By Steven Chase, Globe and Mail, Thursday, April 26, 2012
See article further below: “U.S. asks Canada to stay past 2014”
Stephen Harper is leaving the door open once again to extending Canada’s military participation in the costly Afghanistan war. When the Official
Opposition NDP pressed the Prime Minister on Wednesday about reports the United States has asked Canada to stay in Afghanistan beyond 2014, Mr. Harper said the government would “examine all options.”
He jeered at the New Democratic Party’s history of opposition to the Afghan mission, remarking that “the NDP could not even make up its mind to support World War Two.”
If the Prime Minister extended Canada’s military deployment beyond 2014, it would be the fourth time he has prolonged the soldiering commitment to Afghanistan – including 2006, 2008 and 2010.
Speaking in the Commons on Wednesday, Mr. Harper denied reports the United States has asked Canada to keep special forces soldiers in Afghanistan past 2014, his latest promised date for withdrawal.
Canada ended its massive combat mission in Afghanistan in 2011, but still has about 900 military trainers in the Central Asian country. Canada’s Special Operations Regiment and its counter-terrorism group Joint Task Force 2 have also served there.
NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair demanded in the Commons that Mr. Harper keep his word to end Canada’s Afghan foray in 2014, but the Prime Minister dismissed the request. “I am told we have not had that specific request from the United States and whether it comes or not, let me be very clear: Canada will make its own determination in this regard,” Mr. Harper said.
“Our plan at the current time is obviously for the mission that goes to 2014, but as we approach that date, we will examine all options and we will take the decision that is in the best interests of this country and in the best interests of our security objectives for the globe and not an ideological knee-jerk response like the NDP.”
Canada has already paid a significant price in blood and treasure in Afghanistan. The conflict has cost Canada 158 soldiers, and 635 more have been wounded in action. Canadian taxpayers’ bill for the conflict is expected to exceed $14-billion, according to Parliament’s independent budget watchdog Kevin Page.
Canadian troops’ role in the Afghanistan war dates back more than a decade, to the toppling of the extremist Taliban regime in 2001.
Mr. Mulcair said he thinks Canadians have had enough of the Afghanistan conflict. “Canadians have been perfectly clear. They want our troops home,” Mr. Mulcair said.
“They want this mission to end. It was supposed to end in 2006. It was supposed to end in 2009. It was supposed to end in 2011. It is supposed to end in 2014. When will it finally end?”
Mr. Harper said he would consult Parliament and put any future soldiering expeditions to a vote in the Commons – which his Conservative majority would easily win.
“Should there be any other significant military missions, we are committed to getting the consent of Parliament before we act. That has been our action and that is what we will do in the future.”
More related to this story:
Sudden shift in Afghan plan unlikely, Obama says, March 14, 2012
Canadian work in Afghanistan halted after violence, Feb 26, 2012
Military investigates theft of gear en route home from Afghanistan, Jan 10, 2012
U.S. asks Canada to stay past 2014
DAVID PUGLIESE, Ottawa Citizen, 25 Apr 2012
U.S. and Canadian officials are in discussions over a Pentagon request to keep Canadian special forces in Afghanistan beyond the 2014 withdrawal the Tory government promised.Both the Ottawa-based counter-terrorism group, Joint Task Force 2, and the Canadian Special Operations Regiment, located at CFB Petawawa, have conducted training and combat missions in Afghanistan and have worked in the past with U.S. special forces.
The U.S. has devised a plan to leave thousands of its special forces troops in Afghanistan beyond 2014 to train Afghan soldiers and hunt down insurgent leaders.The U.S. has asked Canada and Australia to contribute special forces for both of those missions. Canadian and U.S. officials confirm that the request has been made.
Australia has announced it will bring its troops home from Afghanistan a year earlier than planned, with most soldiers withdrawn in 2013. But Australia’s Prime Minister Julia Gillard has already signalled that her country is open to “provide niche training to the Afghan National Security Forces after 2014.”
“We are prepared to consider a limited special forces contribution — in the right circumstances and under the right mandate,” Gillard said last week. Asked to comment on the U.S. request, Jay Paxton, the spokesman for Defence Minister Peter Mackay, noted “the government has been clear that the role of the Canadian Forces will be in a non-combat role until 2014. The ultimate objective is to help Afghans rebuild Afghanistan into a viable country that is better governed, more stable and secure and never again a safe haven for terrorists.”
Under the Pentagon plan, Green Berets would conduct much of the training of Afghan security forces. Soldiers from the Canadian Special Operations Regiment have in the past worked closely with the Green Berets in training foreign troops.In addition, U.S. counter-terrorism forces, such as Navy SEALS and Delta Force, would continue to hunt insurgent leaders. JTF2 has in the past worked with these U.S. forces and on its own in such “capture or kill” missions.
U.S. officers made the request for Canadian special forces to stay in Afghanistan beyond 2014 because they think highly of their skills. There is also a growing concern among NATO military officers that Afghan security forces will not be ready by 2014 to stand on their own against various insurgent groups. Insurgents recently conducted a series of high-profile co-ordinated attacks in Kabul and other locations that left 51 people dead.
Canada is under pressure to continue its military presence beyond 2014. That pressure is expected to increase as leaders of NATO nations meet May 20-21 in Chicago to discuss the war. The option of using special forces could be attractive to the Canadian government. Such units operate largely in secret and Canadian special forces have not suffered any direct combat fatalities in Afghanistan.
The government has committed 900 soldiers, including a small number of special forces, to the current mission. They train soldiers at bases, but do not follow them into battle. Canadian troops stationed in 15 camps in Mazer-e-sharif, Herat and Kabul are serving as advisers to the Afghan National Army, the Afghan Air Force and the Afghan National Police, according to the Canadian Forces.
Canada and NATO nations hope to train more than 350,000 Afghan soldiers and police by 2014, but Afghan forces have been plagued with a high rate of desertion.
If the Conservative government agrees to the U.S. request to keep special forces in Afghanistan, it would be the latest development in a continually changing commitment to that country. Prime Minister Stephen Harper originally said Canada would not “cut and run” from Afghanistan and would stay until the job was done.
In the fall of 2009, Harper was adamant Canada’s military mission would end in 2011. In January 2010, the prime minister made one of his strongest statements on the situation, telling the National Post: “We will not be undertaking any activities that require any kind of military presence, other than the odd guard guarding an embassy. We will not be undertaking any kind activity that requires a significant military force protection, so it will become a strictly civilian mission.”
In 2011, Harper reversed his position, committing troops to a new training mission in Kabul and other parts of the country. According to Mackay, the training mission, which is scheduled to end in March 2014, was “planned all along.”
The Pentagon hopes to withdraw 23,000 soldiers from Afghanistan by this fall, with most of the remaining 68,000 to follow by the end of 2014, according to U.S. reports.
