Table of Contents Cdn

Table of Contents Cdn. soldier dies after stepping on roadside explosive; Cpl. Matthew McCully was taking part in early stages of new coalition offensive Operation Hoover...... 1

'We lost a good kid today'; Roadside bomb kills B.C. soldier who had longed to join Afghan mission.....3

Balancing trade and security a complex military challenge...... 6

Harper's Afghan trip serves only a PR role...... 8

Harper choosing to avoid reporters' awkward questions...... 9

JUST ARRIVED...... 11

Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan...... 12

LE TRAFIC D'OPIUM EN HAUSSE AFGHANISTAN...... 14

MANIF DE FEMMES AFGHANISTAN...... 15

BUSH PRESSÉ DE SIGNER LOI | FINANCEMENT DE LA GUERRE...... 16

OMAR KHADR DÉPÉRIRAIT GUANTANAMO | CANADIEN...... 17

UN 55E SOLDAT CANADIEN PERD LA VIE AFGHANISTAN...... 18

Georgette Fry quit cigarettes, but her music is still smokin'; Juno−nominated blues singer releases new jazz album...... 20

Trade, security a balancing act: Chief...... 23

War dead live on in cyberspace; Troops killed in Iraq leave ghosts of themselves on MySpace...... 25

Roadside bomb kills soldier; Cpl. Matthew J. McCully is the 55th Canadian to die in Afghanistan...... 27

Harper needs to support Afghan self−sufficiency initiative...... 30

'Mentor' killed in blast; Canadian soldier died while training Afghan national army troops...... 32

Spy plane gives troops eye in sky; Remote−control device transmits video of terrain, Taliban activity; warns of civilians in target areas...... 35

Time to pull troops out of Afghanistan...... 37

SMU grad off to Oxford; All Rhodes lead to England for Jarda...... 38

Voice of the people...... 40

i Table of Contents "We lost a good kid today"; Canadian soldier killed as he marched over roadside bomb...... 43

Canadian accidentally triggered fatal bomb...... 45

Heroin heist a lot of cabbage...... 47

Afghans want British to dig up opium crop...... 48

Canadian identity gets a rough ride...... 50

Bomb kills young 'mentor' to troops...... 52

Canadian soldier killed Friday after stepping on anti−tank mine; Death of soldier makes 55 who have died in Afghan mission since 2002...... 54

Time for a timeout...... 56

Spy planes vital to Canada's mission...... 58

Canadian support helps our troops...... 60

A Big Exercise for a Small Army...... 61

Top soldier talks about challenges; Says balancing trade and security with U.S. a constant task...... 65

Blues jersey brings him closer to home; Jeff Warford appreciates hockey memento in the dust of Afghanistan...... 67

Casualty No. 55 was 'good kid'...... 70

Public's support crucial to military, Hillier says; Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan...... 72

Canadian mentor of Afghan troops killed; Petawawa−based soldier killed by bomb while on foot patrol during Operation Hoover...... 74

INDEX:Business, Health, International, Social...... 76

Balancing trade and security with U.S. a constant challenge: Hillier...... 78

Canadian soldier killed as Taliban 'melt away' from robust Operation Hoover...... 79

1st Writethru CP News Budget − Friday, May 25, 2007...... 82

CTV National News, Friday, May 25...... 83

CCN−ON−OSGG−OBT...... 84

ii Table of Contents bc−CCN−ON−GOV−OBT...... 85

Omar Khadr `wasting away' in Guantanamo Bay prison, lawyers say...... 86

CBC National News, Friday, May 25...... 87

INDEX:Advisories...... 89

−−Third NewsWatch−−...... 93

−−Nineteenth NewsWatch−−...... 95

INDEX:Defence, International...... 97

Canadian soldier killed in massive offensive in Afghanistan...... 98

−−Fourteenth NewsWatch−−...... 99

TOR OUT YYY...... 101

−−Eighth NewsWatch−−...... 103

INDEX:Defence, International...... 105

−−Twentieth NewsWatch−−...... 106

−−Twelfth NewsWatch−−...... 108

−−Fifteenth NewsWatch−−...... 110

Update:Adds name of soldier, new headline...... 112

Canadian soldier killed in massive offensive in Afghanistan...... 113

Casualties a tragic but inevitable aspect of war...... 114

Canada loses 'good kid'; Bomb kills Cpl. Matthew McCully in Afghanistan...... 116

Seeking balance; Women at forefront as Hosseini returns to Afghanistan...... 119

Retracing the Beatles' trip on the Indian hippy trail; Will a drive in 2007 in a 1971 Beetle to Rishikesh, in northern India, yoga capital of the world, a place made famous by the Beatles, help to unlock the door to ancient mysteries?...... 121

Answer to C2 quiz...... 123

iii Table of Contents Not just a one−trick pony; With his second novel, Khaled Hosseini shows he can get inside women's heads. As a follow−up to The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns is a huge success....125

Canucks defenceman Sopel to walk for poor...... 128

Canadian soldier killed by bomb in Afghanistan; A second injured in a major anti−Taliban operation...... 129

Canadian soldier killed by bomb in Afghanistan; A second injured in a major anti−Taliban operation...... 131

Canada's fallen soldiers of 2007...... 133

National security dodge goes on, even after Arar; Ottawa trying to muzzle inquiry into more torture cases...... 136

Conservatives know it's true because they say so; There are things the Harper government doesn't want to hear...... 138

Quebec foothold still eluding the NDP; Perennial also−rans in the province, the federal party is now pinning its hopes on high−profile candidates, organization...... 140

Climate change conflict This year, it's the environment; The issue of cutting greenhouse gas emissions could divide G−8 government leaders at their meeting in June The issue of cutting greenhouse gas emissions could divide G−8 government leaders at their meeting in June...... 143

A nation mourns: 'We lost a good kid'; Orangeville man 55th soldier to die in Afghanistan Orangeville man 55th soldier to die in Afghanistan...... 146

'We didn't get much of a fight'; Operation Hoover, largest in months, designed to flush out insurgents...... 148

Polls guided Harper...... 150

PM's priorities wrong...... 151

Guantanamo inmate fears deportation to Jordan...... 152

Spy was sent to 'ugly' spots...... 153

Take pride in Forces, Hillier urges citizens; Says military in a 'revolution' of evolution...... 157

Dead Canadian soldier acted as mentor; McCully helped train afghan army. Triggers explosive while on foot patrol during major offensive against the Taliban...... 158

Stoning video is a disturbing clash of the ancient and the modern; Murder of 17−year−old girl is more to do with old hatreds than religion...... 160

iv Table of Contents Headlines you might have missed this week...... 162

Bestsellers...... 163

Enduring sorrow in Afghanistan; Hosseini's second novel centres on the lives of two women...... 168

Calgary soldiers joining Afghan war; Reservists say they're ready to serve country...... 170

Calgary soldiers joining Afghan war; Reservists say they're ready to go...... 172

Canadian Forces 'lost a good kid' to terrorist bomb; 55th soldier killed in Afghan campaign...... 174

Quote...... 176

Troops join cancer march...... 177

Mail Bag Column...... 178

Violence in Lebanon serves Syria...... 180

Afghan bomb kills Canadian Dies marching with local men he trained...... 182

Mail Bag Column...... 183

Violence in Lebanon serves Syria...... 185

Afghan bomb kills Canadian Dies marching with local men he trained...... 187

Majority fools Harper may ruin his chances in the next election by chasing polls...... 188

Sun excellence rewarded Toronto Sun staff outdid themselves in 2006, snaring 10 Dunlop awards for journalistic supremacy...... 190

v Cdn. soldier dies after stepping on roadside explosive; Cpl. Matthew McCully was taking part in early stages of new coalition offensive Operation Hoover

MASUM GHAR, Afghanistan (CP) − A Canadian soldier marching into battle alongside the Afghan troops he helped to train and mentor died yesterday when he stepped on a jerry−rigged anti−tank mine during the opening stages of Canada's largest anti−Taliban offensive in nearly two months.

The soldier, identified as Cpl. Matthew McCully, was a member of Canada's Operational Mentor and Liaison Team helping to shape their Afghan counterparts into cohesive, organized fighting units.

He was killed by an improvised explosive device − or IED − the military acronym for a roadside bomb.

"We lost a good kid today ... It's a pretty sad day. But he was doing what he needed to do, what he wanted to do."

McCully, a signals operator from 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group Headquarters and Signals Squadron based at Petawawa, Ont., was killed around 8 a.m. near the village of Nalgham, about 35 kilometres west of Kandahar City.

He was the 55th Canadian soldier to die in Afghanistan since 2002. A senior Canadian diplomat has also been killed there.

The National Defence news release did not mention his hometown.

Michelle McCully, who confirmed she was McCully's mother, declined to comment when reached by phone in Prince George, B.C. "It's not a good time, sorry," she said.

Friends of McCully, posting on an online Facebook group set up in his memory, remembered how anxious he was to go to Afghanistan.

"I remember when they told us in Kingston that anyone posted to Petawawa might be going to Afghanistan right after course, Matty came up to me and asked me not to tell anyone how good it was in Petawawa,"

Cdn. soldier dies after stepping on roadside explosive; Cpl. Matthew McCully was taking part in early1 stages of new coalition offensive Operation Hoover Laurie Sutherland wrote yesterday on the popular social networking website.

"He was afraid that if too many people wanted Pet, there wouldn't be a spot for him and he really, really wanted to go on tour. That's just the kind of guy he was, it's what he trained for and what he really wanted."

Afghan soldiers led the coalition push at the start of the new offensive, dubbed Operation Hoover, designed to flush insurgents out of the Zhari district.

The operation was only a few hours old when a towering cloud of black smoke appeared on the horizon, several seconds before the loud explosion that caused it echoed off a distant mountainside.

It was the second buried bomb targeting coalition forces to detonate within about an hour; the first struck a Canadian tank that was part of an armoured column just heading into battle. No one was injured in the first explosion.

The second blast killed McCully and caused non−life−threatening injuries to another soldier, who was in stable condition on Friday after being taken by helicopter to hospital at the coalition base at Kandahar Airfield.

An Afghan interpreter was also wounded. He remained on the battlefield.

Operation Hoover was billed as a major offensive against insurgents who have reappeared in Zhari and the neighbouring Panjwaii district − considered the birthplace of the Taliban − and engaged Canadian forces in recent weeks, said Lt.−Col. Rob Walker, the battle group's commanding officer.

But insurgent fighters can quickly make themselves indistinguishable from local farmers or villagers simply by dropping their AK−47s and grabbing a rake or shovel.

"They went through all the compounds, but there was no one there," Walker said in an interview at the forward operating base at Ma'sum Ghar, from which Hoover was staged.

"They chose not to fight, whereas every other time they chose to fight," Walker said of the enemy.

Cdn. soldier dies after stepping on roadside explosive; Cpl. Matthew McCully was taking part in early2 stages of new coalition offensive Operation Hoover 'We lost a good kid today'; Roadside bomb kills B.C. soldier who had longed to join Afghan mission

IDNUMBER 200705260163 PUBLICATION: The Record (Kitchener, Cambridge And Waterloo) DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Final SECTION: Front PAGE: A1 ILLUSTRATION: Photo: CANADIAN PRESS / Cpl. Matthew McCully; DATELINE: MASUM GHAR, AFGHANISTAN SOURCE: Canadian Press COPYRIGHT: © 2007 Torstar Corporation WORD COUNT: 930

A Canadian soldier marching into battle alongside the Afghan troops he helped to train and mentor died yesterday when he stepped on an improvised anti−tank mine during the opening stages of Canada's largest anti−Taliban offensive in nearly two months.

The soldier, identified as Cpl. Matthew McCully, was a member of Canada's Operational Mentor and Liaison Team helping to shape their Afghan counterparts into cohesive, organized fighting units.

He was killed by an improvised explosive device, or IED, the military acronym for a roadside bomb.

"As this soldier was moving forward, with other Canadians and other Afghan soldiers, an IED was triggered and he was killed,'' Col. Mike Cessford, deputy commander of Canadian troops in Afghanistan, said in Kandahar.

"We lost a good kid today . . . It's a pretty sad day. But he was doing what he needed to do, what he wanted to do.''

He was the 55th Canadian soldier to die in Afghanistan since 2002. A senior Canadian diplomat has also been killed there.

The National Defence news release did not mention his hometown.

Friends of McCully, posting on an online Facebook group set up in his memory, remembered how anxious he was to go to Afghanistan.

"He was afraid that if too many people wanted Pet, there wouldn't be a spot for him and he really, really

'We lost a good kid today'; Roadside bomb kills B.C. soldier who had longed to join Afghan mission3 wanted to go on tour. That's just the kind of guy he was, it's what he trained for and what he really wanted.''

Afghan soldiers led the coalition push at the start of the new offensive, dubbed Operation Hoover, designed to flush insurgents out of the Zhari district.

The operation was only a few hours old when the bomb went off.

The second blast killed McCully and caused non−life−threatening injuries to another soldier, who was in stable condition yesterday after being taken by helicopter to hospital at the coalition base at Kandahar Airfield.

An Afghan interpreter was also wounded. He remained on the battlefield.

Operation Hoover was billed as a major offensive against insurgents who have reappeared in Zhari and the neighbouring Panjwaii district −− considered the birthplace of the Taliban −− and engaged Canadian forces in recent weeks, said Lt.−Col. Rob Walker, the battle group's commanding officer.

But insurgent fighters can quickly make themselves indistinguishable from local farmers or villagers simply by dropping their AK−47s and grabbing a rake or shovel.

"They went through all the compounds, but there was no one there,'' Walker said in an interview at the forward operating base at Ma'sum Ghar, from which Hoover was staged.

"They chose not to fight, whereas every other time they chose to fight,'' Walker said of the enemy.

"The way we chose to come in, with an overwhelming number of troops, I think we caught them off guard.''

Ma'sum Ghar sits on a mountainside about 25 kilometres west of Kandahar in Panjwaii, a key beachhead for the coalition. The area was wrested from Taliban control last fall in the Canadian−led offensive called Operation Medusa, considered their most significant battles in Afghanistan.

Losing a soldier is always difficult, Gen. Rick Hillier, chief of defence staff, said in Toronto. "There's no way you ever get used to it, no way you ever want to get used to it.''

"What we're going to do is make sure that as part of our work, his footprint in the sand, if you will, his legacy, will never be forgotten.''

Hillier's sentiments were echoed by Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay.

"We lost a very fine Canadian today, and our hearts do go out to the family and friends of this brave soldier,'' MacKay said in Toronto. "In working to bring peace and freedom to the people of Afghanistan, this young man has made the ultimate sacrifice.''

Prime Minister Stephen Harper extended condolences to McCully's family and loved ones. "My thoughts and prayers are with them during this time of mourning,'' he said in a statement.

"We are proud of Corporal McCully's contribution to our mission in Afghanistan, and of all our Canadian Forces men and women who soldier on in the name of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of

'We lost a good kid today'; Roadside bomb kills B.C. soldier who had longed to join Afghan mission4 law.''

Opposition Leader Stephane Dion expressed "sorrow and regret'' on behalf of the Liberals.

"We send our deepest sympathies to the family, friends and comrades of Cpl. McCully as they cope with this tragic loss,'' Dion said, adding that Canadians are "forever grateful for the hard work and sacrifice'' of the Canadian Forces in Afghanistan.

Portuguese soldiers who were also part of Operation Hoover got into a few "skirmishes'' with enemy soldiers, Walker said. Only one enemy combatant was confirmed killed, while a small number of prisoners were taken into Afghan National Army custody.

Operation Hoover started less than 48 hours after Harper shook hands with soldiers on the base at Ma'sum Ghar during his recent two−day visit to Afghanistan.

British Harrier jets were standing by to provide air support, and soldiers from D Battery with the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery were also expected to provide fire support.

But short of the illumination rounds that bathed the Afghan nightscape in an orange glow in the early hours of the operation, the guns were barely needed.

"We didn't get much of a fight,'' admitted Capt. Derek Crabbe of 2 RCHA.

The only coalition aircraft that appeared on the battlefront was an Apache attack helicopter and a pair of Black Hawk choppers that arrived to ferry out the wounded.

As they pulsed into the staging area, a rocket screamed overhead and exploded just a few metres away from one of the armoured vehicles that was providing security.

Walker said it's a fact of life and war in Afghanistan that Canada faces insidious threats like improvised explosive devices, shifty enemies and a fickle population that will tolerate whichever side of the fight is making their lives livable.

"It's just the nature of the insurgency that we're dealing with, it's the nature of the threat,'' he said.

'We lost a good kid today'; Roadside bomb kills B.C. soldier who had longed to join Afghan mission5 Balancing trade and security a complex military challenge

IDNUMBER 200705260153 PUBLICATION: The Record (Kitchener, Cambridge And Waterloo) DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Final SECTION: Front PAGE: A4 DATELINE: TORONTO SOURCE: Canadian Press COPYRIGHT: © 2007 Torstar Corporation WORD COUNT: 333

Balancing healthy nautical trade and tight security with our neighbour to the south is a complicated task, Canada's top soldier said yesterday.

"There's been a huge amount of good work but the amount of economic traffic is just enormous,'' Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier said in a speech to the Economic Club of Toronto. "To be fully aware of all that is a continuing challenge, there is no question.''

He said the secure tracking and co−ordination of thousands of ships approaching Canada's coasts requires immense co−operation with the United States.

A Fraser Institute report released last week recommended a new security perimeter and border management strategy with the U.S., including pre− clearing of commercial trade and harmonized biometric checks on people.

Author Alexander Moens said in a release accompanying his report that Canada's Conservative government has recently moved to improve relations with the U.S., and could take advantage of this new window of economic opportunity.

He said Canada has an enormous stake in the free flow of trade and investment with the economic superpower, as the total value of trade with the U.S. in 2005 was $709 billion −− about 51.8 per cent of Canada's gross domestic product.

Moens said contentious disputes on softwood lumber and mad cow disease were allowed to fester and drag on primarily because Canada had no political capital with the White House −− a situation that he said is changing.

"The U.S. agenda is fixated on Iraq and the 2008 race for the White House,'' he said. "But this preoccupation does not historically mean that the executive branch cannot be engaged on bilateral issues. . . . The Canadian government should begin preparing the ground for big changes.''

Noting the renewed North American air defence system Canada shares with the United States, Hillier said the two countries now share the responsibility of protecting Canada's water−based trade.

Hillier praised Canada's armed forces, but spoke repeatedly of the difficult mission in Afghanistan and

Balancing trade and security a complex military challenge 6 soldiers' need for support from Canadians.

He also spoke of a new fund to help military families at home that will be launched Nov. 3. Hillier said military families will be aided with either small amounts of cash or long−term assistance.

Balancing trade and security a complex military challenge 7 Harper's Afghan trip serves only a PR role

IDNUMBER 200705260121 PUBLICATION: The Record (Kitchener, Cambridge And Waterloo) DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Final SECTION: Opinion PAGE: A18 COLUMN: LETTER OF THE DAY BYLINE: Brandon Kidd COPYRIGHT: © 2007 Torstar Corporation WORD COUNT: 237

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Afghanistan visit was no surprise.

Boost morale? Please. As one commentator said, "Shania Twain would've been a better choice."

To gain understanding of the situation? Please. What could anyone learn in a 48−hour visit dominated primarily by press conferences. Conservative popularity waxes and wanes with support for the mission, so despite Harper's protestations, the polls are precisely what brought him there.

Now, I'm no Harper fan, but do I support our troops? Let's see . . . If our soldiers must be in Afghanistan, I'd rather they do more humanitarian work. But I'd rather they not be there at all considering they receive little attention from the rest of NATO, unwilling to shoulder more combat, or the UN, which won't buy Afghanistan's poppies instead of eradicating them and leaving farmers with no option to feed their families other than joining the Taliban. I support a debate on the mission to explore exactly why our soldiers are being killed and if the cause is worth it. So do I support our troops? Not if you asked Harper.

According to him, the ways to support our troops are:

Throw more of them into the meat−grinder of Kandahar without addressing the causes of the violence itself;

Convince them to fight an endless (hopeless?) mission regardless of the costs;

Exploit them to generate good PR by snapping photos of them enjoying a Tim Hortons coffee. That's what a real patriot would do. Or at least that's what our fearless leader would have us believe.

Brandon Kidd

Guelph

Harper's Afghan trip serves only a PR role 8 Harper choosing to avoid reporters' awkward questions

IDNUMBER 200705260120 PUBLICATION: The Record (Kitchener, Cambridge And Waterloo) DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Final SECTION: Opinion PAGE: A18 COLUMN: THE NATION DATELINE: OTTAWA BYLINE: JAMES TRAVERS SOURCE: TORSTAR NEWS SERVICE COPYRIGHT: © 2007 Torstar Corporation WORD COUNT: 710

Stephen Harper trusts news reporters with his life, he just doesn't trust them to tell Canadians what they need to know. That contradiction reveals a lot about how this prime minister conducts the nation's business.

What happened at the beginning −− as well as what was said at the end −− of this week's trip to Afghanistan is a case study in Conservative operating methods. First, officials who harbour dark suspicions about the national media kept reporters in the dark −− albeit with the threat of ball−and−chain punishment −− to keep top secret that Harper would make a second war zone visit. Then, reporters travelling with him were held at such distant arms length that a significant news event became what is derisively known as a photo opportunity.

There as here, father−knows−best discipline was imposed on a fourth estater Harper clearly considers childlike. Tough questions weren't answered on the war, the controversial treatment of prisoners, or on Harper's rationale that "terrorism will come home if we don't confront it here.''

Canadians shouldn't spend sleepless nights fretting about reporters climbing over obstacles to do their jobs. Despite the authoritarian whiff clinging to Conservative command−and−control tactics, it ultimately rests on the press and its corporate barons to defend democratic freedoms enshrined in the Constitution.

Instead voters should worry why this new government doesn't want its old shibboleths examined. Like the suspect theory that infidel boots on Muslim soil somehow insulate North Americans from extremists, many of this government's defining assumptions are faith−based.

That's not faith as in religion. It's faith as in simply knowing something is true.

Just as examples, Conservatives and their core constituents are convinced that draconian sentences best serve law−and−order, border guards need guns, and climate change is largely hot air. In fact, the weight of evidence tilts the other way.

But on those issues and others, Harper and colleagues have fingers in their ears. Along with letting research gather dust, they are discouraging thorough examination of public policy.

Harper choosing to avoid reporters' awkward questions 9 There's nothing novel in that: Governments of all political stripes have long recognized the merits of limiting debate.

Brian Mulroney shuttered federally funded think−tanks on his way out the door and Liberals bridled when aid experts pointed out there were faster, cheaper ways of coping with the tsunami disaster than dispatching DART, the military's emergency response team.

What connects interests and programs is political advantage and expediency. It's easier and less risky for politicians to reinforce coffee−and−crueller wisdom than to forge a fresh, more thoughtful consensus.

Along with dripping the acid of intellectual rigour on ideology, that demands stuff in short supply −− time and courage. There's no incentive in the four years or less electoral cycle for ruling parties to challenge what supporters believe self−evident.

Minority governments like this one feel that pressure most intently. Even if willing to revisit their own conclusions, why would Conservatives jeopardize an already slippery grip on power by asking loyalists to think again about, say, banning handguns or the health benefits of controlled needle programs?

The answer is as obvious as Harper's tactics. Not content to impose unusual constraints on the media, the prime minister is reducing the risk of awkward policy critiques.

A bureaucracy paid by Canadians to speak truth to power is warned to keep silent and the funding tap is either closed or being closed on institutions and groups with the capacity to test the policy status quo. That would be more understandable if Conservatives were on cutting edge of innovative thinking or times were tough −− but they're not.

For those who have forgotten, a government that looks to the picket fence past for future inspiration, a government wallowing in surpluses, shut down the proven, modestly priced, court challenges program and, among other things, financially gutted Status of Women operations.

More troubling than the decisions is the absence of quantifiable justification.

Having made their own leaps of faith, Conservatives are now demanding the same athleticism from Canadians. That may be good politics −− although the downward opinion poll trend suggest otherwise −− but its not good public policy.

A prime minister willing to risk his life to the media should have enough confidence in voters to let them sort through the best available information before making political and policy choices. But that isn't in his character.

Rather than demand the most from his cabinet, bureaucracy and country, Harper is asking Canadians to accept that the unexamined ruling party is worth re−electing.

James Travers covers national issues.

Harper choosing to avoid reporters' awkward questions 10 JUST ARRIVED

FICTION

Tending Memory, by Marianne Paul (BookLand, $25.95 softcover) − A Kitchener writer, Paul's new novel is about a young woman named Michaela who "doesn't look like the gypsy traveller she claims to be." For her manuscript, Paul won the 2006 Canadian Aid Literary Award Contest.

. . . And Then Along Came Rudy!, by Sam Schichter (Loon in Balloon, $19.95 softcover) − Schichter, a Waterloo resident, wrote this comedy novel as the thesis for a creative writing degree he received in 1986. It's the tale of Rudy Petinsky, a young Jewish New Yorker who confronts reality with "riotous consequences" as he struggles to make it in life, in love and as an author.

A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini (Penguin, $34 hardcover) − The long−awaited followup to Hosseini's much−heralded first novel, The Kite Runner. The setting remains Afghanistan as Hosseini describes the unlikely friendship of two women.

NON−FICTION

The Chequred Past − Sports Car Rading and Rallying in Canada 1951 − 1991, by David A. Charters (University of Toronto Press, $70 hardcover, $29.95 softcover) − Charters is a University of New Brunswick history professor and an amateur auto racer.

Memoirs of Montparnasse, by John Glassco (Random House, $19.95 softcover) − First published in 1970, this wonderful memoir, partly fiction, was penned by Montrealer John Glassco (1909 − 1981) and describes his stay in Paris as a teen in the 1920s. This new softcover edition includes a 10−page introduction by novelist Louis Begley.

JUST ARRIVED 11 Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan

IDNUMBER 200705260086 PUBLICATION: The Daily Gleaner (Fredericton) DATE: 2007.05.26 SECTION: News PAGE: A1/A2 KEYWORDS: DGNEWS; DG NEWS BYLINE: The Canadian Press COPYRIGHT: © 2007 The Daily Gleaner (Fredericton) WORD COUNT: 375

A Canadian soldier died Friday when he stepped on a jerry−rigged anti− tank mine during the opening stages of Canada's largest anti−Taliban offensive in nearly two months.

The soldier, identified as Cpl. Matthew McCully, was a member of Canada's Operational Mentor and Liaison Team helping to shape their Afghan counterparts into cohesive, organized fighting units.

He was killed by an improvised explosive device (IED).

"We lost a good kid today ... It's a pretty sad day. But he was doing what he needed to do, what he wanted to do."

He was the 55th Canadian soldier to die in Afghanistan since 2002. A senior Canadian diplomat has also been killed there.

The Department of National Defence news release did not mention his hometown.

Michelle McCully, who confirmed she was McCully's mother, declined to comment when reached by phone in Prince George, B.C.

"It's not a good time, sorry," she said.

Afghan soldiers led the coalition push at the start of the new offensive, dubbed Operation Hoover, designed to flush insurgents out of the Zhari district.

The operation was only a few hours old when a towering cloud of black smoke appeared on the horizon, several seconds before the loud explosion that caused it echoed off a distant mountainside.

Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan 12 The second blast killed McCully and caused non−life−threatening injuries to another soldier, who was in stable condition Friday after being taken by helicopter to hospital at the coalition base at Kandahar Airfield.

An Afghan interpreter was also wounded. He remained on the battlefield.

But insurgent fighters can quickly make themselves indistinguishable from local farmers or villagers simply by dropping their AK−47s and grabbing a rake or shovel.

"They went through all the compounds, but there was no one there," Walker said in an interview at the forward operating base at Ma'sum Ghar, from which Hoover was staged.

Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan 13 LE TRAFIC D'OPIUM EN HAUSSE AFGHANISTAN

SOURCETAG 0705260075 PUBLICATION: Le Journal de Montréal DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Final SECTION: Nouvelles PAGE: 48 BYLINE: AFP DATELINE: MUNICH WORD COUNT: 101

Les pays du G8 se sont déclarés jeudi "préoccupés" par la recrudescence de la production et du trafic de drogue constatée l'an dernier en Afghanistan, et ont réaffirmé leur soutien aux autorités de Kaboul pour lutter contre ce fléau.

"Nous partageons l'inquiétude du gouvernement afghan concernant le fait que la culture et la production de drogue se sont inscrites à la hausse l'an dernier dans (ce) pays", ont affirmé les ministres de l'Intérieur et de la Justice des Huit, dans une déclaration adoptée à l'issue d'une rencontre de deux jours. !@MOTSCLES=DROGUE TRAFIC

LE TRAFIC D'OPIUM EN HAUSSE AFGHANISTAN 14 MANIF DE FEMMES AFGHANISTAN

SOURCETAG 0705260070 PUBLICATION: Le Journal de Montréal DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Final SECTION: Votre Vie PAGE: 40 1 photo AFP " Le Parlement montre une nouvelle fois son vrai visage en excluant Malalai ILLUSTRATION: Joya ", était−il écrit sur une banderole brandie par des manifestantes. BYLINE: AFP DATELINE: JALALABAD WORD COUNT: 102

Environ 200 personnes, dont la moitié étaient des femmes, ont manifesté hier à Jalalabad, dans l'est de l'Afghanistan, pour soutenir la députée Malalai Joya, suspendue lundi pour la durée de la législature pour avoir jugé le Parlement "pire qu'une étable".

Il s'agissait d'une rare manifestation en présence d'un tel nombre de femmes − la très grande majorité en burqa (voile intégral)− en Afghanistan. Malalai Joya, 29 ans, députée de la province de Farah (ouest), "a été choisie par le peuple, pas par le Parlement", a relevé Mariam, une manifestante âgée d'une vingtaine d'années. !@MOTSCLES=MANIFESTATION

MANIF DE FEMMES AFGHANISTAN 15 BUSH PRESSÉ DE SIGNER LOI | FINANCEMENT DE LA GUERRE

SOURCETAG 0705260068 PUBLICATION: Le Journal de Montréal DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Final SECTION: Nouvelles PAGE: 38 ILLUSTRATION: 1 Photo AP Une rare victoire politique pour le président Bush. BYLINE: AFP DATELINE: WASHINGTON WORD COUNT: 191

Le président américain George W. Bush avait l'intention hier de signer au plus vite, peut−être le jour même, la loi de financement de la guerre en Irak après avoir résisté avec succès aux efforts de ses adversaires pour lui imposer un début de retrait.

Cette victoire politique, bienvenue en des temps difficiles pour M. Bush, ne signifie pas qu'il en a fini avec la poussée des démocrates, majoritaires au Congrès, pour hâter la fin de la guerre.

M. Bush a lui−même reconnu jeudi que les Américains devaient se préparer à des mois "sanglants" en Irak et les démocrates, bien que profondément divisés, ont prévenu qu'ils n'en resteraient pas là.

Après plusieurs semaines de bras de fer avec la Maison−Blanche, le Congrès s'est incliné jeudi en adoptant un projet de loi de financement dépourvu de calendrier de retrait.

100 milliards

M. Bush signera le texte "dès qu'il le pourra", a indiqué un porte−parole de la Maison−Blanche, Scott Stanzel.

Cette signature débloquera environ 100 milliards de dollars pour payer jusqu'en septembre les opérations des 147 000 soldats américains combattant en Irak et des quelque 25 000 hommes déployés en Afghanistan.

Elle scellera une trêve très provisoire entre M. Bush, les démocrates et même une partie de ses amis républicains, après plus de trois mois de conflit. !@MOTSCLES=GUERRE EN IRAK

BUSH PRESSÉ DE SIGNER LOI | FINANCEMENT DE LA GUERRE 16 OMAR KHADR DÉPÉRIRAIT GUANTANAMO | CANADIEN

SOURCETAG 0705260052 PUBLICATION: Le Journal de Montréal DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Final SECTION: Nouvelles PAGE: 22 ILLUSTRATION: 1 photo Omar Khadr Jamais de lumière BYLINE: PC DATELINE: TORONTO WORD COUNT: 179

Les avocats canadiens d'Omar Khadr ont déclaré vendredi que le détenu âgé de 20 ans serait en train de dépérir dans la prison américaine de Guantanamo, située sur l'île de Cuba.

Ils disent qu'après cinq années de détention, M. Khadr, un citoyen canadien, aurait perdu tout espoir de sortir de prison un jour et il aurait peur d'y mourir.

L'avocat d'Edmonton Dennis Edney, dans un courriel envoyé au Toronto Star, a déclaré que M. Khadr aurait un urgent besoin d'examens médicaux et psychologiques indépendants.

M. Edney prétend que M. Khadr ne voit "jamais la lumière du jour", qu'il ne fait aucun exercice et qu'il pense que le monde entier se foute bien qu'on puisse faire usage de la torture dans cette prison.

Meurtre d'un soldat

M. Khadr, qui doit se présenter devant une commission militaire le mois prochain, est incarcéré à Guantanamo depuis qu'il est âgé de 15 ans.

Il est accusé du meurtre d'un soldat américain commis au cours d'une attaque menée à la fin de juillet 2002, contre de prétendus membres du réseau al−Qaïda, en Afghanistan. M. Edney a dit avoir passé trois heures en compagnie de M. Khadr jeudi, le décrivant comme ayant un "sens de l'innocence et de la dignité".

