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'No doubt' defeated Taliban will be back: general
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CTV.ca News Staff
Date: Thu. Jun. 19 2008 10:19 PM ET
Canada's top soldier in Afghanistan confirmed Thursday that insurgents have been defeated outside of Kandahar City -- but he added with certainty that they will regroup and attack again, as they have done in the past.
"There is no doubt in my mind ... that further insurgent attacks will take place in the months ahead,'' Brig.-Gen. Denis Thompson said. "The enemy is a thinking enemy -- not an inanimate object.''
"As we say in the army: The enemy has a vote. We have to accept that.''
The area around Kandahar was peaceful on Thursday after a week of rocket explosions and helicopters buzzing above -- following a brazen Taliban attack on Kandahar city's Sarposa prison last Friday. Hundreds of suspected Taliban insurgents were freed in that attack.
NATO forces say the area is now under control. Both the Afghan National Army and International Security Assistance Force swept the Taliban from the Arghandab district, where the Taliban had gathered after last week's prison break.
Thompson said troops scoured three-quarters of the Arghandab district and encountered no resistance. The soldiers planned to complete their sweep on Friday.
While NATO forces confirmed insurgents have been pushed from the outskirts of Kandahar City, they cast doubt on claims by the provincial governor, Asadullah Khalid, that hundreds of Taliban militants were killed or injured in the operation.
NATO forces suggested Thursday that no more than 150 Taliban fighters had been in the area.
"Those that chose to stay and fight were defeated," said Thompson.
"The reality of the situation in Kandahar province is this: Taliban insurgents can cause temporary disruptions and intimidate the local population, but they cannot hold ground."
"Every time we meet them on the field of battle, insurgents either flee or are destroyed."
On Wednesday morning, at least 800 Afghan and Canadian NATO forces launched a major offensive against the outnumbered insurgents who moved into the district and claimed villages along the Arghandab river this week.
Backed by aircraft and superior weapons, the Canadian and Afghan forces pounded the insurgent fighters back from villages along the Arghandab river.
In Canada, Prime Minister Stephen Harper acknowledged the prison break was a "setback'' to Canada's plan to turn over security to the Afghan government by 2011.
"The good news is the Afghan government has responded very quickly and very directly to this particular challenge,'' Harper said in Huntsville, Ont.
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I applaud the budget, even though Health Care and education may stay unscathed. Sadly this cannot last and I worry to later this year where cuts will become enviable. If anything, this provides the Wildrose Alliance plenty of ammo when an election is called.
Comments are now closed for this story
J. Fletcher
said
Mickey
said
They may need Mike Holmes, however, to build them a new jail.
Mike Webster
said
James
said
Don
said
Nathan
said
Serving our Country
said
So the goverment has given us good equipment, maybe you should thank them for the good things they are doing....I am sick of all of your whining and complaining.
I suggest that you join the army get over here and see what is going on before you all open your mouths.
Have we "won" yet?
said
Anyone up for some war-supporter sloganeering Bingo?
- "Support the Troops" (1 point)
- "This is like World War 2" (3 points)
- "They hate us for our Freedom" (1 Rove-ian diversion from logic point)
- "They are murdering scumbags" (miss a turn for lack of sense point)
- "We are there because 24 Canadians died on 9/11" (1 massive stretching the intent point)
- We can "win" because we're the best (1 deliberate not defining what "winning" means point)
- We don't "cut and run" (5 "Yes, Canadians can think exactly like George W. Bush" points + all other points re-stated due to lack of other response options in the Karl Rove phrasebook, + 3 additional "support the troops ad nauseum" points)
Anyone up for a round?
Afghan Canadian
said
military wife
said
Dennis
said
Oscar
said
To all CF pers deployed, stay safe.
Walter schultz
said
Get out now and spend our tax dollars more wisely on stuff canadians need
Richard
said
We have done so much good for the people of Afghanistan, our troops and our development agencies deserve to be highly commended for their achievements. Our media would do well to focus on those successes rather than toss out the numbers of Taliban we kill in a battle, and people would do well to remember that our efforts in Afghanistan go well beyond the traditional confines of military conflict.
