CANADIAN FORCES in AFGHANISTAN Report of The
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HOUSE OF COMMONS CANADA CANADIAN FORCES IN AFGHANISTAN Report of the Standing Committee on National Defence Rick Casson, MP Chair JUNE 2007 39th PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION The Speaker of the House hereby grants permission to reproduce this document, in whole or in part for use in schools and for other purposes such as private study, research, criticism, review or newspaper summary. Any commercial or other use or reproduction of this publication requires the express prior written authorization of the Speaker of the House of Commons. If this document contains excerpts or the full text of briefs presented to the Committee, permission to reproduce these briefs, in whole or in part, must be obtained from their authors. Also available on the Parliamentary Internet Parlementaire: http://www.parl.gc.ca Available from Communication Canada — Publishing, Ottawa, Canada K1A 0S9 CANADIAN FORCES IN AFGHANISTAN Report of the Standing Committee on NATIONAL DEFENCE Rick Casson, MP Chair JUNE 2007 39th PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION STANDING COMMITTEE ON NATIONAL DEFENCE CHAIR Rick Casson VICE-CHAIRS Claude Bachand John Cannis MEMBERS Dawn Black, MP Steven Blaney, MP Robert Bouchard, MP Hon. Denis Coderre, MP Cheryl Gallant, MP Laurie Hawn, MP Russ Hiebert, MP Hon. Keith Martin, MP Hon. Joe Mcguire, MP OTHER MEMBERS WHO PARTICIPATED Harold Albrecht Omar Alghabra Hon. Carolyn Bennett Diane Bourgeois Blaine Calkins Serge Cardin Robert Carrier David Christopherson Rodger Cuzner Paul Dewar Sukh Dhaliwal Hon. Ujjal Dosanjh Meili Faille Luc Harvey Hon. Charles Hubbard Wajid Khan Hon. Lawrence MacAulay Gurbax Malhi Dean Del Mastro Hon. John McCallum Hon. Dan McTeague Hon. Shawn Murphy Richard Nadeau Rick Norlock Christian Ouellet Marcel Proulx iii OTHER MEMBERS WHO PARTICIPATED (cont’d) Anthony Rota Hon. Andy Scott Hon. Judy Sgro Paul Steckle Brian Storseth Lui Temelkovski Hon. Robert Thibault Alan Tonks CLERK OF THE COMMITTEE Andrew Bartholomew Chaplin LIBRARY OF PARLIAMENT Parliamentary Information and Research Service Jim Cox, Wolf Koerner iv THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON NATIONAL DEFENCE has the honour to present its FIRST REPORT Pursuant to its mandate under Standing Order 108(2), the Committee has studied Canadian Forces in Afghanistan. v TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION ..................................................................................................................xi CHAIRMAN’S FOREWORD............................................................................................ 1 Star of Military Valour ................................................................................... 3 Medal of Military Valour................................................................................ 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY................................................................................................. 5 INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................... 11 STUDY MANDATE............................................................................................. 11 GENERAL .......................................................................................................... 11 FUNDAMENTAL FACTORS............................................................................... 14 GOVERNMENT POLICY BACKGROUND ......................................................... 15 THE REPORT .................................................................................................... 16 CHAPTER 1 — THE CONTEXT ................................................................................... 19 GENERAL .......................................................................................................... 19 CANADA AND AFGHANISTAN.......................................................................... 20 ONCE A FAILING STATE ….............................................................................. 21 ... THEN A FAILED STATE ................................................................................ 24 THE CURRENT SITUATION.............................................................................. 25 THREATS........................................................................................................... 28 The Taliban................................................................................................. 28 Corruption, Warlords and Opium................................................................ 33 Our Own Impatience................................................................................... 34 vii CHAPTER 2 — THE MISSION ..................................................................................... 37 GENERAL .......................................................................................................... 37 THE MANDATE.................................................................................................. 38 THE MISSION .................................................................................................... 41 COMMITMENTS ................................................................................................ 41 Operation APOLLO .................................................................................... 42 Operation ALTAIR ...................................................................................... 43 Operation ACCIUS ..................................................................................... 43 Operation ARCHER.................................................................................... 43 Operation ARGUS...................................................................................... 44 Operation ATHENA .................................................................................... 46 Canadian Air Force Contribution ................................................................ 48 Canadian Navy Contribution....................................................................... 50 NATIONAL COMMAND VS OPERATIONAL COMMAND.................................. 50 National Command..................................................................................... 50 Operational Command ............................................................................... 50 KINETIC AND NON-KINETIC OPERATIONS .................................................... 51 AFGHAN DEVELOPMENT ZONES ................................................................... 52 THE KANDAHAR PROVINCIAL RECONSTRUTION TEAM (KPRT)................. 53 Range of Expertise ..................................................................................... 54 Security ...................................................................................................... 55 Funding Flow.............................................................................................. 55 viii CHAPTER 3 — MANDATED STUDY ISSUES ............................................................. 57 MISSION DURATION......................................................................................... 57 STATE OF PERSONNEL................................................................................... 59 Health Services .......................................................................................... 60 Physical Injury ............................................................................................ 61 Psychological Injury.................................................................................... 62 Operational Stress Injury Social Support (OSISS)...................................... 65 Amenities.................................................................................................... 67 The Home Front ......................................................................................... 68 STATE OF MATERIEL ....................................................................................... 71 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COMBAT OPERATIONS, DEVELOPMENT AND RECONSTRUCTION.......................................................................................... 74 Humanitarian Aid, Development, Reconstruction and CIMIC ..................... 74 Military Involvement in the Delivery of Humanitarian Aid, Development or Reconstruction............................................................................................ 76 BALANCE........................................................................................................... 78 CRITERIA FOR ASSESSING MISSION EFFECTIVENESS .............................. 84 MISSION SUCCESS AND OTHER INTERNATIONAL OBLIGATIONS ............. 86 CHAPTER 4 — OTHER IMPORTANT ISSUES............................................................ 89 INFORMING CANADIANS AND PARLIAMENT................................................. 89 Public Understanding of the Mission .......................................................... 90 Parliamentary Understanding of the Mission .............................................. 91 DEPARTMENTAL SUPPORT OF COMMITTEE TRAVEL ................................. 93 THE AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN BORDER....................................................... 94 THE STATUS OF WOMEN IN AFGHANISTAN ................................................. 98 POPPY CROP ERADICATION .......................................................................... 99 ix DETAINEE HANDLING AND TRANSFER ....................................................... 101 CONTRIBUTING TO THE TRAINING OF THE AFGHAN NATIONAL SECURITY FORCES..........................................................................................................