ShareThisThe coming influx of American troops will allow Canada to focus on protecting the gateways to Kandahar city, a new senior commander says, leaving U.S. forces to disrupt the insurgency in the dangerous outlying districts.
"Our turf will be the populated approaches to the city," said Brigadier-General Jonathan Vance, after assuming command of Canadian forces in a ceremony at Kandahar Air Field yesterday.
After years of suffering higher casualty rates than other NATO forces in the country, the Canadians appear to be anxiously waiting for U.S. reinforcements, hoping the new arrivals will shoulder the task of aggressive operations in far-flung Taliban strongholds.
"The inflow of American forces will help as we get stronger on the peripheries of the province," Vance said.
Still, the new commander took pains to emphasize that Canadian troops will not be marginalized. Protecting the swaths of farmland that lead toward Kandahar city has proven difficult in districts such as Zhari and Panjwai, and Vance said his soldiers face a tough year ahead.
"It will be a challenge, it will be contested fiercely," he said. "I want Canadian soldiers, with our Afghan partners in villages, providing sufficient security at the village level, so we can aim practical activities at rehabilitating those towns."
The fresh U.S. troops are expected to consist of a full brigade, part of 17,000 extra soldiers announced for the country this week. Unlike other new arrivals in Kandahar, the U.S. brigade probably will not take orders from the Canadian commander; instead, the unit is expected to report directly to the head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's Regional Command South.
That might involve a change in job description for the Canadian commander or his successors, because the position at the helm of Task Force Kandahar has previously meant leadership of all NATO forces in the province.
"Whether or not commander Task Force Kandahar (becomes) commander of part of Kandahar, that remains to be seen, we'll work through that," Vance said. "For my rotation, for my nine months, just based on the inflow rates and so on, I think I will be recognized as commander of Task Force Kandahar and that's the entire province."
He described the U.S. influx as a "leap forward" for the mission. "It is a very positive step for us. I see no threat at all to Canada's pride of accomplishments in the past, and pride of place in the future, as long as we're here."
Kandahar Governor Tooryalai Wesa said he also looks forward to working with the U.S. forces, and advised them to listen carefully to their Afghan counterparts.
"There has to be strong communication, clear communication about what part of the province they can be used (in)."
Wesa also cautioned that simply adding foreign troops cannot bring victory.
"If you look back at the history, in the Russian times, nobody could bring more than the Russian troops, like more than 100,000 Russian troops were here," he said, adding that the Communist regime also produced strong Afghan army and police forces.
"But it didn't work," Wesa said. "We have to involve people, we have to go to the people, we have to sit with the people, we have to listen to people."
With the next fighting season only three months away, the new Canadian commander seemed braced for a struggle.
"We're at a bit of a crossroads here as we prepare the theater for an inflow of American forces, which will have an immediate and dramatic effect on the insurgency," Vance said. "I believe this year will be one where we are all trying harder, including the insurgency."
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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