OMAR KHADR DÉPÉRIRAIT GUANTANAMO | CANADIEN 17 UN 55E SOLDAT CANADIEN PERD LA VIE AFGHANISTAN

SOURCETAG 0705260025 PUBLICATION: Le Journal de Montréal DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Final SECTION: Nouvelles PAGE: 8 ILLUSTRATION: 1 photo Matthew McCully Un bon gars BYLINE: PC DATELINE: MA'SUM GHAR, AFGHANISTAN WORD COUNT: 313

Il a marché sur une mine

Un soldat canadien prenant part à une patrouille à pied en compagnie de membres des forces afghanes qu'il avait contribué à former a été tué lorsqu'il a marché sur une mine antichar, hier, alors que se mettait en branle la plus importante offensive lancée contre les talibans depuis près de deux mois.

Le militaire, identifié comme étant le caporal Matthew McCully, faisait partie des Equipes de liaison et de mentorat opérationnel (ELMO) canadiennes, qui ont pour mandat de transformer les troupes afghanes en unités de combat cohésives et organisées.

Un jour triste

Il a été tué par un engin explosif improvisé, ou EEI, acronyme militaire de dispositif explosif disposé en bordure d'une route.

"Alors que ce soldat avançait, avec d'autres soldats canadiens et afghans, l'explosion d'un EEI a été déclenchée et il a été tué", a affirmé à Kandahar le colonel Mike Cessford, commandant adjoint des troupes canadiennes en Afghanistan.

"Nous avons perdu un bon gars aujourd'hui. Nous pensons à lui et nos pensées vont vers sa famille (...) C'est un jour pas mal triste. Mais il faisait ce qu'il devait faire, ce qu'il voulait faire", a ajouté le colonel Cessford.

Le ministère de la Défense nationale a fait savoir que le caporal McCully était opérateur de transmission au sein du Quartier général et escadron de transmissions du 2e Groupe−brigade mécanisé du Canada, unité basée à Petawawa, en Ontario.

Le militaire a trouvé la mort vers 8 h à proximité du village de Nalgham, quelque 35 kilomètres à l'ouest de Kandahar.

Opération Hoover

Le caporal McCully est le 55e soldat canadien à avoir perdu la vie en Afghanistan depuis le début du déploiement de troupes des Forces canadiennes dans ce pays, en 2002. Un diplomate canadien y a également été tué.

UN 55E SOLDAT CANADIEN PERD LA VIE AFGHANISTAN 18 L'incident est survenu alors que les militaires canadiens prenaient part à l'opération Hoover, nouvelle offensive visant à chasser les insurgés talibans du district de Zhari, à l'ouest de Kandahar.

L'opération Hoover a débuté moins de 48 heures après que le premier ministre Stephen Harper eut échangé des poignées de mains avec des soldats canadiens au camp de Ma'sum Ghar, à l'occasion de sa visite surprise de deux jours en Afghanistan. !@MOTSCLES=FORCES ARMÉES CANADIENNES

UN 55E SOLDAT CANADIEN PERD LA VIE AFGHANISTAN 19 Georgette Fry quit cigarettes, but her music is still smokin'; Juno−nominated blues singer releases new jazz album

PUBLICATION: Kingston Whig−Standard (ON) DATE: 2007.05.26 SECTION: Features PAGE: E8 BYLINE: Meghan Sheffield PHOTO: Ian MacAlpine/The Whig−Standard Photo courtesy of AbsolutelyMusic Georgette Fry says giving up smoking has made her a bettersinger.; Georgette Fry runs a ILLUSTRATION: community choir for women, Shout Sister!, which has three chapters and almost 300 singers. WORD COUNT: 756

The seven years since Georgette Fry last released an album have been exciting and challenging. Now, after starting Shout Sister!, a successful women's choir, and breaking her 36−year smoking habit, Fry is back.

With the release of a new album, titled Back in a Moment, and plans to tour extensively next summer, Fry isn't slowing down − she's picking up steam.

Back in a Moment was recorded mostly live at the Regent Theatre in Picton last fall, though some of the vocal tracks were touched up.

The making of the album was almost accidental − Fry had been intending to get a demo out of a few of the songs she performed that night. Instead, the recording was so good that it became her fourth album.

"It was an effort that started out at the Regent theatre and ended up at the studio," Fry said.

"You get that great energy from the live show, but it has that extra bit of polish that you can get from being in the studio."

The show was a jazz concert that Fry was doing with her jazz group, made up of Bob Aldridge on bass, Rob Phillips on piano, tenor saxist John (Bunny) Stuart and drummer Mike Cassell.

Jazz is a new area of musical exploration for Fry, who has spent more than 30 years singing the blues.

The songs on Back in a Moment are some of the more than 40 jazz songs Fry has in her repertoire, including a few by jazz great Cole Porter.

Fry, whose debut album Rites of Passage was nominated for a Juno in 1995, said that when it came to selecting songs for the album, she looked for songs with a strong melody.

"Back in those days, songwriters wrote a whole song. They wrote melodies that went really well with the lyrics," she said. "This is just a collection of songs with really, really great melodies."

The album also features less predictable jazz tunes, such as Joni Mitchell's Case of You. After Mitchell's release of Both Sides Now, a jazzy concept album, Case of You gained popularity again.

Georgette Fry quit cigarettes, but her music is still smokin'; Juno−nominated blues singer releases20 new jazz album It became a part of Fry's live performance when the owner of a club she performed at regularly requested it.

"Once I started singing it, I sort of fell in love with it. It just feels beautiful to sing," she said.

In her time off, Fry's been busy. After 36 years of smoking, she quit, something that many vocalists fear because of possible unexpected changes to their singing voice.

"I had some worries about quitting as well," Fry said. "I really liked what writers were calling my 'whiskey and cigarette voice.'"

Despite her fears, Fry said her voice has only gotten better since quitting, with improved range and vocal control.

"This particular album shows things I can do with my voice now that I couldn't when I smoked," she said. "There's an intimacy, a control, where I can get almost whispery quiet and still shout if I need to."

In 2002, Fry started Shout Sister!, a community choir for women, which now has three chapters, with almost 300 women participating.

Shout Sister! came out of a conversation with a vocal student. Fry was wishing that she could be a part of "an all female, rocking choir."

The student encouraged Fry to start one, despite her reluctance because she doesn't read music.

"The next time the student came back, she said 'I have 10 women who will join your choir,' and I said 'Get me 10 more, and I'll do it,'" Fry said.

At the first rehearsal in Kingston, 120 women were present. Since then, the choir has expanded, with choirs in Picton and Brockville. "Basically the intention is just to get women out to have fun. There are millions of women who don't get a chance to join a choir because they don't read music, but they will sing in the garden, songs they've heard on the radio," Fry said.

Originally, the group never planned to do live performances − Fry thought it might add too much pressure to what was intended to be a fun activity.

But after being invited by Kingston's Open Voices choir to join a few performances, the women were, in Fry's words, "addicted to performing."

Since then, the group has performed at a number of fundraisers, including a recent concert for Canadians for the Women of Afghanistan, as well as performing on Stuart Maclean's Vinyl Cafe on CBC Radio.

After so many years working in it, Fry has seen both sides of the music industry.

She said she's inclined to agree with Joni Mitchell's quote that "the music industry has always been run by gangsters, but it used to be gangsters who loved music."

"The music industry is constantly changing. Like everything else in this world, it's all about the bottom line and it isn't looking for anybody with staying power," Fry said.

"I've pretty much stayed on the sidelines. I've been offered a few recording contracts and I have turned them down. I'm not interested in playing those games."

Georgette Fry quit cigarettes, but her music is still smokin'; Juno−nominated blues singer releases21 new jazz album While she may sound jaded, Fry is anything but.

She's becoming more passionate about the music she's singing and is looking for songs with meaning.

In this area too, Mitchell has been a role−model, for maintaining artistic control over her music career.

"She's been loved for it and hated for it, but she's gone ahead and done it anyway because she's an artist. Artists aren't necessarily out there to please their audience, they're out there to explore their art," Fry said.

"I want to support good art. There's a lot of music out there that deserves to be a hit, but didn't make it."

Like the new album title says, Georgette is back, and she's ready to be a hit. T

Georgette Fry

What: A CD release party for Georgette Fry's new album, Back in a Moment.

When: Tomorrow at 8 p.m.

Where: Brandees, 178A Ontario St.

Cost: Tickets are $15 and available at Brian's Record Option, Novel Idea and Tara Foods.

Georgette Fry quit cigarettes, but her music is still smokin'; Juno−nominated blues singer releases22 new jazz album Trade, security a balancing act: Chief

PUBLICATION: Kingston Whig−Standard (ON) DATE: 2007.05.26 SECTION: National/World PAGE: B3 SOURCE: CP BYLINE: Karen Pinchin DATELINE: TORONTO WORD COUNT: 392

Balancing healthy nautical trade and tight security with our neighbour to the south is a complicated task, Canada's top soldier said yesterday.

"There's been a huge amount of good work but the amount of economic traffic is just enormous," Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier said in a speech to the Economic Club of Toronto. "To be fully aware of all that is a continuing challenge, there is no question."

He said the secure tracking and co−ordination of thousands of ships approaching Canada's coasts requires immense co−operation with the United States.

A Fraser Institute report released last week recommended a new security perimeter and border management strategy with the U.S., including pre−clearing of commercial trade and harmonized biometric checks on people.

He said Canada has an enormous stake in the free flow of trade and investment with the economic superpower, as the total value of trade with the U.S. in 2005 was $709 billion − about 51.8 per cent of Canada's gross domestic product.

Moens said contentious disputes on softwood lumber and mad cow disease were allowed to fester and drag on primarily because Canada had no political capital with the White House − a situation that he said is changing.

"The U.S. agenda is fixated on Iraq and the 2008 race for the White House," he said. "But this preoccupation does not historically mean that the executive branch cannot be engaged on bilateral issues. ... The Canadian government should begin preparing the ground for big changes."

Noting the renewed North American air defence system Canada shares with the United States, Hillier said the two countries now share the responsibility of protecting Canada's water−based trade.

"Halifax versus Boston versus New York Harbor − there are quite literally tens of thousands of containers every single day going towards those ports," he said. "You want to be synchronized in how they're all tracked."

In an speech nearly identical to one gave at The Canadian Press annual dinner Thursday night, Hillier praised Canada's armed forces, but spoke repeatedly of the difficult mission in Afghanistan and the soldiers' need for support from Canadians.

Trade, security a balancing act: Chief 23 To yesterday's audience, however, he was careful to mention a new fund to help military families at home that will be launched Nov. 3. Hillier said military families will be aided with either small amounts of cash or long−term assistance.

Trade, security a balancing act: Chief 24 War dead live on in cyberspace; Troops killed in Iraq leave ghosts of themselves on MySpace

PUBLICATION: Kingston Whig−Standard (ON) DATE: 2007.05.26 SECTION: National/World PAGE: B1 SOURCE: AP BYLINE: Kasie Hunt DATELINE: WASHINGTON WORD COUNT: 768

Pte. Clinton Tyler McCormick is buried in Florida, but his photo and his words are still online. They haven't changed since he logged in to his MySpace.com profile on Dec. 26, 2006 − the day before he was killed by a makeshift bomb in Baghdad.

In earlier wars, families had only the letters that soldiers sent home; often, bits and pieces were removed by cautious censors.

Iraq is the first war of the Internet age, and McCormick is one of many fallen soldiers who have left ghosts of themselves online − unsentimental self−memorials, frozen and uncensored snapshots of the person each wanted to show to the world.

Pte. First Class Johnathon Millican of Trafford, Alabama, wrote on his MySpace page before he was killed in Karbala: "You don't have to love the war but you have to love the warrior."

"I am a paratrooper, that means that I jump from a perfectly good airplane into who knows what," wrote Millican, who was 20 when he died. He never had the chance to move back to the southern United States, as his profile says he wanted to do.

McCormick, 21 when he died, also was from the South. "Dixie boy," his profile proclaims in big letters outlined in red. His photograph is a faraway head shot with an ironing board propped up against a white wall in the background. McCormick isn't smiling.

Bob Patrick, an Army veteran who runs the Veterans History Project at the Library of Congress, says, "War as we know it and as we're taught through schools, in most cases it's through the filter" of a historian. MySpace pages, he says, "are grass−roots stories on the foxhole level, or the cockpit level."

The phenomenon is growing because the war dead are young − as of March 24, more than three−fourths of those killed in Iraq were 30 years old or younger − and comfortable putting personal information online.

"A lot of the younger soldiers, especially young enlisted soldiers, have a MySpace page," says Sgt. Tom Day, one of the living who has served three tours with the U.S. Army in Iraq and is currently deployed to Kuwait. MySpace has more than 100 million registered users.

The result has been pictures of war that are "much more personal and much more public," said the History Project's Patrick. "That's a function of technology."

War dead live on in cyberspace; Troops killed in Iraq leave ghosts of themselves on MySpace 25 The number of soldiers who leave behind online profiles could drop after the Pentagon's recent announcement that service members deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan won't be able to access MySpace and other social websites from Defense Department computers. But the new rules don't affect commercial or private computers − so soldiers will still be able to create profiles from their homes in the U.S. before they leave.

They can also use Internet cafes or commercial connections to maintain their profiles from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Even if the Pentagon blocks soldiers from accessing MySpace, Facebook or other sites, people will find a way to use the latest technologies to remember the fallen, said Peter Bartis, a senior program specialist at the Veterans History Project.

"There is a part of the human psyche that wants to memorialize important people in their lives and important places," Bartis said. "I think that cutting it off is interfering with a normal human behaviour and that human behaviour will find another way of doing it."

MySpace, a unit of News Corp., has had to deal with the issue.

"We often hear from families that a user's profile is a way for friends to celebrate the person's life, giving friends a positive outlet to connect with one another and find comfort during the grieving process," said Dani Dudeck, a MySpace spokeswoman.

MySpace won't delete a profile for inactivity, and it also won't let anyone else control a deceased member's profile.

Family and friends can create different memorial profiles as long as they comply with the site's rules, and families can have a fallen soldier's profile deleted.

That could be a relief to some families because profiles suddenly frozen sometimes violate the tradition of not speaking ill of the dead. Some profiles linked to soldiers' names include references to using illegal drugs or ethnic slurs for Iraqis. And some pages are rife with the profanity often forgiven in war zones.

"Soldiers are soldiers, and soldiers use language when they're in the middle of battle that they wouldn't use at home," said Patrick. Before his death in Iraq last year, Pte. First Class Nathaniel Given of Dickinson, Texas, posted a survey on his MySpace page that posed the question, "Do you swear?"

He answered: "What the [expletive] do you think, I'm in the infantry."

The profiles also have become public outlets and displays for grieving loved ones. Sgt. Day said that if the worst happened to him, he would want his MySpace profile to stay up. "I would hope people would save their photos and remember the good times we had and not dwell too much on how I went," he said.

War dead live on in cyberspace; Troops killed in Iraq leave ghosts of themselves on MySpace 26 Roadside bomb kills soldier; Cpl. Matthew J. McCully is the 55th Canadian to die in Afghanistan

PUBLICATION: Kingston Whig−Standard (ON) DATE: 2007.05.26 SECTION: National/World PAGE: B1 SOURCE: The Canadian Press BYLINE: James McCarten DATELINE: MA'SUM GHAR, Afghanistan ILLUSTRATION: McCully WORD COUNT: 876

A Canadian soldier marching into battle alongside the Afghan troops he helped to train and mentor died yesterday when he stepped on a jerry−rigged anti−tank mine during the opening stages of Canada's largest anti−Taliban offensive in nearly two months.

The soldier, identified as Cpl. Matthew McCully, was a member of Canada's Operational Mentor and Liaison Team helping to shape their Afghan counterparts into cohesive, organized fighting units.

He was killed by an improvised explosive device − or IED, the military acronym for a roadside bomb.

"We lost a good kid today ... It's a pretty sad day. But he was doing what he needed to do, what he wanted to do."

McCully, a signals operator from 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group Headquarters and Signals Squadron based at Petawawa, was killed around 8 a.m. near the village of Nalgham, some 35 kilometres west of Kandahar City.

He was the 55th Canadian soldier to die in Afghanistan since 2002. A senior Canadian diplomat has also been killed there.

The National Defence news release did not mention his hometown.

Michelle McCully, who confirmed she was McCully's mother, declined to comment when reached by phone in Prince George, B.C. "It's not a good time, sorry," she said.

Afghan soldiers led the coalition push at the start of the new offensive, dubbed Operation Hoover, designed to flush insurgents out of the Zhari district.

The operation was only a few hours old when a towering cloud of black smoke appeared on the horizon, several seconds before the loud explosion that caused it echoed off a distant mountainside.

Roadside bomb kills soldier; Cpl. Matthew J. McCully is the 55th Canadian to die in Afghanistan 27 explosion.

An Afghan interpreter was also wounded. He remained on the battlefield.

But insurgent fighters can quickly make themselves indistinguishable from local farmers or villagers simply by dropping their AK−47s and grabbing a rake or shovel.

"They went through all the compounds, but there was no one there," Walker said in an interview at the forward operating base at Ma'sum Ghar, from which Hoover was staged.

"They chose not to fight, whereas every other time they chose to fight," Walker said of the enemy.

"The way we chose to come in, with an overwhelming number of troops, I think we caught them off guard."

Losing a soldier is always difficult, Gen. Rick Hillier, chief of defence staff, said in Toronto. "There's no way you ever get used to it, no way you ever want to get used to it."

"What we're going to do is make sure that as part of our work, his footprint in the sand, if you will, his legacy, will never be forgotten."

Hillier's sentiments were echoed by Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay.

"We lost a very fine Canadian today, and our hearts do go out to the family and friends of this brave soldier," MacKay said in Toronto. "In working to bring peace and freedom to the people of Afghanistan, this young man has made the ultimate sacrifice."

Prime Minister Stephen Harper extended condolences to McCully's family and loved one. "My thoughts and prayers are with them during this time of mourning," he said in a statement.

"We are proud of Cpl. McCully's contribution to our mission in Afghanistan, and of all our Canadian Forces men and women who soldier on in the name of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law."

Opposition Leader Stephane Dion expressed "sorrow and regret" on behalf of the Liberals.

"We send our deepest sympathies to the family, friends and comrades of Cpl. McCully as they cope with this tragic loss," Dion said, adding that Canadians are "forever grateful for the hard work and sacrifice" of the Canadian Forces in Afghanistan.

Portuguese soldiers who were also part of Operation Hoover got into a few "skirmishes" with enemy soldiers, Walker said. Only one enemy combatant was confirmed killed, while a small number of prisoners were taken

Roadside bomb kills soldier; Cpl. Matthew J. McCully is the 55th Canadian to die in Afghanistan 28 into Afghan National Army custody.

Operation Hoover started less than 48 hours after Prime Minister Stephen Harper shook hands with soldiers on the base at Ma'sum Ghar during his recent two−day visit to Afghanistan.

British Harrier jets were standing by to provide air support, and two troops of soldiers from D Battery with the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery were also expected to provide fire support.

But short of the illumination rounds that bathed the Afghan nightscape in an orange glow in the early hours of the operation, the guns were barely needed.

"We didn't get much of a fight," admitted Capt. Derek Crabbe of 2 RCHA.

The only coalition aircraft that appeared on the battlefront was an Apache attack helicopter and a pair of Black Hawk choppers that arrived to ferry out the wounded.

As they pulsed into the staging area, a rocket screamed overhead and exploded just a few metres away from one of the armoured vehicles that was providing security.

"It's just the nature of the insurgency that we're dealing with, it's the nature of the threat," he said.

Roadside bomb kills soldier; Cpl. Matthew J. McCully is the 55th Canadian to die in Afghanistan 29 Harper needs to support Afghan self−sufficiency initiative

PUBLICATION: Kingston Whig−Standard (ON) DATE: 2007.05.26 SECTION: Editorial page PAGE: 8 BYLINE: scott taylor PHOTO: Tom Hanson/The Canadian Press Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper looks over a ridge ontop of an ILLUSTRATION: observation post at a Canadian forward operation base in Kandahar. WORD COUNT: 673

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has made yet another unannounced surprise visit to Afghanistan. After enduring a couple of months of persistent political heat over Canada's alleged mishandling of Afghan detainees, Harper and his public relations team were anxious to regain control of the agenda.

Instead of putting the spotlight back on our military battle group in Kandahar, the goal of this recent junket was to shift the media attention to all of the success Canada is achieving through reconstruction projects. One of the first photo opportunities on Harper's agenda was a brief stop at a Kabul school that receives approximately $40,000 in Canadian government aid each year.

Anyone following the war in Afghanistan with even the most passing of interest will note that Kabul is not Kandahar and that the Afghan capital has been relatively stable since the collapse of the Taliban in 2001. Of course, the key word in this case is "relatively" as it pertains to the security situation throughout Afghanistan. In Kabul, the expatriate community still lives inside guarded compounds and travels only in armed convoys while the incident rate of suicide bombs occurs on a weekly rather than daily basis.

In an attempt to demonstrate that progress is being made by the international community in Afghanistan, Harper's visit actually served to illustrate the opposite. Five and a half years after the U.S. military toppled the Taliban, our prime minister still cannot give any advance notice of his official visit. For security reasons, his entourage had to sneak in and out of Kabul like thieves in the night. The irony of this is only exacerbated by the fact that Harper's primary purpose for travelling to Kabul was to show Canadians how effective our reconstruction and aid projects have been. One would hardly expect grateful Afghans to blow up the hand that's feeding them, so obviously it's not just Canadians who need to be convinced of Canada's success to date.

If there is a positive to be taken away from Harper's whirlwind promo tour, it is that the Canadian government is trying to separate the media coverage from its heretofore 100−per−cent focus on our military mission.

Detainees and alleged abuse aside, for the past 15 months (since our battle group moved south from Kabul to Kandahar) the overwhelming majority of Canadian news reports out of Afghanistan have come from reporters embedded with our troops in Kandahar. This worm's−eye view of one tiny corner of Afghanistan does not provide the sort of in−depth insight necessary for any comprehensive analysis of a very complex situation.

I have just spent the past two weeks reporting unembedded from Afghanistan, talking to senior members of President Hamid Karzai's administration, former warlords and even an ex−Taliban spokesperson. The one point of consensus among all these disparate stakeholders is that the foreign troops must be pulled out of Afghanistan within the next two years. Even those high−ranking Afghan security officials who know that their tenuous hold on power depends on the presence of NATO forces know that the window for success is

Harper needs to support Afghan self−sufficiency initiative 30 fast slamming shut. They believe that creating a self−sufficient Afghan army by spring 2009 and the subsequent withdrawal of foreign troops is the key to ultimate victory.

By attempting to shift the media focus away from our military efforts, let's hope that our prime minister not only understands the Afghan sentiment, but will prioritize and support their self−sufficiency initiative.

− Former Canadian soldier Scott Taylor is the editor of Esprit de Corps military magazine and a veteran war correspondent. He is the author of Spinning on the Axis of Evil: America's War against Iran and Among the Others: Encounters with the Forgotten Turkmen of Iraq. In September 2005, he was held hostage for five days in northern Iraq by Ansar al−Islam Mujahadin. Comments can be e−mailed to [email protected]

Harper needs to support Afghan self−sufficiency initiative 31 'Mentor' killed in blast; Canadian soldier died while training Afghan national army troops

IDNUMBER 200705260134 PUBLICATION: Times Colonist (Victoria) DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Final SECTION: News PAGE: A4 Photo: Department of National Defence/CNS / Cpl. MatthewMcCully was killed when a ILLUSTRATION: bomb detonated near a combined Canadian, Afghan patrol close to the village of Nalgham, west of Kandahar City. ; DATELINE: KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan BYLINE: Tom Blackwell; With file from Allison Hanes SOURCE: CanWest News Service WORD COUNT: 623

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan −− Cpl. Matthew McCully had been carrying out one of the most important tasks the Canadian Forces have here: helping train the newly formed Afghan national army.

One day, it is hoped, the ANA will replace all NATO troops in Afghanistan, providing the West its longed−for exit strategy. That is a day McCully, 25, will never see.

The young "mentor" for local troops was killed yesterday when a bomb blew up next to him as he marched alongside his Afghan colleagues in a major anti−Taliban operation.

A second Canadian was wounded and an interpreter aiding the unit was slightly injured in the blast at about 8 a.m. near the village of Nalgham, 35 kilometres west of Kandahar.

It appeared that McCully, a signals operator from 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group Headquarters and Signals Squadron, based at Petawawa, Ont., triggered the improvised explosive device himself, said Col. Mike Cessford.

"Our mentoring team are comrades in arms with the Afghans," said Cessford, deputy commander of the Canadian mission in Afghanistan.

"They share the risks, they work closely with them. Unfortunately, when this soldier was moving forward with other Canadians and with Afghan soldiers, an IED was triggered and he was killed."

The death brings to 55 the number of Canadian troops killed at the hands of the enemy or in accidents in Afghanistan since 2002. It is the 11th death this year, as activity by the Taliban appears to be heating up.

"We lost a good kid today," said Cessford.

"It's a pretty sad day, but he was doing what he needed to be doing and what he wanted to do.We'll miss him."

His friends, the commander said, "thought very highly of him." The soldier's home town was not released yesterday.

'Mentor' killed in blast; Canadian soldier died while training Afghan national army troops 32 McCully's body was flown to the NATO base here, while the wounded soldier was being treated for non−life threatening injuries at the camp's trauma hospital. He has already spoken to his family, said Cessford.

The men were part of Operation Hoover, an offensive against the Taliban in Zhari district, where the insurgents have engaged Canadian troops in several firefights lately.

Although the Canadian battle group was involved, the operation was being led by the Afghans, part of a push to give them a bigger role in the counter−insurgency war.

Canadian Forces in Afghanistan had seen a welcome lull in deaths over the last month or so, after a week in April when eight soldiers were killed within four days in two separate IED explosions. A special forces member died April 18 in an accident when he fell from a communications tower.

By this time last year, eight Canadian soldiers had been killed in southern Afghanistan, as well as one diplomat, Glyn Berry.

Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier said in Toronto the moral support of ordinary Canadians is essential to the success of the military, especially the mission in Afghanistan.

"It's always tough when we lose a soldier," Hillier told a business audience on Bay Street yesterday morning.

"There's no way you ever get used to it, no way you ever want to get used to it. This is a tough day."

Despite the death and injuries to another soldier, Hillier later told reporters that the Canadian Forces are making tremendous progress against an enemy he characterized as a "ball of snakes" and remain focused on helping the Afghan people rebuild their country.

The mentoring of Afghan national army soldiers is thought to be crucial to providing an orderly exit strategy for Canadian and other NATO troops.

It is hoped the ANA will eventually be capable of maintaining security on its own, without the presence of foreign armies.

The Canadians working with them speak highly of their war−fighting prowess, and fearlessness in the face of the enemy.

"If they hear gunfire, they will run toward it," said one officer recently.

The fatal patrol yesterday was through a populated area, which can work to the insurgents' advantage, said Cessford.

"The Taliban have chosen to bring this fight among the people, and you have to live with that," he said. "In a case like that, it is comparatively simple for the Taliban to achieve this."

The army is working "very hard" using the latest technology to try to lessen the threat of IEDs, which usually target moving vehicles, but sometimes the danger cannot be avoided, said Cessford.

Casualties in Afghanistan

508 since 2001.

U.S., 325

'Mentor' killed in blast; Canadian soldier died while training Afghan national army troops 33 Canada, 55

(56 with diplomat)

U.K., 55

Germany, 21

Spain, 20

France, 9

Italy, 9

Netherlands, 6

Denmark, 4

Romania, 4

Sweden, 2

Australia, 1

Norway, 1

South Korea, 1

Portugal, 1

Finland, 1

Czechoslovakia, 1

'Mentor' killed in blast; Canadian soldier died while training Afghan national army troops 34 Spy plane gives troops eye in sky; Remote−control device transmits video of terrain, Taliban activity; warns of civilians in target areas

IDNUMBER 200705260133 PUBLICATION: Times Colonist (Victoria) DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Final SECTION: News PAGE: A5 Colour Photo: CanWest News Service / Capt. Tom Lee with oneof Canada's unmanned ILLUSTRATION: remote−control spy planes at Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan. ; DATELINE: KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan BYLINE: Tom Blackwell SOURCE: CanWest News Service WORD COUNT: 472

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan −− It is a little past 8 a.m. yesterday, a Canadian soldier has just been killed 30 kilometres away, and Capt. Tom Lee is fretting. He has a tool that could save other Canadian troops now battling the Taliban, but the weather refuses to co−operate.

Finally, the conditions are right, the engine on his unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) whines into full throttle and the craft springs off its catapult.

One of Canada's little−known fleet of spy planes is airborne over the Afghanistan desert.

"There are troops in contact," Lee briskly informs a visitor, using the military jargon for a firefight, "and I have to go."

Within minutes the French−made Sperwer airplane just launched from a fenced compound within this NATO base will be beaming back video of the terrain below, and of Taliban movements in the Zhari district where the troops are fighting.

From a rocky start three years ago, such UAVs have become an almost indispensable part of the Canadian arsenal in Afghanistan, officers say.

They offer intelligence on Taliban movements, targeting for artillery and air strikes and tips on the presence of civilians who should be avoided in those target areas.

The insurgents seemed to have learned that when the UAVs are in the sky, "bad things happen," said Lee. "As soon as you hear the aircraft overhead, you can count on artillery landing within a few minutes," he said. "Just our presence there sometimes keeps the bad guys away. Generally speaking, the bad guys hear us up there, they leave."

About three metres long and powered by a snowmobile−like engine, the tactical UAVs are launched by a hydraulic catapult mounted on the back of a truck.

A video camera hanging from the bottom of the fuselage collects the images, day or night.

Spy plane gives troops eye in sky; Remote−control device transmits video of terrain, Taliban activity;35 warns of civilians in target areas Inside the ground station, one soldier essentially flies the craft using a joy stick, a commander −− usually a helicopter pilot −− oversees all aspects of the flight, someone else manipulates the camera and a fourth analyses the intelligence it gathers.

It has a range of more than 80 kilometres, can stay aloft for up to four hours and reach altitudes of 16,000 feet, landing with a parachute and air bags.

For artillery operators, the craft can scope out a target or tell gunners how close their shells got to the intended spot.

Its most useful role, though, may be in assisting troops on ground operations. With its eye in the sky, it can see beyond the high walls that surround buildings in typical Afghan villages and over other obstacles, Lee notes.

In one recent combat operation, "we were able to track the insurgent movements and warn the units where they were, what they were doing, allowing them to defend themselves better," he said.

"I can't imagine a company not wanting to have that extra situational awareness."

The Canadians have also deployed three−person teams with "mini−UAVs" −− spy planes about the size of big model aircraft, powered by electric motors and launched from almost anywhere with a bungee cord.

The smaller planes, an Israeli product called the Skylark, often escort a convoy of troops, looking for suspicious activity on the route, said Master Bombardier Robert Fekete, who commands one of the crews.

Spy plane gives troops eye in sky; Remote−control device transmits video of terrain, Taliban activity;36 warns of civilians in target areas Time to pull troops out of Afghanistan

IDNUMBER 200705260099 PUBLICATION: Times Colonist (Victoria) DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Final SECTION: Comment PAGE: A15 SOURCE: Times Colonist WORD COUNT: 139

Prime Minister Stephen Harper risks his minority government's current popularity by asserting that Canada must stay in Afghanistan. Canadians won't support a decade−long conflict that will include fatalities of Canadian troops with no assurance that local Afghanistan forces will assume the primary role defending their own country.

Why does the Harper government not realize that we will have done more than our part by 2009, after which we should start scaling back and assuming a new role, such as training Afghan forces. Perhaps it's time for our troops to be replaced by troops from other NATO countries.

Harper should plan on getting troops out of Afghanistan as promised. Canadians don't need to be a part of this action. We don't want it and we ultimately won't vote for it!

Alan Kidd,

Victoria.

Time to pull troops out of Afghanistan 37 SMU grad off to Oxford; All Rhodes lead to England for Jarda

PUBLICATION: The Chronicle−Herald DATE: 2007.05.26 SECTION: Metro PAGE: B4 BYLINE: Patricia Brooks Arenburg Staff Reporter Kenneth Stannix leaves a Saint Mary's University convocationceremony after accepting a posthumous degree on behalf of his son, Master Cpl. Christopher Paul Stannix, in Halifax ILLUSTRATION: on Friday. Christopher Stannix was killed while serving in Afghanistan last month. (Peter Parsons / Staff) WORD COUNT: 595

Olivier Jarda was in Grade 3 when he ran in his first election.

The new Saint Mary's University graduate and Rhodes Scholar didn't win. In fact, he had to pull out of the race for vice−president of his class at Ecole Saint−Paul in Ottawa because the family was moving out west.

But he caught the bug.

"It was my first taste of politics," Mr. Jarda said in an interview following Friday's convocation ceremonies. "It was exciting and I developed an interest."

He graduated magna cum laude from the Halifax university Friday with a bachelor's of arts degree with honours in political science, a major in economics and a minor in international development.

