Thread: Canada's NATO allies let down Canadian troops: British MP

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Canada's NATO allies let down Canadian troops: British MP


Kevin Dougherty, Montreal Gazette
Published: Wednesday, November 15, 2006
QUEBEC -- A British Labour MP praised Canadian troops yesterday for their “superb gallantry and valour” in Afghanistan, but said they were let down by their NATO allies.

Frank Cook is one of 340 parliamentarians from countries belonging to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization who have gathered here this week for the NATO parliamentary assembly.

He recalled the wave of shock that went through a NATO delegation in Kabul last May on news that Capt. Nicola Goddard, of the 1st Royal Canadian Horse, had been killed early in the Panjway campaign.

Goddard is the senior Canadian officer killed to date in Afghanistan and the first Canadian woman to die in combat since World War II.

After the Canadians drove the Taliban from safe havens in Panjway, killing about 200 of the enemy, Cook said, Canada sought help from its NATO allies with troops already in Afghanistan to consolidate the gain.

“Five NATO countries refused,” he said, explaining they invoked “national caveats,” defined by their legislators to limit the scope of their commitment to the Afghan mission.

Canada took 12 of its 42 fatal casualties in Afghanistan to date in the Panjway campaign, Cook noted.
Canadian Maj.-Gen. Joe Hincke said the issue of “national caveats” is the subject of ongoing discussions within NATO.

“I can’t say much more,” Hincke said, adding that it was an issue of national sovereignty involving “nations’ blood and treasure.”

“That is the reality of operations in a NATO environment.”

Laurie Hawn, a Conservative MP from Alberta, agreed with Cook.

“It is profoundly disappointing when something like this happens,” Hawn said.

Hincke said training Afghan National Army troops to relieve NATO would be a better way to use resources.

Ran Cohen, a Meretz member of the Israeli Knesset, asked Hincke how NATO troops can distinguish between the Taliban and the civilian population.

Hincke said the task is difficult and will take time, but what Canada is trying to do in Afghanistan is to offer civilians an alternative, so the Taliban will be isolated.

And that means showing NATO is committed and will not leave in the short term, he added.

“It takes time and there will be setbacks, but that’s the way to go,” Hincke said.

He reminded delegates that Afghanistan has been devastated by nearly 30 years of war, leaving the country will little infrastructure.

The country is also divided by tribal loyalties, making it difficult for the central government to establish its authority.

“It’s going to take a long time to put it back together,” he said and the first step is establishing hope by creating a stable environment.

In the absence of economic alternatives, the Afghans are turning to drugs as a cash crop, growing marijuana and poppies used to make heroin and opium.

“There needs to be an alternate economy,” Hincke said, suggesting vineyards.