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CP) - As Canada moves its main military base in Afghanistan to a far more volatile region, a squadron of dragoons is riding shotgun - on the lookout for bad guys and booby traps.
After more than two years in Kabul, helping a NATO force bring stability to the capital, Canada is tackling a tougher challenge in the southern city of Kabul. Just moving the equipment and supplies for the new camp is a dangerous job.
Maj. Andrew Atherton and 170 of his Royal Canadian Dragoons provide escorts for the truck convoys carrying the makings of the new base along a two-lane highway threatened by roadside booby traps and suicide bombers, as well as the normal hazards of dust, heat and bad drivers.
Atherton's Coyote and LAV III light armoured vehicles, armed with 25-mm cannons and machineguns, provide the security the convoys need for the 10-hour, 450-kilometre trip. He can also call on heavier elements, including air support from other members of the NATO coalition.
"It's a risky business," Atherton said Tuesday from Kabul.
"We're mitigating that risk by the equipment that we have. Certainly the convoys that are going down there are quite well armed, they are quite heavily protected."
That kind of firepower is indicative of the new, dangerous job the Canadians face in the south, one that is likely to mean real fighting and much higher casualties.
Kandahar is a far different place from Kabul, where a new, five-star hotel opened Tuesday.
"It is night and day, Kabul to Kandahar," said Rudyard Griffiths, executive director of the Dominion Institute who is just back from a visit to both cities.
"Kandahar is not just a different place in Afghanistan, it's a completely different mission."
Kandahar, he said, is much more like Iraq. There are radical Islamic elements, high levels of poverty and a porous border with Pakistan through which men and arms percolate with ease.
"We're moving from what was, in a sense, a stability and peacemaking operation in Kabul to a very different mission in Kandahar which could include everything from an Iraqi-style insurgency and putting down that insurgency down to elements of diplomacy and aid that need to be rolled out in the region to stabilize it."
There are about 1,000 Canadian personnel in Afghanistan now. They are shutting down the base in Kabul and opening up in Kandahar.
Kandahar lies in a mountain fold on the Central Asian plateau. It's an old city, founded by Alexander the Great in the 4th century B.C. Its people are largely drawn from the Pashtun tribe, the largest single ethnic group in Afghanistan.
The other main centre for the Pashtuns is Peshawar, in neighbouring Pakistan, and the intervening border is often seen as little more than an inconvenient line drawn by foreigners.
Griffiths said bringing Kandahar under the sway of a distant government in Kabul is a tricky task, given Afghan history.
"The times when Kabul and Kandahar were ruled over by the same government are few and far between and usually only when there was an application of pretty brutal force to back up an occupation.
"We're trying to create a state here out of some component parts that may not always want to be in the same state."
Atherton may not be an expert in Afghan history, but he has a soldier's grasp of the reality of the country.
"As you transit further south . . . the threat level starts to get higher and higher. It's a little bit more risky as you go south."
By February, Canada will have about 2,000 soldiers based in Kandahar, including a provincial reconstruction team to help rebuild infrastructure, security elements, a medical detachment and a headquarters.
Part of the job will involve development, but part will involve facing off against insurgent elements and intractable remnants of the old Taliban regime.
While the Kabul deployment cost three lives and a handful of wounded, the toll could be much higher around Kandahar.
Defence Minister Bill Graham has been speaking across Canada in recent months, warning of just that.
"Canadians should be under no illusion; Kandahar is a very complex, challenging and dangerous environment and mission," he said in a recent speech.
"The part of Afghanistan we are going to is among the most unstable and dangerous in the country."
The risk of injury and death are high, he said.
Griffiths wonders if Canada is ready for dead soldiers coming home.
"I don't think Canadians realize this is our largest international, overseas operation since the Korean war," he said.
"I think we are going to look at something here of an order of magnitude that Canada and Canadians are not used to."
Atherton, who has been living on the sharp end for four months, says the mission is important, despite the risks.
