Earlier and related:

Prime ministerial (and presidential) priorities

Afstan, special forces, and our silent government

Now:

Canada’s shadow war ends when troops leave Kandahar in 2011, overseas commander

The shadow war fought in Afghanistan by Canada’s ultra-secret, special forces will also end next year when the army ceases combat operations in Kandahar, says the general in charge of the country’s overseas command.

It is a significant, if somewhat unrecognized, milestone for a force whose exploits have been blanketed in secrecy for almost a decade…

Lt.-Gen. Marc Lessard, the head of the Canadian Expeditionary Force Command, said it’s often not recognized the parliamentary motion to halt combat operations by July 2011 also applies to the special forces, who were the first to hit the ground in Afghanistan following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

“The special forces are an entity of the Canadian Forces (and) the direction from the whole of government applies to the special forces,” Lessard said in an interview this week with The Canadian Press. “Absolutely, it applies to every, every element.”

How many special forces soldiers are in Afghanistan is classified, but they are thought to number in the hundreds

There are some in military circles who’d expected Canada to quietly maintain a token contingent of commandos on a rotational basis, even with the withdrawal of regular troops, but Lessard said there is no plan to leave any forces behind.

“There’s absolutely no planning, and I can tell you because I’m the one doing it, for any type of residual force — or any type of new mission; there’s no planning at all,” said Lessard, who spent the better part of 2008 as commander of NATO forces in southern Afghanistan.

He said Gen. Walter Natynczyk, the defence chief, has given clear orders: ”We’re not to engage in any planning whatsoever.”

The directive is all-encompassing. Documents obtained by The Canadian Press under Access to Information show that even the staff officers at NATO’s field headquarters in Kabul will be withdrawn, along with the combat troops and special forces.

“Staff and headquarters positions for which the CF is currently responsible will not cease in July 2011 but be maintained, but not beyond December 2011,” said a Dec. 9, 2009 warning order from Lessard…

Mark
Ottawa