( Canada's)Military rethinks Afghan tactics

The Canadian military says it is reviewing how it operates in Afghanistan, after its first week in charge of coalition troops in the southern part of the country ended with an axe attack on an officer during a meeting with villagers and the return home of the remains of two soldiers killed in a traffic accident.

Captain Trevor Greene, 41, was flown to a U.S. military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, where he was in serious but stable condition yesterday after a man surged from a crowd, shouted "Allahu akbar" (God is great) and swung an axe at the back of the officer's unprotected head.

In a sign of respect, the officer had removed his helmet and put down his rifle as he sat down Saturday to discuss reconstruction needs with tribal elders in Shinkay, a village 70 kilometres north of Kandahar. Other Canadian soldiers immediately shot and killed the attacker. A gunfight erupted but no other Canadians were hurt.

Hours later, Master Corporal Timothy Wilson of Grade Prairie, Alta., became the 11th Canadian soldier to die in the Afghan conflict since 2002. MCpl. Wilson had been in the Landstuhl hospital since the LAV-III armoured carrier in which he was riding collided with a taxi and flipped over near Kandahar on Thursday.

Military pallbearers carry the flag-draped coffin of Master Corporal Tim Wilson at Canadian Forces Base Trenton on Sunday. (Fred Chartrand/CP)

Corporal Paul Davis, 28, of Bridgewater, N.S., was killed instantly in the same crash. Their caskets, draped in Canadian flags, were flown yesterday to CFB Trenton, Ont., to a guard of honour and the skirl of a bagpipe. Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor, Chief of the Defence Staff General Rick Hillier, Governor-General Michaëlle Jean and relatives watched as the coffins were removed from the plane and placed in hearses.

In hindsight, there were clues that the Canadians were being set up when they entered Shinkay, platoon leader Capt. Kevin Schamuhn told journalists by satellite phone. He recalled that the soldiers saw local children being hustled away minutes before they sat down.

"Undoubtedly we are going through a process of understanding security," Colonel Tom Putt, deputy commander of Canadian forces in Afghanistan, told Canadian Press. "We have to keep [meeting local leaders]. It's how we do it that we don't know yet."

The attack was particularly brazen, considering that the Canadian visitors were expected to be protected by the local rules of hospitality, said military analyst David Rudd, president of the Canadian Institute of Strategic Studies. "You have to strike the right balance between being accessible and looking for your security."

Mr. Rudd noted that the attack, which ended with the assailant being shot immediately at close range, will signal that Canadian soldiers are no pushovers. "The Taliban are probably under the assumption that non-U.S. troops are not as resilient," he said. "Shows of strength will be at least respected."

For military commanders, the ambush against Capt. Greene underlined the need to be vigilant during humanitarian visits and other outreach activities.

"All incidents are examined and our tactics, techniques and procedures constantly evolve in order for Canadian Forces personnel to defend themselves against these threats," said National Defence spokesman John Morris.

In Ottawa yesterday, Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay said his government could consider holding a parliamentary vote or debate on whether Canada should extend its nine-month commitment to Afghanistan.

"The previous commitment did not come to Parliament in the form of a formal vote. There was a take-note debate," Mr. MacKay told CTV's Question Period yesterday when he was asked whether there should be a vote. "We are contemplating this issue very seriously. It's always preferable before troops are deployed to have a vote."

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has dismissed opposition calls for a parliamentary debate and vote on the current Afghan deployment, saying that would amount to a lack of support for Canadian troops already in the war-torn country.

Mr. MacKay also said it is important that Ottawa not waver in its support for the troops in Afghanistan. "We have to be 100-per-cent behind them," he said. "We do not want to undermine any confidence in our soldiers by backing away from that commitment."

Capt. Greene, a reservist from Vancouver, was a lieutenant at the time of the attack. His promotion, which had been approved before the incident, came yesterday.

Before his fatal accident, MCpl. Wilson had specified that his organs be donated should he die.

"Although his death is a terrible tragedy, I hope that his tremendous gift will provide a better life from the many recipients who benefit from this," his wife, Daphne, -- who was with her husband when he died -- said in a statement.

FREEP REQUEST

PLEASE FREEP PRIME MINISTER HARPER OF CANADA

Feel free to adapt the following draft to your needs.

E-mail:

pm@pm.gc.ca

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Dear Prime Minister Harper:

I am writing you about the rules of Engagement for the Princes Patricia Rifles currently stationed in, Kandahar, Afghanistan.

I copy hereunder, a post to the Free Republic discussion list to which many Canadians belong. We see a vulnerability in the Canadian Forces that can lead to very serious problems for the Conservative Party and your government.

I simply request you to review the MoD Rules of Engagement for CFOR in Kandahar, so that General Fraser has the ability to mount an anti-Guerrilla interdiction operation if necessary. Reconstruction cannot begin before security is achieved in the area of operations.

God Bless you Mr. Prime Minister, keep the Princess Patricia Soldiers as safe as possible in this difficult work.

Yours,

( Sgn'd True name)

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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1590566/posts?page=93

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The politics in Canada's Ministry of Defence ( MoD) are to have CFOR create an image. They have no intention of even letting the Princess Patricia Rifles get the job done.

The Rules of Engagement (ROE) for CFOR appear to be really not risk effective.

I believe the ROE for CFOR should be changed to an anti-guerrilla interdiction operation. The Talibanis are infiltrating Kandahar from Quetta, Pakistan. This traffic needs to be stopped before any humanitarian reconstruction work can begin the way it should.

Would you go into an unsecured zone, put down your weapon and take off your helmet, and then sit on the ground??

These troops are well trained, and I can assure you they have ROE that are too unrealistic, micromanaged from Ottawa for humanitarian publicity purposes. The liberals in MoD Canada want this force to fail, and to embarass the newly elected conservative government in Canada, and have the public demand a troop recall. Politics are being played with the lives of young Canadian soldiers.

I mean, whats a sea change in Canadian politics worth,to get back to the liberals ? Couple hundred of English speaking Canadians die so we can get back to francophone federal politicians controlling Ottawa? Someone in MoD has decided our young Canadians in an English speaking Scots Canadian regiment are quite expendable.

If it was the Royal 22nd Regiment in Kandahar, staffed mostly by French Canadians, I can assure you that the ROE would be much more vigorous and aggressive.

Turn General Fraser loose, and let him command in the field to do what is necessary to help interdict the Quetta/ Kandahar Talibabi traffic.Change the ROE for the Princess Pats!!!!!!

This is Prime Minister Harper's first significant challange from a fedreal bureaucracy still dedicated to liberalism, and how it goes, so shall the national body politic go. I hope Harper is on a back channel to MoD making sure this Peace Corps shite ROE stops NOW!!!!

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