And in September, he will begin three years at Oxford University, where he will continue his studies in political science and international development.

Even as a young child, his curiosity knew no bounds, said his mother, Dr. Rolande Colas.

"He had a lot of interest in everything − music, piano, guitar, bass, drums, singing," the proud mother said. "He's always been busy doing what he can."

That love of music culminated in a cross−country tour last summer with his indie rock band, Turnstiles, started by four friends while they were still at Moncton High School.

A bass player, singer and songwriter with the band, Mr. Jarda would have liked to tour again this summer but said it's not meant to be. "We're all in different cities," he said.

While some might have seen the tour as a summer spent goofing off, Mr. Jarda said it actually helped earn him the three−year Oxford scholarship.

"I think the Rhodes panel was impressed with the band, the tour and the fact that we have a CD in stores," Mr. Jarda said.

Recipients of the prestigious award, which include musician Kris Kristofferson and CBC commentator Rex Murphy, are chosen on not only their academic marks, but the selection panel also looks at leadership,

SMU grad off to Oxford; All Rhodes lead to England for Jarda 38 athleticism, interests beyond academia and personal integrity.

A varsity track and field athlete named university all−Canadian in 2006, Mr. Jarda was also vice−president of SMU's student association and a member of the university's board of governors and the academic senate. He was also editor−in−chief of the university's student publication, the Journal.

His honours thesis focused on Canada's foreign policy in Haiti, the country where his parents were born and a country he hopes to visit during his studies at Oxford − "if it's safe," his mother interjected.

Mr. Jarda is one of two Nova Scotians to receive the prestigious award for this year. Antigonish native 2nd Lieut. Stephen Brosha, a graduate of St. Thomas University in New Brunswick who is training to be a Canadian Forces pilot, will also be heading to the U.K. through the Rhodes program.

Where does Mr. Jarda see himself in 10 years?

− "Hopefully still making music."

− "I'd like to enter public life someday, maybe in Nova Scotia."

− "I could see myself working for foreign affairs and also eventually teaching."

Mr. Jarda was one of 1,200 to receive their degrees at Friday's ceremonies at the Halifax Metro Centre.

Special awards went to James Suma−Momoh (Governor General's Gold Medal); Vanessa Little (Governor General's Silver Medal); Ashley McKenzie (Gold Medal: Faculty of Arts); Tammy Shuya (Gold Medal: Sobey School of Business); William O'Brien (Gold Medal: Faculty of Science); Naomi Hunter (Gold Medal: Division of Engineering); Stephen Foran (Gold Medal: Master of Business Administration); Sara Tingley (Gold Medal: Executive Master of Business Administration); Laura Black (Gold Medal: Master of Science in Applied Psychology); and Robert Boyle (Gold Medal: Master of Management: Co−operative and Credit Unions).

The day was particularly bittersweet for Kenneth Stannix, who took to the stage to accept a bachelor of arts degree awarded posthumously to his son, Master Cpl. Christopher Paul Stannix.

The university's academic senate decided to award Master Cpl. Stannix with the degree several weeks ago, even though he had not yet completed his studies.

The 24−year−old Saint Mary's student was serving in Afghanistan in April when a bomb hit a military convoy about 75 kilometres west of Kandahar, killing the reservist and five other Canadian soldiers.

( )

SMU grad off to Oxford; All Rhodes lead to England for Jarda 39 Voice of the people

PUBLICATION: The Chronicle−Herald DATE: 2007.05.26 SECTION: Letters PAGE: A11 WORD COUNT: 1012

Today, me and my family were cleaning garbage around Kempt Head Road. We found a lot of garbage. Some people are not taking care of Boularderie. We found a vacuum cleaner, a sign and a bean−bag chair.

Can people please help take care of Cape Breton, because it is a wonderful place to live in?

Shannon Symes, age 8, Grade 2,

Boularderie Elementary School

Before the last election, Prime Minister Stephen Harper promised the Canadian people he would lower the tax on gas if elected. It's a promise he did not keep.

I'll make a promise to the prime minister that I will keep. I won't be voting for you in the next election. I promise.

Wallace Maloney, Annapolis Royal

Last week, a peaceful group of about 300 people gathered to celebrate the lost lives of seven men murdered in Atlantic Canada. Many of these crimes were exclusively linked to homophobic hatred and violence. Among the group were members of the gay community, of our city council and of our police force, and many heterosexual people showing their support for the rights of LGBT people to live free from violence and hatred.

Unfortunately, there are still people questioning why they should care about the lives and the safety of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals in our communities. I cannot force you to care or be concerned. What I can do is express what I observed, as the most powerful reason to care about the rights of LGBT people.

At the rally, a group of students representing gay and straight youth from local high schools made a powerful plea for the public to stop homophobia and begin extending basic humanity to all people, regardless of sexual orientation. These are youth who could be anybody's kids, telling the world publicly, without reservation, that people do not deserve hatred and violence because they are different.

If only we adults could all be as wise as these young people are. Their message is not one of special treatment, but of compassion and respect for others, things that adults can't seem to comprehend at times.

Jackie Thornhill, Timberlea

Re: The Chronicle Herald's coverage of the recent double homicide in Halifax and the apprehension of a suspect.

Sensational coverage of a case like this is probably unavoidable, but in light of what we now know of the

Voice of the people 40 accused's circumstances, I was dismayed by the newspaper's callous insensitivity in proclaiming on page 1 on May 17: "Cops: We got him."

And what has happened to the tradition of not presenting photos of an accused? In this case, it was particularly galling to see the contrast between a healthy young individual and his present, sadly altered state.

I was pleased to see a lengthy article on schizophrenia and this case in the May 18 paper, in which it was emphasized that resources for individuals at risk of mental illness in this province are lamentably inadequate.

With the recent massacre at Virginia Tech, the public must surely be aware of the need for access to appropriate mental−health care. Residents of this province should demand of our government that the treatment of mental illness become a priority. The Chronicle Herald has the opportunity to support this endeavour by reiterating the plea of the executive director of the Nova Scotia Schizophrenia Society that sufferers of this terrible, and common, disease be supported by an adequate mental−health system.

Nancy Fraser, Wolfville

The prime minister is mistaken if he thinks his trip to Afghanistan will help eliminate the disgust that Canadians have for the mission. Also, who would have taken over leadership of our country if something had happened to him while he was in Afghanistan? He has not appointed a deputy prime minister because of his arrogance.

As for Peter MacKay, we don't need his photo−op tree−planting help in Point Pleasant Park. He will never regain what he lost when he voted against the Atlantic accords.

Barry Smith, Halifax

Extra time behind the wheel is needed for new, inexperienced drivers. It has come to my attention that the laws for receiving a licence at age 16 have changed. Now, instead of taking a defensive drivers' course and only having to wait three months for a licence, you have to wait nine months after taking the course. Without a driving course, instead of six months, you now need to wait 12 months before obtaining a full, graduated licence.

I don't believe new drivers understand the responsibility of having a licence. Not only are you responsible for how you are driving, but you have to stay aware of other drivers as well. Obtaining a graduated licence is a huge responsibility, and I don't believe that three or six months of driving with your parents is enough to prepare you for driving on your own.

I would have benefited if I had to wait the extra time. I think this will cut down on young drivers getting in accidents. Not only is this a smart law, but a safe one.

Meagan Phillips, Brooklyn

Growing up on a small farm in Ashdale, Hants County, I realize that farming is not only hard work, but an everyday struggle. Many people think farmers "cry wolf" in regard to how hard up the beef industry is; but when you are raising a herd for mere nickels and dimes, there is reason for crying.

Silage wrap, rakes, bailers, vaccinations, feed, hay, silage and veterinarian visits are all common costs for a farmer that come every year, like clockwork. Although my family has hardly any income from the farm, we continue to farm sheep and beef for the love of farming. Years ago, we would raise heifers for eight to 10 months, so we could send them for meat or to the market and get between $700 and $800 per calf. Now, it is hard to get $150 for a calf. People buy imported beef from huge companies because it's cheaper, rather than

Voice of the people 41 support local farmers.

Farming is a full−time job on its own, but because of the very little income being made from farming, most farmers work a full−time job off and on the farm. I wrote this so people would realize local agriculture is on a downward spiral and, without the support of people in the community, will soon be extinct.

Lisa Parker, age 17, Ashdale

Voice of the people 42 "We lost a good kid today"; Canadian soldier killed as he marched over roadside bomb

PUBLICATION: The Chronicle−Herald DATE: 2007.05.26 SECTION: Front PAGE: A1 SOURCE: The Canadian Press BYLINE: James Mccarten Cpl. Matthew J. McCully is the 55th Canadian soldier to diein Afghanistan since 2002. ILLUSTRATION: (CP) WORD COUNT: 643

MASUM GHAR, Afghanistan − A Canadian soldier marching into battle alongside the Afghan troops he helped to train and mentor died Friday when he stepped on a jerry−rigged anti−tank mine during the opening stages of Canada's largest anti−Taliban offensive in nearly two months.

The soldier, identified as Cpl. Matthew McCully, was a member of Canada's Operational Mentor and Liaison Team helping to shape their Afghan counterparts into cohesive, organized fighting units.

He was killed by an improvised explosive device − or IED − the military acronym for a roadside bomb.

"We lost a good kid today. . . . It's a pretty sad day. But he was doing what he needed to do, what he wanted to do."

McCully, a signals operator from 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group Headquarters and Signals Squadron based at Petawawa, Ont., was killed at about 8 a.m. near the village of Nalgham, about 35 kilometres west of Kandahar City.

He was the 55th Canadian soldier to die in Afghanistan since 2002. A senior Canadian diplomat has also been killed there.

The Defence Department news release did not mention his hometown.

Michelle McCully, who confirmed she was McCully's mother, declined to comment when reached by phone in Prince George, B.C.

"It's not a good time, sorry," she said.

Friends of McCully, posting on an online Facebook group set up in his memory, remembered how anxious he was to go to Afghanistan.

"We lost a good kid today"; Canadian soldier killed as he marched over roadside bomb 43 "He was afraid that if too many people wanted Pet, there wouldn't be a spot for him and he really, really wanted to go on tour. That's just the kind of guy he was, it's what he trained for and what he really wanted."

Afghan soldiers led the coalition push at the start of the new offensive, dubbed Operation Hoover, designed to flush insurgents out of the Zhari district.

The operation was only a few hours old when a towering cloud of black smoke appeared on the horizon, several seconds before the loud explosion that caused it echoed off a distant mountainside.

The second blast killed McCully and caused non−life−threatening injuries to another soldier, in stable condition on Friday after being taken by helicopter to hospital at the coalition base at Kandahar Airfield.

An Afghan interpreter was also wounded. He remained on the battlefield.

But insurgent fighters can quickly make themselves indistinguishable from local farmers or villagers simply by dropping their AK−47s and grabbing a rake or shovel.

"They went through all the compounds, but there was no one there," Walker said in an interview at the forward operating base at Ma'sum Ghar, from which Hoover was staged.

"They chose not to fight, whereas every other time they chose to fight," Walker said of the enemy.

"The way we chose to come in, with an overwhelming number of troops, I think we caught them off guard."

Operation Hoover started less than 48 hours after Prime Minister Stephen Harper shook hands with soldiers on the base at Ma'sum Ghar during his recent visit to Afghanistan.

British Harrier jets were standing by to provide air support, and two troops of soldiers from D Battery with the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery were also expected to provide fire support.

But short of the illumination rounds that bathed the Afghan nightscape in an orange glow in the early hours of the operation, the guns were barely needed.

"We lost a good kid today"; Canadian soldier killed as he marched over roadside bomb 44 Canadian accidentally triggered fatal bomb

IDNUMBER 200705260069 PUBLICATION: The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Final SECTION: World PAGE: D6 ILLUSTRATION: Photo: Reuters / Cpl. Matthew McCully By Tom Blackwell; DATELINE: KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan BYLINE: Tom Blackwell SOURCE: CanWest News Service WORD COUNT: 445

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan −− Cpl. Matthew McCully had been carrying out one of the most important tasks the Canadian Forces have here: Helping train the newly formed Afghan national army.

One day, it is hoped, the ANA will replace all NATO troops in Afghanistan, providing the West its longed−for exit strategy. That is a day McCully, 25, will never see.

The young "mentor" for local troops was killed Friday when a bomb blew up next to him as he marched alongside his Afghan colleagues in a major anti−Taliban operation.

A second Canadian was wounded and an interpreter aiding the unit was slightly injured in the blast at about 8 a.m. near the village of Nalgham, 35 kilometres west of Kandahar.

"Our mentoring team are comrades in arms with the Afghans," said Cessford, deputy commander of the Canadian mission in Afghanistan.

"They share the risks, they work closely with them. Unfortunately, when this soldier was moving forward with other Canadians and with Afghan soldiers, an IED was triggered and he was killed."

The death brings the number of Canadian troops killed to 55 at the hands of the enemy or in accidents in Afghanistan since 2002. It is the 11th death this year, as activity by the Taliban appears to be heating up.

"We lost a good kid today," said Cessford. "It's a pretty sad day, but he was doing what he needed to be doing and what he wanted to do. We'll miss him."

His friends, the commander said, "thought very highly of him." The soldier's home town was not available Friday.

McCully's body was flown to the NATO base here, while the wounded soldier was being treated for non−life threatening injuries at the camp's trauma hospital. He has already spoken to his family, said Cessford.

Canadian accidentally triggered fatal bomb 45 The men were part of Operation Hoover, an offensive against the Taliban in Zhari district, where the insurgents have engaged Canadian troops in several firefights lately.

Although the Canadian battle group was involved, the operation was being led by the Afghans, part of a push to give them a bigger role in the counter insurgency war.

Canadian Forces in Afghanistan had seen a welcome lull in deaths over the last month or so, after a terrible week in April when eight soldiers were killed within four days in two separate IED explosions.

A special forces member died April 18 in an accident when he fell from a communications tower.

By this time last year, eight Canadian soldiers had been killed in southern Afghanistan, as well as one diplomat, Glyn Berry.

In Toronto, Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier said the moral support of ordinary Canadians is essential to the success of the military, especially the mission in Afghanistan.

"It's always tough when we lose a soldier," Hillier told a business audience on Bay Street on Friday morning. "There's no way you ever get used to it, no way you ever want to get used to it. This is a tough day."

Canadian accidentally triggered fatal bomb 46 Heroin heist a lot of cabbage

IDNUMBER 200705260067 PUBLICATION: The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Final SECTION: News PAGE: D7 COLUMN: World in Brief DATELINE: MOSCOW SOURCE: Reuters WORD COUNT: 156

MOSCOW (Reuters) −− Russian police have seized a record stash of high quality heroin with a street value of more than $350 million, anti−drugs service officers said on Friday.

After a long surveillance operation, police stopped a truck which was carrying a load of cabbages −− and heroin −− outside Moscow.

A film released by the anti−drugs service showed mechanics sawing apart metal containers that were concealed in the fuel tank and which contained 436 kilograms of high quality heroin. The federal drugs service said it would be enough to make more than six tonnes of street quality heroin. Four foreigners have been detained.

"The heroin was very high quality, very highly concentrated," Viktor Khvorostyan, head of the Moscow section of the federal anti−drugs service, told reporters.

"This is the biggest I remember and I have worked in the law enforcement agencies for some time," he said.

Russian drugs officials say heroin smuggling has soared after record opium harvests in Afghanistan, the source of 90 per cent of the world's opiates.

Heroin heist a lot of cabbage 47 Afghans want British to dig up opium crop

IDNUMBER 200705260064 PUBLICATION: The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Final SECTION: News PAGE: D7 Photo: Getty Images / Afghan workers scrape the opium sapseeping from a poppie bulb ILLUSTRATION: in Chimtal province, Afghanistan ; DATELINE: KABUL BYLINE: Tom Coghlan SOURCE: The Daily Telegraph WORD COUNT: 374

KABUL −− The Afghan government has demanded that British troops destroy the opium trade in the country.

A record harvest threatens to flood Europe's streets with a glut of cheap, high−purity heroin.

Officials are so concerned that they called on British troops to abandon their policy of non−intervention in the drugs war.

Local and Western counter−narcotics officials argue that the insurgency faced by the British in southern Afghanistan and the trade, that centres on the province of Helmand, are now indistinguishable and must be dealt with as such.

Figures for this year's opium harvest show that Helmand is producing more than half of the world's heroin, even with British troops present, while production has soared by 30 per cent to a record 6,100 tons.

"The drug dealers, the Taliban and the warlords are the same network," said General Khodaidad, Afghanistan's deputy minister of counter−narcotics.

"NATO should destroy these people.

They should hit their headquarters, their convoys, the drugs labs and factories.

Drugs are the main source of income for the Taliban." British troops have studiously avoided involvement in the issue, arguing that they cannot afford to risk alienating public support in the province, where the Taliban seek to present themselves as the defenders of poppy farmers. In line with stated Nato policy, they offer support to the counter−narcotics policies of the Afghan government.

Britain is the lead partner working with the Afghans on drugs policy, but the support is provided by experts from the Foreign Office, not the Army.

"Helmand is out of control," said one Western official. "This may be the place where the military has to get involved.

There is an increasing relationship between the Taliban and the drugs trade. Drugs feed corruption and a lack of governance. Any security is an illusion unless the drugs issue is tackled." The Taliban are estimated to earn

Afghans want British to dig up opium crop 48 tens of millions of dollars by charging a tithe for protecting poppy fields, where farmers benefited this year from good weather and corruption among offi− cials.

Officials in Kabul were incensed when British psychological operations teams put out radio broadcasts in April that announced that British soldiers would not destroy poppy crops because they knew people had a livelihood to earn.

"NATO is adamant that it will not become a poppy eradication force, but there is a need for them to provide much more active support on interdiction and trafficking, even security for (Afghan) eradication teams," said a senior Western diplomat in Kabul.

Afghans want British to dig up opium crop 49 Canadian identity gets a rough ride

IDNUMBER 200705260052 PUBLICATION: The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Final SECTION: Weekend Extra PAGE: E4 Colour Photo: Linda McQuaig attacks Canada's complacency inits dealings with George ILLUSTRATION: Bush's America ; DATELINE: EDMONTON SOURCE: CanWest News Service WORD COUNT: 760

Holding the Bully's Coat, By Richard Helm

By Linda McQuaig, Doubleday Canada, $34.95

EDMONTON −− Linda McQuaig must get a kick out of the new Molson beer ads.

You can't have missed them. Some smug idiot in a business suit, presumably an American, looks up from his seat on a city bench and poses an outrageous question: "Do Canadians really know anything about beer?"

Instantly, all around him, dozens of everyday Canadians snap into hostile action. In the final sequence, the man sits duct−taped to a chair, babbling away obliviously, as the crowd hustles him onto a cargo plane bound for exotic parts unknown. It's an extraordinary rendition of sorts, but one with a distinctly Maple Leaf flavour.

McQuaig, a journalist who has built a reputation for taking on the elites, has her own provocation for us all. Do Canadians really know anything about backbone?

With her two previous bestsellers, It's the Crude, Dude and All You Can Eat, the Toronto writer took a disquieting swipe at the excesses of big oil and modern capitalism.

In her newest book, Holding the Bully's Coat, she sets her sights closer to home with an attack on Canada's complacency in its dealings with George Bush's America.

McQuaig laments what she regards as a significant shift in how Canada operates in the world, writing that the country has moved from being "a nation that has championed internationalism, the United Nations and UN peacekeeping to being a key prop to an aggressive U.S. administration operating outside the constraints of international law."

She argues that Ottawa has abandoned the values that have for so long been the core of Canada's identity as a fair−minded mediator in the world, and instead adopted a more militaristic, warlike stance, battling insurgents in Afghanistan as a junior partner in the U.S. war on terror.

"I think the Canadian public does buy the argument that the Bush administration is a bully in the way it operates in the world," McQuaig said in an interview. "But I think they're less aware of the way Canada is a help−mate to the bully."

Canadian identity gets a rough ride 50 With the announced retirement of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, McQuaig contends, "Canada, headed up by Stephen Harper, will arguably be the most important world power that's still enthusiastically supporting the Bush administration. We're going to be like the chief poodle."

Engaging company but strikingly intense, McQuaig is good at this sort of pointed analysis. It's not for nothing that she is sometimes called Canada's Michael Moore. But it's not an allusion she particularly welcomes, protesting that she's never flip in her criticisms and is always rigorous in her research.

One research source she cites effectively is the report by Justice Dennis O'Connor following his investigation into the case of Maher Arar, the Syrian−born Canadian whom U.S. authorities accused of links to al−Qaeda militants −− on the basis of inaccurate RCMP intelligence −− and deported to his homeland, where he was jailed and tortured.

Given the recent controversy over the Canadian military's policy in Afghanistan regarding detainees, a no−questions−asked approach that again seems in lockstep complicity with U.S. policy, McQuaig's new book seems particularly topical.

"If you look at that detainee abuse issue that flared up in the last couple of weeks, what I find so encouraging is the way our opposition institutions −− the media and opposition parties −− actually kind of swung into action, reflecting Canadian opinion and feelings on these things, and actually forced a change," said McQuaig, who takes a run at journalists like Rex Murphy, Margaret Wente and Robert Fulford for their blinkered defence of U.S. foreign policy.

Some of the timely references in the book strike particularly close to home. Her final chapter, Back from the Abyss, opens with an aborted appearance by U.S. defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld at a top−secret gathering of North American political, military and business leaders at the Banff Spring Hotel last September.

The secrecy surrounding the meeting was extraordinary and McQuaig considers the summit the ultimate expression of the "treachery" of Canada's business and political elite. "The essence of what was going on in Banff was that key members of our elite were meeting with business and political leaders from the United States to discuss ways to further a far−reaching agenda that is at odds with the Canadian public interest."

McQuaig has now authored seven nuanced examinations of social, economic and political policy and confesses her 10−year fiction project, a novel, remains only half finished. She hopes to get to it this summer. A National Newspaper Award winner, she has been a national reporter for The Globe and Mail, a senior writer for MacLean's magazine and most recently a political columnist for The Toronto Star.

(Edmonton Journal)

Canadian identity gets a rough ride 51 Bomb kills young 'mentor' to troops

IDNUMBER 200705260123 PUBLICATION: The Leader−Post (Regina) DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Final SECTION: Canada &The World PAGE: A3 ILLUSTRATION: Photo: Cpl. Matthew McCully; DATELINE: KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan BYLINE: Tom Blackwell, with files from Allison Hanes SOURCE: CanWest News Service WORD COUNT: 457

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan −− Cpl. Matthew McCully had been carrying out one of the most important tasks the Canadian Forces have here: helping train the newly formed Afghan national army.

One day, it is hoped, this army will replace all NATO troops in Afghanistan, providing the West its longed−for exit strategy. That is a day McCully, 25, will never see.

The young "mentor" for local troops was killed Friday when a bomb blew up next to him as he marched alongside his Afghan colleagues in a major anti−Taliban operation.

A second Canadian was wounded and an interpreter aiding the unit was slightly injured in the blast around 8 a.m. near the village of Nalgham, 35 kilometres west of Kandahar.

"Our mentoring team are comrades in arms with the Afghans," said Cessford, deputy commander of the Canadian mission in Afghanistan.

"They share the risks, they work closely with them. Unfortunately, when this soldier was moving forward with other Canadians and with Afghan soldiers, an IED was triggered and he was killed."

"We lost a good kid today," said Cessford. "It's a pretty sad day, but he was doing what he needed to be doing and what he wanted to do ... We'll miss him."

His friends, the commander said, "thought very highly of him." The soldier's home town was not available Friday.

On Friday night, Prime Minister Stephen Harper made note of the loss, but heaped praise on the efforts of Canada's troops in Afghanistan.

Bomb kills young 'mentor' to troops 52 "The mission there has been long, hard and difficult, as the tragic death of a Canadian soldier yesterday reminds us," Harper said in a speech to the Calgary Military Museums Society.

Harper spoke of Canada's proud military tradition and cited the progress being made in stabilizing Afghanistan, such as rebuilding roads and schools and helping to establish health care.

"Ladies and gentlemen, there is no doubt, we are making real progress in Afghanistan," he said.

The men were part of Operation Hoover, an offensive against the Taliban in Zhari district, where the insurgents have engaged Canadian troops in several firefights lately.

Although the Canadian battle group was involved, the operation was being led by the Afghans, part of a push to give them a bigger role in the counter−insurgency war.

A special forces member died April 18 in an accident when he fell from a communications tower.

By this time last year, eight Canadian soldiers had been killed in southern Afghanistan, as well as one diplomat, Glyn Berry.

Bomb kills young 'mentor' to troops 53 Canadian soldier killed Friday after stepping on anti−tank mine; Death of soldier makes 55 who have died in Afghan mission since 2002

PUBLICATION: The Guardian (Charlottetown) DATE: 2007.05.26 SECTION: The Province PAGE: A13 SOURCE: CP DATELINE: MA'SUM GHAR, Afghanistan WORD COUNT: 342

A Canadian soldier marching into battle alongside Afghan troops he helped to train and mentor died Friday when he stepped on a jerry−rigged anti−tank mine during the opening stages of Canada's largest anti−Taliban offensive in nearly two months.

The soldier, identified as Cpl. Matthew McCully, was a member of Canada's Operational Mentor and Liaison Team helping to shape their Afghan counterparts into cohesive, organized fighting units.

He was killed by an improvised explosive device, or IED − the military acronym for a roadside bomb.

"We lost a good kid today. We're thinking about him and our thoughts are going out to the family . . . It's a pretty sad day. But he was doing what he needed to do, what he wanted to do."

The Department of National Defence said McCully was a signals operator from 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group Headquarters and Signals Squadron based at Petawawa, Ont.

He was killed around 8 a.m. near the village of Nalgham, some 35 kilometres west of Kandahar City.

McCully was the 55th Canadian soldier to die in Afghanistan since 2002. A senior Canadian diplomat has also been killed in the country.

Afghan soldiers led the coalition push at the start of the new offensive, dubbed Operation Hoover, designed to flush insurgents out of the volatile Zhari district west of Kandahar.

The operation was only a few hours old when a towering cloud of black smoke appeared on the horizon, several seconds before the loud explosion that caused it echoed off a distant mountainside.

The second blast killed McCully and caused non−life−threatening injuries to another soldier. An Afghan interpreter was also wounded. Corporal Matthew J. McCully was killed Friday when an improvised explosive

Canadian soldier killed Friday after stepping on anti−tank mine; Death of soldier makes 55 who have54 died in Afghan mission since 2002 device detonated during a foot patrol in Afghanistan's volatile Zhari district. One other soldier suffered non−life−threatening injuries and an Afghan interpreter was also wounded. Canadian Press photo

Canadian soldier killed Friday after stepping on anti−tank mine; Death of soldier makes 55 who have55 died in Afghan mission since 2002 Time for a timeout

IDNUMBER 200705260077 PUBLICATION: The Leader−Post (Regina) DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Final SECTION: Viewpoints PAGE: B7 BYLINE: Susan Riley SOURCE: The Ottawa Citizen WORD COUNT: 658

You can tell this session of Parliament is winding down −− and may even end a week or more earlier than planned. It isn't just that the Harper government has run out of gas and ideas, or that MPs of all persuasions are snarling at one another like junkyard dogs. Invitations have started arriving for the annual spring garden parties.

In fact, there may not be many politicians around on June 13, when Liberal Leader Stephane Dion hosts the annual spring fete at Stornoway.

No great loss. All MPs seem to do these days is squabble over relatively trivial things such as minor changes to Senate terms or who gets to decide who chairs committees or what a star hockey player said to a referee or the publishing sensation of the season: Jay Hill's Dirty Tricks Handbook. (Leaked to columnist Don Martin, this handy reference tells Conservative committee chairs how to stifle unfriendly witnesses, torpedo opposition motions and generally put a stick in the spokes of democracy.)

When nursery school classrooms go bad there is a universal solution: a timeout. That is what we need, the sooner the better.

The Conservatives have to regroup and try to find something positive to say to a wary public.

Dion has to continue to win over doubters one barbecue at a time.

And Jack Layton has to figure out how to regain ground on the environment without looking too churlish and territorial.

As for the Bloc: perhaps a seminar on retirement planning for Gilles Duceppe?

Prime Minister Stephen Harper jumped the gun somewhat, leaving behind the political wreckage of recent weeks to travel to Afghanistan.

The surprise visit is an attempt to bolster waning domestic support for the mission −− he made the now pro−forma visit to a heavily fortified school to hand out pencil cases to orphans −− and to reassure Canadians that Afghan detainees are not being abused. Afghan President Hamid Karzai denied anyone has been tortured and promised to personally ensure fair treatment for suspects handed over by Canada.

This surprising declaration from Karzai flies in the face of independent studies suggesting that abuse is rife in Afghan prisons. It also overstates the president's ability to control events in Kabul, never mind the country at large. It seems out of character, too.

Time for a timeout 56 While welcoming NATO's attempt to help his country, the president has always warned, in increasingly urgent terms, that allied forces have to stop killing civilians.

The deaths, particularly bombing deaths, are undermining fragile support for NATO in Afghanistan, he has warned. He may have conveyed the same message privately to Harper, although there is no evidence he is considering pushing foreign troops to leave.

Not yet.

That means Harper must find another way out of a battle that Canada can never win −− a battle we can't even seem to influence much, given the sheer number of U.S. troops with their avowed goal of killing terrorists.

Beside those efforts, reconstruction still looks like an afterthought, no matter how many photo−ops visiting leaders stage.

Harper has another problem this summer: Under his environmental plan, greenhouse gases are set to skyrocket for at least three years, and probably longer.

As summer arrives, and, with it smog alerts, forest fires and severe weather, the environment will be on everyone's minds −− and his government's agnosticism on Kyoto under hostile scrutiny again. Environment Minister John Baird's weekly enviro−ops are merely distracting, no substitute for a real plan.

Next to these issues, Harper's troubles in Quebec look manageable.

His plan to add several new seats to the Commons to reflect population growth in Ontario and the West has been unanimously condemned by Quebec's national assembly because it dilutes Quebec's electoral clout (although it is constitutionally guaranteed 75 seats.) Harper is right to do this: Quebec's declining population can hardly be blamed on federalists, even Liberals.

But it isn't helping him in Quebec, nor is his party's recent obstruction of the official languages committee.

Maybe Duceppe should put those retirement plans on hold.

You can tell a parliamentary session has run its course when there is nothing at stake: no popular legislation, no long−awaited reforms, no urgent reason to stick around.

Apart from a crucial proposal to reform native land claims, we have a holding pattern in Afghanistan, inaction on climate change, impotence in the face of oil company gouging, and stalled criminal justice "reforms" that are dangerously simplistic.

Bring on the canapes.

− Riley writes for the Ottawa Citizen.

Time for a timeout 57 Spy planes vital to Canada's mission

IDNUMBER 200705260028 PUBLICATION: The Leader−Post (Regina) DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Final SECTION: News PAGE: D12 DATELINE: KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan BYLINE: Tom Blackwell SOURCE: CanWest News Service WORD COUNT: 527

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan −− It is a little past 8 a.m. Friday, a Canadian soldier has just been killed 30 kilometres away, and Capt. Tom Lee is fretting. He has a tool that could save other Canadian troops now battling the Taliban, but the weather refuses to co−operate. Finally, the conditions are right, the engine on his unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) whines into full throttle and the craft springs off its catapult.

One of Canada's little−known fleet of spy planes is airborne over the Afghanistan desert.

"There are troops in contact," Lee briskly informs a visitor, using the military jargon for a firefight, "and I have to go."

Within minutes the French−made Sperwer airplane just launched from a fenced compound within this huge NATO base will be beaming back video of the terrain below, and of Taliban movements in the Zhari district where the troops are fighting.

From a rocky start three years ago, such UAVs have become an almost indispensable part of the Canadian arsenal in Afghanistan, officers say.

They offer intelligence on Taliban movements, targeting for artillery and air strikes and tips on the presence of civilians who should be avoided in those target areas.

The insurgents seemed to have learned that when the UAVs are in the sky above, "bad things happen," said Lee.

"As soon as you hear the aircraft overhead, you can count on artillery landing within a few minutes," he said.

"Just our presence there sometimes keeps the bad guys away. Generally speaking, the bad guys hear us up there, they leave."

About three metres long and powered by a snowmobile−like engine, the tactical UAVs are launched by a hydraulic catapult mounted on the back of a truck.

A video camera hanging from the bottom of the fuselage collects the images, day or night.

Inside the ground station, one soldier essentially flies the craft using a joy stick, a commander −− usually a helicopter pilot −− oversees all aspects of the flight, someone else manipulates the camera and a fourth analyses the intelligence it gathers.

Spy planes vital to Canada's mission 58 It has a range of more than 80 kilometres, can stay aloft for up to four hours and reach altitudes of 16,000 feet, landing with a parachute and air bags.

For artillery operators, the craft can scope out a target or tell gunners how close their shells got to the intended spot.

In one recent combat operation, "we were able to track the insurgent movements and warn the units where they were, what they were doing, allowing them to defend themselves better," he said.

"I can't imagine a company not wanting to have that extra situational awareness."

"They're a very useful tool, absolutely," said Capt. Andrew Vivian of Charlie Company, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, who employed Fekete's planes repeatedly.

