SPECIAL FORCES UNIT JTF2 ACTIONS UNDER REVIEW

*** It is a testament to the just nature of Western liberal democracies that such investigations even occur. THIS is why we retain the moral high ground in this area of force application. MS ***


http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/cbc/100913/world/politics_detainee_investigation


WINNIPEG (CBC) - Canada's Defence Department quietly began a major inquiry into the Afghanistan operations of the military's elite special forces unit two years ago, CBC News has learned.
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The investigation began in 2008 after a member of the highly secretive task force, known as Joint Task Force 2 or JTF2, raised serious allegations against another member of the force and the force in general, the military has confirmed.

The allegations centred on events that took place between 2005 and 2008, said navy Capt. David Scanlon, but he would provide no details about them.

The investigation, called Sand Trap I, ended after a few months with no charges laid, but the probe sparked a larger investigation into broader allegations. That investigation, called Sand Trap II, is still underway.

CBC News has learned the handling of detainees may have triggered the initial investigation, although the current probe is much wider than that.

The Sand Trap investigations should not taint the reputation of the military, Scanlon said.

"The Canadian Forces have been operating in the very complex Afghan theatre for almost a decade, and the vast majority of Canadian Forces personnel are performing their tough assignments with typical Canadian honesty and integrity," he said.

A few details of the investigation are contained in a November 2009 military briefing note written by Gen. Walter Natynczyk, Canada's chief of defence staff, and obtained by the CBC through an Access to Information Act request.

In the note, Natynczyk tells Defence Minister Peter MacKay that a board of inquiry is investigating Sand Trap II and started hearing from witnesses in May 2009. Military boards of inquiry are called to formally investigate accidents, misconduct or other major problems within the Canadian Forces.

At the time the note was written, Natynczyk wrote that 60 witnesses had testified before the board, and another 40 still needed to give testimony. He expected testimony to be complete by December 2009, with a report submitted by April 2010.

Scanlon said the board of inquiry is focusing on the broader administrative and non-criminal aspects of the allegations at the heart of Sand Trap II.

He said investigators are receiving full co-operation from the special forces unit, and any charges that might arise would be be made public.

The military has never said much about the work of JTF2, although it has revealed the unit has been involved in high-risk operations against high-value targets, including Taliban and al-Qaeda commanders.

The unit has also been involved in pursuing insurgents who build and plant roadside bombs, and the networks that supply them, the military has said.

During the three year period at the centre of the Sand Trap investigations, 2005 to 2008, the JTF2 unit was attached to an American special forces command based in Kandahar. JTF2 took its tactical direction from the Americans.

The Sand Trap investigations are not part of the Military Police Complaints Commission (MPCC) public hearings into allegations that military police failed to investigate senior officers responsible for transfers allegedly involving a risk of torture.

"This is a distinct and broader investigation," Scalon said. "Far broader than anything the MPCC would look at."

FORGOTTEN WOUNDED SOLDIERS OF CANADA

*** Remember all the politicians using the soldiers as a way to bat away criticism of the mission? Ask how many of them have visited the wounded, have set up funds and compensation, have cared for them beyond the sound bites they fill our heads with. This is a national disgrace. That's the one thing people of honour know: don't look for any recognition, any validation - KNOW that the honour is within YOU (soldiers) not anyone else. MS ***


FROM: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/100703/national/afghan_cda_mission_wounded


VANCOUVER - Master Cpl. Jody Mitic was a sniper on patrol with his unit in Kandahar province in January 2007 when he stepped on a land mine and lost both legs below the knee.

In the split second it took for the charge to explode, Mitic's life changed instantly, irrevocably.

"I've been a soldier since I was 17 and I'd hoped to be a soldier until the day I died," the young father, nary a hint of self-pity in his voice, said in a recent interview. "In my heart I will be, but I'm just going to have to choose a new career path now."

Mitic is one of the more than 500 Canadian soldiers who have been wounded in action in Afghanistan; even more suffer from "invisible wounds" that range from mild depression to debilitating post-traumatic stress syndrome, experts say.

