*** 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."
Showing posts with label canadian forces afghanistan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label canadian forces afghanistan. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
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.
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.
Monday, June 14, 2010
OFFICIALS WANTED TO REIN IN COLVIN
*** Who is the liability now? Tell us how hiding this from Parliament in any way helped Canada, locally or on the international stage? Yeah, that's what I thought. MS ***
FROM: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/100614/national/afghan_cda_detainees
OTTAWA - Senior military officials at Canada's overseas command wanted to see diplomat-whistleblower Richard Colvin reined in and possibly removed from his job at the embassy in Kabul.
A toughly worded memo dated May 7, 2007, was released Monday as part of an inquiry by the military police complaints commission.
It painted Colvin as a troublemaker "with a pattern of questionable reporting decisions" whose position as the embassy's No. 2 should be re-evaluated.
It warned he "could become a liability to the Government of Canada's interests if left unchecked."
The memo, penned by a policy adviser at Canadian Expeditionary Force Command, recommended Colvin be reminded of responsibilities as a diplomat and "boundaries as a reporter." It said if he was not checked "his contribution to the Embassy in Kabul should be re-evaluated."
Starting in June 2006, Colvin filed a series of memos critical of Canada's policy in handing suspected Taliban prisoners over to Afghan authorities. He's testified his repeated warnings about possible torture were ignored.
The memos evidently got under the skin of Defence Department officials, who accused him of reporting "highly sensitive" operational details, expressing personal opinion without prior consultation and offering "unqualified criticism of Canadian Forces leadership decisions."
Colvin's explosive allegations became public last fall when they were aired before a parliamentary committee. At the time, many in government and the military professed never to have heard of the diplomat.
Gabrielle Duschner, a former senior policy advisor at the overseas command, said she was aware of the criticism of Colvin at the time and the impression at the Defence Department was inaccurate.
The memo recommending he be warned and possibly replaced was sent to her by one of her staff.
Duschner said she disagreed with the report's conclusions.
She told the commission hearing there was a general awareness and concern about the treatment of prisoners in Afghan jails prior to April 2007.
But Duschner said the issue became a No. 1 priority after media reports were published that month alleging abuse had take place.
The civilian-run complaints commission is investigating what military police knew — or should have known — about abuse allegations.
FROM: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/100614/national/afghan_cda_detainees
OTTAWA - Senior military officials at Canada's overseas command wanted to see diplomat-whistleblower Richard Colvin reined in and possibly removed from his job at the embassy in Kabul.
A toughly worded memo dated May 7, 2007, was released Monday as part of an inquiry by the military police complaints commission.
It painted Colvin as a troublemaker "with a pattern of questionable reporting decisions" whose position as the embassy's No. 2 should be re-evaluated.
It warned he "could become a liability to the Government of Canada's interests if left unchecked."
The memo, penned by a policy adviser at Canadian Expeditionary Force Command, recommended Colvin be reminded of responsibilities as a diplomat and "boundaries as a reporter." It said if he was not checked "his contribution to the Embassy in Kabul should be re-evaluated."
Starting in June 2006, Colvin filed a series of memos critical of Canada's policy in handing suspected Taliban prisoners over to Afghan authorities. He's testified his repeated warnings about possible torture were ignored.
The memos evidently got under the skin of Defence Department officials, who accused him of reporting "highly sensitive" operational details, expressing personal opinion without prior consultation and offering "unqualified criticism of Canadian Forces leadership decisions."
Colvin's explosive allegations became public last fall when they were aired before a parliamentary committee. At the time, many in government and the military professed never to have heard of the diplomat.
Gabrielle Duschner, a former senior policy advisor at the overseas command, said she was aware of the criticism of Colvin at the time and the impression at the Defence Department was inaccurate.
The memo recommending he be warned and possibly replaced was sent to her by one of her staff.
Duschner said she disagreed with the report's conclusions.
She told the commission hearing there was a general awareness and concern about the treatment of prisoners in Afghan jails prior to April 2007.
But Duschner said the issue became a No. 1 priority after media reports were published that month alleging abuse had take place.
The civilian-run complaints commission is investigating what military police knew — or should have known — about abuse allegations.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
SECRET SCHOOLS FOR AFGHAN GIRLS
*** One of the most well-known quotes in Islam: knowledge is incumbent upon every Muslim, male and female. Yet, crusaders in the name of Islam throw acid on the words of the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) himself. And you don't think this should be opposed? MS ***
FROM: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/06/20106510171162225.html
The Taliban has waged a violent campaign against girls who go to schools in their Afghan strongholds.
A series of attacks against schools and female students have driven many girls to go underground to receive an education.
In one attack in Kandahar in 2008, around 15 girls and teachers were sprayed with acidby men on motorbikes.
During Taliban rule, from 1996-2001, girls were banned from attending school.
In parts of southern and eastern Afghanistan, particularly in Taliban strongholds, schools for girls still remain closed.
But the Taliban has denied any involvement in the recent spate of suspected attacks,and has condemned the targeting of school girls.
The Afghan government, however, has blamed the suspected attacks on fighters opposed to female education.
FROM: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/06/20106510171162225.html
The Taliban has waged a violent campaign against girls who go to schools in their Afghan strongholds.
A series of attacks against schools and female students have driven many girls to go underground to receive an education.
In one attack in Kandahar in 2008, around 15 girls and teachers were sprayed with acidby men on motorbikes.
During Taliban rule, from 1996-2001, girls were banned from attending school.
In parts of southern and eastern Afghanistan, particularly in Taliban strongholds, schools for girls still remain closed.
But the Taliban has denied any involvement in the recent spate of suspected attacks,and has condemned the targeting of school girls.
The Afghan government, however, has blamed the suspected attacks on fighters opposed to female education.
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