Canada officially hands control of Kandahar to U.S.

After half a decade of dangerous and often deadly conflict in Kandahar province, Canadian soldiers turned the area over to American forces Thursday in an official end to the mission.

CTV News Channel: Lewis MacKenzie, military analyst

A former major-general explains what it means now for Canada and Kandahar now that Canada's control has been was officially transferred to the U.S.

Canada AM: Panel reflects on the mission

Cpl. Jody Mitic, a Canadian soldier injured in Afghanistan, and military journalist Scott Taylor with Esprit de Corps magazine tell Canada AM about what they believe was accomplished during the combat mission.

Canada AM: Madeliene Tarasick, president

The president of the Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan explains why many vulnerable locals in the war torn country, particularly women, are deeply concerned about the withdrawal of Canadian troops.

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Canadian and American officers salute during the playing of the Canadian national anthem during a transfer of authority ceremony in Kandahar, Thursday, July 7, 2011. (Murray Brewster / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

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Way to go to all our soldiers, we're so proud of you for all you've done, all you've sacrificed and all you've grown. Welcome home and enjoy some rest and relaxation!

Layla

Canada officially transfers command of Kandahar to U.S.

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Canada officially hands control of Kandahar to U.S.

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CTV.ca News Staff

Date: Thu. Jul. 7 2011 8:13 PM ET

The United States took charge of Kandahar province on Thursday after a ceremony that saw Canadian Forces officially hand over control of the region.

Canada has played a key military role in the volatile province since 2005-2006.

"We must recognize all that Canada has given in Kandahar and all they have achieved," said Maj.-Gen. James Terry, NATO's southern Afghanistan commander, who served alongside Canadians twice during the combat mission.

"I think history has already acclaimed your deeds and history will memorialize your fallen heroes."

Canada's sacrifice in southern Afghanistan has been great with 157 soldiers and two civilians killed, in addition to many wounded in battle.

Afghan Brig.-Gen. Ahmad Habibi, who first fought alongside Canadians during Operation Medusa, gave a touching speech during the ceremony at new Canada House on Thursday.

Habibi said Canadians' influence has been felt throughout Kandahar and has even spilled over into nearby Helmand province, where Canadians conducted several missions.

"Task Force Kandahar took control of the area at such a critical time, insurgents had full control of the areas," Habibi said through a translator. "It has served shoulder to shoulder with Afghan forces."

CTV's Janis Mackey Frayer said Habibi also spoke about the Canadians' ability to win the hearts and minds of Afghan civilians, a key objective for the Canadian Forces since they first joined the mission.

That focus could change under American control, Mackey Frayer told CTV's Canada AM.

"The generals say...it's going to be the same counter-insurgency strategy but there is the expectation among some of the American troops I've talked to that it's going to be more kinetic, meaning it's going to be less about winning hearts and minds than about killing the enemy."

Mackey Frayer said there is a sense of achievement and accomplishment among Canadian troops pulling back from forward operating bases and preparing to head home.

She said the military has grown in capability, with new technology and equipment, but also in its ability to fight a difficult battle against an insurgent group in hostile territory.

"It certainly was a significant chapter in Canada's military history. They now describe themselves as a small but fierce army that is able to make a difference in many ways," she said.

However, Mackey Frayer said it could be months or even years before Canada's true legacy can be seen in Afghanistan. Whether that legacy will be linked to development work such as the construction of schools, or efforts to eradicate polio, or whether it will be linked to the military effort against the Taliban, has yet to be seen.

There are currently 35,000 coalition and Afghan soldiers in Kandahar province.

The Canadian Forces, however, never had more than 3,000 troops and support elements in the region.

Comments are now closed for this story

currently serving soldier
said
0 0

Mike,That is a simple solution in the context of conventional warfare. Unfortunately, the Taliban don't wear uniforms nor do they wear signs saying that they are the bad guys. Fighting an insurgency is not a matter of total victory because there will always be another bomber in the wings somewhere in the world to take up their cause. We didn't surrender, we followed the governments guidelines and ceased combat as scheduled.