As Canada enters the final year of its combat mission in Afghanistan, already more than 27,000 Canadian troops have been deployed to the central Asian country that has put words like Taliban and "improvised explosive device" on the tip of every tongue.

Parliament's mandate for the combat mission in Kandahar expires in 12 months, but the fallout from the conflict will continue for years to come.

The Canadian Forces said in February that 529 soldiers had been injured in action from 2002 to the end of last year, and another 913 had suffered "non-combat" injuries.

As of October 2008, 147 veterans had been deemed "totally and permanently incapacitated," according to a report released last October by an advisory group that oversees the so-called New Veterans Charter, which took effect in 2006.

It's a grim number that serves as a stark reminder of the cost of war — a cost some veterans say the charter requires them to bear virtually alone.

Under the charter, soldiers are eligible for a maximum $250,000 lump-sum payment for pain and suffering if they are injured in the line of duty, in addition to an earnings loss benefit that provides 75 per cent of their salary until they've completed rehab.

Veterans Affairs says 9,138 soldiers have received the disability award since the new charter came into effect. Under the old rules, disabled veterans received a monthly disability pension.

Proponents say the aim of the change is occupational rehabilitation of ex-service members and help in getting them integrated back into society.

Critics say it's a betrayal of the men and women who risked their lives on the battlefields of Afghanistan. Mitic is more concise: he considers it "complete bullshit."

"I'm considered 100 per cent disabled because I'm missing both feet. I have friends who are missing both legs half way up their thighs and parts of their arms and their backs are wrecked, and for them to say we're supposed to go out and earn a living on our own?" he asks, incredulous.

It's not what he expected.

"If I ever got smashed on the job, I thought I'd be taken care of. It's a deal between you and the government and I happily took that deal because I like excitement and I loved soldiering," he says.

"We didn't really pay attention to this charter. Maybe we should have paid better attention but, you know, we were busy. And then I find out I don't get a pension when I lost my feet? Wait a minute. That wasn't the deal."

The Canadian Forces declined requests for an interview, but Senator Colin Kenny agrees with Mitic: No, that wasn't the deal.

"What do you figure your legs are worth? Would you be willing to give them up for a quarter of a million dollars?" asks Kenny, a long-serving member of the Senate defence committee.

Veterans Affairs released survey results earlier this month that said 69 per cent of respondents liked the new charter — a survey welcomed by Defence Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn and completely rejected by Mitic and Veterans Ombudsman Pat Stogran.

The retired colonel said he's heard desperate stories from veterans "who feel cheated by the country they served."

"Nobody's under any assumption when they join the military that they're not going to become a casualty of war. What they want is some peace of mind," Stogran said. "The expectations are that the needs of you and your family will be looked after to some degree."

It's a systemic problem that has existed for decades under successive governments, said Stogran, who was in Afghanistan with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry in 2002.

It's worse for reservists, who make up 20 per cent of the Canadian contingent in Afghanistan. They're eligible for just 40 per cent of the compensation awarded regular force members.

An April 2008 special report to Defence Minister Peter MacKay recommended immediate changes. So far, that hasn't happened.

Within the forces itself, efforts are under way to deal with the aftermath of the war.

Retired general-turned-senator Romeo Dallaire told a Senate hearing last month that funding for injured soldiers now accounts for 62 per cent of the Department of National Defence budget.

Since 2007, wounded personnel have been able to remain in service indefinitely. The forces has built Integrated Personnel Support Centres and two per cent of base housing is being made barrier-free.

But Mitic, who now works at National Defence headquarters in Ottawa, says physical limitations make him ineligible for promotion.

Before he was injured, Mitic planned to try out for the Special Forces. Although his recovery has been nothing short of inspirational — he runs half-marathons, plays sledge hockey, rides a motorcycle — the fact is he can no longer be a front-line soldier. Now he's simply trying to figure out where he fits in the world.