Earl Robert
said
Andrew in BC
said
Roger T
said
Mother of a Canadian Soldier
said
Old_redneck.
said
ARE YOU ON GLUE???? You don't think the Taliban in Afghanistan is a threat not only to Candada, but also the rest of North America, Europe, Africa, Australia Aisa, etc.. Need you be reminded that since the coalition forces started their mission this has what has changed for the average Afghani citicen: Your daughter may actually be allowed to attend a school, you will not witness the traditional beheading before your soccer game starts, your wife has less of a chance of being raped and stoned to death if you are not immediately at her side, need I go on? This is a much smaller world that what it was a few decades ago. As far a getting out and spending the tax dollars on "stuff Canadians need", Canadians need security and global respect. This can only be achieved by seeing the mission through. Why? Because it is the RIGHT THING TO DO AS HUMAN BEINGS! I doubt that my comments will change your mind, but consider this: Don't cry when you are being mugged and nobody helps... not even the police! They have bigger criminals to catch, and your petty issue - well the tax dollars can be spent on bigger things.
To OUR troops and the rest of the forces:
You are doing the morally right thing. Keep up the good work, stay safe, and God bless you for your sacrifices. The average Canadian not only supports and respects you, but we also love you.
Take care
Allan Eizinas
said
Now that the Taliban have been routed – again, and the area is now safe – again, we can begin to help the Americans build that $7.6-billion (U.S.) pipeline that will deliver natural gas from Turkmenistan to energy-starved Pakistan and India – a project running right through the volatile Kandahar province.
Oh yes, some more of those little kids can also go to school – again.
We Canadians are being played like a fine Newfoundland fiddle!
Merle Terlesky
said
Hitler was taking a lot more territory and winning the war. We fought back and won and we shall do the same here. All this while Jack Layton yells "give up turn away".
merlet@shaw.ca
Eyes wide open
said
What happens to Afganistan if we pull out?
Here's a short list of some things that would occur:
1) Afgan government would fall.
2) Afgan military would be overrun.
3) Taliban takes over again and implement their radical anti-western ideology.
4) Women go back to being slaves/objects and lose their jobs and all rights and freedoms as persons.
5) Kids get put back in radical camps that breed hate and teach radical ideology.
6) Anybody that speaks out against the Taliban will be put to death or jailed.
7) With a new safe haven, all the terrorists come back and start hatching new schemes to kill the West.
Saying we need to pull out is easy, but you can't overlook what will happen if we leave.
The anti-war types seem to think the problem goes away with a pull-out, but what really happens is people continue being slaughtered and oppressed after we leave -- the media just doesn't report it anymore, but that's ok, their not being killed under out watch, right?
Wake up and take your head out of the sand.
J.C.
said
I applaud the Canadian Forces for what they are doing!!
I am proud of our Canadian Forces for the good that they are doing. May God Bless them and keep them safe. "Dieu et mon Droight"
C. Pike
said
Artillery Wife
said
It is the soldier, not the reporter Who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the soldier, not the poet Who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the soldier, not the campus organizer Who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.
It is the soldier, not the lawyer Who has given us the right to a fair trial.
It is the soldier Who salutes the flag, Who serves under the flag, Whose coffin is draped in the flag, Who allows the protester to burn the flag.
ET
said
Although NATO has a large number of forces, they are not committing the numbers that are REALLY needed. A lot of the european countries are slacking, and have set very strict "Rules of Engagement". Some of them are not even allowed to leave their base much. The border between A-stan and P-stan is quite long, and very mountainous in most places. It is very difficult terrain. And the US has had some major problems in operations they've done along the border.
Bernice:)
said
Ted
said
Canadian Soldier's Wife
said
The only reason you have freedom of speech is because of our veterans!!! Do you have ANY idea what happens to Afhganies who used to speak out again the Taliban??
It saddens me that people are so unappreciative of their freedom and human rights. Human rights that DO NOT exist in some countries.
