One detects some real, ironic anger in this piece by Matthew Fisher of Postmedia News:
KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan — The Taliban have provided Canada with a foretaste of the rapturous welcome that it can expect from insurgents when its troops quit Kandahar next summer, congratulating the Dutch government for its decision to have the last of its combat troops out of neighbouring Uruzgan by this Sunday…
…Ottawa intends to do exactly what the Taliban spokesman said his organization wants other NATO countries to do. The Canadian Parliament decided in 2008 that the combat mission in Kandahar, which began in 2006, would end by July 1, 2011, and that all 2,800 Canadian troops would be out of the country by the end of next year.
Although the Liberals and some Conservatives have evinced an interest in Canada continuing with a much smaller training mission for Afghan troops elsewhere in the country [more here], which would be allowed according to the wording of the parliamentary resolution, the Harper government has until now been adamant ["Afstan: Hell yes, we’re gonna go"] that it would follow its own, much stricter interpretation of the resolution and totally end the mission [comment on the government's, er, economy with the truth and key excerpt from the Commons' motion here]…
My own post yesterday:
I guess we’re next on the Talibs best wishes list
Mark
Ottawa
However, there is a problem with staying in the present role. At the moment we have 2 infantry battalions deployed in Afstan, 2 training for the next deployment and 2 just getting back from tour. Canada only fields 9 regular force infantry battalions total. That means these guys/girls are rotating back every 2.5 years or so – the army cannot substain this tempo indefinately and it gets worse with the specialist support types.
Actually one reinforced infantry battalion, plus other combat units, in the battle group–though I agree about the tempo.
Mark
Ottawa