Canadian Pull Out to Include SOF

Jorock12

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http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/ca...har-in-2011-overseas-commander-102094698.html

OTTAWA - The shadow war fought in Afghanistan by Canada's ultra-secret, special forces will also end next year when the army ceases combat operations in Kandahar, says the general in charge of the country's overseas command.

It is a significant, if somewhat unrecognized, milestone for a force whose exploits have been blanketed in secrecy for almost a decade.

Much of the public attention on the end of the combat mission has focused on the battle group of nearly 3,000 soldiers who, since February 2006, have fought to keep Kandahar from slipping back in to the grasp of Taliban militants.

Those troops have fought largely under NATO command, but a separate, concurrent war was conducted under the auspices of the U.S. Operation Enduring Freedom, whose counter-terrorism mission since 2001 has been to hunt al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders.

Lt.-Gen. Marc Lessard, the head of the Canadian Expeditionary Force Command, said it's often not recognized the parliamentary motion to halt combat operations by July 2011 also applies to the special forces, who were the first to hit the ground in Afghanistan following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

"The special forces are an entity of the Canadian Forces (and) the direction from the whole of government applies to the special forces," Lessard said in an interview this week with The Canadian Press. "Absolutely, it applies to every, every element."

How many special forces soldiers are in Afghanistan is classified, but they are thought to number in the hundreds

There are some in military circles who'd expected Canada to quietly maintain a token contingent of commandos on a rotational basis, even with the withdrawal of regular troops, but Lessard said there is no plan to leave any forces behind.

"There's absolutely no planning, and I can tell you because I'm the one doing it, for any type of residual force — or any type of new mission; there's no planning at all," said Lessard, who spent the better part of 2008 as commander of NATO forces in southern Afghanistan.

He said Gen. Walter Natynczyk, the defence chief, has given clear orders: ''We're not to engage in any planning whatsoever."

The directive is all-encompassing. Documents obtained by The Canadian Press under Access to Information show that even the staff officers at NATO's field headquarters in Kabul will be withdrawn, along with the combat troops and special forces.

"Staff and headquarters positions for which the CF is currently responsible will not cease in July 2011 but be maintained, but not beyond December 2011," said a Dec. 9, 2009 warning order from Lessard.

The Opposition has floated the idea of having Canadian troops stay on to train Afghan forces, but this appears to have been rejected by the Conservative government. At the same time, Prime Minister Stephen Harper publicly conceded last week that the government was grappling with how to protect Canadian diplomats and aid workers after the army withdraws.

Bringing home the special forces, will have a significant impact on the Allied forces, said retired major-general Lewis MacKenzie.

"They'll be missed," MacKenzie said Thursday. "They were a valuable source of intelligence, not just to us, but to the command by way of tracking high-value targets and identifying high-value targets. Therefore it is a loss."

One of the few bright spots of the latest bloody summer in Kandahar has been the success of U.S., Canadian, British and Australian special forces, who were largely responsible for killing or capturing more than 365 insurgent leaders, according to NATO figures released this week.

Canada's special forces are made up of two distinct groups: the elite JTF-2 commandos and the Canadian Special Operations Regiment.

The acronym JTF-2 is probably more widely known to Canadians. Its mission, similar to that of the U.S. Delta Force and British Special Air Service, is counter-terrorism — or "whacking the bad guys" as it's described in army lingo. The special operations regiment functions more like U.S. Army Green Berets and leads counter-insurgency fighting with troops who try to blend in with the countryside and understand cultural nuances.

About 40 JTF-2 soldiers landed in Afghanistan in December 2001, but the Liberal government of the day never announced their deployment and the force's accomplishments throughout the war have never been recognized.

The troops were awarded in 2004 a U.S. Presidential Unit Commendation for actions in Afghanistan.

JTF-2 has only ever acknowledged the loss of one member in a combat operation. It happened in April 2007 when Master Cpl. Anthony Klumpenhouwer fell off a communications tower in Kandahar.