"It's hard to put on a resume (that) I'm a master sniper experienced in long-range shooting and calling in fast air and artillery. That's not a prerequisite for a lot of jobs on the civilian market," he says ruefully.

In addition to the physical wounds are the "invisible wounds" — the psychological injuries of what has been a guerilla war waged with suicide bombers and IEDs.

Half of the soldiers taking part in rehabilitation are suffering from what the forces calls "operational stress injury," according to an October report, and of those, 35 per cent are considered to have full-blown post-traumatic stress disorder.

Canadian Forces Ombudsman Pierre Daigle said that of the 27,000 troops deployed, about 17 per cent are expected to show symptoms of mental health problems.

"This is not going to go away," said Daigle, a 36-year military veteran who commanded forces in Haiti and the former Yugoslavia.

A report by the veterans charter advisory group cites the case of a soldier who was deployed to the former Yugoslavia and returned with an "operational stress injury." For the soldier, it meant nightmares, anger and a drinking problem.

He was discharged with nothing but severance pay and he, his wife and their three children ended up living in a tent in his in-laws' yard. It took several years for him to get a medical assessment and treatment.

"If Canadian citizens knew what the effects of exposure to war are on these men and women, they would be insistent on programs and treatment," said Dr. Marvin Westwood, a professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia.

Westwood and Dr. David Kuhl run the Veterans Transition Program in B.C., with funding from the Royal Canadian Legion and some help from the University of British Columbia.

The program, founded with a former service member, is an intensive soldiers-helping-soldiers program that they've facilitated for 13 years, helping hundreds of former military members to "drop their baggage" and move back into family and civilian life. It's something they say is missing from the military.

Kuhl said things have improved, "but we're not well-prepared" for the post-Afghanistan reality.

"The wounds of the earlier wars were visited on the children, generation after generation. We know that. What do we do to prevent the wounds of this war from affecting negatively the next generation?"

CANADIAN FORCES WELL PREPARED

*** They do a great job every single time. God bless them for keeping us safe. MS ***

FROM: http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/afghanmission/article/824026--canadian-army-well-prepared-for-future-roles-thanks-to-afghan-mission-top-commander-says


OTTAWA – Canada’s future military engagements around the globe will be complicated and dangerous, warns the head of the army, suggesting that the image of calm United Nations’ peacekeeping missions are a thing of the past.

But the army is ready to tackle those challenges, thanks to its experiences in Afghanistan, some of them bloody, says Lt-Gen. Andrew Leslie, the chief of the land staff.

“I’m not aware of too many UN missions which are like Cyprus of many years ago,” he said in an interview Tuesday.

“We’ve got threats ranging from international narco-terrorists to the curse of war lords who seek to acquire power to people who are not the least bit shy about using (improvised explosive devices) to cause and sow chaos and confusion,” Leslie said.

“The capabilities we have acquired, the lessons that we’ve learned, sometimes paying blood to learn them, I think will serve us in good stead where ever we go next,” Leslie said.

After four years as head of Canada’s army, Leslie is moving to a new posting. But as he prepared to turn over command, he reflected on how the mission in southern Afghanistan has transformed the army.

He took command of the army in June, 2006, just as the Canadian Forces was engaging in its toughest mission in decades – the battle for Kandahar. Now as that mission gets set to end in 2011, the army is in the best shape it’s been in years - bigger, better equipped and boasting a corps of battle-hardened troops, he said.

“The equipment that the people of Canada have been willing to buy for their army has been nothing less than staggering. And the money they’re willing to invest in training their soldiers has been a Godsend,” Leslie said.

Billions of dollars have been pumped into buying new equipment to help soldiers fight and move on the battlefield, everything from tanks, artillery pieces and helicopters to night vision gear and personal protection gear.

He says the army will leave Afghanistan “well respected for its combat abilities, better able to operate under complex circumstances, and it doesn’t get any more complicated than in Afghanistan.

