Sad news came yesterday that 4 members of the Edmonton-based PPCLI (Princess Patricia Canadian Light Infantry) were
killed in action in Afghanistan.
"They were targeting us," another soldier said as he returned from the fighting, his hands trembling as he put a cigarette to his cracked lips.
"They were too organized. We had to pull back."
Neither man wanted to be identified after another day of carnage in Afghanistan that saw two roadside bombings and a hail of grenades kill four Canadian soldiers and injure 10 more in the single heaviest day of death and injury Canada has endured in the strife-torn country.
In addition to the three soldiers killed in the school near the village of Pashmul, west of Kandahar city, a fourth Canadian soldier l. Christopher Reid of Truro, N.S. -- died when his vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb planted on a nearby highway.
Crossposted at The Next Agenda.
Sadder still because the PPCLI is rapidly approaching the end of their tour of duty and are presently being replaced by members of the Montreal-based Black Watch Regiment. Likely that these 4 were due to be home in a matter of days - from same link as above.
Some of the soldiers who were killed or injured were just a couple of weeks away from returning home -- some had been scheduled to leave within days.
More bad news from the Kandahar region today.
A Canadian military convoy has been rocked by two bombing attacks today in southern Afghanistan.
The attack came one day after Canada suffered it's bloodiest day ever in southern Afghanistan.
Four Canadian soldiers died yesterday and 10 others were injured in Taliban attacks against them.
Fortunately no casualities, but it is clearer than ever that the newly redefined Canadian mission in Afghanistan is placing our troops in greater danger than before.
Fewer Canadian soldiers would be killed or injured in Afghanistan if Prime Minister Stephen Harper stopped forcing troops into a combat role in that country, opposition critics said after four Canadians were killed in attacks Thursday.
The Conservative government has ''militarized'' Canada's mission in Afghanistan, which has turned citizens against soldiers that were originally sent to focus on humanitarian and reconstruction work, and it's endangering their lives, said Liberal defence critic Ujjal Dosanjh.
''Many Afghans today don't think of us as liberators. Something has gone wrong and that's why we need to reassess the focus of that mission. If we were winning the hearts and minds of more of the Afghani people, certainly there would be less casualties. There's no question in my mind,'' he said.
We may be coming close to a tipping point for the Canadian public.
A poll conducted by the Strategic Counsel last month -- after the death of Canada's 17th soldier in Afghanistan, Cpl. Antony Boneca -- suggested that 56 per cent of Canadians opposed the mission, up 15 percentage points from March. But Mr. O'Connor said yesterday that his government is determined to stay the course.
The recent deaths don't change anything, he said. "Our commitment is till February '09, and we are going to continue in Afghanistan both from an aid point of view, from a diplomacy point of view and from a military point of view.
Yesterday's casualties brings the number of Canadians killed in Afghanistan to 24 (23 soldiers and one diplomat). Sixteen of those are from this year alone. Maybe I'm making too casual a correlation, but do we think the 'mission redefinition' has nothing to do with it?
Parliament begins a new session next month.The NDP has promised to "try to force the (Conservative) minority government to change its Afghanistan policy". And the Liberal Defense critic has weighed in:
Canada's mission in Afghanistan has turned from peacekeeping to combat and must be "refocused," Liberal defence critic Ujjal Dosanjh said yesterday.
"This has become almost totally a combat mission. And that was not the intention," Mr. Dosanjh said. "We need to sit down with our NATO allies and refocus the mission."
We need to keep our MP's, or at least those of us represented by opposition MP's, focused on this issue. If you are represented by a Conservative MP, please express your distaste and displeasure with their policy. Do it forcefully, and do it often.
There are now 24. Our committment in Afgahnistan has been extended by the Harpo-critters into 2009.
How many more?
Here are our 24 fellow citizens who have been taken from us. Remember them.
Canadian casualities in Afghanistan
2002 (4)
April 18 (April 17 in Canada)
Sgt. Marc D. Leger, 29, of Lancaster, Ont.
Cpl. Ainsworth Dyer, 24, of Montreal
Pte. Richard Green, 21, of Mill Cove, N.S.
Pte. Nathan Smith, 27, of Tatamagouche, N.S.
All killed when when a U.S. F-16 fighter mistakenly bombed the Canadians as they were on a pre-dawn training exercise. Eight other Canadians were wounded in the friendly-fire incident.
2003 (2)
Oct. 2
Sgt. Robert Alan Short, 42, of Fredericton
Cpl. Robbie Christopher Beerenfenger, 29, of Ottawa
Killed in a roadside bombing southwest of Kabul.
2004 (1)
Jan. 27
Cpl. Jamie Brendan Murphy, 26, of Conception Harbour, Nfld.
Killed in suicide bombing while on patrol near Kabul.
2005 (1)
Nov. 24
Pte. Braun Scott Woodfield, born in Victoria, BC and raised in Eastern Passage, N.S.
Killed when his armoured rolled over near Kandahar.
2006 (16)
Jan. 15
Glyn Berry, a British-born Canadian diplomat who had served with the Foreign Affairs Department since 1977, killed in a suicide bombing near Kandahar.
March 2
Cpl. Paul Davis of Bridgewater, N.S.
Master Cpl. Timothy Wilson of Grande Prairie, Alta.
Killed when their armoured vehicle ran off the road in the Kandahar area.
March 29
Pte. Robert Costall of Edmonton, a machine-gunner
Killed in a firefight with the Taliban insurgents in Sangin district of Helmand province, north of Kandahar.
April 22
Cpl. Matthew Dinning of Richmond Hill, Ont., stationed with 2nd Canadian Mechanized Brigade in Petawawa, Ont.
Bombardier Myles Mansell of Victoria
Lieut. William Turner of Toronto, stationed in Edmonton
Cpl. Randy Payne, born in Lahr, Germany, stationed at CFB Wainright, Alta.
All killed when their G-Wagon patrol vehicle was destroyed by a roadside bomb near Gumbad, north of Kandahar.
May 17
Capt. Nichola Goddard, an artillery officer based in Shila, Man., with 1st Royal Canadian Horse Artillery
Killed in a Taliban ambush during a battle in the Panjwai region. She was first Canadian woman to be killed in action while serving in a combat role.
July 9
Cpl. Anthony Joseph Boneca, 21, a reservist from the Lake Superior Scottish Regiment based in Thunder Bay, Ont.
Killed in a firefight near the village of Pashmol west of Kandahar City.
July 22
Cpl. Francisco Gomez, 44, of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, based in Edmonton
Cpl. Jason Patrick Warren, 29, of the Black Watch, the Royal Highland Regiment of Canada, based in Montreal
Killed when a car packed with explosives rammed their armoured vehicle
Aug. 3
Cpl. Christopher Jonathan Reid, 34, of the 1st Batallion of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, based in Edmonton
killed by a roadside bomb.
Three other members of the same batallion killed in a rocket-propelled grenade attack by Taliban forces west of Kandahar:
Sgt. Vaughn Ingram
Cpl. Bryce Jeffrey Keller
Pte. Kevin Dallaire.