Sunflowers
said
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Not sure how much was accomplished, and we probably won't know that for sure until a decade from now. Let's revisit the topic in 2021, and then we should have a better understanding of what Canada and NATO achieved... if anything.

After 9/11 Canada was obligated to respond when NATO invoked "Article 5" on 9/12.

currently serving soldier
said
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anti war....I you check the numbers, the Taliban Kill way more civilians than we do. When we kill a civilian, it is an unfortunate accident and we work hard to avoid this. But when we do kill a civilian, the Canadian government makes restitution to the family. Now the Taliban will walk onto a bus or go to a school or busy market place and blow them selves up with no regard to how many innocent people are around. So if you do the math, yes, now that we are done fighting the number of innocent casualties that we cause will drop but lets keep score for the Taliban. Wow ignorance is bliss.

Mike Tenszen
said
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Unbelievable. The enemy is winning. About 157 Canadian have been killed in a nation still owned by those religious nutters, the murderous, fundamentalist Muslim Taliban. Canada, and the whole civilized world, have talked about, and died for, a noble freedom mission in Afghanistan. So, what do we do now? Well, we pull out and leave that basket case country to that (huh?) aggressive, highly-trained and highly-motivated Afghan military and police. Joke. C'mon, folks. You know what's going to happen next? Retribution. Big time. I am particulary outraged that Canadian soldiers, and their families, who believed in this mission, are now faced with surrender. A pullout. What Afghanistan needed, and it never got, was a full-scale invasion (like Normandy) and then a full-scale occupation by civilized nations for the next 20 years.

Kevin
said
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To all my brothers and sisters in uniform is anyone else disgusted at that peacekeeper moniker. I dread the thought of going back to those days, stand by and watch doing nothing but take casualties and then have the reports changed to make it look like an accident, what a joke peacekeeping all to make it sound nice and fuzzy. I am proud of the work we have done in Afghanistan.Bye the way Bonnie we do not join the army because we want to kill people . We join to serve the people of this country however we are called upon. Oh using the situation about the native in this country maybe they should use the money we taxpayers give them to improve their own situation as is we cannot audit their books to see where all that money went. They should quit paying themselves more than the PM.

LIbya Oil war?
said
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Are we bringing them back home for a vacation and send them to our new war in Libya? We would need them there to protect our Oil companies establish in Libya since early 2000.

Anti War
said
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Is anyone would keep record of civilian deaths under Canadian command and compare it to civilians deaths starting today?

dwayne in da peg
said
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very well said John.

John
said
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Good one FCS! The Governments who put the Military in the state it was in for the sake of happily sitting on the fence and waving the Peacekeeping only flag (for their own gain) did that happily and with disasterous consequnces over time. The amount of people who have been brainwashed by that era and the clueless which still continue to spout off is appauling. I am proud of my time in the Cdn Forces because I personally wanted to Soldier like my Family in the British Army did. I got alot out of it but constantly seeing other nations or sister Regiments in the UK always be the ones to go for example Gulf War 1 and Canada always only make the "token" contribution and "knowing" really that the only thing you could look forward to test yourself with was a Disaster relief mission or Peacekeeping was very demoralizing and it was not easy to stay motivated sometimes. Rick Hilliers book is dead on about all this which was behind the scenes creating this mess. Hopefully now we are well past the point where the standard forget the Military thing that always happens in Canada between Wars and we take care of our most important people: OUR WARRIORS. This i say very unappologetically people because there will be more Wars and I expect the same nonsense from some people for the next one too. Canadians need to relearn who they are, Yes we are good peacekeepers when there is Peace to keep but we also need to be good at the other thing, whether thats too aggressive for some or not.

Julian
said
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Another job well done by our Canadian Forces.

Welcome home Ladies and Gentlemen.