There you have it, sorry mates to all still serving or rotating into the sandbox that we can't be there to help. Keep "whacking the bad guys".
 
I'm baffled that the opposition would propose staying back and training local forces, and then the Conservatives knock it down... I don't get it, it should be the other way around, and the opposition should be threatening to bring down Parliament over it?

Canadian politics............
 
The Conservatives are holding strong to the position that the opposition parties put them in the first place. It's the opposition parties, mainly the Liberals that are flip flopping on their decisions in hopes of making the Conservative Gov't look bad because the general Canadian population can't remember who was in power when and like to blame anything bad on the current leadership; even if it was implemented by previous parties in power. Then after we are completely out of there, Afghanistan collapses and we feel the fallout here in Canada; the Conservatives can say "Fuck You! I told you so!". ;)
 
Sorry to see them go, but I would be hard pressed to come up with a reason for them to stay. The current administration has treated long-standing allies and friends very rudely, and this is one of the few ways a government can express their displeasure.
 
The Conservatives are holding strong to the position that the opposition parties put them in the first place. It's the opposition parties, mainly the Liberals that are flip flopping on their decisions in hopes of making the Conservative Gov't look bad because the general Canadian population can't remember who was in power when and like to blame anything bad on the current leadership; even if it was implemented by previous parties in power. Then after we are completely out of there, Afghanistan collapses and we feel the fallout here in Canada; the Conservatives can say "Fuck You! I told you so!". ;)

Damn it, that's right, the general Canadian population has a VERY short term memory concerning our politics.

One of my Profs once said something along the lines of as a young person you will go through liberal/socialist mind set only to grow up and realize that conservatism is a stronger/better avenue. Now that I'm growing up I really understand what he meant. Damn liberals!

Like BearW said, kick back, crack one and watch it unfold.
 
Once the mission ends I hope we can take a peak under the blanket.

By the way the JTF2 guys can learn a thing or two from CSOR you don't hear shit on what those guy's are doing over there.
 
LOL theres a good reason for that too. ... The lower profile, and the fact that (almost) no one cares. Except you dudes, of course. lol

Reporters don't want to talk to us, when 'the other guys' are around.
 
Chaske said:
Once the mission ends I hope we can take a peak under the blanket.

By the way the JTF2 guys can learn a thing or two from CSOR you don't hear shit on what those guy's are doing over there.

WTF are you talking about? Whatever you think you know about JTF2 is probably wrong. Stay in your lane.
 
LOL theres a good reason for that too. ... The lower profile, and the fact that (almost) no one cares. Except you dudes, of course. lol

Reporters don't want to talk to us, when 'the other guys' are around.

Ha sounds about right.

Also at Pete I did not claim to know ANYTHING about JTF2. clean the sand out of your vagina.
 
Clean the sand out of my vagina? Why don't you educate us all on what JTF2 can learn from CSOR? Lets hear it tough guy.
 
Chaske, forgive me, but your profile is a tad lacking so I want to be clear: have you ever served in any branch of the Canadian military?

And you did imply, or most of us could infer it, that you knew something of JTF-2 vs. CSOR unless you are making an observation based on press clippings. And how can you slam JTF-2's visibility in the public eye when you have stated on this forum that you like to read about what JTF-2 has done or how you like to learn about 427 Squadron? You think units should have their actions secret yet you want to read about them?
 
Ha sounds about right.

Also at Pete I did not claim to know ANYTHING about JTF2. clean the sand out of your vagina.

From your profile Chaske...


Military
None

Non-Military
I'm just a reguler dude with a interest in all things military Though My first profession is Art.

You are fucking lucky FF got to you before I did.

Who the fuck do you think you are and who do you think you just gobbed off too?

Open your mouth again like that to someone of Pete's standing and experience and I will personally shut it.

Got it?
Like Pete said, stay in your lane!
 
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