"We've made a difference among the Afghan people," he said. "I think that our presence here . . . is really making a difference."
© The Canadian Press, 2005
After more than two years in Kabul, helping a NATO force bring stability to the capital, Canada is tackling a tougher challenge in the southern city of Kabul. Just moving the equipment and supplies for the new camp is a dangerous job.
Maj. Andrew Atherton and 170 of his Royal Canadian Dragoons provide escorts for the truck convoys carrying the makings of the new base along a two-lane highway threatened by roadside booby traps and suicide bombers, as well as the normal hazards of dust, heat and bad drivers.
Atherton's Coyote and LAV III light armoured vehicles, armed with 25-mm cannons and machineguns, provide the security the convoys need for the 10-hour, 450-kilometre trip. He can also call on heavier elements, including air support from other members of the NATO coalition.
"It's a risky business," Atherton said Tuesday from Kabul.
"We're mitigating that risk by the equipment that we have. Certainly the convoys that are going down there are quite well armed, they are quite heavily protected."
That kind of firepower is indicative of the new, dangerous job the Canadians face in the south, one that is likely to mean real fighting and much higher casualties.
Kandahar is a far different place from Kabul, where a new, five-star hotel opened Tuesday.
"It is night and day, Kabul to Kandahar," said Rudyard Griffiths, executive director of the Dominion Institute who is just back from a visit to both cities.
"Kandahar is not just a different place in Afghanistan, it's a completely different mission."
Kandahar, he said, is much more like Iraq. There are radical Islamic elements, high levels of poverty and a porous border with Pakistan through which men and arms percolate with ease.
"We're moving from what was, in a sense, a stability and peacemaking operation in Kabul to a very different mission in Kandahar which could include everything from an Iraqi-style insurgency and putting down that insurgency down to elements of diplomacy and aid that need to be rolled out in the region to stabilize it."
There are about 1,000 Canadian personnel in Afghanistan now. They are shutting down the base in Kabul and opening up in Kandahar.
Kandahar lies in a mountain fold on the Central Asian plateau. It's an old city, founded by Alexander the Great in the 4th century B.C. Its people are largely drawn from the Pashtun tribe, the largest single ethnic group in Afghanistan.
The other main centre for the Pashtuns is Peshawar, in neighbouring Pakistan, and the intervening border is often seen as little more than an inconvenient line drawn by foreigners.
Griffiths said bringing Kandahar under the sway of a distant government in Kabul is a tricky task, given Afghan history.
"The times when Kabul and Kandahar were ruled over by the same government are few and far between and usually only when there was an application of pretty brutal force to back up an occupation.
"We're trying to create a state here out of some component parts that may not always want to be in the same state."
Atherton may not be an expert in Afghan history, but he has a soldier's grasp of the reality of the country.
"As you transit further south . . . the threat level starts to get higher and higher. It's a little bit more risky as you go south."
By February, Canada will have about 2,000 soldiers based in Kandahar, including a provincial reconstruction team to help rebuild infrastructure, security elements, a medical detachment and a headquarters.
Part of the job will involve development, but part will involve facing off against insurgent elements and intractable remnants of the old Taliban regime.
While the Kabul deployment cost three lives and a handful of wounded, the toll could be much higher around Kandahar.
Defence Minister Bill Graham has been speaking across Canada in recent months, warning of just that.
"Canadians should be under no illusion; Kandahar is a very complex, challenging and dangerous environment and mission," he said in a recent speech.
"The part of Afghanistan we are going to is among the most unstable and dangerous in the country."
The risk of injury and death are high, he said.
Griffiths wonders if Canada is ready for dead soldiers coming home.
"I don't think Canadians realize this is our largest international, overseas operation since the Korean war," he said.
"I think we are going to look at something here of an order of magnitude that Canada and Canadians are not used to."
Atherton, who has been living on the sharp end for four months, says the mission is important, despite the risks.
"We've made a difference among the Afghan people," he said. "I think that our presence here . . . is really making a difference."
© The Canadian Press, 2005
