HMCS Halifax (FFH 330)
Vancouver and Charlottetown are also Halifax class frigates.
Posted on 10/09/2001 8:55:28 AM PDT by Clive
OTTAWA - Canada will send its largest combat force since the Korean War to join the U.S.-led military coalition against Afghanistan's Taleban regime.
In what the military is calling Operation Apollo, more than 2,000 Canadians, including special forces commandos, will be heading to the Persian Gulf where the multi-national coalition forces are gathering. The Canadian contribution will include six warships -- almost one third of the front-line fleet -- and six aircraft, but not CF-18 fighters.
Art Eggleton, the Minister of National Defence, insisted Canada is not technically at war, but military officials said the army is prepared if necessary to send ground troops to join any possible invasion of Afghanistan.
"We are not using the word 'war.' I don't use it because it conjures up an image of a very conventional war and I don't expect that much of this will be a conventional war," he said. "Maybe some aspects of it will. We certainly have military action going on right now. But at the end of the day it is going to take a combination of efforts in many different fields of endeavour to suppress terrorism."
Even with yesterday's military commitment, Jean Chrétien, the Prime Minister, will face a new request today for more troops and equipment.
George Robertson, NATO's Secretary-General, will ask him at a meeting here this morning to supply troops to "backfill" for American soldiers expected to leave the Balkans for the Persian Gulf.
Canada's navy is carrying the bulk of the burden of yesterday's commitment, with more than 1,200 sailors expected to leave for the Persian Gulf within days from the ports of Halifax and Vancouver.
The frigate HMCS Vancouver will join an American aircraft carrier battle group, while HMCS Halifax is being sent immediately to the Persian Gulf. Another three ships -- the frigate HMCS Charlottetown, the destroyer HMCS Iroquois and the supply ship HMCS Preserver -- are also being sent to the Persian Gulf at the request of the United States. Another frigate will replace the Halifax with a NATO fleet in the Mediterranean.
General Ray Hénault, the Chief of Defence Staff, said the Canadian navy would perform "traditional naval tasks of supporting direct action in the region; that is providing force protection, surveillance and naval activities required to support and escort the naval battle groups."
None of Canada's CF-18 fighter-bombers, which were used extensively in 1999 during NATO's air campaign over Kosovo, have been requested because they are not equipped for launch from aircraft carriers, he said.
Gen. Hénault would not detail, for security reasons, what role the elite Joint Task Force 2 counter-terrorism unit will play, but denied any of the commandos are involved in special operations in Afghanistan.
Canada's decision to join Operation Enduring Freedom is expected to put new strains on Canada's military, which critics say was severely weakened by government cutbacks during the mid-1990s.
The new deployment will almost double the 2,157 Canadian troops already serving overseas in NATO and United Nations missions.
Lord Robertson said Canada may be required to offer additional military aid to NATO forces in Kosovo and Bosnia-Hercegovina. Canada already has 1,653 personnel involved in the NATO stabilization force in Bosnia.
"We will discuss that," Lord Robertson said last night. "Because one of the things that the Americans asked for last week was backfilling if they had to take troops or equipment out of the Balkan operations for the campaign against terrorism.
"I've got indications that the Canadians would be willing to do that if they were asked to do it."
It is expected to take at least a week before the first Canadian military personnel among the 2,000 committed yesterday arrive in the Persian Gulf, meaning their active service will not begin before parliamentarians formally debate Canada's role next Monday.
"The Canadian Forces will become an integral part of the overall international campaign," Mr. Eggleton said. Neither he nor Gen. Hénault could provide an estimate of the costs or potential duration of Canada's commitment.
"The operation is going to be a long military and diplomatic and political operation, one in which there is no clear end date," said Gen. Hénault. "We can't really predict for you how long the operations are going to last. We do know that we will contribute to them as long as it is required."
The United States has not yet asked Canada to provide infantry troops for a potential land invasion in Afghanistan, but Gen. Hénault signalled the army is drafting contingency plans to accommodate a future request for land troops.
"We do know there is a full range of military activity that will be undertaken at various stages of the campaign, so therefore we are preparing contingency plans for contributions in the land sense as well in the naval and air sense," he said. "But we have no clear indications of what that might be in the long term, and all of it is currently very hypothetical."
Canada's air force is sending three Hercules air transport planes from CFB Trenton, an Airbus long-range transport jet and two Aurora patrol aircraft to aid in humanitarian drops and airlift support. Gen. Hénault said he was unsure where the Hercules planes would be based or when they would leave Canada.
Despite widespread fear in the United States that Muslim extremists will launch another round of terrorist attacks now air strikes have begun against the Taleban, Mr. Eggleton tried to put Canadians at ease.
"There is no indication of an imminent threat to Canada. Most of what we have heard from various terrorist organizations and Osama bin Laden has been directed at the United States," he said, adding that RCMP and armed forces remain on high alert in Canada.
"Certainly with our increased involvement in this coalition effort, one can never take that for granted."
Stockwell Day, the official Opposition leader, said in an interview that Canada's commitment sounded reasonable but added the Canadian Alliance would press for increased defence spending so it could be sustained.
"I think the general assessment in any type of conflict is to do as much as you can with as little loss as possible," he said. "This sounds like a reasonable deployment and I'm sure the military will advise if they are able to do more."
Mr. Day has asked to be sworn in as member of the Privy Council so he can receive confidential briefings from Mr. Chrétien about Canada's military actions. Joe Clark, the Tory leader, is already a privy councillor and has requested private briefings from Mr. Chrétien on why some military operations must remain confidential from Canadians.
HMCS Halifax (FFH 330)
Vancouver and Charlottetown are also Halifax class frigates.
This morning, I received word from my cousin Miles about the fleet. He and his family are proud that their country will finally contribute something other than words of sympathy to this fight. I'm humming "O Canada" as I type...
Yeah, Canadien liberals can be a pretty nasty bunch when their socialist dreams are interrupted by reality...
Yesterday, I recounted a quote from a senior Canadian offical pressed about the country's NATO committements:
"We have 17 ships, and some of them can even defend themselves."
Well, now they have 18!
HMCS Iroquois (DDH 280)
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