"One of the biggest threats we face in this area are the IEDs ... We'll use them sometimes to watch the roads that we're going to use."

But as a new−fangled technology, UAVs do not always get the soldiers' respect.

When one of Fekete's planes crashed spectacularly one day recently at the Sperwan Ghar Forward Operating base, troops returning from patrol laughed uproariously at the undignified sight.

Spy planes vital to Canada's mission 59 Canadian support helps our troops

IDNUMBER 200705260027 PUBLICATION: The Leader−Post (Regina) DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Final SECTION: News PAGE: D12 Colour Photo: CanWest files / Chief of Defence Staff Gen.Rick Hillier addressed an ILLUSTRATION: audience in Toronto on Friday. ; DATELINE: TORONTO BYLINE: Allison Hanes SOURCE: CanWest News Service WORD COUNT: 343

TORONTO −− Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier said the moral support of ordinary Canadians is essential to the success of the military, especially the mission in Afghanistan.

The country's top soldier spoke to a Toronto business audience Friday, as the Canadian Forces mourned the loss of another fallen serviceman, killed early Friday while on foot patrol in Kandahar province. "It's always tough when we lose a soldier," Hillier said. "There's no way you ever get used to it, no way you ever want to get used to it."

Despite the death, caused by an improvised explosive device and, non−life−threatening injuries to another soldier, he said the Forces are nevertheless making tremendous progress against an enemy he characterized as a "ball of snakes" and remain focussed on helping the Afghan people rebuild their country.

"We're making incredibly good progress ... We can't reduce the risk of attacks to zero as we saw again last night."

The theme of Hillier's speech was aimed at stoking pride in Canada's military, from soldiers involved in search and rescue operations at home, to those risking and losing their lives on the battlefield.

There was a time in the 1980s and '90s when Canadians were not so united behind their troops, he said. Hillier blamed that partly on a profound disconnect between the military and the public and partly on a command structure that did not give Canada the strategic edge it could have had.

Hillier said the Canadian Forces is now in the midst of a "revolution" that is changing "everything we do and how we do it ... How we enroll them, how we train them, how we educate them, how we break them into units, how we equip them, how we deploy them, how we sustain them while they're deployed, how we redeploy them, how we reintegrate them with their families."

Canada's military must continue to move out of its Cold War mindset and prepare to confront the kind of security threats the world faces today, from terrorists and weapons of mass destruction, to the chaos unleashed by failed or failing states, he said.

Canadian support helps our troops 60 A Big Exercise for a Small Army

IDNUMBER 200705260015 PUBLICATION: The Leader−Post (Regina) DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Final SECTION: Weekender PAGE: G1 / FRONT Colour Photo: Will Chabun, The Leader−Post / In scarf and adirty white coat, Cpl. John−Paul Nanowski of Thunder Bay plays a convincing "OP FOR" (opposing force) insurgent. ; Colour Photo: Will Chabun, The Leader−Post / Crews board a troop of armed ILLUSTRATION: "G−Wagons" for training in convoy escort duties. ; Colour Photo: Will Chabun, The Leader−Post / In a simulated Afghan "town", reserve soldiers assess how their assault went. ; BYLINE: Will Chabun SOURCE: Leader−Post WORD COUNT: 1455

It's time for some lessons.

By 11:20 a.m., all of the soldiers in the section are on their knees or stomachs, working their way to the top of a gentle rise overlooking the village, their rifles pointed at it.

Off to their left, two additional sections of Canadians −− about 20 soldiers −− were making their way to the higher ground west of the village, bending and crawling to take advantage of the meagre cover afforded by the dun−coloured hills.

Silence.

Within minutes, though, all hands are in place and the machine gun team on their right flank opens up on the tumbledown village −− and the simulated enemy fighters hanging around it.

There is a careful choreography to it: The staccato machine gun fire catches the attention of the scruffy−looking gunmen from "the International Solidarity Movement," who instinctively look southwest.

From the north, the first section of Canadian soldiers starts its advance, slowed by the necessity of clearing some small buildings in its path. Then the main attack comes in, over the low rises, the Canadians moving −− on their stomachs or crouching −− toward the village.

− − −

This little drama unfolded one April weekend not in southern Afghanistan, but in the dusty confines of the Canadian Forces training facility at Dundurn, roughly 30 kilometres south of Saskatoon.

It was part of Exercise Bison Warrior, the training exercise organized by the army's 38 Canadian Brigade Group, the reserve formation covering Saskatchewan, Manitoba and northwestern Ontario.

Around 430 soldiers were here, either learning the arcane skills of modern combat or supporting the others as cooks, mechanics, clerks or medics.

A Big Exercise for a Small Army 61 For a small army, "this is a big exercise," said Lt. Col. Murray Allan, the Royal Regina Rifles' ebullient commanding officer. "This takes about a year to plan."

The insurgents, clad in dirty white smocks, were army reservists assigned to play the "OP FOR" or opposing force. For this particular exercise, there is no live ammunition, but at the business end of each rifle and machine gun is a small square device that shoots bursts of light toward sensors on harnesses worn by each soldier and insurgent. It's like an advanced version of LaserQuest −− with a flanking attack, a fire−support team, a mix of civilians and fighters, dust, diversions, rules of engagement, more dust and prisoners.

There is a sense of purpose around this old camp, which dates back to the 1930s: The brigade is sending around 125 of its members to Afghanistan in what is called "One Zero Eight," army shorthand for the first rotation of troops into Afghanistan in 2008.

These will not be the first soldiers from the brigade to have served there, of course. But they will comprise by far the largest number at one time. Between now and this winter, all that those volunteers will be doing is training.

This is serious business. Even the most dedicated peacenik would have to concede that Canadian soldiers should be as well−trained and −equipped as possible. In addition to the assault on the simulated Afghan village (the walls of which are constructed from heavy sacking), the live−fire range sees an infantry section (what Americans call squads) learning to move across rolling terrain, carrying live ammunition in their rifles and machine guns.

Each group of three or four is followed by trainers in fluorescent red vests; they are there to keep soldiers from moving in front of other soldiers' loaded weapons. From behind them, a soldier periodically activates hidden targets that pop up −− and refuse to go down until hit at least twice. Nowhere else in Saskatchewan is there such heavy gunfire.

In the southeast corner of the sprawling base, two 105mm artillery pieces and their crews are at work, supporting a platoon of 50 Minnesota National Guardsmen who are here, training in unfamiliar terrain.

"We're like the telephone company," quipped one veteran artilleryman. "We reach out and touch someone."

Until Afghanistan came along, our army hadn't been in a shooting war since Korea (although Cyprus and Bosnia, at times, must have seemed pretty good facsimiles).

For most of the last 60 years, the army's focus was on central Europe and the armies of the Warsaw Pact. As one officer observed, those years were pretty simple for infantrymen: If you were clearing a village, there was an automatic assumption that the local people had either fled or were in shelter. Anybody lurking in a buildings therefore was a Warsaw Pact soldier, armed and hostile, who'd be dealt with via fragmentation grenade and sprayed gunfire.

"There are enemy tactics, and techniques and procedures that we need to fight in those areas," said Capt. Rob Knibbs of the Royal Regina Rifles. "It's different from fighting in forested areas. That's the reality of our current operations."

Afghanistan is different. The enemy gunman wears civvies; in a country where guns are a dime a dozen, he can throw away his weapon and mix with civilians, then find another rifle. If a young corporal or private makes a mistake and shoots an innocent local, he (or she, for there are several female faces in this infantry platoon) can ruin months of work in gaining Afghanis' confidence. Admitted one officer: "It's a very complex job."

A Big Exercise for a Small Army 62 − − −

Watching from a nearby roadway are two truckload of civilians invited to Dundurn by the Canadian Forces Liaison Council, which aims to act as a buffer between the Canadian Forces Reserves and the people who employ its members.

Everybody in the United States −− and even some in Canada −− knows that the U.S. has both a regular army and a system of reserves, notably the Army National Guard, whose part−time solders are organized on a state−by−state basis.

Canada has a very similar system −− but according to one officer, fully 79 per cent of Canadians are unaware of it.

In Regina, for example, the army reserve is represented by the Royal Regina Rifles, the 10th Field Regiment and 16 Service Battalion; Moose Jaw has the Saskatoon Dragoons. There are also units in Yorkton, Saskatoon and Prince Albert.

With units in Manitoba and northwestern Ontario, they are part of the army's 38 Canadian Brigade Group, which has about 1,100 personnel. (There is also a separate Communication Reserve, the Regina unit of which is 734 Communication Squadron.)

It's not easy being a reserve soldier. The pay is low and some must drive long distances for training. Reservists who are students have to schedule their training around classes and exams. The idea of the Liaison Council is to make this as easy as possible by educating employers on the trade−off: By giving staff members who are reservists some time for training, employers in return get employees who are more worldly, more confident and more conversant with teamwork and leadership.

Allan says every reservist's case seems a little different, but allows there is "a bit of conflict" between jobs and the army. Consider his own case: He works for Rona Home Centre and, much as he loves soldiering, he's had to turn down some duties because of his loyalty to that firm.

"Some employers have more flexibility than others to allow that soldier to get away," he said. "Some just don't. They may have one employee who's holding it together and when that one employee has to go, that puts (the employer) in a bind."

Another difference between American and Canadian reservists is in how they are called up for service in a war: In the U.S., the benefits for the National Guard are generous indeed and will, among other things, pay for a university education. In return, if the president mobilizes your unit for service anywhere, you must go with it or face the legal consequences. In Canada, short of a general mobilization voted by Parliament, only volunteers go on foreign deployments.

And, yes, they do volunteer. It sounds odd to civilians: Volunteering to put yourself in harm's way, but Canadian reservists do volunteer in the hundreds.

Why?

"I can't speak for them; I can only speak for myself; perhaps I'm a typical reservist," said Allan. "It's a number of things. It's the adventure. Maybe your buddy is doing it and you want to do it. Maybe the pay −− though I don't really think so.

"For me, this is what I do; I'm in the army reserve. If they say, 'We need you,' it's a 'duty thing' for me and I think that would be maybe the motivation for some of the younger folks as well."

A Big Exercise for a Small Army 63 − − −

The assault is now over. With their simulated enemy overwhelmed, the Canadians tally up simulated casualties, simulated prisoners. Canteens and bottled water appear and everybody relaxes while the attacking Canadian platoon begins an "after−action" analysis.

Ranks temporarily disappear as even the privates and corporals offer their thoughts on what went right and what went wrong −− like the insurgent who got out of the village unnoticed and made his way to a low spot concealed by brush, from which he "took out" almost a full section before being spotted.

What went wrong?

"Numerous things," said Capt. Rob Haroldson of the Royal Regina Rifles.

"But (training) is a continuous process, which is why we're here −− so they can learn this before they go overseas."

A Big Exercise for a Small Army 64 Top soldier talks about challenges; Says balancing trade and security with U.S. a constant task

PUBLICATION: The Telegram (St. John's) DATE: 2007.05.26 SECTION: Business PAGE: D2 SOURCE: The Canadian Press BYLINE: Karen Pinchin DATELINE: Toronto Gen. Rick Hillier, Chief of Defence Staff, has been busywith speaking engagements over the past couple of days. He is seen here following The Canadian Press annual dinner in ILLUSTRATION: Toronto Thursday and gave a speech Friday to the Economic Club of Toronto. − Photo by The Canadian Press WORD COUNT: 345

Balancing healthy nautical trade and tight security with our neighbour to the south is a complicated task, Canada's top soldier said Friday.

He said the secure tracking and co−ordination of thousands of ships approaching Canada's coasts requires immense co−operation with the United States.

A Fraser Institute report released last week recommended a new security perimeter and border management strategy with the U.S., including pre−clearing of commercial trade and harmonized biometric checks on people.

Noting the renewed North American air defence system Canada shares with the United States, Hillier said the two countries now share the responsibility of protecting Canada's water−based trade.

Top soldier talks about challenges; Says balancing trade and security with U.S. a constant task 65 "Halifax versus Boston versus New York Harbor − there are quite literally tens of thousands of containers every single day going towards those ports," he said.

"You want to be synchronized in how they're all tracked."

Top soldier talks about challenges; Says balancing trade and security with U.S. a constant task 66 Blues jersey brings him closer to home; Jeff Warford appreciates hockey memento in the dust of Afghanistan

PUBLICATION: The Telegram (St. John's) DATE: 2007.05.26 SECTION: Sports PAGE: C1 Great to see Bruce Imrie back on the golf course. Thelong−time Bally Haly pro, who had been teaching privately the past few years, is a recognizable face on the local golf front.; ILLUSTRATION: It's been said profanity is the tool of an ignorant man which sums up the vulgar, ill−informed and narrow−minded comments, to use the term loosely, hurled at Brad Gushue through The Telegram's web site. WORD COUNT: 774

Somewhere amidst the oppressive heat and irritable sand flies, the dirt, despair and inherent danger that is the hellhole of Afghanistan flies the Newfoundland flag. Many, in fact. And posted at Camp Nathan Smith (CNS), one of the Canadian FOB's, or Forward Operating Bases, within Kandahar City is a 'No Ski−dooing' sign.

"Anything from home," writes Cpl. Jeff Warford of St. John's via email, "goes a long way here to the soldiers."

In Afghanistan since February, Warford is with Canada's Provincial Reconstruction Team, a driver and gunner aboard one of Canada's RG−31s, a light armoured vehicle.

For this fine 26−year−old product of Shea Heights, his life is his daughter, Alyssa, born March 5 in Moncton, and his fiancee, Robin Kilpatrick. Warford was deployed to Afghanistan when Robin was eight months pregnant (he saw his daughter for the first time March 18 while on family leave).

Down the list, but not very far, is hockey.

He came up through the St. John's minor hockey system, Gonzaga high school and eventually earned a spot on the St. John's Capitals junior team. Afterwards, it was on to the army and the attraction of money and benefits other jobs couldn't offer.

"The education reimbursement program helped me a lot through post−secondary (schooling)," he writes.

Among the Montreal and Toronto and, quite likely, Ottawa hockey sweaters suspended under the broiling Afghan sun (where it's 40−plus in the shade) in Canadian territory, is a Bell Island junior hockey jersey, compliments of Warford and the St. John's Junior Hockey League's Junior Blues.

"I was in Kandahar at the Old Canada House and I saw some memorabilia on the walls there, a few jerseys, a life−size picture of Don Cherry and Blue autographed, but the only Newfoundland thing was a flag," he says. "Anyway, I had found a site www.nlhockeytalk.ca and put a post on it asking if anyone had anything that was Newfoundland hockey−related that they wanted to send over so I could put it on the walls here.

"My mother, Cynthia, who over the years has been known to be the go−to person if somebody wants something started, asked around and was talking to (Bell Island coach) Dave Brazil. He was the first one who

Blues jersey brings him closer to home; Jeff Warford appreciates hockey memento in the dust of Afghanistan67 donated a jersey signed by the team which I understand won the Veitch this year, so that was an awesome gesture, to say the least. "I was going to keep it here at CNS, but the next roto (shift rotation) is comprised of French Canadians, so I'm thinking there'll be nothing but Habs jerseys by the time they switch off (ha, ha, ha)."

Warford had also been looking for a Conception Bay CeeBees jersey, which may have arrived overseas already.

Though they may seem simple, trivial matters, the hockey jerseys bring Warford a little closer to home, away from the sobering realities of war, brought to life again Friday with the death of another Canadian soldier.

"The nerves are somewhat gone now," he writes. "The first few patrols we did, especially, were a bit shady, but you get to learn how to read people and how they react to us, and it goes to the back of your mind. But the thoughts are always there.

"The field is good in some ways, I suppose, and obviously bad in others. It's good because you can get outside the wire and you're working non−stop, which makes the time go a lot faster, plus you're always interacting with the locals which can be rewarding. On the other hand, when we're in camp I can see my daughter on the web cameras that we have available, so it's give and take.

"You could say you're alert 24/7 over here. The first week or so you're just getting used to everything so pretty much anything will catch your eye or ear. Then you get used to what's normal and what's not."

Unfortunately for Warford, he missed out on the charity ball hockey game against a touring team of ex−NHLers recently.

He had just returned from the field, packed away his gear and flicked on a movie. He awoke to the sound of a chopper leaving camp, with the Stanley Cup and Gen. Rick Hillier aboard headed for Kandahar City and the exhibition game.

Warford had missed his ride.

So the next day Warford and a few others left camp aboard a truck bound for the big game.

Then it broke down.

"Don't even remind me (ha, ha, ha)."

Warford counts down the days until he's sent home to his fiancee and baby.

Until then, he can only make the best of things.

"Now if I can only find a hockey stick that would let me score in ball hockey over here ..."

The latest round of verbal volleys came this week with news Gushue had added Dave Noftall as the team's lead, replacing Jamie Korab.

Gushue faced a firestorm of abuse when Korab was cut. Some of it was warranted, most of it was not.

I did not agree entirely with the move to release Korab, if for no other reason than the timing of it, and stated so publicly.

Blues jersey brings him closer to home; Jeff Warford appreciates hockey memento in the dust of Afghanistan68 When those of us within the media opine on the events of the day, we do so with our faces and names attached to our words.

To hurl boorish criticism at an individual and then hide behind a pseudo e−mail address or nickname is nothing short of spineless.

Blues jersey brings him closer to home; Jeff Warford appreciates hockey memento in the dust of Afghanistan69 Casualty No. 55 was 'good kid'

PUBLICATION: The Telegram (St. John's) DATE: 2007.05.26 SECTION: National PAGE: A7 SOURCE: The Canadian Press BYLINE: James McCarten DATELINE: Ma'sum Ghar, Afghanistan Corp. Matthew J. McCully, a member of the Joint Task ForceAfghanistan, Operational Mentor and Liaison Team, was killed Friday when an improvised ILLUSTRATION: explosive device detonated during a foot patrol in Afghanistan's volatile Zhari district. One other soldier suffered non−life−threatening injuries and an Afghan interpreter was also wounded. WORD COUNT: 473

A Canadian soldier marching into battle alongside the Afghan troops he helped to train and mentor died Friday when he stepped on a jerry−rigged anti−tank mine during the opening stages of Canada's largest anti−Taliban offensive in nearly two months.

The soldier, identified as Cpl. Matthew McCully, was a member of Canada's Operational Mentor and Liaison Team helping to shape their Afghan counterparts into cohesive, organized fighting units.

He was killed by an improvised explosive device − or IED, the military acronym for a roadside bomb.

"As this soldier was moving forward, with other Canadians and other Afghan soldiers, an IED was triggered and he was killed," Col. Mike Cessford, deputy commander of Canadian troops in Afghanistan, said. "We lost a good kid today ... It's a pretty sad day. But he was doing what he needed to do, what he wanted to do."

He was the 55th Canadian soldier to die in Afghanistan since 2002. A senior Canadian diplomat has also been killed there.

The National Defence news release did not mention his hometown.

Michelle McCully, who confirmed she was McCully's mother, declined to comment when reached by phone in Prince George, B.C. "It's not a good time, sorry," she said.

Friends of McCully, posting on an online Facebook group set up in his memory, remembered how anxious he was to go to Afghanistan.

"He was afraid that if too many people wanted Pet, there wouldn't be a spot for him and he really, really

Casualty No. 55 was 'good kid' 70 wanted to go on tour. That's just the kind of guy he was, it's what he trained for and what he really wanted."

Afghan soldiers led the coalition push at the start of the new offensive, dubbed Operation Hoover, designed to flush insurgents out of the Zhari district.

The operation was only a few hours old when a towering cloud of black smoke appeared on the horizon, several seconds before the loud explosion that caused it echoed off a distant mountainside.

The second blast killed McCully and caused non−life−threatening injuries to another soldier, who was in stable condition Friday after being taken by helicopter to hospital at the coalition base at Kandahar Airfield.

An Afghan interpreter was also wounded.

Casualty No. 55 was 'good kid' 71 Public's support crucial to military, Hillier says; Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan

IDNUMBER 200705260263 PUBLICATION: National Post DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: National SECTION: Canada PAGE: A4 Black &White Photo: / (See hardcopy for Photo Description); Black &White Photo: Tim Fraser For National Post / General Rick Hillier talks with members of the Economic Club ILLUSTRATION: of Toronto yesterday. In his speech, Hillier said the Canadian Forces was in the midst of a "revolution" on how it operates. ; DATELINE: TORONTO, KANDAHAR BYLINE: Allison Hanes and tom Blackwell SOURCE: National Post WORD COUNT: 659

TORONTO, KANDAHAR − The moral support of ordinary Canadians is essential to the success of the military, especially the mission in Afghanistan, General Rick Hillier, Chief of the Defence Staff, said yesterday.

The country's top soldier spoke to a business audience as the Canadian Forces mourned the loss of another fallen serviceman, killed while on a foot patrol in Kandahar province.

"It's always tough when we lose a soldier," Gen. Hillier said after addressing the Economic Club of Toronto. "There's no way you ever get used to it, no way you ever want to get used to it. This is a tough day."

Corporal Matthew McCully, a signals operator from 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group Headquarters and Signals Squadron, based at Petawawa brings to 55 the number of Canadian troops killed at the hands of the enemy or in accidents in Afghanistan since 2002.

It is the 11th fatality this year, as activity by the Taliban appears to be heating up.

Another soldier was taken to hospital with non−life threatening injuries and an interpreter was also slightly wounded.

"It's a pretty sad day," said Colonel Mike Cessford, deputy commander of the Canadian Forces in Afghanistan, "but he was doing what he needed to be doing and what he wanted to do. And he was working closely with Afghan soldiers to achieve the right things for this country. We'll miss him."

The men were part of Operation Hoover, an offensive against the Taliban in Zhari district, about 35 kilometres west of Kandahar, where the insurgents have had several firefights with the Canadians lately.

Despite the death, caused by an improvised explosive device, Gen. Hillier told reporters that the Canadian Forces were making tremendous progress against an enemy he characterized as a "ball of snakes" and the military remained focused on helping the Afghan people rebuild.

Public's support crucial to military, Hillier says; Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan 72 Last night, Prime Minister Stephen Harper made note of the loss, but heaped praise on the efforts of troops in Afghanistan. "The mission there has been long, hard and difficult, as the tragic death of Cpl. Matthew Jonathan McCully reminds us," Mr. Harper said in a speech to the Calgary Military Museums Society.

Mr. Harper spoke of Canada's proud military tradition and cited the progress being made in stabilizing Afghanistan, such as rebuilding roads and schools and helping to establish health care.

"There are new stories of Canadian success in battle being written almost every day," he said.

The theme of Gen. Hillier's speech was aimed at stoking pride in Canada's military, from soldiers involved in search and rescue operations at home, to those risking and losing their lives on the battlefield.

There was a time in the 1980s and 1990s when Canadians were not so united behind their troops, he said, which he blamed partly on a profound disconnect between the military and the public and partly on an organizational command structure that did not give Canada the strategic edge it could have had internationally.

Gen Hillier said that was no longer the case. He said the Canadian Forces was in the midst of a "revolution" that was changing "everything we do and how we do it.... How we enroll them, how we train them, how we educate them, how we break them into units, how we equip them, how we deploy them, how we sustain them while they're deployed, how we redeploy them, how we reintegrate them with their families."

The changes were necessary, he said, to get Canada out of its Cold War mind−set and ready to confront the kind of security threats the world faces today, from terrorists and weapons of mass destruction, to the chaos unleashed by failed or failing states.

Gen. Hillier said this new vision of the Canadian military aims for what he called the "Vimy effect."

"The geopolitical strategic implications of Vimy, carry on to this day," he said. "What we want to do is sort ourselves out in such a manner and do our job in such a manner that the geopolitical strategic implications for Canada will resonate from every tactical job that we do."

The military has also gone to great lengths to bring itself closer to ordinary Canadians, and the country has reached out in return, he said.

NATIONALPOST.COM

Get more news and insight from the scene of the war in Afghanistan on Tom Blackwell's new blog at nationalpost.com/afghanistan.

KEYWORDS: WAR

Public's support crucial to military, Hillier says; Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan 73 Canadian mentor of Afghan troops killed; Petawawa−based soldier killed by bomb while on foot patrol during Operation Hoover

IDNUMBER 200705260204 PUBLICATION: Edmonton Journal DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Final SECTION: News PAGE: A4 Photo: The Canadian Press / Corporal Matthew J. McCully, amember of the Joint Task Force Afghanistan and the mentor and liaison team, was killed Friday in Afghanistan's ILLUSTRATION: volatile Zhari district. ; Photo: The Canadian Press / Col. Mike Cessford, deputy commander of the Canadian mission in Afghanistan ; KEYWORDS: WAR DATELINE: KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan BYLINE: Tom Blackwell SOURCE: National Post; CanWest News Service WORD COUNT: 586

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan − Cpl. Matthew McCully had been carrying out one of the most important tasks the Canadian Forces have here: train the newly formed Afghan national army (ANA).

One day, it is hoped, the ANA will replace all NATO troops in Afghanistan, providing the allies the longed−for exit strategy. That's a day McCully, 25, will never see.

The young "mentor" for local troops was killed Friday when a bomb blew up next to him as he marched alongside his Afghan colleagues in a major anti−Taliban operation.

A second Canadian was wounded and an interpreter aiding the unit was slightly injured in the blast at about 8 a.m. near the village of Nalgham, 35 kilometres west of Kandahar.

It appeared that McCully, a signals operator from 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group Headquarters and

Signals Squadron, based at Petawawa, Ont., triggered the improvised explosive device (IED), said Col. Mike Cessford.

"Our mentoring team are comrades in arms with the Afghans," said Cessford, deputy commander of the Canadian mission in Afghanistan.

"They share the risks, they work closely with them. Unfortunately, when this soldier was moving forward with other Canadians and with Afghan soldiers, an IED was triggered and he was killed."

"We lost a good kid today," said Cessford. "It's a pretty sad day, but he was doing what he needed to be doing

Canadian mentor of Afghan troops killed; Petawawa−based soldier killed by bomb while on foot patrol74 during Operation Hoover and what he wanted to do ... We'll miss him."

His friends, the commander said, "thought very highly of him." The soldier's hometown was not available Friday.

McCully's body was flown to the NATO base in Kandahar, while the wounded soldier was being treated for non−life−threatening injuries at the camp's trauma hospital. He has spoken to his family, said Cessford.

The men were part of Operation Hoover, an offensive against the Taliban in Zhari district, where the insurgents have engaged Canadian troops in several firefights recently.

Although the Canadian battle group was involved, the operation was being led by the Afghans, part of a push to give them a bigger role in the counter−insurgency war.

A special forces member died April 18 when he fell from a communications tower.

By this time last year, eight Canadian soldiers and a diplomat, Glyn Berry had been killed in southern Afghanistan.

Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier said in Toronto the moral support of ordinary Canadians is essential to the success of the military, especially the mission in Afghanistan.

"It's always tough when we lose a soldier," Hillier told a business audience on Bay Street Friday morning.

"There's no way you ever get used to it, no way you ever want to get used to it. This is a tough day."

Despite the death, caused by an improvised explosive device and, non−life−threatening injuries to another soldier, Hillier later told reporters that the Canadian Forces are nevertheless making tremendous progress against an enemy he characterized as a "ball of snakes" and remain focused on helping the Afghan people rebuild their country.

The mentoring of Afghan soldiers is thought to be crucial to providing an orderly exit strategy for Canadian and other NATO troops. It is hoped the ANA eventually will be capable of maintaining security on its own, without the presence of foreign armies.

The Canadians working with them speak highly of their war−fighting prowess and fearlessness in the face of the enemy.

"If they hear gunfire, they will run toward it," said one officer recently.

The patrol on Friday was through a populated area, which can work to the insurgents' advantage, said Cessford.

"The Taliban have chosen to bring this fight among the people and you have to live with that," he said. "In a case like that, it is comparatively simple for the Taliban to achieve this."

The army is working "very hard" using the latest technology to lessen the threat of IEDs, which usually target moving vehicles, but sometimes the danger cannot be avoided, said Cessford.

Canadian mentor of Afghan troops killed; Petawawa−based soldier killed by bomb while on foot patrol75 during Operation Hoover INDEX:Business, Health, International, Social

DATE: 2007.05.25 KEYWORDS: BUSINESS HEALTH INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL PUBLICATION: cpw WORD COUNT: 815

WAUWATOSA, Wis. (AP) _ When doctors in a remote African town warned a 20−something pregnant woman she was well past her due date, the Liberian patient agreed to have labour induced.

But Dr. Simon Kotlyar wanted to confirm the diagnosis first. So the visiting doctor performed an ultrasound test using a new system _ a machine miniaturized to the size of a laptop computer _ and discovered the Monrovia woman was only 32 weeks pregnant, not 40 weeks as anecdotal evidence had led doctors to believe.

``Having that system made a pretty big difference,'' said Kotlyar, chief resident in the department of emergency medicine at Yale−New Haven Hospital in Connecticut. ``I told her to go home and come back in a few weeks.''

As ultrasound machines become more compact and their image quality more precise, doctors have begun carrying the body−imaging technology to rural U.S. hospitals and developing countries. No longer is ultrasound available only to hospitals with reliable power supplies and room for bulky equipment.

The fledgling industry of portable ultrasound units has grown rapidly the past two years and it's expected to become an even bigger part of the ultrasound market. It is dominated by SonoSite Inc. of Bothell, Wash., and GE Healthcare, based in the Milwaukee suburb of Wauwatosa. Each commands about 40 per cent of the worldwide market, according to industry expert Harvey Klein.

Crude versions of portable ultrasound equipment had been around for almost 30 years, but SonoSite was the first to produce images of usable quality.

The portable battery−operated machines aren't expected to completely replace standard console−sized units. But Klein said the compact machines are proving popular among doctors outside the traditional areas of radiology, cardiology and prenatal care.

``There are maybe 20 specialty areas _ emergency medicine, anesthesiology _ that represent new markets,'' he said. ``There's plenty of interest here.''

Ultrasound produces real−time imaging of a beating heart or developing fetus by interpreting sound waves bounced off solid internal objects.

Other common techniques for exploring inside the body without surgery include MRI _ magnetic resonance imaging _ systems that yield vivid results but whose scans require the patient to lie still for minutes. X−rays are still popular for producing images of bones, but the technology exposes a patient to potentially harmful radiation.

Ultrasound has its own drawbacks. For example, its effectiveness depends on operators knowing precisely how to position patients and where to place the imaging probes to reveal the best views.

To doctors, image quality is key. The newer compact units can now produce images comparable to those of the higher−end console units about 90 per cent of the time, said Dr. Craig Sable of the Children's National

INDEX:Business, Health, International, Social 76 Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

In 2003, Sable brought a portable unit to Uganda, where he used it to diagnose a life−threatening heart ailment in a two−year−old girl. She later had successful surgery in the U.S.

``There are dozens of other patients just like that,'' the pediatric cardiologist said. ``This technology still has a ways to go but it has tremendous potential.''

GE Healthcare said the market for portable ultrasound is small but its business is growing rapidly, with sales of US$174 million in 2006, a 74 per cent increase over 2005.

That figure was about one−tenth of the company's $1.6 billion in sales of all ultrasound equipment, including the traditional machines so large that they are wheeled around on carts.

SonoSite makes only hand−carried units. Its systems have been used by the U.S. military in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as by Louisiana rescuers after hurricane Katrina, company spokeswoman Ann Bugge said.

``Traditional ultrasound machines ... (are) about as easy to move as your refrigerator,'' Bugge said. ``Our systems all weigh between three and seven pounds (1.3 and 3.1 kilograms).''

SonoSite had revenues of $171.1 million in 2006, a 16 per cent increase over 2005 revenue. The cost of its hand−carried models has remained steady, from about $15,000 to around $50,000 depending on features.

GE Healthcare expects demand to remain strong both for full−sized units _ which range from $30,000 to more than $200,000 _ and the portable units _ which cost $25,000 to $90,000.

``We see customers buying both,'' said Omar Ishrak, chief executive of the GE division's clinical−systems business unit. ``In traditional markets where mobility isn't as important, they'll want the consoles with the higher−end technology.''

Ultrasound makers hope that miniaturized equipment will make the technology more popular among doctors domestically and abroad.

Klein estimated the worldwide market for ultrasound machines at $4 billion last year, with about 10 per cent coming from sales of portable units. The market will exceed $5 billion in 2011 of which more than 20 per cent will come from portable−unit revenue, he predicted.

Kotlyar, the doctor who volunteered in Africa, said his Liberian patients were excited and grateful to have access to ultrasound images, especially since their country's health care system was ravaged in a civil war that ended in 2003.

``The women loved the notion of seeing the baby in their belly,'' he said. ``I think it was incredibly uplifting for people who had not had a lot of positives in their health sector in a long time.''

INDEX:Business, Health, International, Social 77 Balancing trade and security with U.S. a constant challenge: Hillier

DATE: 2007.05.25 KEYWORDS: DEFENCE ECONOMY TRADE PUBLICATION: cpw WORD COUNT: 175

TORONTO (CP) _ Canada's top soldier says keeping the balance between economic health and border security between Canada and the United States is a continuing challenge.

Gen. Rick Hillier spoke to the Economic Club of Toronto today on Canada's continuing mission in Afghanistan, and highlighted the important role the economy plays in supporting a war effort.

