Canada in Afghanistan

CBC News Story

Since the Taliban regime fell in late 2001, Canada has steadily increased its military involvement in Afghanistan.

By 2006, Canada had taken on a major role in the more dangerous southern part of the country as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). A battle group of more than 2,000 Canadian soldiers called Operation Athena was based around Kandahar.

For six months ending Nov. 1, 2006, Canada also held the command of one of the main military forces in the area, called Multinational Brigade for Command South. During this time, Operation Medusa, a major offensive against insurgents in Kandahar province, was launched.

The fighting grew fiercer, and the casualty count rose.

A heated debate arose within Parliament, and among Canadians, on the future of the Afghanistan mission. Should troops be pulled out in February 2009 as had been committed? If the mission were to continue, what should be its focus?

In October 2007, Prime Minister Stephen Harper called for an independent panel to study the questions and recommend a way forward. Former Liberal deputy prime minister John Manley led the group.

Manley's recommendations
The Manley panel's report, released Jan. 22, 2008, recommended that Canada's military should remain in Afghanistan beyond February 2009 on two conditions:

An additional battle group of about 1,000 soldiers be assigned to Kandahar by NATO and/or other allies before February 2009.
The government secure new, medium-lift helicopters and high-performance unmanned aerial vehicles for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance before that date.
The non-binding report also said Canada's role must place greater emphasis on diplomacy and reconstruction, and the Canadian military focus must shift gradually from combat to training Afghan national security forces.

"In sum," the report's final draft read, "an immediate military withdrawal from Afghanistan would cause more harm than good."

More than combat
As the Manley report explained, there is more to Canada's commitment in southern Afghanistan. It is what Foreign Affairs calls a "whole-of-government" approach.

While the mission is largely military, the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) also has personnel from Foreign Affairs, the Canadian International Development Agency and the RCMP. The mandate of the PRT is twofold: providing military security while at the same time working with local leaders on reconstruction efforts.

Canada had provided some limited humanitarian aid, usually about $10 million a year, to Afghanistan even prior to 2001. Canada re-established formal diplomatic relations with the new Afghan government on Jan. 25, 2002, and reopened the embassy in Kabul in September 2003.

At a conference on Afghanistan in Tokyo in January 2002, Canada made a major commitment to assist in the reconstruction of the war-torn country. Foreign Affairs said Afghanistan is now "the single largest recipient of Canadian bilateral aid."

As of 2007, according to the Manley report, Canada had allocated a total of $741 million to Afghanistan, over the fiscal years 2001-02 to 2006-07.

History of the mission
Canada's military mission to Afghanistan began soon after the attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001. A naval task force was deployed to the Persian Gulf in October of that year.

In February 2002, a battle group from the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry was sent to Kandahar for six months. It assisted the United States and other forces in an offensive against elements of the Taliban and al-Qaeda in the rugged southern regions of the country as part of the U.S.-led Operation Enduring Freedom.

From August 2003 to December 2005, Canada's military commitment was largely Operation Athena, based in the capital, Kabul, as part of the International Assistance Force. ISAF had the aim of providing intelligence and security to allow rebuilding of "the democratic process," which eventually led to elections in the fall of 2005.

On July 31, 2006, NATO troops assumed command of all military operations in southern Afghanistan. ISAF already had troops elsewhere in Afghanistan, including the capital Kabul and in the north and the west of the country.

Lt.-Gen. David Richards, a British general, was put in charge of the NATO forces in southern Afghanistan. He announced the deployment of 8,000 NATO soldiers — including 2,200 Canadians —and Afghan units to six southern provinces by mid-September 2006. That deployment was increased to 2,500 in early September.

Other Canadian missions
Heavy weapons cantonment: Helping the Afghan government collect, store and decommission 10,000 heavy weapons left over from decades of war, including artillery, tanks and rocket launchers.

Demining: Foreign Affairs says Canada has a target to clear 500 square kilometres of land in Afghanistan of mines and explosive remnants by 2011.

Microloans: Money from Canada has been used to provide microloans to more than 140,000 people in Afghanistan, 89 per cent of whom are women.

Training: Canada also has a role in training the Afghan police and army. A group of Canadian Forces instructors was in Kabul to train members of the Afghan National Army. That unit remained in Kabul while the rest of the Canadian contingent moved south to Kandahar. Canadian troops are also training Afghan soldiers in Kandahar, and the RCMP has a commitment to train Afghan police officers.

According to the Manley report, the Afghan National Army is growing in strength. It had about 47,000 troops in 2007 and a plan to reach at least 70,000 three years later. The Department of National Defence has also admitted that Canada's secret special forces, Joint Task Force Two, have been operating alongside the American and other special forces units in Afghanistan, but no details about their activities have ever been released.

Seven weeks after the Manley report was released, a confidence motion to keep Canadian soldiers in Kandahar until 2011 passed easily in the House of Commons.

The Conservative motion, which was revised after consultation with the Liberals, called for the mission to be renewed beyond 2009 but with a focus on reconstruction and training of Afghan troops and a firm pullout date that calls for Canadian troops to leave Afghanistan by December 2011. The extension was contingent on whether NATO allies provide 1,000 extra troops and Ottawa secures access to unmanned surveillance drones and large helicopters.

During the fall 2008 federal election campaign, Conservative Leader Stephen Harper emphasized the "end date" for the Afghanistan mission would be 2011, with the bulk of the Canadian military forces withdrawn by that time.

About a month after that statement from Harper, a government report found that the military mission in Afghanistan could cost up to $18.1 billion, or $1,500 per household, by 2011.

The report tabled by parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page also found, however, that a lack of government consistency and transparency make the figures difficult to estimate and said that they likely underestimate the full costs of the mission.

Early in 2009, word emerged of a new NATO order that would see Canadian soldiers targeting opium traffickers and drug facilities when there is proof of direct links to the Taliban.

U.S. President Barack Obama has called on NATO allies to renew their commitment to fight the resurgent Taliban, but extending Canada's mission in Afghanistan beyond 2011 was not discussed when U.S. and Canadian military leaders met in Ottawa in February 2009.

However, Adm. Mike Mullen, chair of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, indicated the U.S. was counting on Canada's military support in Afghanistan over the next couple of years.