“Canada now has an enormously competent, well-equipped, fully-manned army,” he said.

Thanks to those investments – the army budget is up some 50 per cent in four years -- and the warm glow of publicity that has surrounded the military in recent years, he said young people are knocking down the doors of recruiting offices to enlist.

“We have thousands of young Canadians who are joining to serve their country because of, I think, the sense of pride that the nation has for what their soldiers are doing,” Leslie said.

As a result, the army is now at nearly at full strength with 23,000 full-time troops and another 23,000 reservists.

Leslie spoke in his 19th floor office at defence headquarters. He has already started to empty his quarters and boxes were on the floor and pictures were off the wall.

Earlier this year, Leslie had been touted as commander of the peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a posting that Ottawa declined. He betrays no disappointment at not getting the job, saying “I go where I’m told, as soldiers do.”

And while Leslie’s name has long been in the mix as a contender for the military’s top job as chief of defence staff, he also concedes his next job as Chief of Transformation could be his last in uniform.

“It might well be. That’s up to the government to decide,” Leslie said.

In his new job, his focus will shift from the frontline to the bottom line with an eye to making the Canadian Forces more efficient at a time of spending restraint. The goal is to reduce overhead and try and get more uniformed personnel “back out in battalions and regiments and ships and servicing the flight lines,” he said.

“Where can we shift things to get better output for Canadians?” he said.

CANADIAN FORCES CREDIBILITY AT STAKE

*** This is the very institution that "...stand on guard for thee" so when its credibility is at stake, it deserves all the help it can get - that's an order! MS ***

FROM: http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/afghanmission/article/760372--forces-credibility-at-stake

OTTAWA–Withdrawing from a fast-moving war presents a security challenge, a financial burden and a logistical nightmare for any army.

But the head of Canada's military fears it could also undermine the credibility his soldiers have gained over a decade in Afghanistan when some 2,800 personnel start pulling out of Kandahar next year, according to documents obtained by the Toronto Star.

In orders issued to Canadian Forces commanders, Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Walter Natynczyk outlined four "strategic ends" the military must meet while withdrawing from the country in December 2011.

They include keeping troops secure while operations wind down, ensuring full Canadian control of the withdrawal, and protecting the country's priority projects such as building up the Afghan security forces and reconstructing a dam.

But top of mind is the "maintenance of Canada's reputation" and honouring the sacrifices of the country's soldiers, sailors and air crews, Natynczyk says in the Aug. 7, 2009 directive, obtained under the Access to Information Act.

"Our credibility as an institution is reliant upon the public and international perceptions of how we carry out this demanding and difficult task," he wrote to his senior commanders.

"Of particular concern is setting the conditions for the handover of our (area of operations) to a NATO-designated relieving force in a manner that reinforces success."

Right up until July 2011, the Canadian Forces will maintain security, counterinsurgency and training operations, Natynczyk wrote. Between July and December 2011, withdrawal becomes the military's only priority. Military planners are still figuring out the costs, staffing and operational requirements involved in the pullout.

A classic withdrawal from a conflict is "one of the most difficult operations in war to plan and to execute," said retired colonel Michel Drapeau, the former commander of a Canadian Forces logistics branch.

"You want to maintain contact with the enemy, you want to hide your movement, you want to maintain contact with the enemy as you are downscaling and backing up and trying to save as much equipment, as many people as you can."

But Canada's pullout will be easier because of the heavy presence of U.S. and other allied forces at Kandahar Airfield and across southern Afghanistan.

Still, the question of what equipment to leave behind, and which personnel will be the last to leave is difficult to plan.

The larger question of how to maintain Canada's influence with the United States or at the 28-member NATO headquarters in Brussels after operations finish is more difficult to answer.

Canadians are already being moved out of some strategic command roles in Kandahar in advance of the pullout, and the country's voice certainly appeared to carry less weight at last week's London conference on Afghanistan, said retired major-general Lewis MacKenzie, who commanded Canadian forces in the Balkans.