Mark in Newmarket
said
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Once the west has entirely pulled out of Afghanistan over the next several years and things don't work out the way we hoped it would, then we will see a large number of refugee's making their way to Canada, the US, Britain and other NATO countries. This has to work otherwise, the entire nation of Afghanistan will wilt away back to the control of the Taliban.

Morgan
said
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If Karzi and his people don't pick up the slack, then all countries that sent personnel, did so for nothing....People died for nothing...all that was done was done with the intention that the Afghan people take this help seriously and continue with the progress.

Layla
said
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FCS is right. Canada hasn't been involved in any real peace KEEPING since maybe the 60s? Since then it has been riding on it's name associated with such idealistic intentions, however it hasn't really done anything. Being known for peacekeeping is a great and noble vision, however the reality is that operating under the true mandate of peacekeeping requires incredibly narrow rules of engagement. It usually ends up being terribly weak and wishy-washy and shows a large lack of will. It's an excuse really, to pretend like something is being done, as in the case of Rwanda. Peacekeeping is not possible when there is no peace to keep, which is why it can only be used in limited situations. Afghanistan has been much more important for Canadian troops to come into the current century of war and reconstruction. I'm no expert, but I DO know that there is much more to consider than just the fact that you don't "believe" our troops should be out doing their job and what they are trained to do.

Zee
said
0 0

I erred. I'm sorry. I think our troops are great, I just keep seeing Viet Nam. Yes Harper promised and here is the opportunity to bring them all home. Some much needed R & R and hopefully complete medical support. I apologize again for my short circuited mind!

rick
said
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We are pulling out all over the place.Canada has also closed down one wing of the Colonel Belcher Hospital in Calgary evicting vets in their 80's and 90's so the hospital rooms can be converted to private apartments. Thank you Harper Government.

Girard
said
0 0

I'm amazed at the negative comments towards our Canadian Soldiers who are returning from Afghanistan. From all these whiners and complainers, it is easy for them to spout off from the comfort of their own home, sitting in front of a keyboard pounding out trash. Who are they to judge and since when did they become experts in military operations? God Bless our men and women in the Canadian Armed Forces, great job and well done! We'll be waiting for you all to come home, the first round is on us.

FCS
said
0 0

"Canada's image as peacekeeprs" what a joke. The only place we had an image of peacekeepers is here in Canada. The world didn't even know we had a military until Afganistan. Our image of peacekeepers is falacy. Were the thousands of troops stationed in Germany during the cold war for 40 odd years there to keep peace or repel a Warsaw pact invasion ? This nation of peacekeepers crap was invented by a government that didn't want to spend money on the military but still wanted to appear to be doing something (like sending troops into incredibly dangerous situations with outdated equipment and ridiculous rules of engagement). Anyone who was actually on one of these missions will tell you as much.

peter victoria
said
0 0

thank you !

Thinking
said
0 0

I ran out of room on my last comment (which I assume will be published). I commend the men and women of our forces who defend our country and serve us with their lives on the line for the greater good. I think we as a nation should concentrate on lobbying our politicians to ensure that these men and women who have battle injuries and scars (perhaps psychological as well) are treated with the respect and in the manner befitting the service they have rendered this country.

Original Canadien
said
0 0

For those who keep stating that we have failed as peacekeepers, look up history...You cannot be a peace keeper until you are a peace maker. You also cannot be a peace maker until you are willing to fight for that peace.Peace is a noble though but it is not a lack of action position. On the contrary, it is one of the most complicated concepts to maintain as it constantly requires the willingness to not be peacefull if other parties wish otherwise. There is a reason the Soviets and Yanks did not have a full blown war, there was mutually assured desctruction, which led to a peacefull position between them.

RF
said
0 0

I think a lot of people are forgetting something.... This was a NATO operation and since Canada and a lot of other countries are part of NATO then we had to be there. I really don't think Canada wants out of NATO

Mark J.
said
0 0

Zee... Jean Chretien and the Liberals sent us to Afghanistan, not Harper. Nice try though. Oh and look, Harper kept his promise to end the combat mission. There was no hidden agenda like the lefties predicted. Talk about fear mongering.