While you are laying in your comfy bed tonight... I hope your soul speaks to you. I hope for just ONE second you think about the wives who sleep alone, whose heart aches. The children who cry for their mothers and fathers who wear the uniform. For the parents who raised these soldiers to stand up for the innocent and the weak.
YES...the comments about the numbers ARE correct. The CF needs more soldiers. NATO needs more. Maybe there should be a draft if none of you want to volunteer.
My fiancee, and father of my 6 month old is there for 10 months...so you dont have to be.
Dont run your mouth until you know what you are talking about.
Ex-PPCLI in NB
said
A voice from Kingston
said
Adam in mtl
said
Thank You, Stay Safe!
Gene
said
As I see it, these people now have a certain amount of freedom that was taken away by the Taliban. Al Qaeda no longer has a cozy home. The fight is going to go on because it's a culture of conflict seeped in poverty. I don’t blame anybody for wanting to leave Afghanistan to its fate. It's a new and different kind of war that's difficult to gauge. Body counts sound so Vietnam and the Taliban will fight as long as they live. I know it's not a rosy picture and I think that we'll (US) be in there when the last of our European allies leaves.
So with all sincerity, thank you Canada.
Mack674
said
Real story?
Excuse me, but I served in the infantry in afghanistan in 2007, and I assure you, the Taliban's numbers are in now way inflated or exaggerated whatsoever.
The population of Pakistan is 164+ million, it is not unrealistic that a few thousand fighters come from there /every/ year. A large portion of the Taliban's fighters come from other countries, not just Afghanistan.
You have to understand the massive firepower advantage we have that they do not - Armored vehicles, aerial surveillance, artillery and special forces support, helicopters, superior training and equipment...
the government is NOT trying to pull one over on you to make the public feel good. The Taliban DO suffer approximately as many casualties as reported.
In world war two, many countries suffered hundreds dead DAILY, and the war went on for 5 years.
Will
said
An ex service member
Fred Nickerson
said
Ray - London
said
This war and the enemy we face are unlike anything previously faced: they are not interested in territorial conquest, monetary gain, capture of resources... they only want complete domination and submission to their will, and their perverted brand of Islam. They have determined this can only be achieved by the annihilation of everything Western. Since they have no hope of defeating the might of the West; they resort to defeating our resolve to our principles through terror.
Would you stand idly while a neighbor was being brutalized? Would you look the other way and whisper “thankfully that’s not me”?
What use is our freedom and our ideals if we cannot demonstrate to the oppressed why they must reject the ideology of terror that they suffer under, why they must rise up and help themselves to generate hope? In doing so, Canada and its’ Allies not only provide an opportunity to eventually improve the lives of the Afghani people, but also deny a haven for radicalism.
Hugh
said
Herman Melville
CDN UN Vet
said
For Those Who Fight For It, Freedom Has A Flavor The Protected Will Never Know
Shamaro
said
Our troops are there because the policy makers (the politicians) failed at their job, so their last option of course if using military force. You know that if you ever have to use military force, the politicians have failed at their jobs.
Just support the men and women who are over there. They're doing a magnificent job doing what they do and being half a world a way from their families and homes.
You don't have to support your government, but please at least support the troops. They aren't the one's who want to be there.
DSommer
said
However, when there are fertile recruiting grounds in Pakistan, replacing losses takes a matter of months - or about as long between these offensives.
alex
said
Todd
said
Our troops deserve to be congratulated for a job well done, and those of us far removed from danger might do well to appreciate their skill and bravery. The Americans celebrate their combat successes but we Canucks seem to treat them with a degree of shame...I mean, heaven forbid that Canadian soldiers kill Taliban soldiers, and it's worse if they're actually good at it. Political correctness strikes again. Like my kids' history classes, we discuss poiltics and ideas rather than putting a personal face on the issues and actions.