But Canada has no reason to be ashamed of leaving the war early, he said. The country was among the first to join the Americans in 2002 in Kandahar after the initial invasion and fought alone in the key province between 2006 and 2008.

"I don't think there's going to be anyone running around Kandahar airfield making fun of us as we leave, that's for sure," MacKenzie said.

PRAISE FOR CANADA'S EFFORTS IN AFGHANISTAN

FROM: http://terrorism-online.blogspot.com/2009/12/mcchrystal-praises-canadas-afghanistan.html

By Gerry J. Gilmore

American Forces Press Service

Dec. 17, 2009 - The demonstrated bravery and resolve of the nearly 3,000 Canadian forces serving in Afghanistan reflects the commitment necessary to achieve success there, the commander of U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan said in the Canadian capital yesterday. Canadian forces' efforts in mentoring Afghan security forces and their work in infrastructure development projects in southern Afghanistan's Kandahar province are greatly appreciated, Army Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal said at the Conference of Defence Associations Institute in Ottawa.

"The courage and determination of Canadian forces are an inspiration to our coalition," McChrystal said, noting that Canada, with about 2,800 forces in Afghanistan, one of the 44 coalition nations that have devoted considerable resources to the effort. Canada has lost 133 soldiers, three civilian employees and a diplomat supporting operations in Afghanistan.

Though challenging, the mission is Afghanistan "is achievable," McChrystal said. The Afghans, he added, are determined to defeat the Taliban and view coalition forces as partners in that endeavor.

The coalition's core strategy "is to partner with Afghanistan to provide them the time and space to assume their own security, and to shape their own future," McChrystal explained. "We're going to do this by disrupting and degrading the Taliban's capacity, denying them access to the Afghan population and strengthening Afghan security forces."

President Barack Obama directed an extra 30,000 U.S. troops be deployed to Afghanistan in coming months. NATO countries pledged to provide 7,000 additional forces.

"With the decisions made recently by President Obama and other members of the coalition, we have forces moving forward now," McChrystal said. "By this time next year, I believe we'll have indicators across the country – hard reflections, metrics – that will make it clear to us that the insurgency will be defeated."

By the summer of 2011 "we can make that same progress clear to the Afghan people, that the insurgency will not win," McChrystal said.

Canada's contributions in Afghanistan "have in some respects foreshadowed how our capability will be employed in the months ahead with the integration of civilian and military expertise," McChrystal said.

For example, the general said, the primary mission focus is to separate the insurgents from the Afghan people, particularly in the south of the country.

"And, that's where the bulk, of course, of the Canadian forces have been," McChrystal said.

Some Canadian forces serve as mentors to Afghan security forces, McChrystal said, while others employ different skills in development efforts performed by provincial reconstruction teams, which work on development initiatives that provide jobs and education that advance prospects of long-term economic growth for the people of Afghanistan, McChrystal said.

"Canada has made a particular investment in education, with the expansion and repair of 50 schools in Kandahar," McChrystal said. The Canadians also oversee programs, he added, that train teachers and increase female Afghan enrollment and literacy. Canadian engineers also are helping to renovate the 50-year-old Dahla Dam, the largest dam in Kandahar province, and the second-largest in Afghanistan. The dam is about 21 miles north of Kandahar City. When the project is completed, it's expected to double the amount of irrigated land in the region.

Afghanistan has plenty of water, McChrystal said, but it lacks the ability to transport the water where it is needed for agriculture. With proper water management, Afghanistan can become "an absolute net exporter of food," he said.

The general emphasized commitment as the key component to achieving success in Afghanistan.

"Increased capability translates to credibility in the minds of Afghans," McChrystal said. "They want to know that our intentions are to help them." Delivering on promised projects will provide that credibility, he added.

Meanwhile, the commitment displayed by coalition nations has been key, McChrystal said. "And that resolve will be critical in the months ahead," he told the group.


*** What do you expect from the best trained army in the world? A sharp snap of a salute is hereby in order. _\ MS ***