He says responsibility for ensuring nautical security was handed to the North American air defence system Canada shares with the United States, resulting in shared roles in protecting Canada's water−based trade.

A recent Fraser Institute report recommended a new security perimeter and border management strategy with the U.S., including pre−clearing of commercial trade and harmonized biometric checks on people.

Report author Dr. Alexander Moens says Canada's Conservative government has recently moved to improve relations with the U.S., and could take advantage of this new window of economic opportunity.

He says recent trade disputes such as softwood lumber and mad cow disease were allowed to fester and drag on primarily because Canada had no political capital with the White House _ a situation that he says is changing.

Balancing trade and security with U.S. a constant challenge: Hillier 78 Canadian soldier killed as Taliban 'melt away' from robust Operation Hoover

DATE: 2007.05.25 KEYWORDS: DEFENCE INTERNATIONAL PUBLICATION: cpw WORD COUNT: 1111

MASUM GHAR, Afghanistan (CP) _ A Canadian soldier marching into battle alongside the Afghan troops he helped to train and mentor died Friday when he stepped on a jerry−rigged anti−tank mine during the opening stages of Canada's largest anti−Taliban offensive in nearly two months.

The soldier, identified as Cpl. Matthew McCully, was a member of Canada's Operational Mentor and Liaison Team helping to shape their Afghan counterparts into cohesive, organized fighting units.

He was killed by an improvised explosive device _ or IED _ the military acronym for a roadside bomb.

``As this soldier was moving forward, with other Canadians and other Afghan soldiers, an IED was triggered and he was killed,'' Col. Mike Cessford, deputy commander of Canadian troops in Afghanistan, said in Kandahar.

``We lost a good kid today ... It's a pretty sad day. But he was doing what he needed to do, what he wanted to do.''

He was the 55th Canadian soldier to die in Afghanistan since 2002. A senior Canadian diplomat has also been killed there.

The National Defence news release did not mention his hometown.

Michelle McCully, who confirmed she was McCully's mother, declined to comment when reached by phone in Prince George, B.C. ``It's not a good time, sorry,'' she said.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper paid a passing tribute to the slain soldier at a fundraising dinner for the Calgary Military Museums Society on Friday.

``The mission there in Afghanistan has been long, hard and difficult, as the tragic death earlier today of Cpl. Matthew McCully reminds us,'' said Harper.

``But we have racked up an impressive list of accomplishments. The men and women of the Canadian Forces have conducted themselves with the utmost degree of professionalism and demonstrated exceptional bravery and skill on the battlefield.''

Harper also recognized two soldiers for their heroics during a firefight with the Taliban last August.

Capt. Michael Reekie of Abbotsford, B.C., and Cpl. Chad Chevrefils of Pine Falls, Man., are to receive the Medal of Military Valour from the Governor General.

Canadian soldier killed as Taliban 'melt away' from robust Operation Hoover 79 Friends of McCully, posting on an online Facebook group set up in his memory, remembered how anxious he was to go to Afghanistan.

``I remember when they told us in Kingston that anyone posted to Petawawa might be going to Afghanistan right after course, Matty came up to me and asked me not to tell anyone how good it was in Petawawa,'' Laurie Sutherland wrote Friday on the popular social networking website.

``He was afraid that if too many people wanted Pet, there wouldn't be a spot for him and he really, really wanted to go on tour. That's just the kind of guy he was, it's what he trained for and what he really wanted.''

Afghan soldiers led the coalition push at the start of the new offensive, dubbed Operation Hoover, designed to flush insurgents out of the Zhari district.

The operation was only a few hours old when a towering cloud of black smoke appeared on the horizon, several seconds before the loud explosion that caused it echoed off a distant mountainside.

An Afghan interpreter was also wounded. He remained on the battlefield.

Operation Hoover was billed as a major offensive against insurgents who have reappeared in Zhari and the neighbouring Panjwaii district _ considered the birthplace of the Taliban _ and engaged Canadian forces in recent weeks, said Lt.−Col. Rob Walker, the battle group's commanding officer.

But insurgent fighters can quickly make themselves indistinguishable from local farmers or villagers simply by dropping their AK−47s and grabbing a rake or shovel.

''They went through all the compounds, but there was no one there,'' Walker said in an interview at the forward operating base at Ma'sum Ghar, from which Hoover was staged.

``They chose not to fight, whereas every other time they chose to fight,'' Walker said of the enemy.

``The way we chose to come in, with an overwhelming number of troops, I think we caught them off guard.''

Losing a soldier is always difficult, Gen. Rick Hillier, chief of defence staff, said in Toronto. ``There's no way you ever get used to it, no way you ever want to get used to it.''

``What we're going to do is make sure that as part of our work, his footprint in the sand, if you will, his legacy, will never be forgotten.''

Hillier's sentiments were echoed by Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay.

Canadian soldier killed as Taliban 'melt away' from robust Operation Hoover 80 ``We lost a very fine Canadian today, and our hearts do go out to the family and friends of this brave soldier,'' MacKay said in Toronto. ``In working to bring peace and freedom to the people of Afghanistan, this young man has made the ultimate sacrifice.''

Prime Minister Stephen Harper extended condolences to McCully's family and loved one. ``My thoughts and prayers are with them during this time of mourning,'' he said in a statement.

``We are proud of Corporal McCully's contribution to our mission in Afghanistan, and of all our Canadian Forces men and women who soldier on in the name of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law.''

Opposition Leader Stephane Dion expressed ``sorrow and regret'' on behalf of the Liberals.

``We send our deepest sympathies to the family, friends and comrades of Cpl. McCully as they cope with this tragic loss,'' Dion said, adding that Canadians are ``forever grateful for the hard work and sacrifice'' of the Canadian Forces in Afghanistan.

Portuguese soldiers who were also part of Operation Hoover got into a few ``skirmishes'' with enemy soldiers, Walker said. Only one enemy combatant was confirmed killed, while a small number of prisoners were taken into Afghan National Army custody.

Operation Hoover started less than 48 hours after Harper shook hands with soldiers on the base at Ma'sum Ghar during his recent two−day visit to Afghanistan.

British Harrier jets were standing by to provide air support, and two troops of soldiers from D Battery with the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery were also expected to provide fire support.

But short of the illumination rounds that bathed the Afghan nightscape in an orange glow in the early hours of the operation, the guns were barely needed.

``We didn't get much of a fight,'' admitted Capt. Derek Crabbe of 2 RCHA.

The only coalition aircraft that appeared on the battlefront was an Apache attack helicopter and a pair of Black Hawk choppers that arrived to ferry out the wounded.

As they pulsed into the staging area, a rocket screamed overhead and exploded just a few metres away from one of the armoured vehicles that was providing security.

``It's just the nature of the insurgency that we're dealing with, it's the nature of the threat,'' he said.

Canadian soldier killed as Taliban 'melt away' from robust Operation Hoover 81 1st Writethru CP News Budget − Friday, May 25, 2007

DATE: 2007.05.25 KEYWORDS: ADVISORIES PUBLICATION: cpw WORD COUNT: 263

Here are the CP coverage plans as of 15:00 ET. The CP editor handling World news in Toronto can be reached at 416−507−2165.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan _ A roadside bomb exploded and killed a Canadian soldier on foot patrol Friday in a volatile district of southern Afghanistan where a new offensive by Afghan and coalition forces was getting underway. Military officials in Ottawa identified the dead soldier as Cpl. Matthew J. McCully. He is the 55th Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan since 2002. 650 words. See CP Photo CPT102. By James McCarten. BC−Afghan−Cda−Killed, 6th Writethru.

WASHINGTON _ Some major U.S. businesses are worried that North American co−operation is falling off the agenda, even as leaders of the three countries get ready to meet in Quebec in August. Uncertainty about progress on a host of cross−border initiatives is rattling some nerves in American boardrooms before President George W. Bush joins Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Mexico's Felipe Calderon for an annual get−together. 650 words. By Beth Gorham. BC−US−Cda−Leaders−Meet. Moved.

BAGHDAD _ Muqtada al−Sadr's militia commander in Basra is killed in a gunbattle with British forces within hours of the hardline Shiite cleric's first public appearance in months. The U.S. military reports the deaths of six more soldiers. 650 words. By Ravi Nessman. BC−Iraq, 1st Writethru.

TRIPOLI, Lebanon _ The United States and Arab countries rush military aid to Lebanon, boosting its army's strength ahead of a possible assault to crush Islamic militants in a Palestinian refugee camp. 650 words. BC−Lebanon−Violence, 2nd Writethru.

1st Writethru CP News Budget − Friday, May 25, 2007 82 CTV National News, Friday, May 25

DATE: 2007.05.25 KEYWORDS: ADVISORIES PUBLICATION: cpw WORD COUNT: 258

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan _ Cpl. Matthew McCully is killed just hours into a major new offensive when he steps on an anti−tank mine; another Canadian and an Afghan translator were wounded in the explosion. CVD.

MOOSE JAW, Sask. _ Military funeral held for Snowbird Capt. Shaun McCaughey who was killed when his jet crashed last week. CVD.

TORONTO _ Police say they're close to making an arrest in the killing of Jordan Manners, who was shot at school earlier this week. MAIN ELEMENTS CVD.

QUEBEC _ Opposition parties say they will not support the new provincial government; if Jean Charest's Liberal government falls it will mean two elections in two months; Charest says he won't budge, and he rebuts criticisms that transfer payments should have gone into improving services instead of into tax cuts. CVD.

ORILLIA, Ont. _ Casino employees among 15 arrested in Canada, and more in the U.S., in a casino fraud ring that netted millions of dollars; 18 casinos were involved. CVD.

MOUNT HOLLY, N.J. _ Former NHL star Rick Tocchet pleads guilty to charges in connection with his involvment in a sports gambling ring. CVD.

NEW YORK _ Montreal mob boss Vito Rizzuto sentenced to 10 years in prison for his part in a triple murder. CVD.

WINDSOR, Ont. _ State of emergency declared due to air quality concerns after a massive fire at an auto body shop. CVD.

UNDATED _ Five dead and one man missing in floods in Texas. CVD.

UNDATED _ Striking Greyhound workers narrowly vote to accept a new deal that gives them a wage increase but does not address their main concerns of working conditions and contracting−out. CVD.

LOS ANGELES _ The first of the ``Star Wars'' movies appeared in theatres 30 years ago this summer. CVD.

NEW YORK _ Rosie O'Donnell has left ``The View'' a few weeks early after a dust−up Wednesday with co−host Elizabeth Hasselbeck. CVD.

CP Toronto

CTV National News, Friday, May 25 83 CCN−ON−OSGG−OBT

DATE: 2007.05.25 PUBLICATION: cpw WORD COUNT: 155

^Message from Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaklle Jean, Gov@<

May 25, 2007

OTTAWA, ONTARIO−−(CCNMatthews − May 25, 2007) −

"It was with great sadness that my husband, Jean−Daniel Lafond, and I learned of the death of Corporal Matthew McCully of the 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group Headquarters and Signals Squadron, who was killed while on patrol with Afghan soldiers in a village near Kandahar.

Our Canadian troops are in mourning, but they remain resolute in their efforts to help bring peace and security to Afghanistan. We admire their unwavering commitment and remarkable audacity. Their task is daunting.

I know that all across the country, Canadians join with me in offering our deepest sympathies to the families and friends who are grieving this terrible loss, and our hopes for a speedy recovery for those injured in today's incident.

We pay tribute to the devotion of these fine soldiers and to their courage."

Michaelle Jean

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Media information

Rideau Hall Press Office

Isabelle Serrurier

613−998−7280

INDUSTRY: Government − International, Government − Local,

Government − National, Government − Security (law enforcement, homeland etc), Government − State

SUBJECT: OBT

NEWS RELEASE TRANSMITTED BY CCNMatthews

CCN−ON−OSGG−OBT 84 bc−CCN−ON−GOV−OBT

DATE: 2007.05.25 PUBLICATION: cpw WORD COUNT: 190

^DND: Name of Canadian Soldier Killed in Afghanistan Released@<

May 25, 2007

OTTAWA, ONTARIO−−(CCNMatthews − May 25, 2007) − Killed earlier today in Afghanistan was Corporal Matthew McCully, a Signals Operator, based at 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group Headquarters and Signals Squadron, Petawawa, Ontario. His next−of−kin have been notified.

Corporal McCully tragically lost his life after an improvised explosive device detonated in the proximity of where he was patrolling by foot, along with Afghan national security forces, close to the village of Nalgham, approximately 35 km west of Kandahar City. The incident occurred at approximately 8:00 a.m. Kandahar time.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of Corporal McCully, and with his comrades in Afghanistan who remain committed to helping Afghans improve their living conditions and build a free and democratic society.

The courage and dedication demonstrated by Corporal McCully in his efforts to assist the Afghan national security forces represent Canadian values in the finest tradition. He will be greatly missed.

NOTE TO EDITORS/NEWS DIRECTORS:

A photograph of Corporal McCully is available on the Combat Camera Website at: http://www.combatcamera.forces.gc.ca/

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Information: 613−996−2353/54

After hours: 613−792−2973 www.forces.gc.ca

INDUSTRY: Government − International, Government − Local,

Government − National, Government − Security (law enforcement, homeland etc), Government − State

SUBJECT: OBT

NEWS RELEASE TRANSMITTED BY CCNMatthews

bc−CCN−ON−GOV−OBT 85 Omar Khadr `wasting away' in Guantanamo Bay prison, lawyers say

DATE: 2007.05.25 KEYWORDS: INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE PUBLICATION: cpw WORD COUNT: 140

TORONTO (CP) _ Omar Khadr's Canadian lawyers say the 20−year−old detainee is ``wasting away'' in the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay.

They say that after five years of incarceration, Khadr has lost hope of ever being released and fears he could die in prison.

In an e−mail to the Toronto Star, Edmonton lawyer Dennis Edney said Khadr urgently needs independent medical and psychological testing.

Edney said Khadr ``never sees the light of day,'' gets no exercise and feels the world doesn't care if torture is used at the Cuban detention facility.

Khadr, who is to appear before a military commission next month, has been held by U.S. authorities since he was 15. He is charged with murder in the death of an American soldier at the end of a July, 2002 attack on suspected al−Qaida members in Afghanistan.

Edney said he spent three hours with Khadr on Thursday and described him as having a ``sense of innocence and dignity.'' (Toronto Star)

Omar Khadr `wasting away' in Guantanamo Bay prison, lawyers say 86 CBC National News, Friday, May 25

DATE: 2007.05.25 KEYWORDS: ADVISORIES PUBLICATION: cpw WORD COUNT: 369

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan _ Canadian soldiers just hours into a new initiative when Cpl. Matthew McCully stepped on a land mine and was killed. CVD.

MOOSE JAW, Sask. _ Military funeral held for Snowbird pilot Capt. Shaun McCaughey who died when his plane crashed last week during an air show rehearsal. CVD.

MOUNT HOLLEY, N.J. _ Former NHL star Rick Tocchet pleads guilty to charges of conspiracy and promoting gambling for his part in a sports betting ring. CVD.

COPENHAGEN _ Former Tour de France winner admits he used performance−enhancing drugs to win the Tour, and has offered to give up his title. CVD.

OTTAWA _ Canadian Food Inspection Agency says it has prevented tained corn gluten from entering the food system; it says the shipment comes from a different Chinese company than that involved in the tainted pet food scare in March. CHECKING.

ORILLIA, Ont. _ Police bust fraud ring that infiltrated more than half a dozen casinos and raked in millions, allegedly with the help of four casino employees; police have charged 15 people with conspiracy, fraud and gaming offences; U.S. police have charged a further 21 people in connection with the same ring. CVD.

MONTREAL _ Transit workers agree to go back to work; a contract still needs to be hammered out. CVD.

NEW YORK _ Montreal mob boss Vito Rizzuto sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in a triple murder. CVD.

OTTAWA _ Ottawa confirms it will facilitate the immigration to Canada of all remaining 151 Vietnamese boat people who have been stranded for years in the Philippines. CHECKING.

WINDSOR, Ont. _ Fire at an auto body repair shop causes stubborn, fast−spreading fire that took hours to extinguish and pumped a cloud of black smoke into the sky; nearby homes and businesses were evacuated and the city declared a state of emergency as a precaution. CVD.

UNDATED _ NATO member countries taking part in realistic live−fire exercises in Denmark, rehearsing for urban warfare. FEATURE.

BEIRUT _ Military aid from U.S. and Arab countries arrives to help Lebanese army to fight militants in refugee camp. CVD.

UNDATED _ Muqtada al−Sadr appears publicly in Iraq for the first time in months; he is believed to have been hiding in Iran. CVD.

KYIV, Ukraine _ Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko fired the country's top prosecutor but the interior minister appeared to defy the order, sending dozens of police officers to protect the prosecutor's building.

CBC National News, Friday, May 25 87 UPCOMING.

UNDATED _ Myanmar once again extends the house arrest of opposition leader Aung San Suy Kyi. CVD.

CP Toronto

CBC National News, Friday, May 25 88 INDEX:Advisories

DATE: 2007.05.25 KEYWORDS: ADVISORIES PUBLICATION: cpw WORD COUNT: 908

HEADLINES:

King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng collapses, dies

Seattle mayor's son indicted in alleged casino−cheating ring

Washington state recruiting farmworkers from Calif., Texas

Majority of NW congressional Dems vote no on Iraq bill

Idaho town plans memorial service for slain officer

Second arsonist sentenced in Oregon courtroom

Congress approves one−year extension of timber payments

GOP turns to tech writer and magician in Snohomish County race

Seattle judge rejects move to limit use of organ donor body parts

Memorial to WA state fallen is nearly full

Mateo apologetic, humbled, but what of another Mariners chance?

WSU coach has defibrillator implanted

TOP STORIES:

OBIT−MALENG

SEATTLE _ King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng, one of the longest−serving elected officials in state history and the man who spared the life of the nation's worst serial killer, dies at Harborview Medical Center after collapsing at a University of Washington event. By Gene Johnson.

Top prospects uncertain.

AP Photos WATW101, WAAP104−106 (filed with slug Prosecutor Dies).

CASINO CHEATING−SEATTLE

SEATTLE _ Jacob Dyson Nickels, the son of Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, has been indicted as part of an investigation into a multistate casino−cheating ring that allegedly stole millions of dollars by bribing casino employees to falsely shuffle decks. By Gene Johnson.

INDEX:Advisories 89 Should stand.

FARM LABOR

YAKIMA _ Heads up to California and Texas: Washington state wants your farm workers. Fearing a labor shortage could leave acres of apples, cherries and asparagus unpicked this season, state officials are making plans to recruit workers from the two southern states to harvest crops. At the same time, more growers are turning to a federal guest−worker program to bring in workers from outside the United States, despite complaints that it costs them more money. By Shannon Dininny.

Stands. Moved on West wire.

CONGRESS−IRAQ−NW

WASHINGTON _ A majority of the Northwest's congressional Democrats voted no as Congress grudgingly approved a bill to provide nearly $100 billion in new spending for the Iraq war. By Matthew Daly.

Should stand.

IDAHO SHOOTINGS

MOSCOW, Idaho _ Gov. C.L. ``Butch'' Otter was among thousands of dignitaries and law enforcement officers expected to attend a memorial service and funeral for Officer Lee Newbill, the first victim of a sniper who killed three people before taking his own life.

Developing, top prospects uncertain. Moving on West wire.

ARSON SENTENCE

EUGENE, Ore. _ A federal judge has sentenced Animal Liberation Front arsonist Kevin Tubbs to prison for more than 12 years, rejecting arguments that he was a minor player just trying to save animals and protect the earth. By Jeff Barnard.

Should stand. Moved on West wire.

TIMBER COUNTIES

WASHINGTON _ Congress has approved $425 million in emergency spending for a one−year extension of payments to rural counties hurt by cutbacks in federal logging. The plan, approved 348−73 by the House and 80−14 by the Senate, would provide payments through September to more than 700 timber counties in 39 states, mostly in the West and South. By Matthew Daly.

May stand. Moved for previous cycle on West wire.

GENIE CANDIDATE

EVERETT _ Eager for someone to run for Snohomish County executive after the sheriff unexpectedly withdrew, Republicans have pulled a magician out of their hats. Jack Turk, 50, of Snohomish, a former technical writer, program manager and Microsoft Corp. group manager who bills himself as ``Turk the Magic Genie,'' was chosen unanimously as the party's choice to challenge County Executive Aaron Reardon, a Democrat.

INDEX:Advisories 90 Stands.

ORGAN DONORS

SEATTLE _ A judge has dismissed a lawsuit over the use of organ donor body parts for research and other purposes other than transplantation, and officials say they plan to revise the state's consent procedure as a result. King County Superior Court Judge Joan E. DuBuque rejected a case brought by Nancy Adams and her husband Matthew against the county medical examiner's office after they learned that organs from her son, Jesse Smith, 21, were sent to a research company without the family's knowledge.

Stands.

MEMORIAL FILLS

SEATTLE _ At the Garden of Remembrance in downtown Seattle, worker Randy Mitchell sandblasted the names of 29 more Washington servicemen and servicewomen killed in Iraq and Afghanistan onto the war memorial. Mitchell, 49, works for Quiring Monuments, and so this is what he does every day: Carve the names of the dead into stone. An AP Member Showcase by Keri Murakami, Seattle Post−Intelligencer.

Stands.

AP Photo of May 24: WASEA102.

SPORTS:

BBA−−MARINERS−MATEO

TACOMA _ The 2,900 miles between Yankee Stadium and Cheney Stadium don't begin to describe Julio Mateo's journey during the last three weeks. The troubled relief pitcher, accused of assaulting his wife at a Manhattan hotel, warmed up before a game for the first time since prior to his May 5 arrest. He's now with Triple−A Tacoma, instead of the Seattle Mariners. By Gregg Bell.

Stands.

AP Photos.

DAUGHERTY HOSPITALIZED

EVERETT _ June Daugherty was saved from cardiac arrest and death through extraordinary fortune on Tuesday. Now she begins life with the defibrillator that doctors installed in her chest on Thursday. She can ask Kayla Burt for advice.

Stands.

AP Photos of May 24: WAJN101−106.

MARINERS−DEVIL RAYS

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. _ Carl Crawford had three RBIs and triggered a seven−run third inning, leading the Tampa Bay Devil Rays past the Seattle Mariners 13−12 on Thursday.

New. Stands.

INDEX:Advisories 91 AP Photos.

The supervisor in Seattle will be George Tibbits (gtibbitsap.org) at (800) 552−7694 or (206) 682−1812. The photo supervisor is at (206) 682−4801 or (800) 552−7694.

For questions on the Olympia report, call Correspondent Rachel La Corte at (360) 753−7222. For questions on the Spokane report, call Correspondent Nicholas Geranios at (800) 824−4928 or (509) 624−1258.

Please do not give out these phone numbers or e−mail addresses to members of the general public.

Reruns of stories are available from http://yourap.org or from the Service Desk at (800) 838−4616. For photo repeats, go to the AP Photos rerun web site at www.photorerun.ap.org, or contact the photos rerun support desk in New York at (212) 621−1904. For graphics repeats, contact the graphics service desk in New York at (212) 621−1905.

Please submit your best stories via e−mail to seaeap.org. Stories should be in plain text format.

INDEX:Advisories 92 −−Third NewsWatch−−

DATE: 2007.05.25 KEYWORDS: ADVISORIES PUBLICATION: bnw WORD COUNT: 299

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty is calling on the leaders of all federal political parties to pass Bill C−10, which would increase penalties for gun crimes.

McGuinty also wants what he calls a ``real ban'' on handguns, which he says should have no place ``anywhere in Canada.''

He spoke as Toronto police continue to look for suspects in the murder of 15−year−old Jordan Manners.

He was shot Wednesday in the hallway of a Toronto high school. (3)

(Hillier) (Audio: 37)

Canada's top−ranking military officer says Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan got at least two morale−boosting visits recently.

General Rick Hillier is referring to the surprise trip to Afghanistan earlier this week by Prime Minister Harper, and the May 2nd visit by the Stanley Cup and 19 former N−H−L players.

Speaking at The Canadian Press annual dinner, Hillier says that convinced Canadian military personnel in Afghanistan that they're appreciated and are not forgotten. (3)

(QUEbudget)

After electing a new provincial government less than nine weeks ago, Quebecers are facing the prospect of doing it again.

The budget tabled yesterday afternoon by Premier Jean Charest's minority Liberal government is being rejected by both opposition parties.

If the A−D−Q and Parti Quebecois vote against the budget a week from today, Charest's government would fall, likely resulting in an election.

The lieutenant governor could avoid an election by asking the opposition A−D−Q to form a government. (3)

(Snowbird Memorial)

A military funeral will be held today at C−F−B Moose Jaw for Captain Shawn McCaughey.

The Snowbird pilot was killed a week ago when his plane crashed during practice in Great Falls, Montana.

McCaughey's family and fellow Snowbird pilots will attend the service, which is closed to the public. (3)

(Police Bag Stolen)

−−Third NewsWatch−− 93 Police in Kitchener, Ontario are looking for an officer's knapsack containing his gun, 45 bullets, a police radio, pepper spray, and handcuffs.

The bag was taken yesterday outside Kitchener Collegiate Institute, where an undercover officer left it unattended for about 20 seconds.

The school was locked down for up to three hours as police searched the building and questioned students. (3)

(Australia Kangaroo Cull)

In Australia, the Defence Department's plan to shoot more than three−thousand kangaroos outside Canberra has been derailed.

More than six−thousand kangaroos are overrunning two military properties near the Australian capital.

But, the planned cull was stopped by police, who say a mass shooting would pose a risk to the public. (3)

(NewsWatch by Bill Marshall)

−−Third NewsWatch−− 94 −−Nineteenth NewsWatch−−

DATE: 2007.05.25 KEYWORDS: ADVISORIES PUBLICATION: bnw WORD COUNT: 282

The latest Canadian offensive in Afghanistan was only a few hours old on Friday when the country's 55th soldier since 2002 lost his life.

Corporal Matthew McCulley was killed by a roadside bomb.

McCulley was taking part in Operation Hoover, a plan designed to flush insurgents out of the Zhari district of the country.

He was based at C−F−B Petawawa, Ontario.

His age has not been released. (19)

(Snowbird−Memorial) (audio: 182)

Five CF−18's screamed across a Saskatchewan sky in honour of fallen Snowbird pilot Captain Shawn McCaughey on Friday.

The 31−year−old from Candiac, Quebec died last Friday when his jet crashed during a practice before a weekend airshow in Montana.

McCaughey had dreamed of one day flying a CF−18.

About one−thousand people packed a hangar in Moose Jaw for McCaughey's funeral. (19)

(Cda−Greenhouse−Gases)

Former Ontario premier Mike Harris is being hailed as a hero of the environment.

Federal Environment Minister John Baird says Harris's decision in the 1990's to increase nuclear capacity in the province is now paying dividends.

Figures from Environment Canada from 2005 show greenhouse gas emissions were up only marginally that year from 2003.

However, the numbers are still 32 per cent too high by Kyoto protocol standards. (19)

(Greyhound−Strike)

Striking Greyhound workers have narrowly voted to accept a tentative agreement that will put an end to a week−long strike.

Just 51 per cent of the employees who voted were in favour of the agreement that was reached late Wednesday.

−−Nineteenth NewsWatch−− 95 More than 11−hundred unionized employees were eligible to vote.

The Amalgamated Transit Union says the two−year deal will provide wage hikes of three per cent each year. (19)

(Mtl−Transit−Strike)

Transit officials in Montreal are apologizing to transit riders for the recent four−day strike by offering them a two to three−dollar fare reduction on transit passes.

But it won't be until September.

The strike by transit workers ended Friday and full service should resume Saturday. (19)

(Abandoned−Baby)

Police in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan say that so far, no one has come forward who has been able to identify the woman who gave birth in a Wal−Mart bathroom.

Police released video surveillance of the woman on Thursday.

One official says concern is mounting for the mother, who may be distressed.

A trust fund has been set up for the baby boy and donations are pouring in. (19)

(ODDITY−Dead−Roommate)

As far as crimes go, this one is pretty low.

A Michigan woman who police say lived with her roommate's corpse for three weeks is facing multiple charges.

She has been charged with impersonating her dead roommate and trying to scam money from her roommate's father.

She managed to take him for 16−hundred dollars. (19)

(NewsWatch by Leanne Davis)

−−Nineteenth NewsWatch−− 96 INDEX:Defence, International

DATE: 2007.05.25 KEYWORDS: DEFENCE INTERNATIONAL PUBLICATION: bnw WORD COUNT: 127

MA'SUM GHAR, Afghanistan −− The largest Canadian offensive against the Taliban in nearly two months began today in the Zhari district of southern Afghanistan.

Operation Hoover started under cover of darkness with Canadian, Portuguese and Afghan troops, backed by British air power on the edge of the Registan desert.

Within minutes of one convoy of vehicles pulling out, a loud explosion echoed off the mountains as a Canadian tank struck an improvised explosive device.

No injuries were reported.

Colonel Mike Cessford, deputy commander of Canadian forces in Afghanistan, says it's the largest and most ambitious offensive for Canada in more than six weeks.

The two−pronged offensive also includes soldiers from the 2 R−C−R battle group massing just north of the Arghandab River to prevent insurgents from escaping as the column of armour punches south.

(CP)

INDEX:Defence, International 97 Canadian soldier killed in massive offensive in Afghanistan

DATE: 2007.05.25 KEYWORDS: INTERNATIONAL DEFENCE PUBLICATION: bnw WORD COUNT: 86

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan − A Canadian soldier was killed today when an improvised explosive device detonated in Afghanistan's volatile Zhari district.

One other soldier has suffered non−life−threatening injuries and an Aghan interpreter has also been wounded.

The dead soldier, whose identity is being withheld pending notification of next of kin, is the 55th Canadian serviceman to die in Afghanistan.

The Canadian forces are taking part in Operation Hoover, being billed as the largest and most ambitious anti−Taliban offensive in more than six weeks.

Portuguese and Afghan troops, backed by British air power, are also part of the operation.

Canadian soldier killed in massive offensive in Afghanistan 98 −−Fourteenth NewsWatch−−

DATE: 2007.05.25 KEYWORDS: ADVISORIES PUBLICATION: bnw WORD COUNT: 244

A Canadian soldier killed by an improvised explosive device today in Afghanistan has been identified.

Corporal Matthew McCully died and a comrade was wounded in the attack.

It happened just hours after the start of ``Operation Hoover'', an offensive by Canadian, Portuguese and Afghan troops against insurgents.

The second Canadian soldier is in stable condition in hospital in Kandahar.

Among those paying tribute today, Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay said we've lost a very fine Canadian.

McCully is the 55th Canadian soldier to die in Afghanistan. (14)

(Mtl−Transit−Strike)

Transit chaos in Montreal could be near an end.

The city's transit authority and the union for two−thousand striking workers have reached a tentative agreement.

The workers have been off the job since Tuesday and only essential rush hour service was being provided.

The Quebec labour minister had imposed a deadline of this afternoon for the two sides to settle the strike. (14)

(QUEbudget−Election?) (Audio:140)

The leader of the new Official Opposition in Quebec isn't backing away from summer election rhetoric.

Mario Dumont says he hasn't excluded the possibility of a snap vote over the minority Liberal government's new budget.

Both opposition parties plan to vote against it next week.

Premier Jean Charest has also been talking tough, saying he'll stick to his planned tax cut of nearly one (b) billion dollars. (14)

(Plane−Fire)

A United Airlines jet has landed safely at Dulles International Airport outside Washington after one of its engines caught fire.

Flight 8−9−7 had just started on its way to Beijing when it had to return.

−−Fourteenth NewsWatch−− 99 It's unclear how the fire started. (14)

(ENT−O'Donnell−''The View'')

Fans have had their last view of Rosie O'Donnell as a host on ``The View.

A−B−C has announced that O'Donnell won't return to the show, and asked the network for ``an early leave.''

Her contract was up June 22nd.

O'Donnell decided not to return after she and Elisabeth Hasselbeck had a huge blowout on the show Wednesday. (14)

(HEALTH−Diabetes)

A new study may illustrate there may be another downside to kids watching too much T−V.

Scientists in Norway say children with Type−One diabetes who spent the most viewing time had a tougher time controlling their blood sugar.

Type−One diabetes is not related to obesity.

Some experts, though, say it might suggest diabetic children may feel too sick to do much else.

(NewsWatch by Clint Thomas)

−−Fourteenth NewsWatch−− 100 TOR OUT YYY

DATE: 2007.05.25 KEYWORDS: ADVISORIES PUBLICATION: bnw WORD COUNT: 225

Another Canadian has died in Afghanistan.

He's the 55th soldier to be killed in the war−torn country.

The military says the fatality occurred at the start of the largest Canadian offensive against the Taliban in nearly two months.

The deputy commander of Canadian forces says they lost a great soldier today.

But an emotional Colonel Mike Cessford says he died doing work he believed in.

Another Canadian and an Afghan interpreter were wounded in the attack.

The name of the dead soldier isn't being released until his family is notified. (7)

(Snowbird Memorial)

A private military funeral will be held today for a Canadian Snowbird.

The service for Captain Shawn McCaughey (muh−KAW'−hee) will be held at C−F−B Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.