ARJAY
said
I agree that the Taliban are undemocratic, and that if we can bring democracy to that part of the world, we will have done a good thing. But it is a mistake to confuse the aims of the Taliban with those of bin Laden. The Taliban wish to govern their own people using the Koran. It is extremely unlikely that they ever could or would invade Canada, and fighting them does not ensure our freedom over here. Bin Laden wants to attack the west because of our continued presence in Saudi Arabi. 9/11 didn't happen because of the Taliban (although they gave bin Laden a place to operate from) but because the U.S. needs middle east oil, and has a military presence there to defend it. We are helping in their imperialism by doing some of the fighting for them in Afghanistan. That means that we are doing a noble thing in support of an ignoble strategy.
Those of you who keep insisting that our soldiers are fighting for our freedom just don't get it. You've been manipulated by the press and by emotion into buying into America- as- victim, when really the Americans are responsible for the anger directed against them because of their arrogant foreign policy and dependency on oil. If we pull out, Afghanistan will quite probably decay into civil war, so we are stuck there until we can achieve some security for the people. Meanwhile, the U.S. is building a pipeline across the region to pump out gas and oil, their real aim in going into Iraq.
So let's be really clear here- bin Laden isn't Hitler, and this isn't the second world war. We are doing some good in Afghanistan, but only as part of an overall strategy for American exploitation of the region. We are not the heroic defenders of freedom that we were in WW2, no matter how we try to dress it up. We are also complicit in the invasion of another country and its continued occupation, for good or ill- not just Afghanistan, but Iraq as well.
So I support our troops, and wish them well. But don't forget who put them there and why. It's because of your good-hearted patriotism that aggressive American foreign policy succeeds.
LS
said
For "Serving" and "Canadian Soldier's Wife" WELL SAID!
To all our troops..well done you have my admiration.
Rick
said
FS
said
This war, as the Iraq war, will be a never ending situation and we will either never leave or we will leave with not much improved for the local folks, even though our men and women are working hard to get the job done.
The freedom Afghans and Iraqis need is not going to be brought by the barrel of an outsider's gun. The Freedom that they need has to start from WITHIN. They themselves have to want freedom for themselves, for their wives and for their children. They have to want it so bad they're willing to die for it, not have an occupying force die for it. Only then can they appreciate their own freedom and will guard it with their lives never to return to the state they're in now. They themselves have to stop the criminals present within their own country trying to stop freedom. They have to STOP believing that women are inferior and can be treated like animals. Guns CANNOT change this way of thinking.
Think about it. Both of these wars have been going on for over half a DECADE. How much longer will it take?
Ryan
said
Dusty B>
said
Thank you from a grateful exsoldier, make it home safe.
God Speed
Walter
said
Proud of Our Boys
said
TomG
said
I'm tired of hearing soldier folk set themselves up as the fountain of wisdom. Nothing wrong with being a soldier; just do your jobs and stop trying to place yourselves above the rest of us.
I'm a vet, and you all sound, like you're reading a script from commander's call cheer leading. Reading the book 'Three Cups of Tea' might broaden your perspectives.
Owen
said
As far as " peacekeeper duty", I know the social progressives and peace niks who wouldn't fight for their own country little own some ones elses, could never comprehend that there is no peace to keep until the Taliban as a viable force is destroyed.
Canadian soldiers are some of the world's best, but I am truly sorry we don't have adequate equipment for them to use over there, such as heavy lift helicopters and adequate Canadian air support for strike missions.
Schpid
said
True, serving Military members and their families do not have a monopoly but they are actually there to see what is going on. When the politicians, political and social "experts who can't find Afghanistan on a map make un-informed or decisions based on armchair generals and bleeding hearts, it's the guys in country, on the line and real time that pay the price and have to deal with it.
Wonder what you're a Vet of since even now that term is being used way too liberally.
Been there twice myself in the Gulf on a Frigate and no way would I compare my tours to the guys OUTSIDE the wire and in the sand.
Take care guys and girls and watch out for each other. No one else will
Lee
said
Nanook
said
Should be there now
said
I Love You Troops keep fighting!!
A CF Soldier
Bob
said
a Canadian Soldier
said