.Canadian general plans offensive against Taliban
A Canadian general in southern Afghanistan has vowed to "break the back" of Taliban insurgents as the hard-line Islamist movement rejected participation in proposed peace talks with the Afghan government.
Brigadier-General Daniel Ménard is poised to launch a new offensive ahead of this spring's fighting season that will push U.S. and Canadian troops under his command out from platoon houses around Kandahar city to "break the back" of the Taliban in the surrounding countryside.
In an interview Thursday with The Globe and Mail, Ménard warned the fight would be bloody, with higher casualties among the NATO forces in Kandahar province before the situation improves.
But he said that the offensive, coupled with parallel political efforts to wean low-level Taliban fighters away from the hard-core leadership, will create lasting security in Kandahar's most populated areas, so that when the Canadian combat mission ends in 2011, Afghans will be able to live "normal lives."
Afghan President Hamid Karzai told a conference on Afghanistan in London on Thursday that he would offer jobs and homes to Taliban fighters willing to renounce violence and would reach out to leaders of the Islamic militia.
Paul Rogers, a professor of Peace Studies at the University of Bradford, U.K., told CTV News Channel that talk of negotiating with at least some Taliban members was a "positive" development.
"When the Saudis tried it about eight months ago, they got nowhere, but these appear to be a step forward," he said.
He said negotiating with the insurgents is the only "realistic" approach to ending the conflict. "The Taliban is rather brutal, but they have proved popular with the regular people because they are not corrupt and they create order," he said. "Many wars end in compromise."
But the Taliban later denied reports that their representatives met with a UN official to discuss prospects for peace in Afghanistan, calling them "futile and baseless" rumours. "The leadership council emphasizes continuation of Islamic jihad against all invaders as a mean to frustrate these conspiracies," the Taliban said in a statement emailed to news organizations.
The Canadian general in Kandahar said he is ready for them, sending the Canadian and U.S. soldiers out to extend their reach in Kandahar province. He warned the renewed fight would be bloody, with a higher death toll among NATO forces likely before the situation improves.
"Here – where there's almost nobody living – this is where I'm going to fight the insurgency," Ménard told the Globe. He traced his battle plan on a map marked "May 10" during a wide-ranging interview in his office on Kandahar Airfield this week.
Ménard's new strategy coincides with a surge of 30,000 U.S. troops that has already begun. Some of those soldiers are being deployed to neighbouring Helmand province to bolster British forces. But Ménard will also receive additional troops in the form of a U.S. battalion due to arrive in March.
"It's a huge change," he said of the shift in strategy and additional troops. "Where my predecessor had maybe 50 people in a district, I can have up to 1,200."
Rogers said he was skeptical as to whether there were enough coalition troops in Kandahar to achieve the general's goals. "Frankly if you're going to "break the back" you're going to need a third of a million troops to do so," Rogers said.
Ménard's new plan is the latest evolution of Canada's mission in Afghanistan, part of U.S. Army General Stanley McChrystal's counterinsurgency strategy, which now appears aimed at undermining the Taliban rather than defeating it altogether, setting the stage for a political compromise with certain elements of the movement's leadership.
The fight, Ménard said, is no longer about killing insurgents, it's about enlisting the support of local Afghans.
CTV
Brigadier-General Daniel Ménard is poised to launch a new offensive ahead of this spring's fighting season that will push U.S. and Canadian troops under his command out from platoon houses around Kandahar city to "break the back" of the Taliban in the surrounding countryside.
In an interview Thursday with The Globe and Mail, Ménard warned the fight would be bloody, with higher casualties among the NATO forces in Kandahar province before the situation improves.
But he said that the offensive, coupled with parallel political efforts to wean low-level Taliban fighters away from the hard-core leadership, will create lasting security in Kandahar's most populated areas, so that when the Canadian combat mission ends in 2011, Afghans will be able to live "normal lives."
Afghan President Hamid Karzai told a conference on Afghanistan in London on Thursday that he would offer jobs and homes to Taliban fighters willing to renounce violence and would reach out to leaders of the Islamic militia.
Paul Rogers, a professor of Peace Studies at the University of Bradford, U.K., told CTV News Channel that talk of negotiating with at least some Taliban members was a "positive" development.
"When the Saudis tried it about eight months ago, they got nowhere, but these appear to be a step forward," he said.
He said negotiating with the insurgents is the only "realistic" approach to ending the conflict. "The Taliban is rather brutal, but they have proved popular with the regular people because they are not corrupt and they create order," he said. "Many wars end in compromise."
But the Taliban later denied reports that their representatives met with a UN official to discuss prospects for peace in Afghanistan, calling them "futile and baseless" rumours. "The leadership council emphasizes continuation of Islamic jihad against all invaders as a mean to frustrate these conspiracies," the Taliban said in a statement emailed to news organizations.
The Canadian general in Kandahar said he is ready for them, sending the Canadian and U.S. soldiers out to extend their reach in Kandahar province. He warned the renewed fight would be bloody, with a higher death toll among NATO forces likely before the situation improves.
"Here – where there's almost nobody living – this is where I'm going to fight the insurgency," Ménard told the Globe. He traced his battle plan on a map marked "May 10" during a wide-ranging interview in his office on Kandahar Airfield this week.
Ménard's new strategy coincides with a surge of 30,000 U.S. troops that has already begun. Some of those soldiers are being deployed to neighbouring Helmand province to bolster British forces. But Ménard will also receive additional troops in the form of a U.S. battalion due to arrive in March.
"It's a huge change," he said of the shift in strategy and additional troops. "Where my predecessor had maybe 50 people in a district, I can have up to 1,200."
Rogers said he was skeptical as to whether there were enough coalition troops in Kandahar to achieve the general's goals. "Frankly if you're going to "break the back" you're going to need a third of a million troops to do so," Rogers said.
Ménard's new plan is the latest evolution of Canada's mission in Afghanistan, part of U.S. Army General Stanley McChrystal's counterinsurgency strategy, which now appears aimed at undermining the Taliban rather than defeating it altogether, setting the stage for a political compromise with certain elements of the movement's leadership.
The fight, Ménard said, is no longer about killing insurgents, it's about enlisting the support of local Afghans.
CTV
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