The 31−year−old Quebec native was killed when his jet crashed a week ago today during a practice flight at an air base in Montana.

The investigation into the crash continues. (7)

(High School Shooting)

Toronto police are still hunting for the gunman in the high−school slaying of 15−year−old Jordan Manners.

Hundreds attended a candlelight vigil last night for the Grade Nine student at C−W Jefferys Collegiate.

Authorities say they still have no motive for the shooting.

Some students say it happened after a fight over fireworks outside the school. (7)

(Greyhound Strike)

Greyhound customers should know by tonight whether bus and courier service will resume across Western Canada.

The bus line's union leadership has recommended its close to 12−hundred members accept a tentative

TOR OUT YYY 101 agreement.

Vote results are expected later today.

Greyhound service in B−C, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba was suspended nine days ago. (7)

(Quebec Budget)

Quebecers are facing the possibility of returning to the polls this summer.

The minority Liberal government isn't even two months old.

But the budget it introduced yesterday is being panned by both the opposition A−D−Q and the P−Q.

None of the parties are prepared for another election, which would cost 70 (m) million dollars.

Not only does the Parti Quebecois have no money, it doesn't have a leader either. (7)

(Delta Whales)

They've so far been unfazed by the sounds of other whales and clanging pipes.

So, two wayward humpbacks will next encounter the spray of fire hoses.

Scientists hope this will finally herd the mother and her calf back toward the ocean.

The pair has now been circling in the Sacramento River −− more than 110−kilometres from the Pacific −− for days. (7)

(NewsWatch by Geri Smith)

TOR OUT YYY 102 −−Eighth NewsWatch−−

DATE: 2007.05.25 KEYWORDS: ADVISORIES PUBLICATION: bnw WORD COUNT: 232

The Canadian death toll has now hit 55 in war−torn Afghanistan.

One soldier was killed today and another wounded when an improvised explosive device went off about 35−kilometres west of Kandahar City.

The fatality occurred as Canadian troops launched Operation Hoover, their biggest offensive on Taliban forces in two months.

The wounded soldier's injuries are not said to be life−threatening.

Names have yet to be released. (8)

(Snowbird Memorial)

Mourners will gather today at C−F−B Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan to remember Captain Shawn McCaughey (muh−KAW'−hee).

The 31−year−old Quebec native was killed when his Tutor jet crashed near Great Falls, Montana a week ago today.

He was practising for an air show at the time.

The fallen Snowbird pilot was engaged to be married next month.

The cause of the crash has yet to be determined, but the investigation continues. (8)

(High School Shooting)

A slain Toronto teenager is being remembered as a gifted student with unlimited potential.

Fifteen−year−old Jordan Manners was gunned down Wednesday afternoon in the hallway of C−W Jefferys Collegiate.

Three−hundred people gathered at the school for a candlelight vigil last night.

A former teacher says Manners was a talented young man.

Investigators have yet to make an arrest in the case. (8)

(Greyhound Strike)

About 12−hundred Greyhound Canada workers are casting ballots on a tentative contract agreement.

−−Eighth NewsWatch−− 103 Results of the ratification vote are expected later today.

The labour dispute prompted the suspension of Greyhound's passenger and courier service in the four western provinces May 17th.

Greyhound is Canada's largest bus line and serves about 700 communities with one−thousand departures daily across the country. (8)

(Quebec Budget)

Another Quebec election might be on the horizon.

The opposition parties have swiftly rejected yesterday's budget from the minority Liberal government.

Both the A−D−Q and P−Q say they'll vote it down.

Finance Minister Monique Jerome−Forget says the opposition parties will face the wrath of the people if they trigger an election not even two months after the last one. (8)

(John Wayne 100)

The town of Winterset, Iowa is marking what would have been the 100th birthday of native son John Wayne.

Never mind that he only lived in Winterset until he was four.

The festivities include a groundbreaking for the John Wayne Birthplace Museum and Learning Center. (8)

(NewsWatch by Geri Smith)

−−Eighth NewsWatch−− 104 INDEX:Defence, International

DATE: 2007.05.25 KEYWORDS: DEFENCE INTERNATIONAL PUBLICATION: bnw WORD COUNT: 140

MA'SUM GHAR, Afghanistan −− Prime Minister Stephen Harper is extending condolences to the family of a Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan.

Corporal Matthew McCully was killed today when he stepped on a jerry−rigged anti−tank mine in the opening stages of Canada's largest anti−Taliban sweep in nearly two months.

Harper says he is proud of McCully's contribution to the Afghan mission, and proud of all Canadian Forces men and women.

He says they are aware of the risks of the mission, yet they accept the risks and fulfill their duties to stablize Afghanistan and build a better future for the Afghan people.

McCully was a member of Canada's Operational Mentor and Liaison Team.

He was marching into battle alongside the Afghan troops he helped to train.

Colonel Mike Cessford, deputy commander of Canadian troops in Afghanistan says, ``We lost a good kid today.''

He says McCully, a signals operator based at Petawawa, Ontario, was doing what he needed to do, what he wanted to do.

Corporal McCully is the 55th Canadian soldier to die in Afghanistan since 2002.

A senior Canadian diplomat has also been killed there.

(CP) mcw

INDEX:Defence, International 105 −−Twentieth NewsWatch−−

DATE: 2007.05.25 KEYWORDS: ADVISORIES PUBLICATION: bnw WORD COUNT: 306

Quebec's minority Liberal government could be in trouble.

The Parti Quebecois says they're not going to support the budget presented by the government Thursday.

The P−Q made the decision at a caucus meeting Thursday night.

The Action Democratique said earlier in the day that they would oppose it.

Unless they can find a way out of the impasse, the Liberals may lose the vote on the budget, thus defeating the government that has only been in place since March. (20)

(Hillier−Afghanistan)

Canada's Chief of Defence Staff says life can sometimes be lonely and frightening for our men and women in uniform in Afghanistan.

In an address to The Canadian Press annual dinner, General Rick Hillier says that any show of support from home can be a big boost in morale.

Hillier says the Prime Minister's surprise visit this week was ``a powerful thing'' for all concerned. (20)

(Police−Bag−Stolen)

Police in Kitchener, Ontario are continuing the search for a missing bag that contained several items including an officer's gun.

The bag was put down by two plainclothes officers who were investigating an incident outside a high school.

Minutes later it was gone.

The school was locked down Thursday and a search conducted but the bag was not turned up. (20)

(High−School−Shooting)

Students at the Toronto high school where a 15−year−old was shot and killed Wednesday appear mixed on whether or not increased security at their school is the way to go.

Some say metal detectors might be going too far while others suggest surveillance cameras would have prevented the incident.

Toronto Police say they are still searching for a suspect or suspects in the shooting of Jordan Manners. (20)

(Cda−Mexico−Tourists)

−−Twentieth NewsWatch−− 106 The brother of the Alberta man who died recently on a Mexican vacation says he's not hopeful about the investigation.

Grand Prairie native Jeff Toews (taves) died after sustaining severe head injuries.

Officials in Cancun say that the 33−year−old was drunk and fell from a balcony while his family says he was beaten.

Murray Toews says that Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay's offer to help Mexican authorities investigate such cases is nothing more than a goodwill gesture. (20)

(Britain−Pricey Divorce)

After 29−years of marriage, Beverley Charman is getting a huge pay day to go along with her divorce.

A British appeals court has upheld a decision that will see the divorcee get 95 (m) million dollars in her split from her husband John, an insurance tycoon.

But the largest judgment ever in a contested divorce may not last.

Former Beatle Paul McCartney's split with his second wife, Heather Mills McCartney could cost him even more. (20)

(NewsWatch by Leanne Davis)

−−Twentieth NewsWatch−− 107 −−Twelfth NewsWatch−−

DATE: 2007.05.25 KEYWORDS: ADVISORIES PUBLICATION: bnw WORD COUNT: 306

As Canadian troops begin a new offensive in Afghanistan today, they're coping with the loss of another soldier.

A Canadian soldier has been killed and another injured today while on patrol in Zhari district.

They were hit by an improvised explosive device.

General Rick Hillier says the loss of a soldier isn't something he ever gets used to, adding today is a tough day.

The unidentified soldier was the 55th Canadian serviceman to die in Afghanistan.

(NHL−Tocchet−Gambling)

The N−H−L says it will now complete its investigation into Rick Tocchet's involvement in a sports betting ring.

Tocchet pleaded guilty to running the operation in a New Jersey court today.

It's believed Tocchet will likely avoid jail time as a result.

Janet Jones, the wife of hockey great and Coyotes coach Wayne Gretzky, was accused of betting but was not charged in the case. (12)

(BIZ−Budget−Surplus)

So much for the end of the era of the massive surplus.

The federal government ran a surplus of 13.7 (b) billion dollars in the last fiscal year −− higher than last year's surplus and a half (b) billion dollars more than predicted in the March 19th budget.

The Finance Department says the figure is not final, and does not reflect four (b) billion in spending announced by the government in the budget. (12)

(NB−Irving−Refinery)

Federal Green leader Elizabeth May is joining other environmentalists in blasting Ottawa's plan to severely limit its review of a proposed new oil refinery in New Brunswick.

The government is planning to look at only how the project might concern tanker movements, barges and piers.

The province is in charge of reviewing other issues involving the seven (b) billion dollar project planned for

−−Twelfth NewsWatch−− 108 Saint John. (12)

(Bush−Iraq)

The White House says President Bush will sign the Iraq spending bill into law as soon as it reaches his desk, likely this afternoon. The revised bill will provide almost 95 (b) billion dollars to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through September.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she thinks Bush's Iraq policy is going to ``begin to unravel,'' and Democrats will eventually bring an end to the war. (12)

(ENT−Ryan O'Neal)

L−A prosecutors will not charge Ryan O'Neal for firing a gun during a brawl with his older son earlier this year.

The decision was made after interviews with witnesses.

The actor has said he fired a warning shot to scare his 42−year−old son, Griffin, who had attacked him with a fireplace poker. (12)

(NewsWatch by Clint Thomas)

−−Twelfth NewsWatch−− 109 −−Fifteenth NewsWatch−−

DATE: 2007.05.25 KEYWORDS: ADVISORIES PUBLICATION: bnw WORD COUNT: 281

A soldier based at C−F−B Petawawa is the latest Canadian casualty in Afghanistan.

Corporal Matthew McCully was killed when a roadside bomb exploded during a foot patrol today in the volatile Zhari district.

Another soldier is in stable condition and an Afghan interpreter was also wounded.

General Rick Hillier and Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay are among those who paid tribute to McCully's sacrifice today.

McCully is the 55th Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan since 2002.

(Snowbird−Memorial)

A private ceremony is paying tribute to a fallen Snowbird.

About one−thousand mourners gathered at 15 Wing Moose Jaw in Saskatchewan to pay last respects to Captain Shawn McCaughey.

The 31−year−old from Quebec was killed a week ago when his jet crashed while his team was practising for a performance in Montana. (15)

(QUEbudget−Election?)

The leader of the new Official Opposition in Quebec hasn't excluded the possibility of another election this summer.

Premier Jean Charest has been steadfast in insisting he will stick to the tax cut of nearly one (b) billion dollars announced in yesterday's budget.

Both opposition parties are rejecting the budget.

Opposition leader Mario Dumont says he's already held a conference call with his campaign team. (15)

(NB−Irving−Refinery)

Environment Minister John Baird insists a proposed oil refinery in New Brunswick will go through the ``toughest'' environmental scrutiny before being approved.

Ottawa plans to study only the marine component of the seven (b) billion dollar Irving refinery proposed for Saint John.

That would leave the more serious issues to the New Brunswick government, which has infuriated

−−Fifteenth NewsWatch−− 110 environmentalists. (15)

(Abandoned−Baby) (Audio:158)

Release of store surveillance tapes showing a woman who allegedly abandoned her newborn in a Wal−Mart washroom has failed to help police identify her.

A police spokeswoman in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan says the tapes have resulted in some tips for investigators, but nothing firm.

Store employees spent the lunch hour today flipping burgers to raise money for the baby, who is in stable condition in hospital.

(15)

(US−Memorial−Day)

High gas prices aren't expected to deter an estimated 38 (m) million Americans from heading out on the road to kick off their Memorial Day long weekend.

A recent poll found gasoline would have to rise another dollar a gallon before Americans would significantly cut back on their driving. (15)

(NewsWatch by Clint Thomas)

−−Fifteenth NewsWatch−− 111 Update:Adds name of soldier, new headline

DATE: 2007.05.25 KEYWORDS: INTERNATIONAL DEFENCE PUBLICATION: bnw WORD COUNT: 59

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan − The name of the Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan has been released.

The military has identified him as Corporal Matthew J. McCully.

A roadside bomb exploded while he was on a foot patrol earlier today in the volatile Zhari district of southern Afghanistan.

He is the 55th Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan since 2002.

Col. Mike Cessford, deputy commander of Joint Task Force Afghanistan, says another soldier suffered non−life−threatening injuries.

An Afghan interpreter was also wounded in the blast.

(BN)

Update:Adds name of soldier, new headline 112 Canadian soldier killed in massive offensive in Afghanistan

DATE: 2007.05.25 KEYWORDS: INTERNATIONAL DEFENCE PUBLICATION: bnw WORD COUNT: 88

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan − A Canadian soldier was killed today when his vehicle struck an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan's volatile Zhari district.

One other soldier has suffered non−life−threatening injuries and an Aghan interpreter has also been wounded.

The dead soldier, whose identity is being withheld pending notification of next of kin, is the 55th Canadian serviceman to die in Afghanistan.

The Canadian forces are taking part in Operation Hoover, being billed as the largest and most ambitious anti−Taliban offensive in more than six weeks.

Portuguese and Afghan troops, backed by British air power, are also part of the operation.

Canadian soldier killed in massive offensive in Afghanistan 113 Casualties a tragic but inevitable aspect of war

IDNUMBER 200705260248 PUBLICATION: The Windsor Star DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Final SECTION: Editorial/Opinion PAGE: A6 BYLINE: Bob Bergen SOURCE: Special to The Windsor Star WORD COUNT: 635

The next time a Canadian soldier is killed in Afghanistan or anywhere else, think about his or her death the way soldiers do and ask the following two questions:

When a police officer is killed on the job, do Canadians want the police to stop protecting their communities?

When a fireman or woman dies on the job, do Canadians want firefighters to stop fighting fires?

The troops don't understand those who get squeamish or question Canada's contribution to rebuilding Afghanistan when a soldier or soldiers are killed or wounded by the Taliban.

They accept that risking their lives in the war against terrorism is part of their job and that casualties are an inevitable fact of war.

They also understand the importance of Canada's contribution of more than 2,500 troops to NATO's fight against the al−Qaida−supported Taliban given the extremely limited number of NATO troops.

Compared to NATO's past reconstruction effort in the Balkans in the 1990s, the 37,000 NATO soldiers currently in Afghanistan is a relative drop in the proverbial bucket.

After the Dayton Accord in November 1995, the international community responded with some 60,000 troops in Bosnia to enforce the peace effort among a population of 3.9 million Serbs, Croats and Muslims.

If the international community had responded to the UN approved NATO mission in Afghanistan with a population of 31 million on the same per capita basis, there would be some 476,900 troops in Afghanistan fighting the insurgents and creating the stability needed for reconstruction, not 37,000.

That fact underscores the challenges NATO faces in Afghanistan and helps explain the cause and effect of certain military responses to the Taliban insurgents.

For example, the dearth of troops has forced the United States to rely on air strikes against the Taliban that threaten to turn Afghanistan' s civilian population against NATO.

Some 132 Afghan civilians have been accidentally killed since March last year, the latest being at least 21 caught between 200 Taliban fighters and pinned−down U.S. Special Forces who called in air strikes when their mortars could not take out the militants.

As one NATO official told The New York Times: "without air, we'd need hundreds of thousands of troops."

Casualties a tragic but inevitable aspect of war 114 Unfortunately, Canadians have also caused civilian casualties, mostly as a result of soldiers firing upon vehicles whose drivers ignored commands to keep back from their convoys.

But, in combat situations, the Canadians are now using their Leopard tanks to provide direct fire support against Taliban positions which greatly reduces the politically−charged risk of civilian casualties.

In the past, Canadian troops relied upon either U.S. air support or their own heavy artillery to attack hardened enemy positions. While artillery is now much more accurate than it was historically, it remains very much an area weapon.

Canada's Leopard tanks which arrived in Afghanistan in October last year went a long way to minimizing the potential for unintended civilian casualties.

With a muzzle velocity of 1,067 metres per second, their laser sighting system is so accurate they can fire an armour−piercing round through the same hat−sized hole left in a target by the previous one at 1,200 metres.

Still, war is war and the risk of casualties whether collateral or Canadian can only be minimized and not eliminated completely as the deaths of 54 Canadian soldiers and one diplomat since 2002 painfully illustrate.

The vast majority of those deaths were caused by suicide bombers, improvised roadside bombs and mines.

Those ground threats would be greatly reduced by Chinook heavylift helicopters that can carry up to 30 combat−ready soldiers or some 12,700 kilograms of cargo.

Canada once had Chinooks, but Brian Mulroney's cash−hungry Conservative government sold them to the Netherlands in the 1990s.

Although Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government has earmarked $4.7 billion for 16 new Chinooks and their maintenance for 20 years, it will be lucky if the first is put into service in Afghanistan by the end of Canada's current mission in February, 2009.

In the meantime, without those helicopters Canadians depend on our allies for helicopter transport which limits independent operations or, failing that, forces them to use ground transportation which exposes them to great risk.

Together, those soldiers are winning Canada newfound respect around the world by doing their country's dangerous but vitally important work.

If one of them dies, think of the police; think of fire fighters.

Mourn the loss, but don't ask the rest to stop doing their jobs.

Bob Bergen is a research fellow with the Canadian Defence &Foreign Affairs Institute in Calgary.

Casualties a tragic but inevitable aspect of war 115 Canada loses 'good kid'; Bomb kills Cpl. Matthew McCully in Afghanistan

IDNUMBER 200705260229 PUBLICATION: The Windsor Star DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Final SECTION: News PAGE: A8 ILLUSTRATION: Photo: Canadian Press / Cpl. Matthew McCully; DATELINE: KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan BYLINE: Tom Blackwell SOURCE: CanWest News Service WORD COUNT: 594

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan − Cpl. Matthew McCully had been carrying out one of the most important tasks the Canadian Forces have here: helping train the newly formed Afghan national army.

One day, it is hoped, the ANA will replace all NATO troops in Afghanistan, providing the West its longed−for exit strategy. That is a day McCully, 25, will never see.

The young "mentor" for local troops was killed Friday when a bomb blew up next to him as he marched alongside his Afghan colleagues in a major anti−Taliban operation.

A second Canadian was wounded and an interpreter aiding the unit was slightly injured in the blast at about 8 a.m. near the village of Nalgham, 35 kilometres west of Kandahar.

"Our mentoring team are comrades in arms with the Afghans," said Cessford, deputy commander of the Canadian mission in Afghanistan.

"They share the risks, they work closely with them. Unfortunately, when this soldier was moving forward with other Canadians and with Afghan soldiers, an IED was triggered and he was killed."

The death brings to 55 the number of Canadian troops killed at the hands of the enemy or in accidents in Afghanistan since 2002.

It is the 11th death this year, as activity by the Taliban appears to be heating up.

"We lost a good kid today," said Cessford. "It's a pretty sad day, but he was doing what he needed to be doing and what he wanted to do ... We'll miss him."

HOMETOWN NOT AVAILABLE

His friends, the commander said, "thought very highly of him." The soldier's hometown was not available

Canada loses 'good kid'; Bomb kills Cpl. Matthew McCully in Afghanistan 116 Friday.

The men were part of Operation Hoover, an offensive against the Taliban in Zhari district, where the insurgents have engaged Canadian troops in several firefights lately.

Although the Canadian battle group was involved, the operation was being led by the Afghans, part of a push to give them a bigger role in the counter− insurgency war.

A special forces member died April 18 in an accident when he fell from a communications tower.

By this time last year, eight Canadian soldiers had been killed in southern Afghanistan, as well as one diplomat, Glyn Berry.

Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier said in Toronto the moral support of ordinary Canadians is essential to the success of the military, especially the mission in Afghanistan.

"It's always tough when we lose a soldier," Hillier told a business audience on Bay Street on Friday morning.

TOUGH DAY

"There's no way you ever get used to it, no way you ever want to get used to it. This is a tough day."

The mentoring of Afghan national army soldiers is thought to be crucial to providing an orderly exit strategy for Canadian and other NATO troops. It is hoped the ANA will eventually be capable of maintaining security on its own, without the presence of foreign armies.

The Canadians working with them speak highly of their war−fighting prowess, and fearlessness in the face of the enemy.

"If they hear gunfire, they will run toward it," said one officer recently.

The fatal patrol on Friday was through a populated area, which can work to the insurgents' advantage, said Cessford.

"The Taliban have chosen to bring this fight among the people, and you have to live with that," he said.

TOLL

508 since 2001

U.S. 325

Canada loses 'good kid'; Bomb kills Cpl. Matthew McCully in Afghanistan 117 Canada 55 (56 with diplomat)

U.K. 55

Germany 21

Spain 20

France 9

Italy 9

The Netherlands 6

Denmark 4

Romania 4

Sweden 2

Australia 1

Norway 1

South Korea 1

Portugal 1

Finland 1

Czechoslovakia 1

Canada loses 'good kid'; Bomb kills Cpl. Matthew McCully in Afghanistan 118 Seeking balance; Women at forefront as Hosseini returns to Afghanistan

IDNUMBER 200705260144 PUBLICATION: The Windsor Star DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Final SECTION: Books PAGE: F7 Colour Photo: BOOK COVER: A Thousand Splendid Suns by KhaledHosseini ; Colour Photo: Steve Bosch, Vancouver Sun, File / ANOTHER VIEW: Khaled Hosseini, the ILLUSTRATION: author of The Kite Runner, gives Afghan women a voice in his new novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns. ; BYLINE: Claudia Parsons SOURCE: Reuters Life! WORD COUNT: 504

A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS

By Khaled Hosseini

(Viking Canada) 384 pages, $34

− − −

His novel The Kite Runner, about the troubled friendship of two Afghan boys, struck a chord with millions of readers but Khaled Hosseini says he felt part of the Afghan story was left untold − the women's side.

"I went into this with a bit more of a mission than the first novel," Hosseini said of his new book A Thousand Splendid Suns, which has just been published.

The Kite Runner was published in 2003, a time of high public interest in Afghanistan because of the U.S. invasion after the Sept. 11 attacks. It spent more than two years on the bestseller lists with more than four million copies now in print.

"That first novel was entirely populated by men, it was really a story about men and the friendship between men," Hosseini told Reuters in an interview. "The whole gender issue I had pretty much steered clear of in that novel."

In 2003 Hosseini, a physician who lives in the United States, returned to his native Afghanistan for the first time since 1976 on a two−week trip to see for himself how the country was faring after the toppling of the Taliban.

"Many of the things I saw and experienced in Kabul came back to me when I started writing this novel," Hosseini said.

The new book is the story of two women, Laila and Mariam, thrown together by forced marriages to the same man. Initially suspicious of each other, they forge a deep friendship that is told against the backdrop of three

Seeking balance; Women at forefront as Hosseini returns to Afghanistan 119 decades of Afghan history.

"In some senses they're inspired by the collective voice of the women that I met in Afghanistan back in 2003," he said.

"The issue of women is a very sensitive one in Afghanistan. (But) the things I talk about have been well documented, particularly when it comes to the fighting between the warlords and what the Taliban did to the people."

Publishers Weekly magazine gave A Thousand Splendid Suns a coveted starred review, describing it as "powerful (and) harrowing."

"Hosseini gives a forceful but nuanced portrait of a patriarchal despotism where women are agonizingly dependent on fathers, husbands and especially sons, the bearing of male children being their sole path to social status," it said.

A movie of The Kite Runner is due for release later this year and Hosseini said discussions were in the early stages for the second book to be made into a film as well.

"In many ways Afghanistan still is very much a mysterious and enigmatic place to a lot of people," Hosseini said, adding that while his books were by no means history books, he was happy if they spark curiosity about Afghanistan in readers.

"I've always found that fiction has been a great way for me to learn about things," he said. "I learned more about the great depression from The Grapes of Wrath than I did from reading any history book."

Hosseini said the Iraq war had distracted attention from Afghanistan, which was still struggling with huge problems such as illiteracy, health care, poor infrastructure and corruption.

"I landed in Kabul on 2003 on the very day that the war started in Iraq," he said.

"You could all but hear the collective groan break out in Kabul because there was a fear that when that war happened it would funnel attention and money and funds and assistance from Afghanistan into this potentially open−ended, big war.

"And to a large extent that's what's happened. Afghanistan is not a front page news story anymore. Iraq is."

Seeking balance; Women at forefront as Hosseini returns to Afghanistan 120 Retracing the Beatles' trip on the Indian hippy trail; Will a drive in 2007 in a 1971 Beetle to Rishikesh, in northern India, yoga capital of the world, a place made famous by the Beatles, help to unlock the door to ancient mysteries?

IDNUMBER 200705260203 PUBLICATION: Vancouver Sun DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Final SECTION: Driving Life PAGE: J2 ILLUSTRATION: Colour Photo: (See hardcopy for photo description); KEYWORDS: AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY; AUTOMOBILES SOURCE: Vancouver Sun WORD COUNT: 471

I'm driving down an Indian road full of colour and dust, dodging ox carts and rickshaws, overtaking buses that might fall to bits if you look at them for too long, yet manage to seemingly transport the equivalent of the population of Albania.

We are heading to Rishikesh. I'm leaning on the horn, begging any and all of the country's few thousand gods to keep me from crashing, feeling part of some automotive ballet where I missed the rehearsals.

It is 2007, and we are heading to Rishikesh in a 1971 VW Beetle with chrome livery and painted flames on the bonnet. The car is the blatant hook of the story; to take the Love Bug to one of the Love Generation's old haunts, a Beetle to the place made famous by The Beatles.

When the fab four came here in 1968, joining the Maharishi at his ashram on the banks of the Ganges, they were continuing a trend that began in the late Fifties.

The group had just released Sgt Pepper, the album that defined psychedelia, and were hailed by the high priest of LSD, Timothy Leary, as messengers from God. More and more people had been turning on to acid, crowding into camper vans with Day−Glo paint jobs, heading for Haight−Ashbury, La Honda, Millbrook and Glastonbury....

But for others it wasn't enough. The further they looked into themselves, the further from home they seemed to get. Some of them got as far as Kathmandu, travelling from Europe through Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, before arriving burnt−out or transformed in Nepal. It became the original hippy trail, and Rishikesh was one of its principal ports of call.

But that was then. Anyone after the same trip in 2007 ought to steel themselves for some bad vibes once they wave goodbye to Turkey, maybe strap on a flak−jacket under the kaftan past Iran. As The Beatles put it on The White Album, written mainly in India, 'Happiness is a warm gun'.

There are some parts of the 250km journey from Delhi to Rishikesh where a gun on the dashboard might be

Retracing the Beatles' trip on the Indian hippy trail; Will a drive in 2007 in a 1971 Beetle to Rishikesh,121 in northern India, yoga capital of the world, a place made famous by the Beatles, help to unlock the door to ancient mysteries? just the ticket, so an Indian friend tells me − car−jacking is commonplace.

'Rules are lost'

On this road, as on any in India, you get the impression that the entire history of transport is being played out in a single, chaotic moment; bullock carts, horse−drawn carriages, bicycles, pedal and auto−rickshaws, tractors, motorbikes, cars, trucks, buses − all manner of vehicles are competing for space, the rules that govern them lost in the fog of exhaust fumes and the fury of engines. And given the huge variations in speed, overtaking is constant.

After six hours it's finally over and we are in Rishikesh. I feel like I need a few shots of 'Knock−Out whisky' from a local liquor store or a spliff the size of an ice−cream cone. The meditation can wait until tomorrow.

Excerpts from "The Acid Test", in the March issue of the BBC magazine Top Gear.

Retracing the Beatles' trip on the Indian hippy trail; Will a drive in 2007 in a 1971 Beetle to Rishikesh,122 in northern India, yoga capital of the world, a place made famous by the Beatles, help to unlock the door to ancient mysteries? Answer to C2 quiz

IDNUMBER 200705260109 PUBLICATION: Vancouver Sun DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Final SECTION: Weekend Review PAGE: C11 SOURCE: Vancouver Sun WORD COUNT: 325

A. 1,000 is not correct.

In 2006, 1,010 executions took place in China, according to estimates from Amnesty International. While the true number may be as high as 8,000, it is difficult to gauge with precision because it remains a state secret in China.

Around the world, methods of execution vary greatly. They include death by stoning (in Afghanistan and Iran), stabbing (in Somalia), beheading (in Saudi Arabia and Iraq) −− and electrocution (in several U.S. states).

B. 180 is not correct.

Iran executed 177 people in 2006 −− the second−highest number in the world. Considering that Iran's population is one−twentieth the size of China's, Iran's number of executions on a proportional basis is equal to about 3,500 in China.

Eighty−nine countries in the world have eliminated the death penalty for all crimes, and 10 have abolished it for all but exceptional crimes. Thirty countries retain the death penalty in law but have not carried out any executions for the last ten years.

Thus, 129 countries have abolished the death penalty in law or in practice. However, Asia has remained mostly untouched by the trend toward abolishing the punishment.

C. 80 is not correct.

Eighty−two executions occurred in Pakistan in 2006, giving it the third−highest number of executions. It is followed by Iraq and Sudan, which each had at least 65 executions.

Over 90 per cent of all known executions in 2006 were accounted for by just six countries −− China, Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, Sudan and the United States.

Since 1990, nine countries −− including China and the United States −− have executed prisoners who were under the age of 18 when they committed their crimes. However, both the United States and China have since changed their laws to make the practice illegal.

D. 50 is correct.

The United States carried out 53 executions in 2006 −− the sixth−highest number worldwide, just ahead of Saudi Arabia's 39. These executions were carried out in 12 U.S. states.

Answer to C2 quiz 123 In addition to the United States, the other democracies in the world that still utilize the death penalty are Japan, India, South Korea and Taiwan. While Japan carried out four executions in 2006, the other three carried out none that year.

Answer to C2 quiz 124 Not just a one−trick pony; With his second novel, Khaled Hosseini shows he can get inside women's heads. As a follow−up to The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns is a huge success

IDNUMBER 200705260095 PUBLICATION: Vancouver Sun DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Final SECTION: Weekend Review PAGE: C8 COLUMN: Sherie Posesorski Colour Photo: Ahmad Masood/AFP Files / Women and girls inAfghanistan's central province of Ghor in July 2003. That year, Khaled Hossseini went home for the first time ILLUSTRATION: in 27 years. ; Colour Photo: Author Khaled Hosseini. ; Colour Photo: A Thousand Splendid Suns ; BYLINE: Sherie Posesorski SOURCE: Vancouver Sun WORD COUNT: 1052

The overwhelming success of his first novel, The Kite Runner, surprised no one more than neophyte author Khaled Hosseini, a San Jose, Calif., doctor specializing in internal medicine.

The 2003 book drew on Hosseini's memories of his homeland, Afghanistan, where he was born in 1965. In it, the narrator, Amir, relates the story of his friendship with Hassan, the son of his father's servant. Out of self−interest and cowardice, he betrayed Hassan's devotion and friendship by running away when he saw him being raped by a school bully whom Hassan had once fought off for Amir.

The shame that surges up each time he sees Hassan drives Amir to further acts of treachery and deception he is unable to forget, even years later, after he has immigrated to the United States.

The Kite Runner's fans are as diverse as they are devoted; they include First Lady Laura Bush and radio shock jock Howard Stern. The film adaptation will be out this fall.

In his much−anticipated second novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, Hosseini presents life in Afghanistan, from the 1970s to the late '90s, through the eyes of two women.

Before you read the first paragraph, you worry for a moment that, given The Kite Runner's nearly all−male cast of characters, Hosseini may not be able to pull this off.

Not to worry. He does, and how. The two women, Mariam and Laila, are just as complex, haunted and haunting as the guilt−ridden Amir.

A Thousand Splendid Suns was inspired in part by the stories Hosseini heard from women in 2003, when he visited Afghanistan for the first time since leaving 27 years ago at age 11. In an interview, he said he heard "many sad, inspiring and horrific stories" from them. "I myself saw women in burqas trailed by four, five or six children begging for money. I wondered about their inner lives."

Not just a one−trick pony; With his second novel, Khaled Hosseini shows he can get inside women's125 heads. As a follow−up to The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns is a huge success The sympathetic engagement of his listening and wondering shows itself achingly on every page. Mariam and Laila have been fully imagined and captured with emotional delicacy and profound empathy.

His portrayal of their lives under despotic, misogynistic Taliban rule is as horrifyingly vivid as a documentary film. As you read, your belief in these two women becomes so intense that you feel their pain and joy as your would your own.

Hosseini skilfully intertwines the intimacy of the psychological novel with the narrative sweep and fast−paced melodramatic plotting of one by Charles Dickens. The book has the grip and velocity of a thriller.

Like The Kite Runner, this novel opens with a moment of negative epiphany. Amir's is the confession of his betrayal of Hassan; here, five−year−old Mariam learns she is a harami (an illegitimate child). That's what her mother, Nana, angrily calls her.

