural Afghanistan. In the past, Martin has adamantly rejected sending soldiers into the badlands until a plan was put in place for emergency evacuations.
RECONSTRUCTION TEAMS
Martin has kept Canadians in Kabul working as a part of the NATO-led force providing security in the capital.
So far only the United States and New Zealand have deployed reconstruction teams. They are made up of civilians tasked to rebuild rural Afghanistan's infrastructure, justice and education systems, and of soldiers who protect them and area residents.
Ashraf Hidari, spokesman for Afghanistan's embassy in Washington, D.C., said that a commitment from Canada is expected to cause European nations to follow suit.
Karzai sees the provincial teams as key to the ongoing campaign to win the hearts and minds of Afghanis.
Hidari said Karzai will also ask for more financial aid and would "appreciate further assistance from Canada."
The Canadian contingent in Kabul was cut from 2,000 to roughly 700 in August to give the army a break from deployments.
A defence department spokesman said the military is considering "all options" for the February deployment but no decision has yet been made.
Prime Minister Paul Martin is expected to answer a call today to send Canadian troops into Afghanistan's badlands. Martin will meet privately today with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai in New York at the opening of the UN's General Assembly to discuss Canada's contribution to a provincial reconstruction team.
A senior federal official said Martin will discuss creating the team in an effort to boost security in the war-torn border regions of Afghanistan, where warlords and Taliban factions continue to fight for control.
"And I think that we will likely end up with a provincial reconstruction team sometime in the next several months," the senior official said.
That could see some of the 700 troops from CFB Petawawa, set to replace the existing Canadian contingent in Kabul this February, head into rural Afghanistan. In the past, Martin has adamantly rejected sending soldiers into the badlands until a plan was put in place for emergency evacuations.
RECONSTRUCTION TEAMS
Martin has kept Canadians in Kabul working as a part of the NATO-led force providing security in the capital.
So far only the United States and New Zealand have deployed reconstruction teams. They are made up of civilians tasked to rebuild rural Afghanistan's infrastructure, justice and education systems, and of soldiers who protect them and area residents.
Ashraf Hidari, spokesman for Afghanistan's embassy in Washington, D.C., said that a commitment from Canada is expected to cause European nations to follow suit.
Karzai sees the provincial teams as key to the ongoing campaign to win the hearts and minds of Afghanis.
Hidari said Karzai will also ask for more financial aid and would "appreciate further assistance from Canada."
The Canadian contingent in Kabul was cut from 2,000 to roughly 700 in August to give the army a break from deployments.
A defence department spokesman said the military is considering "all options" for the February deployment but no decision has yet been made.