Original Canadien
said
0 0

Thank you to our Armed Forces members. You have done us proud and yet again demonstrated who has the best soldiers in the world. There is a reason the Nazis wanted to face the Brits and Yanks, they were sscared of our guys.There's a reason the Taliban wished they were still facing the Soviets, we got results!Now it is time for our government to make these brave and honourable (a "title" that should cease to be used for MPs as it dmeans the term) members exempt from personnal income tax FOR LIFE! They deserve no less.

Dale...Alton, ON
said
0 0

It's about time they come back...shouldn't be there in the first place....Canada's image of being Peacekeepers is now tarnished by these "gung-ho" American lackies.

Tim
said
0 0

And IMHO, you're forgetting that it was Chretien that sent us there in the first place, Z.

Fan of our Brave Troops and Support workers
said
0 0

Today we should be honoring the Brave Men and Women that have sacrificed their time, away from home, family and friends, to help others and potentially risk their physical health to do so. They have done this at a great cost that most of us will never comprehend. While you may not agree with the mission you should acknowledge the bravery and selflessness of the people that have, and will serve, on our behalf. I'm surprised that there isn't a national welcoming for these brave people. Perhaps as a grass roots effort we could all put yellow, and/or, red and white ribbons around our trees.

Proudly serving Canada
said
0 0

Bonnie, Wow, your ignorance is astounding. We are there to take care of problems in our own back yard but we also have a responsibility to help those who can't help themselves anywhere in the world. That is what we are and should be all about. When was the last time you got off your but and went out to help anyone here at home. Did you fill sand bags to protect peoples homes, did you ever go and help with forrest fires in B.C. Did you ever do anything that may have changed the lives of anyone??? I have served on domestic operations and I have served in Afghanistan and Bosnia on more than one occasion. I stand up for those who are in need and I stand up for the rights of ignorant people who make rediculous posts on the internet. So to you I say your welcome

Zee
said
0 0

Bring them all home! One can say job well done (at least the attempt was well done) but is it any different today than in the beginning? I'd like to see out troops back as Peace Keepers but is that even feasible in this day and age, all fronts seem to be at war, not negotiations. Personally I feel this has been a waste of people, time and money but hey Canada was on the big stage for some time and that should please Harper and the rich war mongers. IMHO

Bonnie
said
0 0

And I'm from a big long standing millitary family, my father was in the Beor War and First World War. My brother-in-law was wounded in the Secon World War (the war to end all wars, yah right).I had five siblings in the millitary in the 40's and 50's, so my comments have nothing to do with not supporting our millitary.I am pissed, my father would not be supportive I'm sure of to-days millitary actions.In his day, we took care, good care of our wounded. To-day, the government would rather you die, than come home wounded.We helped build roads across Afghanistan and schools for their women but neglect our natives and infrastructure.We teach other countries English so they can come and take jobs from out children.

Bonnie
said
0 0

The Afghan people were'nt bothering us, so why did we bother them.911 terrorists were from Saudi Arabia. Osama Bin Ladin was from Pakistan.They didn't have oil but lots of drugs, leaves the question????

Bonnie
said
0 0

"Look at the chances we've given Afghan people"What about helping our own people, like the natives who live in desparate conditions.Give them new schools and good water.Men never learn. Russia was there for ten years and left. But I guess Canada thought they could to better. Millitary should be trained to take care of their own country. Of course like boys everywhere, they want to test out their new toys. Just a way to kill people and get away with it.Now the tax payers in Canada will have to pay to re-build Afghanistan when we need infrastructure work here.

Layla
said
0 0

Way to go to all our soldiers, we're so proud of you for all you've done, all you've sacrificed and all you've grown. Welcome home and enjoy some rest and relaxation!

SK Vets' Father
said
0 0

Job well done...

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