Mariam is the daughter of Jalil, a wealthy businessman in Herat, with three wives and nine legitimate children. Nana, who suffers from epilepsy, used to be his housekeeper, but now she is banished with Mariam to a small hut outside the city.

That she is a harami, "an unwanted thing ... an illegitimate person who would never have legitimate claim to the things other people had, things such as love, family, home, acceptance," is one of many rancid home truths Nana forcefeeds Mariam, out of bitterness but also out of a protective love. She reminds Mariam never to forget that "a man's accusing finger always finds a woman. Always."

Inevitably, Nana's ceaseless pessimism pushes Mariam toward her father, whose weekly visits are the highlight of her life. A solemn, lonely child, Mariam hungers for love and for the simplest things (to go to school, to visit Herat), all which Nana forbids.

At 15, Mariam rebels. She goes into Herat to seek Jalil out after he fails to show up to take her to a movie for the first time in her life. In her absence, Nana hangs herself.

Mariam learns painfully how right Nana was about Jalil when he marries her off to Rasheed, a 45−year−old Kabul shoemaker. This is a vicious, bullying, violent tyrant −− an ogre who would fit right into a Grimm brothers fairy tale.

Before long, Mariam is consumed with guilt over her misunderstanding of Nana and looks back on her old life as a paradise lost.

A virtual prisoner in Rasheed's house, she longs for a life like that of Fariba, a spirited neighbour who goes about freely with her schoolteacher husband, two sons and daughter, Laila.

Like The Kite Runner's Amir, Mariam and Laila −− though separated by age, experience, upbringing and spirit −− are motivated by loss, guilt and regret.

The novel picks up Laila's story when she's nine. She has had all the advantages Mariam has sorely missed. Dearly loved by her gentle, scholarly father, she is encouraged to excel at school and be as adventurous as her best friend, Tariq.

But the turmoil, upheaval and restrictions of life under Soviet occupation take their toll on her family. Her father is forced to work in a bread factory and her two older brothers are killed fighting with the mujahedeen militias seeking to overthrow the communist regime. Her manic−depressive mother takes to bed and refuses to leave Kabul, as many of their friends and neighbours have.

Not just a one−trick pony; With his second novel, Khaled Hosseini shows he can get inside women's126 heads. As a follow−up to The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns is a huge success Peace turns out to be elusive under the mujahedeen warlords, who, having overthrown the communists, are battling one another for control. The street battles and rocket fire get so bad that Laila's mother changes her mind, but it's too late. Their house is hit by rocket fire and Laila is buried in the rubble.

She is "rescued" by none other than Rasheed, who has ulterior motives.

Mariam, now 33, is deeply resentful when Rasheed announces he plans to take Laila as a second wife. She fears she will lose what little control she has over the household, her sanctuary.

Laila consents only after she discovers she is pregnant with Tariq's child. Her only other choices are living on the street or prostitution.

Mariam spitefully asserts her scant power over the even more powerless Laila. Yet, over time, a bond develops between them that is solidified by the birth of Laila's daughter, Aziza.

Rasheed abuses both women, so Laila plots their escape. It's nearly impossible, since under the Taliban women are forbidden to go outside without the company of a male relative. Those who are caught find themselves in the notorious Ghazi stadium, where thousands come to watch them be lashed, stoned or hanged.

Gustave Flaubert once famously remarked, "Madame Bovary, c'est moi." Khaled Hosseini has evoked the hearts and minds of Mariam and Laila with such tender understanding that he could make the same kind of statement about this novel, among the very best I've read in years.

Toronto writer Sherie Posesorski last reviewed Andrea MacPherson's novel, Beyond the Blue.

Not just a one−trick pony; With his second novel, Khaled Hosseini shows he can get inside women's127 heads. As a follow−up to The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns is a huge success Canucks defenceman Sopel to walk for poor

IDNUMBER 200705260069 PUBLICATION: Vancouver Sun DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Final SECTION: Westcoast News PAGE: B9 DATELINE: VANCOUVER BYLINE: Anupreet Sandhu Bhamra SOURCE: Vancouver Sun WORD COUNT: 200

VANCOUVER − The World Partnership Walk to fight global poverty is set for Sunday in Stanley Park. More than 5,000 people are expected to attend. This year's theme is education.

"One way to get people to empower themselves is [through] education," said walk convener Alnoor Tejpar.

According to walk organizers the Aga Khan Foundation Canada, funds raised go towards health, education, rural development and community empowerment in countries in Africa and Asia. The foundation and its partners run such programs in 29 countries.

The first Vancouver walk, which is one of nine similar events across Canada, took place in 1985.

University of B.C. president Stephen Toope will be the walk's guest of honour, in keeping with its education theme.

Another area of interest is microfinance, in which funds are provided to "empower women" in countries such as Afghanistan, and to farmers to find alternatives to controversial cash crops. "Instead of growing poppies, they can grow wheat," says Tejpar.

With regard to this year's theme, Tejpar said 6,000 women have been trained in early childhood development education since 1986 in countries such as Kenya, Uganda and India.

Walk organizers are confident they will make more money this year than last, when $1.5 million was raised. Total funds raised across Canada were $4.8 million.

Premier Gordon Campbell, Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan and Vancouver Canucks defenceman Brent Sopel will be among the participants.

The walk starts at Lumbermen's Arch at 11 a.m. [email protected]

Canucks defenceman Sopel to walk for poor 128 Canadian soldier killed by bomb in Afghanistan; A second injured in a major anti−Taliban operation

IDNUMBER 200705260024 PUBLICATION: Vancouver Sun DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Final SECTION: News PAGE: A15 Photo: Canadian Cpl. Matthew McCulley, 25, a member of theJoint Task Force ILLUSTRATION: Afghanistan, was killed by a bomb while on patrol Friday close to the village of Nalgham, west of Kandahar City. ; KEYWORDS: WAR DATELINE: KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan BYLINE: Tom Blackwell SOURCE: CanWest News Service WORD COUNT: 394

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan −− Cpl. Matthew McCully had been carrying out one of the most important tasks the Canadian Forces have here: helping train the newly formed Afghan national army.

One day, it is hoped, the ANA will replace all NATO troops in Afghanistan, providing the West its longed−for exit strategy. That is a day McCully, 25, will never see.

The young "mentor" for local troops was killed Friday when a bomb blew up next to him as he marched alongside his Afghan colleagues in a major anti−Taliban operation.

A second Canadian was wounded and an interpreter aiding the unit was slightly injured in the blast at about 8 a.m. near the village of Nalgham, 35 kilometres west of Kandahar.

"Our mentoring team are comrades in arms with the Afghans," said Cessford, deputy commander of the Canadian mission in Afghanistan.

"They share the risks, they work closely with them. Unfortunately, when this soldier was moving forward with other Canadians and with Afghan soldiers, an IED was triggered and he was killed."

"We lost a good kid today," said Cessford.

"It's a pretty sad day, but he was doing what he needed to be doing and what he wanted to do . . . We'll miss him."

Canadian soldier killed by bomb in Afghanistan; A second injured in a major anti−Taliban operation129 His friends, the commander said, "thought very highly of him." The soldier's home town was not available Friday.

McCully's body was flown to the NATO base here, while the wounded soldier was being treated at the camp's hospital. His injuries are not life−threatening injuries and he has already spoken to his family, Cessford said.

The men were part of Operation Hoover, an offensive against the Taliban in Zhari district, where the insurgents have engaged Canadian troops in several firefights lately.

Although the Canadian battle group was involved, the operation was being led by the Afghans, part of a push to give them a bigger role in the counter insurgency war.

Canadian Forces in Afghanistan had seen a lull in deaths over the past month or so, after a terrible week in April when eight soldiers were killed within four days in two IED explosions.

A special forces member died April 18 when he fell from a communications tower.

ISAF casualties in Afghanistan since 2001: 508

U.S. 325

Canada 55

U.K. 55

Germany 21

Spain 20

France 9

Italy 9

Netherlands 6

Denmark 4

Romania 4

Sweden 2

Australia 1

Norway 1

South Korea 1

Portugal 1

Finland 1

Czechoslovakia 1

Canadian soldier killed by bomb in Afghanistan; A second injured in a major anti−Taliban operation130 Canadian soldier killed by bomb in Afghanistan; A second injured in a major anti−Taliban operation

IDNUMBER 200705260023 PUBLICATION: Vancouver Sun DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Final C SECTION: News PAGE: A15 Photo: Canadian Cpl. Matthew McCulley, 25, a member of theJoint Task Force ILLUSTRATION: Afghanistan, was killed by a bomb while on patrol Friday close to the village of Nalgham, west of Kandahar City. ; KEYWORDS: WAR; DEATHS DATELINE: KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan BYLINE: Tom Blackwell SOURCE: CanWest News Service NOTE: Obituary of Cpl. Matthew McCulley. WORD COUNT: 394

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan −− Cpl. Matthew McCully had been carrying out one of the most important tasks the Canadian Forces have here: helping train the newly formed Afghan national army.

One day, it is hoped, the ANA will replace all NATO troops in Afghanistan, providing the West its longed−for exit strategy. That is a day McCully, 25, will never see.

The young "mentor" for local troops was killed Friday when a bomb blew up next to him as he marched alongside his Afghan colleagues in a major anti−Taliban operation.

A second Canadian was wounded and an interpreter aiding the unit was slightly injured in the blast at about 8 a.m. near the village of Nalgham, 35 kilometres west of Kandahar.

"Our mentoring team are comrades in arms with the Afghans," said Cessford, deputy commander of the Canadian mission in Afghanistan.

"They share the risks, they work closely with them. Unfortunately, when this soldier was moving forward with other Canadians and with Afghan soldiers, an IED was triggered and he was killed."

"We lost a good kid today," said Cessford.

"It's a pretty sad day, but he was doing what he needed to be doing and what he wanted to do . . . We'll miss him."

Canadian soldier killed by bomb in Afghanistan; A second injured in a major anti−Taliban operation131 His friends, the commander said, "thought very highly of him." The soldier's home town was not available Friday.

The men were part of Operation Hoover, an offensive against the Taliban in Zhari district, where the insurgents have engaged Canadian troops in several firefights lately.

Although the Canadian battle group was involved, the operation was being led by the Afghans, part of a push to give them a bigger role in the counter insurgency war.

Canadian Forces in Afghanistan had seen a lull in deaths over the past month or so, after a terrible week in April when eight soldiers were killed within four days in two IED explosions.

A special forces member died April 18 when he fell from a communications tower.

CASUALTIES IN AFGHANISTAN SINCE 2001: 508

U.S. 325

Canada 55

U.K. 55

Germany 21

Spain 20

France 9

Italy 9

Netherlands 6

Denmark 4

Romania 4

Sweden 2

Australia 1

Norway 1

South Korea 1

Portugal 1

Finland 1

Czechoslovakia 1

Canadian soldier killed by bomb in Afghanistan; A second injured in a major anti−Taliban operation132 Canada's fallen soldiers of 2007

Fifty−five Canadian soldiers and a senior diplomat have died in Afghanistan since 2002. The deaths so far this year:

Cpl. Matthew McCully

Age: 25

Hometown: Orangeville, Ont.

Died: May 25, 2007

Master Cpl. Anthony Klumpenhouwer

Age: 25

Hometown: Listowel, Ont.

Died: April 18, 2007

Master Cpl. Allan Stewart

Age: 31

Hometown: Newcastle, N.B.

Died: April 11, 2007

Trooper Patrick James Pentland

Age: 23

Hometown: Geary, N.B.

Died: April 11, 2007

Sgt. Donald Lucas

Age: 31

Canada's fallen soldiers of 2007 133 Hometown: St. John's, Nfld.

Died: April 8, 2007

Cpl. Brent Donald Poland

Age: 37

Hometown: Brampton, Ont.

Died : April 8, 2007

Cpl. Christopher Paul

Stannix

Age: 24

Hometown: Dartmouth, N.S.

Died: April 8, 2007

Cpl. Aaron Edward

Williams

Age: 23

Hometown: Perth−Andover, N.B.

Died: April 8, 2007

Pte. David Robert

Greenslade

Age: 20

Hometown: Saint John, N.B.

Died: April 8, 2007

Pte. Kevin

Vincent Kennedy

Age: 20

Hometown: St. John's, Nfld.

Deceased: April 8, 2007

Canada's fallen soldiers of 2007 134 Cpl. Kevin Megeney

Age: 25

Hometown: New Glasgow, N.S.

Died: March 6, 2007

Source: Department of National Defence

Canada's fallen soldiers of 2007 135 National security dodge goes on, even after Arar; Ottawa trying to muzzle inquiry into more torture cases

When Prime Minister Stephen Harper offered a full and formal apology to Maher Arar this year for Canada's role in his torture, it seemed as if this particularly unsavoury episode had finally been put to rest.

It had not. The Arar story, chilling enough on its own, is just the most well−documented part of a larger and more disturbing pattern that − on the face of it − appears to detail Canada's deliberate complicity in the torture of Canadian citizens.

And if the federal government has its way, that fuller story will never be publicly revealed.

It's been five months since Harper set up a judicial inquiry into Canada's role in the torture abroad of Canadian citizens Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad El Maati and Muayyed Nureddin.

But since then his government has spent its time strenuously arguing before former Supreme Court justice Frank Iacobucci that he should hold virtually all sessions of his "public" inquiry in secret, with even the three men and their lawyers excluded.

The reason cited is national security.

National embarrassment might be closer to the truth. The judicial inquiry into Arar revealed Canada's security agencies − particularly the RCMP − as both immoral and incompetent.

The exhaustive three−volume report of that inquiry detailed how an innocent man, through no fault of his own, became ensnared in a web of innuendo and falsehood.

It was a web that triggered his 2002 arrest in New York and, ultimately, his removal to Syria for torture and almost a year of imprisonment.

Arar has still not recovered his life.

But what's worse is that his case was not unique. Almalki spent one year and 10 months in a Syrian jail. For El Maati, the penalty for running afoul of Canadian security services was two years and two months in Syrian and Egyptian jails. Nureddin, comparatively lucky, got out after only 34 days in a Syrian dungeon.

The Arar inquiry, which looked tangentially at their cases, concluded that all three had been brutally tortured by jailers determined to wrest information about alleged terrorist connections.

National security dodge goes on, even after Arar; Ottawa trying to muzzle inquiry into more torture136 cases All were interrogated on the basis of information that could have only originated with the RCMP or the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.

Indeed, the Arar inquiry found that after Almalki had been imprisoned in Syria, delighted Mounties sent his torturers a list of questions they wanted him to answer.

In the end, none of the three Muslim−Canadians was ever charged by any government with any crime.

It seems that the security agencies' interest in the threesome was piqued for a variety of reasons, not all of them illegitimate.

In the early '90s, Almalki worked in Afghanistan and Pakistan for Human Concern International, a still−extant Canadian charity that at the time employed Ahmad Said Khadr as its South Asian director.

Khadr, as it turned out, was also an associate of Osama bin Laden. So, it is not unreasonable that CSIS might want to know what, if anything, Almalki knew about the Al Qaeda chief.

Later, Almalki's company supplied walkie−talkies to the Pakistani army that eventually ended up in the hands of Afghanistan's Taliban government. Given that Pakistan openly supported and supplied the Taliban before 9/11, this in itself is not remarkable. But one can see why CSIS was interested.

El Maati, a truck driver, had been flagged by U.S. border authorities in 2001 for possessing a map of Ottawa that noted the location of so−called sensitive buildings. This may explain CSIS' interest in him, although if the agency had bothered to do what Globe And Mail reporter Jeff Sallot did one afternoon four years later, they would have discovered that this map is routinely handed out by government commissionaires to anyone who asks.

El Maati's brother Amr also ended up on the FBI's terrorist list. But that happened while Ahmad was being interrogated and tortured in Syria − which suggests the troubling possibility of evidence being produced under coercion to justify that coercion.

Indeed, the problem with these cases has nothing to do with the questions asked by CSIS or the RCMP. Rather, it has to do with the lengths to which they were willing to have their Syrian and Egyptian friends go to get the preconceived answers they wanted.

Or, at least, that's the way it seems.

But we won't know for sure unless the government eases up and lets Iacobucci conduct a public inquiry that is actually public. He's expected to rule on that question as early as next week.

With luck, he won't fall for the government's now discredited national security wheeze. twalkom @ thestar.ca

National security dodge goes on, even after Arar; Ottawa trying to muzzle inquiry into more torture137 cases Conservatives know it's true because they say so; There are things the Harper government doesn't want to hear

Stephen Harper trusts reporters with his life − he just doesn't trust them to tell Canadians what they need to know. That contradiction reveals a lot about how this Prime Minister conducts the nation's business.

What happened at the beginning − as well as what was said at the end − of this week's trip to Afghanistan is a case study in Conservative operating methods.

First, officials who harbour dark suspicions about the national media relied on them − albeit with the threat of ball−and−chain punishment − to keep the top secret that Harper would make a second war zone visit. Then, reporters travelling with him were held at such distant arm's length that a significant news event became what is derisively known as a photo op.

There as here, father−knows−best discipline was imposed on a fourth estate that Harper clearly considers childlike. Tough questions weren't answered on the war, the controversial treatment of prisoners or on Harper's rationale that "terrorism will come home if we don't confront it here."

Instead, voters should worry why this new government doesn't want its old shibboleths examined. Like the suspect theory that infidel boots on Muslim soil somehow insulate North Americans from extremists, many of this government's defining assumptions are faith−based. That's not faith as in religion. It's faith as in simply knowing something is true.

Just as examples, Conservatives and their core constituents are convinced that draconian sentences best serve law and order, border guards need guns and climate change is largely hot air. In fact, the weight of evidence tilts the other way.

But on those issues and others, Harper and colleagues have fingers in their ears. Along with letting research gather dust, they are discouraging thorough examination of public policy.

There's nothing novel in that. Governments of all political stripes have long recognized the merits of limiting debate. Brian Mulroney shuttered federally funded think−tanks on his way out the door and Liberals bridled when aid experts pointed out that there were faster, cheaper ways of coping with the tsunami disaster than dispatching DART, the military's emergency response team.

Conservatives know it's true because they say so; There are things the Harper government doesn't138 want to hear What connects interests and programs are political advantage and expediency. It's easier and less risky for politicians to reinforce coffee−and−crueller wisdom than to forge a fresh, more−thoughtful consensus.

Along with dripping the acid of intellectual rigour on ideology, that demands stuff in short supply: time and courage. There's no incentive in the four−years−or−less electoral cycle for ruling parties to challenge what supporters believe self−evident.

Minority governments like this one feel that pressure most intently. Even if willing to revisit their own conclusions, why would Conservatives jeopardize an already slippery grip on power by asking loyalists to think again about, say, banning hand guns or the health benefits of controlled needle programs?

The answer is as obvious as Harper's tactics. Not content to impose unusual constraints on the media, the Prime Minister is reducing the risk of awkward policy critiques.

A bureaucracy paid by Canadians to speak truth to power is warned to keep silent, and the funding tap is either closed or being closed on institutions and groups with the capacity to test the policy status quo. That would be more understandable if Conservatives were on the cutting edge of innovative thinking or times were tough − but they're not.

For those who have forgotten, a government that looks to the picket−fence past for future inspiration, a government wallowing in surpluses, shut down the proven, modestly priced, court challenges program and, among other things, financially gutted Status of Women operations. More troubling than the decisions is the absence of quantifiable justification.

Having made their own leaps of faith, Conservatives are now demanding the same athleticism from Canadians. That may be good politics − although the downward opinion poll trend suggests otherwise − but it's not good public policy.

A prime minister willing to trust his life to the media should have enough confidence in voters to let them sort through the best available information before making political and policy choices. But that isn't in his character.

Rather than demand the most from his cabinet, bureaucracy and country, Harper is asking Canadians to accept that the unexamined ruling party is worth re−electing.

Conservatives know it's true because they say so; There are things the Harper government doesn't139 want to hear Quebec foothold still eluding the NDP; Perennial also−rans in the province, the federal party is now pinning its hopes on high−profile candidates, organization

IDNUMBER 200705260216 PUBLICATION: The Toronto Star DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Ont SECTION: National Report PAGE: F03 BYLINE: Sean Gordon SOURCE: Toronto Star COPYRIGHT: © 2007 Torstar Corporation WORD COUNT: 830

While the Prime Minister was in Afghanistan commiserating with Canadian troops, NDP Leader Jack Layton spent the House of Commons break away from the national spotlight, crammed into a rental car, barrelling around the back roads of rural Quebec.

Flanked by his newly minted Quebec lieutenant − former provincial Liberal environment minister Thomas Mulcair − Layton undertook the latest step in the painstaking effort to establish his party in a province that has never warmed to the NDP.

"I realized when I took over the leadership 4 1/2 years ago that we needed to do a huge construction project in Quebec," Layton says.

"And the first thing you do when you build a house is you dig a big hole. Then you have to build the foundations ... a lot happens below ground where people don't really see it, but I think we're getting there."

The image of a gaping hole is an appropriate metaphor for the NDP in Quebec.

The party is perennially optimistic about its hopes in the province, and those hopes are inevitably scotched come election time.

But Layton insists that may be about to change, now that Mulcair is supervising the Quebec campaign at a time when the political sands in the province are shifting.

"Our exposure has increased by two quantum leaps since Tom came aboard ... there will be a lot of four−way races, and the last Quebec election showed there is a desire to get away from the old quarrels, people are looking for alternatives, and we think we can be that alternative. This is more than just a political play at the level of personalities − there's something deeper happening in Quebec politics."

Quebec has become a Holy Grail of sorts for federal politicians: Prime Minister Stephen Harper has made no secret he hopes to set the foundations for an eventual majority government in the province, and Liberal Leader Stephane Dion is banking on a revival on his home turf.

Quebec foothold still eluding the NDP; Perennial also−rans in the province, the federal party is now140 pinning its hopes on high−profile candidates, organization Layton also sees the possibility that the NDP will elect its first MP in the province since consumer advocate Phil Edmonston won a by−election in 1990.

"In the 2000 election, we had 60,000 votes in Quebec," Layton says. "In the last election, we had 300,000 votes, and that's more than we got in Manitoba and Saskatchewan combined."

The difference, of course, is that the NDP actually wins seats in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

But the party continues to believe that the next election could be the breakthrough, and to that end Mulcair has busied himself recruiting candidates and bolstering the party's organization.

Among the people who will be hoisting the NDP banner in the next election: trans−gendered Quebec City human rights lawyer Micheline Montreuil.

Though Montreuil will run in a city that is the Conservative beachhead in Quebec − and is a fortress for the stoutly right−leaning Action democratique du Quebec (ADQ) provincially − she is a high−profile catch for Layton, and her recruitment has generated headlines.

The recruitment continues, and the NDP is also striking a populist tone, championing causes like the takeover bid for Alcan and high gas prices, and highlighting its positions on Afghanistan and the environment, issues that are serious liabilities for the Conservatives.

"I think we're going to see the kinds of candidates we haven't seen since the '80s, when Ed Broadbent was leader," Layton says.

And Mulcair adds a level of credibility that the party hasn't enjoyed in Quebec since, well, ever.

There is ample evidence of his effect on the NDP's image. It has suddenly become considerably more visible on call−in shows and on the front pages of newspapers in the province's regions.

"There was something in the last CROP poll that went largely unnoticed, but for the first time since I can remember, the NDP is ahead of the Liberals among francophone voters, and we're closing in on the 20 per cent that will be crucial for us to create four−way races," Mulcair says.

Like the Liberals and Conservatives, the NDP will vie for support among Bloc Quebecois voters.

"The Bloc has been tapping into this sentiment of dissatisfaction for free for a very long time, without having to pay anything for it. Well, that's changing," Mulcair says.

The other parties are largely dismissive of the NDP influence, although Bloc officials say they would welcome a further division of the vote because it will ensure the Tories and Liberals don't eat into their support.

A Quebec Tory official was frank in handicapping the NDP's prospects: "In a province that has just voted massively for two centre−right parties, they don't stand a chance."

But the NDP is taking a page from Harper's book by aligning itself with soft nationalists and concentrating on grassroots organization, local media and incessant tours − an approach that has also reaped dividends for the ADQ.

ADQ Leader Mario Dumont "showed that people want an alternative voice. People on the ground are tired of the traditional parties," Mulcair says.

Quebec foothold still eluding the NDP; Perennial also−rans in the province, the federal party is now141 pinning its hopes on high−profile candidates, organization The former Liberal, who split publicly with Premier Jean Charest and left cabinet over the partial privatization of a provincial park, is well−connected and has sterling credentials in environmental circles.

Though he held a provincial riding in the Montreal suburb of Laval, Mulcair concedes he is eyeing the possibility of running in Outremont, a tony uptown riding and Liberal bastion recently vacated by former federal transport minister Jean Lapierre, who has retired.

The NDP won nearly 20 per cent of the vote in Outremont in the 2006 election − which essentially gifted the riding to Lapierre by sapping Bloc votes − and Layton, who is a man in a hurry, will be very tempted to road−test his prize recruit if there is a by−election.

"We're not closing the door," he says.

"If the by−election is held soon, we'll have to think very seriously about it."

Quebec foothold still eluding the NDP; Perennial also−rans in the province, the federal party is now142 pinning its hopes on high−profile candidates, organization Climate change conflict This year, it's the environment; The issue of cutting greenhouse gas emissions could divide G−8 government leaders at their meeting in June The issue of cutting greenhouse gas emissions could divide G−8 government leaders at their meeting in June

IDNUMBER 200705260215 PUBLICATION: The Toronto Star DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Ont SECTION: National Report PAGE: F01 FRANK HORMANN ap The German Green party placed these cardboardfigures of the G−8 leaders, including Prime Minister Stephen Harper, third from the left, behind a security fence at the G−8 summit site in Heiligendamm, Germany, this week, in protest against the upcoming summit. The others, from the left, are Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, U.S. President George W. Bush and Nicolas Sarkozy, president of France.THOMAS HAENTZSCHEL ILLUSTRATION: ap The G−8 leaders will meet at the Kempinski resort hotel on the Baltic Sea in Heiligendamm, Germany, from June 6 to 8. reuters file photo Stephen Harper and George W. Bush, seen here at the White House last year, could find themselves the odd men out when the G−8 heads of government discuss climate change next month. reuters file photo Stephen Harper and George W. Bush, seen here at the White House last year, could find themselves the odd men out when the G−8 heads of government discuss climate change next month. ; BYLINE: Les Whittington SOURCE: Toronto Star COPYRIGHT: © 2007 Torstar Corporation WORD COUNT: 948

Stephen Harper, whose government has repeatedly failed to connect with Canadians on the environment, is likely to join U.S. President George W. Bush as the odd men out when world leaders try to tackle global warming at this year's G−8 summit.

The meeting in Germany June 6 to 8 promises to be a challenging exercise in other ways for Harper, whose two closest international allies − Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair − suffer from the status of lame ducks in their own countries.

With the faces around the G−8 conference table changing, the 32−year−old ad hoc group is in flux, searching for answers to a growing list of old and new problems in an increasingly globalized and trigger−happy world.

Harper, whose foreign policy has been, above all, focused on the Afghan theatre in the Bush−led war on terror, will have to turn his attention to African aid, social issues, nuclear proliferation, world trade

Climate change conflict This year, it's the environment; The issue of cutting greenhouse gas emissions143 could divide G−8 government leaders at their meeting in June The issue of cutting greenhouse gas emissions could divide G−8 government leaders at their meeting in June liberalization and energy security − as well as the thorny issue of climate change.

It is the Prime Minister's second trip to the summit of the Group of Eight large industrial democracies that also includes the U.S., Japan, Britain, France, Italy, Germany and Russia.

This year's meeting in the old−world, Baltic−Sea resort of Heiligendamm will showcase the fresh leadership of its host, German Chancellor Angela Merkel. A former East German physicist and environment minister who came to power in late 2005, Merkel, 52, has dazzled with dynamic moves to improve German−U.S. relations and overcome vexing frictions within Europe.

Newly chosen French President Nicolas Sarkozy will debut on the world stage at Heiligendamm, as will Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

While Merkel has set out a wide−ranging agenda, success will likely rest on the leaders' ability to break the current international logjam on the environment.

The Europeans are pushing hard to enlist U.S. support for urgent action to fight climate change and for a commitment to join in negotiations to set agreed− upon targets for greenhouse gas reductions after the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.

But in the behind−the−scenes manoeuvring in advance, the U.S., which declined to ratify Kyoto in 2001 for economic reasons, has been reportedly watering down the proposed leaders' agreement on specific future targets for carbon emission reductions. And Bush can count on the support of Harper, whose government has also rejected Kyoto targets in its long−term plan to reduce pollution and greenhouse gases.

This could put Harper in conflict with Blair, Merkel, Sarkozy and others who see the need for concerted global environmental action as a top priority.

"There's a major difference there," John Bennett of Climate for Change says. "The European members of the G−8 will be on his (Harper's) case not to back Bush on this issue. Our relations with the European Union are at risk here."

But the outcome of the climate change discussion at Heiligendamm is all the more uncertain because Merkel wants this G−8 meeting to enhance the role at these summits of China and India, among other developing nations. The fact that China and India did not need to commit to emissions−reduction targets under Kyoto was one of the main reasons the U.S. refused to ratify it. So there is potential for an open−ended agreement on expanded future talks on post−Kyoto measures.

After climate change, Merkel has elevated African poverty issues to the top of the G−8 agenda. The leaders agreed at the Blair−led 2005 summit to double aid to Africa by 2010 but DATA, the advocacy group set up by U2 singer Bono, says many G−8 countries, including Canada, are not increasing aid fast enough to meet that goal.

With alarm over Iran's nuclear ambitions reaching new heights and violence flaring in Lebanon, the Middle East will once again weigh heavily on the summit. Blair (who leaves office on June 27) and Bush have already seen their political strength sapped by the war in Iraq, and other G−8 leaders cannot help but be concerned about the potential for further chaos in the Middle East as the situation in Iraq spins out of control.

"We're just one year closer to the Americans losing the war in Iraq and that could bring a lot of big negatives for the world and for the G−8," says John Kirton, director of the G8 Research Group at the University of Toronto.

Climate change conflict This year, it's the environment; The issue of cutting greenhouse gas emissions144 could divide G−8 government leaders at their meeting in June The issue of cutting greenhouse gas emissions could divide G−8 government leaders at their meeting in June Beyond that, the leaders' talks on security issues are certain to focus on anti−terrorism, North Korea and Afghanistan, including drug trafficking and the role of Pakistan in the NATO−led campaign against Afghan insurgents.

And economic issues − from breaking down trade barriers to the social ills of globalization and energy sufficiency − will figure prominently at Heiligendamm.

The meeting will take place against a backdrop of mushrooming expectations and demands for the G−8. In a shrinking world, the eight leaders are under intense pressure to put aside their national demands and respond more meaningfully to developing countries and non−governmental groups demanding transformative action on poverty, disease, war, terrorism and other global woes.

And the annual summit remains a magnate for protests − peaceful and otherwise. To head off attempts to violently disrupt this year's meeting, German authorities have tightened border controls, raided offices of anti− globalization activists and spent $17 million (U.S.) raising a 2.5 metre metal and concrete fence around the seaside resort where the leaders will gather.

Before the G−8, Harper will go to Berlin on June 4 to meet with Merkel, who also holds the presidency of the European Union, for Canada−EU talks.

Following in the steps of the U.S., the Harper government is seeking to open talks on a wide−ranging trade pact with the EU, Canada's second−largest trading partner after the Americans. But the EU, which wants to pursue trade deals with expanding Asian economies, appears in no rush for closer commercial ties with Ottawa.

'The European members ... will be on his (Harper's) case not to back Bush on this issue'

John Bennett, Climate for Change

Climate change conflict This year, it's the environment; The issue of cutting greenhouse gas emissions145 could divide G−8 government leaders at their meeting in June The issue of cutting greenhouse gas emissions could divide G−8 government leaders at their meeting in June A nation mourns: 'We lost a good kid'; Orangeville man 55th soldier to die in Afghanistan Orangeville man 55th soldier to die in Afghanistan

IDNUMBER 200705260210 PUBLICATION: The Toronto Star DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Met SECTION: News PAGE: A01 Corporal Matthew J. McCully of Canadian Forces Base Petawawa Cpl.Matthew McCully ILLUSTRATION: died instantly yesterday after stepping on a improvised explosive device while on patrol in Afghanistan. ; BYLINE: Richard Brennan SOURCE: Toronto Star COPYRIGHT: © 2007 Torstar Corporation WORD COUNT: 628

Another Canadian has died in Afghanistan, bringing the death toll to 55 soldiers since Canada joined the fighting there in 2002.

Orangeville native Cpl. Matthew McCully, 25, of Canadian Forces Base Petawawa, died instantly yesterday after stepping on a improvised explosive device. Another Canadian soldier and an Afghan interpreter were injured in the blast.

The death comes the same week as Prime Minister Stephen Harper's surprise visit to Afghanistan and during the Canadian military's stepped−up offensive, Operation Hoover.

"On behalf of all Canadians, I would like to extend my condolences to the family and loved ones of Cpl. Matthew McCully on this sad day. My thoughts and prayers are with them during this time of mourning," Harper said in a statement yesterday from Ottawa. "They are aware of the risks of our mission, yet the members of our Canadian Forces family accept these risks and fulfil their duties to stabilize Afghanistan and build a better future for the Afghan people. "

Choking back tears, Col. Mike Cessford, deputy commander of Canadian forces in Afghanistan, told reporters in Kandahar that "we lost a good kid today."

McCully, a member of a Canadian team training Afghans to bring security to the southern part of the country, was killed when the bomb exploded near a Canadian−Afghan patrol near the village of Nalgham, about 35 kilometres west of Kandahar City. The explosion occurred within kilometres of where Harper visited two days earlier.

"Every time we lose a young soldier, a young man in this case, that is a tragedy for us," said Gen. Rick Hillier, chief of defence staff. "His footprint in the sand, his legacy will never be forgotten. It is always tough when we lose a soldier."

McCully was a Signals Operator with 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group Headquarters and Signals Squadron, based at Petawawa.

A nation mourns: 'We lost a good kid'; Orangeville man 55th soldier to die in Afghanistan Orangeville146 man 55th soldier to die in Afghanistan There is growing speculation Harper is going to extend the current Afghanistan mission beyond the February 2009 date authorized by Parliament. He has said he will go back to Parliament for a further vote if the mission is extended.

During his visit this week, Harper said Canada should not be held to some arbitrary date.

Liberal MP Denis Coderre (Bourassa) said while the Liberal opposition supports the mission in Afghanistan, it also believes that, come February 2009, it is up to other NATO countries to step up to the plate.

"We have to stick to the course, but it also means we have to put the emphasis on what it is supposed to be, which is the triple D − defence, diplomacy and development. And that will take more than photo−ops," he said.

Col. Cessford said the latest death "will not deter us from continuing our work with the government and the people of Afghanistan. Incidents like this will absolutely reinforce the imperative of Canadians and Afghans to continue working closely together to re−establish peace in this country."

The operation was only a few hours old when a cloud of black smoke appeared on the horizon, several seconds before the loud explosion that caused it echoed off a distant mountainside.

It was the second buried bomb targeting coalition forces to detonate within about an hour; the first struck a Canadian tank, but no one was injured. The second blast killed McCully and injured another soldier. An Afghan interpreter was also wounded. The wounded soldier was in stable condition yesterday in hospital at the coalition base at Kandahar Airfield. The interpreter stayed on the battlefield.

A Facebook.com group, "In memory of Cpl. Matthew McCully," was set up last night and it had 24 members by 9 o'clock.

Many of those who posted Web messages recalled meeting McCully in military training.

"He was a great soldier and a great person," wrote Brandon Jespersen from Edmonton who said McCully was his detachment commander in Kingston. "I still can't believe that we've lost another one, and this one hits close to home."

"One of the best human beings I've ever known in my life," reads a post from Ottawa resident Andre Lauzon. "Matt was one of the most dedicated, caring and selfless people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing."

With files from Rachel De Lazzer and Canadian Press

A nation mourns: 'We lost a good kid'; Orangeville man 55th soldier to die in Afghanistan Orangeville147 man 55th soldier to die in Afghanistan 'We didn't get much of a fight'; Operation Hoover, largest in months, designed to flush out insurgents

IDNUMBER 200705260208 PUBLICATION: The Toronto Star DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Ont SECTION: News PAGE: A06 BYLINE: James McCarten SOURCE: CANADIAN PRESS COPYRIGHT: © 2007 Torstar Corporation WORD COUNT: 393

Cpl. Matthew McCully was killed yesterday at the start of a new coalition offensive.

The operation, dubbed Operation Hoover, is Canada's largest anti−Taliban offensive in nearly two months.

Designed to flush insurgents out of the volatile Zhari district west of Kandahar, the operation started less than 48 hours after Prime Minister Stephen Harper shook hands with soldiers on the forward operating base at Ma'sum Ghar during a two−day visit to Afghanistan.

Insurgent fighters have reappeared in Zhari and the neighbouring Panjwaii district − considered the birthplace of the Taliban − and engaged Canadian forces in recent weeks, said battle group commanding officer Lt.−Col. Rob Walker.

But the nature of the enemy is such that insurgents can quickly make themselves indistinguishable from local farmers or villagers simply by dropping their AK−47s and grabbing a rake or shovel.

"(Coalition forces) went through all the compounds, but there was no one there," Walker said in an interview yesterday at the base at Ma'sum Ghar, from which Hoover was staged.

"They chose not to fight, whereas every other time they chose to fight," Walker said of the Taliban.

Afghan soldiers led the coalition push at the start of the new offensive. Portuguese troops who were also part of Operation Hoover got into a few "skirmishes" with enemy soldiers, Walker said. Only one enemy combatant was confirmed killed, while a small number of prisoners were taken into Afghan National Army custody.

British Harrier jets were standing by to provide air support, and two troops of soldiers from D Battery with the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery were also expected to provide fire support.

But short of the illumination rounds that bathed the Afghan nightscape in an orange glow in the early hours of the operation, the guns were barely needed.

'We didn't get much of a fight'; Operation Hoover, largest in months, designed to flush out insurgents148 "We didn't get much of a fight," admitted Capt. Derek Crabbe of 2 RCHA.

The only coalition aircraft that appeared on the battlefront was an Apache attack helicopter and a pair of Black Hawk choppers that arrived to ferry out the wounded.

As they pulsed into the staging area, a rocket screamed overhead and exploded just a few metres away from one of the armoured vehicles.

"It's just the nature of the insurgency that we're dealing with, it's the nature of the threat," he said. "It's very difficult to change people's minds."

'We didn't get much of a fight'; Operation Hoover, largest in months, designed to flush out insurgents149 Polls guided Harper

Harper visits the front line

May 24.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Afghanistan visit was no surprise. Boost morale? Please. As one commentator said, "Shania Twain would've been a better choice." To gain understanding of the situation? What could anyone learn in a 48−hour visit dominated primarily by press conferences. Conservative popularity waxes and wanes with support for the mission, so despite Harper's protestations, the polls are precisely what brought him there.

Now, I'm no Harper fan, but do I support our troops? If our soldiers must be in Afghanistan, I'd rather they do more humanitarian work. But I'd rather they not be there at all, considering they receive little attention from the rest of NATO, unwilling to shoulder more combat, or the United Nations, which won't buy Afghanistan's poppies instead of eradicating them and leaving farmers with no option to feed their families other than joining the Taliban. I support a debate on the mission to explore exactly why our soldiers are being killed and if the cause is worth it.

So do I support our troops? Not if you asked Harper. According to him, the ways to support our troops are by throwing more of them into the meat grinder of Kandahar without addressing the causes of the violence; convincing them to fight an endless (hopeless?) mission regardless of the costs; and exploiting them to generate good PR by snapping photos of them enjoying a Tim Hortons coffee.

That's what a real patriot would do. Or at least that's what our fearless leader would have us believe.

Brandon Kidd, Guelph, Ont.

Polls guided Harper 150 PM's priorities wrong

Harper visits the front line

May 24.

After Prime Minister Stephen Harper joined the front lines in Afghanistan, he should really have gone to the side of Afghan MP and women's rights advocate Malalai Joya. The Afghan parliament, dominated by warlords and drug lords − the one Harper and our government support − just suspended Joya for three years and ordered the High Court to file a case against her. It also directed the interior ministry to restrict her movements to within the country.

Joya, an outspoken critic of the warlords and drug lords, is being muzzled for speaking out against the criminal elements and corruption of the current Afghan government.

All of this talk from Harper about advancing democracy and women's rights, and one of Afghanistan's bravest advocates is still under attack. So why was he posing for photos on the front lines and not supporting a true freedom fighter like Joya?

David Fox, Toronto

PM's priorities wrong 151 Guantanamo inmate fears deportation to Jordan

Jamil el−Banna has been locked up by the United States for nearly five years without being charged − arrested in Africa, allegedly tortured at a CIA "black site" in Afghanistan, then held at Guantanamo Bay − all because of faulty British intelligence, his defenders charge.

Now his lawyers have a new worry. The British government told them yesterday that el−Banna had been cleared by the U.S. for transfer to his native Jordan, where he says he was tortured before becoming a political refugee in Britain in 1997.

His lawyers decried the move, charging that sending him back amounted to the U.S. outsourcing torture.

U.S. Navy Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon, a Pentagon spokesperson, refused to discuss el−Banna, who is under indictment in Spain for allegedly joining a terrorist group.

Censored intelligence documents released by Britain and a transcript of a Guantanamo hearing show el−Banna's troubles started after a British MI−5 intelligence officer visited his home near London in 2002 and tried to get him to become an informant. He refused.

British spies were interested in him because of his associations with radical Muslims in Pakistan and Jordan.

His troubles escalated in 2002 when he and a friend, Bisher al−Rawi, were detained at Gatwick Airport with "some form of homemade electronic device" found in al−Rawi's bag.

Later, as the two travelled to Africa, they were picked up by the CIA. But an MI−5 memo noting the men had been released in Britain because the device was found to be "a commercially available battery charger" was not forwarded to U.S. intelligence.

In a case that has some eerie echoes of the Maher Arar incident, a lawsuit filed in the U.S. on el−Banna's behalf charges that while in CIA custody, el− Banna was interrogated, beaten and subjected to "stress and duress techniques."

The suit also alleges he was flown to Afghanistan, where he was tortured at one of the CIA's "black sites."

An inquiry concluded that faulty information the RCMP passed to the U.S. about Arar likely led to a year−long ordeal, which included torture in Syria.

Associated Press

Guantanamo inmate fears deportation to Jordan 152 Spy was sent to 'ugly' spots

IDNUMBER 200705260139 PUBLICATION: The Toronto Star DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Met SECTION: News PAGE: A01 Jeff Bassett for the toronto star Jack Hooper, a former top Canadianspy, retired five weeks ago to sleepy Peachland in the B.C. interior.tom hanson cp file photo Jack Hooper, then a CSIS deputy director, prepares to testify at the Maher Arar inquiry in Ottawa in August 2005. The sometimes tense Hooper suggested to Justice Dennis O'Connor that dealing with suspect regimes was a necessary evil for CSIS. Today, he says Canada has few options. "You talk to the Syrians or you don't talk to the Syrians." Hooper ILLUSTRATION: demonstrates a penchant for getting his hands dirty during a trip last year to a gun market in north Waziristan, the lawless tribal area along Pakistan's western border with Afghanistan. tom hanson cp file photo Jack Hooper, then a CSIS deputy director, prepares to testify at the Maher Arar inquiry in Ottawa in August 2005. The sometimes tense Hooper suggested to Justice Dennis O'Connor that dealing with suspect regimes was a necessary evil for CSIS. Today, he says Canada has few options. "You talk to the Syrians or you don't talk to the Syrians." ; BYLINE: Michelle Shephard SOURCE: Toronto Star COPYRIGHT: © 2007 Torstar Corporation WORD COUNT: 1248

HooperJack Hooper used to be Canada's top spy, a maverick, speak−your− mind agent who liked to wear cowboy boots and make bureaucrats squirm.

Before Canadian troops ventured into the Taliban stronghold near Kandahar, Hooper went to Afghanistan to check it out.

When a bagman was needed in 1997 to pay Peruvian security services so they'd protect Canada's embassy and refuse bribes from leftist rebels, Hooper got on a plane to Lima.

Hooper has also touched down in Uzbekistan and Yemen, two of the thorniest countries in the world.

Over the years, he has spent time with terrorists, double agents, gun dealers and dissidents, but this is the first time he's talking to a journalist. He wants CSIS out of the shadows.

Hooper was a man of action. But perhaps more than any of his exploits − and there were many during his 22 years with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service − he is remembered for what he said.

At CSIS they're called "Jackisms," often politically incorrect sayings or metaphors to plainly describe complex issues. A recording of the Top 10 Hooper expressions was played at his retirement party in Ottawa last month, read out by a host of characters, including Toronto's police chief Bill Blair, and Don Juan, the Front St. hotdog vendor popular with Toronto's spies.

Spy was sent to 'ugly' spots 153 Today, he uses a Jackism to answer perhaps the most pressing, and unresolved question facing CSIS in the wake of the Maher Arar affair: How does the Canadian spy service deal with countries that have a record of human rights abuses?

"Here's the deal. Everybody would like to believe that we have an array of choices that are good choices and bad choices. But we're going to a dance where every girl is ugly, okay," he said this week.

"They're all ugly. And all we can do is get the least ugly girl to dance with. But you know, when you bring her home your dad is going to tell you, 'That is one ugly woman'. And you're going to say, 'Yeah dad, but she was the best looking of that lot'. Does that make you smart? Not in the eyes of your father."

Hooper has decided to dish on his often ugly business in an incongruent setting − the Red Rooster Winery in the heart of British Columbia's picturesque interior.

The ex−spook is now a tanned, fit, 55−year−old retiree who calls this sleepy area home.

Canada's spy service has always been the poorer, younger cousin of the CIA and Britain's MI5 and MI6.

As University of Toronto professor Wesley Wark noted in his review of former CIA chief George Tenet's new book At The Center Of The Storm, Canada rates only two page references out of 520 in the index.

All that may change.

This year's federal budget allotted the spy service $80 million and there's a promise of millions more over the next five years.

Then there's the "citizen−engagement strategy," Ottawa's way of saying CSIS is doing more community outreach.

It may be working − an unprecedented number of Canadians (more than 14,500 last year) are sending CSIS their resumes.

Hooper swirls a glass of red and inhales deeply as he reflects on the agency's past and future − as well as the world−class wineries he lives beside.

"I would never let my guys drink Merlot. It's not allowed. It's a sissy wine, " Hooper tells the clearly amused Okanagan University student offering a sample − his drink has always been dark rum and coke.

"It's light and girls drink it. And it sounds funny when you say it. Mer−lot. Men should never say that."

Hooper says he's not sure how he rose through CSIS's ranks to retire at the top.

He certainly wasn't a government yes−man and whenever he appeared publicly his political masters held their breath.

But he did do a lot of jobs no one else wanted.

"Whenever they needed something done in an ugly place, or something that needed to be kept quiet, or if they needed somebody to testify, or be the straw man for the service somewhere, you know it was always down in my office with a crooked finger and, 'Here's what you're going to do,' and I never said no to anything."

Those who know Hooper say his bluntness put him at odds with CSIS director Jim Judd, a pro at navigating

Spy was sent to 'ugly' spots 154 the political scene who's credited with securing the service's increased funding this year.

Although there's no suggestion Hooper was pushed out, it's clear Judd has a better relationship with his replacement, Luc Portelance, who emerged during last summer's arrest of 18 Toronto terrorism suspects as the young, telegenic face of CSIS.

That's not to say Hooper has been reckless.

His answers were careful at the Arar inquiry two years ago, even if he did sit with one arm bent, leaning forward as if at any moment he would leap forward from the witness chair.

Commission counsel Paul Cavalluzzo showed no mercy in questioning Hooper about Canada's relationship with Syria, trying to determine if CSIS prolonged Arar's detention.

Arar languished in a notorious Syrian jail for a year without charges after the U.S. covertly flew him there as a suspected terrorist in 2002.

He was awarded $11.5 million and an apology from the Canadian government earlier this year after Justice Dennis O'Connor's report revealed that the RCMP erroneously told the U.S. Arar had connections to Al Qaeda.

But questions linger about the role of CSIS.

Did agents who visited Syria during Arar's incarceration leave the impression that they didn't want Arar released?

"Is it likely that the questions we ask the Syrian military intelligence could enable them to make inferences about who he is and treat him better or worse? Possibly," Hooper says now.

"But we have a choice. You talk to the Syrians or you don't talk to the Syrians."

Others see the issue differently.

"The important point, and O'Connor said this, is that information sharing is crucial but if you're going to share information with countries with poor human rights records you have to be very, very careful," says Cavalluzzo. He argues the public would respect CSIS more if it released more information and was more accountable.

CSIS's role may not have figured prominently in O'Connor's report, but former Supreme Court Justice Frank Iacobucci is now investigating the agency in the cases of three other Canadians who were detained in Syria.

And John Major's inquiry into the 1985 bombing of Air India is putting CSIS and the RCMP in the headlines, especially with Ontario Lt.−Gov. James Bartleman's revelation that Canada was warned days before the attack that Air India would be hit.

An RCMP email disclosed in a Toronto extradition hearing earlier this month called the trio of inquiries "judicial jihad." Hooper likes that phrase.

But he's no stranger to oversight − one of his first jobs at CSIS was to answer questions for the agency watchdog, the Security Intelligence Review Committee.

"He was a young bright guy filled with loyalty for the cause and what he was doing," recalls Jacques Shore

Spy was sent to 'ugly' spots 155 who himself was a budding human and civil rights lawyer when he took the position of SIRC's director of investigations in June 1985.

Now two decades later Hooper will likely again face Shore at the Air India inquiry. Shore represents the families of the Air India bombing victims and the ex−spy chief is a potential witness.

Hooper wants to reserve his comments about Air India and the mysterious Bartleman document until he is on the stand.

But he offers this: "I want somebody to write an article that compares and contrasts the criticisms that flow from the O'Connor inquiry and the criticism that will logically flow from the Major inquiry."

Hooper predicts that if O'Connor's criticism was that too much intelligence was shared − putting Arar's life in danger − Major's criticism will likely be that not enough was, thwarting any chance to stop the bombing that killed 329.

"O'Connor's going to say white and Major's going to say black and we're going to sit back and say, 'Yes, thank you very much, now tell us the right thing to do,' and that's where you'll hear the deafening silence.

"Nobody knows what the right thing is to do so it's left to us to make the decision about who the least ugly girl is."

He still says "we," even though he has been out of the service now for five weeks.

It's hard to picture the spy who can't count the number of countries he has worked in staying in wine country for long − or joining the other retirees on their morning power walks.

This week his focus is on getting furniture delivered, and pity the company that has somehow sent his buffet to Toronto.

"I guess I just don't understand what's so difficult," he says into his BlackBerry, in a manner that's somehow both jovial and stern.

"Tell me. Who do I have to kill?"

That BlackBerry used to vibrate constantly with emails and meeting reminders.

Now he rarely carries it.

"My wife says I always need to have a fight," he explains as he hangs up the phone.

"It's not that. It's just about accountability," he says, taking off his glasses and smiling. "I really believe people have to be held accountable."

Spy was sent to 'ugly' spots 156 Take pride in Forces, Hillier urges citizens; Says military in a 'revolution' of evolution

IDNUMBER 200705260190 PUBLICATION: Montreal Gazette DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Final SECTION: News PAGE: A16 KEYWORDS: ARMED FORCES; CANADIANS; CANADA; AFGHANISTAN DATELINE: TORONTO BYLINE: ALLISON HANES SOURCE: CanWest News Service WORD COUNT: 328

Chief of Defence Staff General Rick Hillier said the moral support of ordinary Canadians is essential to the success of the military, especially the mission in Afghanistan.

The country's top soldier spoke to a Toronto business audience as the Canadian Forces mourned the loss of another fallen serviceman, killed early yesterday while on foot patrol in Kandahar province. "It's always tough when we lose a soldier," Hillier said. "There's no way you ever get used to it, no way you ever want to get used to it."

Despite the death − caused by an improvised explosive device, he said the Forces are, nevertheless, making tremendous progress against an enemy he characterized as a "ball of snakes" and remain focused on helping the Afghan people rebuild their country.

"We're making incredibly good progress. ... We can't reduce the risk of attacks to zero as we saw again last night."

Hillier's speech was aimed at stoking pride in Canada's military, from soldiers involved in search and rescue operations at home to those risking and losing their lives on the battlefield.

Hillier said the Canadian Forces is now in the midst of a "revolution" that is changing "everything we do and how we do it. ... How we enroll them, how we train them, how we educate them, how we break them into units, how we equip them, how we deploy them, how we sustain them while they're deployed, how we redeploy them, how we reintegrate them with their families."

Take pride in Forces, Hillier urges citizens; Says military in a 'revolution' of evolution 157 Dead Canadian soldier acted as mentor; McCully helped train afghan army. Triggers explosive while on foot patrol during major offensive against the Taliban

IDNUMBER 200705260182 PUBLICATION: Montreal Gazette DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Final SECTION: News PAGE: A18 Photo: Reuters, Department of Defence / Cpl. Matthew McCullywas the 55th Canadian ILLUSTRATION: soldier to be killed in Afghanistan. ; Map: (See hard copy for map) ; KEYWORDS: WAR; TERRORISM DATELINE: KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan BYLINE: TOM BLACKWELL, with file from ALLISON HANES SOURCE: CanWest News Service WORD COUNT: 641

Cpl. Matthew McCully had been carrying out one of the most important tasks the Canadian Forces have here: helping train the newly formed Afghan national army.

One day, it is hoped, the ANA will replace all NATO troops in Afghanistan, providing the West with its longed−for exit strategy. That is a day McCully, 25, will never see.

The young "mentor" for local troops was killed yesterday when a bomb blew up next to him as he marched alongside his Afghan colleagues in a major anti−Taliban operation.

A second Canadian was wounded and an interpreter aiding the unit was slightly injured in the blast at about 8 a.m. near the village of Nalgham, 35 kilometres west of Kandahar.

"Our mentoring team are comrades in arms with the Afghans," said Cessford, deputy commander of the Canadian mission in Afghanistan.

"They share the risks, they work closely with them. Unfortunately, when this soldier was moving forward with other Canadians and with Afghan soldiers, an IED was triggered and he was killed." The death brings to 55 the number of Canadian troops killed at the hands of the enemy or in accidents in Afghanistan since 2002. It is the 11th death this year, as activity by the Taliban appears to be heating up.

"We lost a good kid today," Cessford said. "It's a pretty sad day, but he was doing what he needed to be doing and what he wanted to do ... We'll miss him." His friends, the commander said, "thought very highly of him." The soldier's home town was not available yesterday.

McCully's body was flown to the NATO base here, while the wounded soldier was being treated for non−life

Dead Canadian soldier acted as mentor; McCully helped train afghan army. Triggers explosive while158 on foot patrol during major offensive against the Taliban threatening injuries at the camp's trauma hospital. He has already spoken to his family, Cessford said.

The men were part of Operation Hoover, an offensive against the Taliban in Zhari district, where the insurgents have engaged Canadian troops in several firefights recently.

Although the Canadian battle group was involved, the operation was being led by the Afghans, part of a push to give them a bigger role in the counter insurgency war.

A special forces member died April 18 when he accidentally fell from a communications tower.

By this time last year, eight Canadian soldiers had been killed in southern Afghanistan, as well as one diplomat, Glyn Berry.

Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier said in Toronto the moral support of ordinary Canadians is essential to the success of the military, especially the mission in Afghanistan.

"It's always tough when we lose a soldier," Hillier told a business audience on Bay St. yesterday morning.

"There's no way you ever get used to it, no way you ever want to get used to it. This is a tough day." Despite McCully's death and the injuries to the other Canadian soldier, Hillier later told reporters the Canadian Forces are making tremendous progress against an enemy he characterized as a "ball of snakes," and remain focused on helping the Afghan people rebuild their country.

The Canadians working with them speak highly of their war−fighting prowess, and fearlessness in the face of the enemy.

"If they hear gunfire, they will run toward it," one officer said recently.

The fatal patrol yesterday was going through a populated area, which can work to the insurgents' advantage, Cessford said.

"The Taliban have chosen to bring this fight among the people, and you have to live with that," he said. "In a case like that, it is comparatively simple for the Taliban to achieve this." The army is working "very hard" using the latest technology to try to lessen the threat of IEDs, which usually target moving vehicles, but sometimes the danger cannot be avoided, Cessford said.

Dead Canadian soldier acted as mentor; McCully helped train afghan army. Triggers explosive while159 on foot patrol during major offensive against the Taliban Stoning video is a disturbing clash of the ancient and the modern; Murder of 17−year−old girl is more to do with old hatreds than religion

IDNUMBER 200705260142 PUBLICATION: Montreal Gazette DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Final SECTION: Editorial / Op−Ed PAGE: B7 KEYWORDS: WAR; IRAQ; ARMED FORCES; UNITED STATES BYLINE: JAC WILDER VERSTEEG SOURCE: Cox News Service WORD COUNT: 728

The biggest mistake I made this week was watching the video of Duaa Khalil Aswad's murder.

I don't track down all the gruesome videos posted on the Web from such places as Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. I saw the clip of journalist Daniel Pearl's beheading in 2002, and that was enough − too much, actually − until this week.

I read about Duaa's murder in the Los Angeles Times and was appalled and transfixed. I'm sure it's partly because I have a daughter just about Duaa's age − 17, when she was killed on April 7. It's also because the circumstances of Duaa's murder provided for me the final proof that we in the West are incapable of understanding what is going on in Iraq.

I thought I had reached that point before, and perhaps I did understand our lack of understanding in an abstract way. But I didn't feel it so utterly and absolutely until I read about Duaa's death and then watched it on the blobby, shaky video reportedly recorded on someone's cellphone.

Such a sick clash of ancient and modern. A 17−year−old girl is stoned to death in an Iraqi village, and it is captured on a cellphone.

Maybe the video is a fake. I hope it is. No faction in the conflict has been above manipulating the media. But it looks all too real.

Duaa was not killed by terrorists. According to accounts I've read, she was stoned to death by a mob led by family members, including an uncle and some of her male cousins.

Duaa was a member of the Yazidi religious sect, which I confess I had never heard of. It's neither Christian nor Muslim. Some reference guides say it is a surviving remnant of Zorastrianism.

Duaa's family lived in the Kurdish north. That's the area that has been under U.S. protection since the first Gulf War in 1991 and essentially is autonomous. While most Kurds are Sunni Muslims, they are distinct from the Arab Sunni Muslims, the minority that benefited from Saddam Hussein's rule and now are at the centre of the insurgency against U.S. troops and the Shiite majority.

Stoning video is a disturbing clash of the ancient and the modern; Murder of 17−year−old girl is more160 to do with old hatreds than religion Duaa's capital offence was to fall in love with a Sunni Muslim boy. According to some accounts, she was going to run away and marry him and planned to convert to Islam. She took shelter with a religious leader, but was tricked into believing that her family had forgiven her. The video shows her dragged along through a crowd of shouting men, who beat and kicked her, then smashed in her head with a concrete block. It all takes way too long. Her terror at what is happening is unbearable. Police officers reportedly did nothing.

This happened in the supposedly stable north. This was carried out not by the Taliban or Islamic extremists, who we know are guilty of such so−called honour killings. This was carried out by a persecuted minority to which the U.S. Congress even now is considering granting special rights, so that more Yazidi can come to the United States for protection.

And they might need it. A few days after Duaa's killing, a death squad believed to be made up of Sunni Muslims, angered that Duaa had been killed for converting to Islam, hijacked a busload of workers, let the Muslims and Christians go, then lined up 21 Yazidi men and shot them to death in revenge for the girl's stoning.

I am convinced the men who committed that mass murder would be among the first in line to stone to death a Muslim woman who tried to convert to Yazidi beliefs to marry her boyfriend.

You'd think a preacher's kid like me would understand something about stoning. It's all through the Bible. Check out Joshua 7:25, where they stone not just the thief but also his sons and daughters. Or Deuteronomy 22:21, where a bride must be stoned to death on the say−so of a suspicious groom if no one can produce proof of her virginity.

But we know from John 8:7 ("He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her") that, by at least 2,000 years ago, such attitudes already were in retreat.

So why do they persist? I hesitate to say Duaa's death and all the other deaths have anything to do with religion. They have to do with hatreds that outsiders could barely catalog, much less ameliorate. The U.S. goal is to stay until, somehow, the Iraqis left in charge can put a lid on such hatreds. Watching that video, I get the feeling they're using the time to gather stones.

Stoning video is a disturbing clash of the ancient and the modern; Murder of 17−year−old girl is more161 to do with old hatreds than religion Headlines you might have missed this week

IDNUMBER 200705260139 PUBLICATION: Montreal Gazette DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Final SECTION: Saturday Extra PAGE: B8 SOURCE: The Gazette WORD COUNT: 339

Cheers turn to groans Quebecers cheered when they saw a $950−million tax cut in the Quebec budget Thursday, but groaned as the opposition parties said they'd vote it down, possibly forcing a summer election. long wait for the bus Montrealers struggled this week with a transit strike that inconvenienced thousands. The government warned Wednesday that the sides must reach an agreement soon. The union called off the strike yesterday. Service should be normal today.

The heat hits Montrealers had their first true taste of summer this week with record temperatures yesterday and Thursday.

The downside was that smog descended, making breathing difficult for some. In Calgary, meanwhile, there was snow on the ground Thursday.

Cyclists learn rules Cyclists found, to the surprise of some, that road rules apply to them, too. Police began a crackdown on scofflaw pedallers. They are increasing their presence at intersections frequented by cyclists.

Wolfe image on block A small painting of General James Wolfe, made months after his death and victory at the battle of Quebec in 1759, has surfaced in Britain and will be auctioned next month.

Schoolboy slain A 14−year−old boy was shot dead at a high school in northwest Toronto on Wednesday. Police locked down the school but no suspect was found.

Thousands flee camp Thousands of Palestinians fled the Nahr−Al−Barad refugee camp in Lebanon as the Lebanese army tightened its noose around Fatah al−Islam fighters who refused demands that they surrender.

Harper visits troops Prime Minister Stephen Harper paid a surprise visit to Canadian forces in Afghanistan this week. He refused to set an artificial deadline for when Canadian troops would come home. "You know that your work is not complete," he told troops. rocket kills woman An Israeli woman died after a rocket attack from Gaza. She was hit by one of 14 rockets launched hours after five Palestinians died in an Israeli air strike. A senior Israeli official warned the rocket attacks would not be tolerated.

Like a bad movie Residents of Old Montreal were up in arms this week as a crew working on a film starring Brad Pitt caused disruption on the old, narrow streets. landing gear buckles An Air Canada CRJ−100 jet's landing gear buckled after touching down at Toronto on Sunday. No one was hurt.

Headlines you might have missed this week 162 Bestsellers

IDNUMBER 200705260024 PUBLICATION: Montreal Gazette DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Final SECTION: Weekend: Books PAGE: J2 SOURCE: The Gazette WORD COUNT: 258

The bestseller lists are compiled from information provided by Montreal bookstores. The first number in parentheses indicates a book's place last week; the second shows how many weeks it has appeared on the list.

FICTION

1. On Chesil Beach

Ian McEwan (2) (7)

2. Divisadero

Michael Ondaatje (1) (5)

3. The Good Husband of Zebra Drive

Alexander McCall Smith (4) (5)

4. The Witch of Portobello

Paulo Coelho (10) (2)

5. The Yiddish Policemen's Union

Michael Chabon (3) (3)

6. The Children of Hurin

J.R.R. Tolkien (6) (4)

7. The 6th Target

J. Patterson, M. Paetro (−) (1)

8. Simple Genius

David Baldacci (7) (3)

9. Invisible Prey

Bestsellers 163 John Sandford (9) (2)

10. Lullabies for Little Criminals

Heather O'Neill (5) (12)

NON−FICTION

1. Infidel

Ayaan Hirsi Ali (1) (10)

2. At the Center of the Storm:

My Years at the CIA

George Tenet (−) (1)

3. The God Delusion

Richard Dawkins (−) (14)

4. A Long Way Gone

Ishmael Beah (−) (11)

5. Canadians: A Portrait of a Country and Its People

Roy MacGregor (4) (2)

6. How Doctors Think

Jerome Groopman (6) (7)

7. The Sixth Family

L. Lamothe, A. Humphreys (8) (12)

8. Stephane Dion

Linda Diebel (10) (2)

9. The Richness of Life: The

Essential Stephen Jay Gould

Steven Rose (−) (1)

10. The Sleeping Buddha: The Story of One Family's Past, and Afghanistan's Search for a Future

Bestsellers 164 Hamida Ghafour (−) (1)

SPECIAL INTEREST

1. The Secret

Rhonda Byrne (1) (20)

2. Montreal Resto−a−Go−Go 2007

Sarah Musgrave (2) (18)

3. The Duke Diet

H.J. Eisenson, M. Binks (4) (2)

4. The Weight Loss Cure "They" Don't Want You to Know About

Kevin Trudeau (−) (5)

5. The Buddha in Your Rearview Mirror: A Guide to Practicing Buddhism in Modern Life

Woody Hochswender (−) (1)

IN PAPER

1. Suite Francaise

Irene Nemirovsky (1) (5)

2. The Road

Cormac McCarthy (3) (4)

3. De Niro's Game

Rawi Hage (6) (2)

4. Everyman

Philip Roth (4) (2)

5. Piece of My Heart

Peter Robinson (2) (3)

6. The Five People You Meet in Heaven

Mitch Albom (−) (35)

Bestsellers 165 7. Running with Scissors:

A Memoir

Augusten Burroughs (−) (1)

8. Something Borrowed

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9. The Year of Magical Thinking

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10. The City of Falling Angels

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BOOKS IN FRENCH

1. Le Secret

Rhonda Byrne (n) (1) (6)

2. Toxic: Obesite, malbouffe, maladies: enquete sur les vrais coupables

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3. Le bien des miens

Janette Bertrand (f) (2) (6)

4. L'accuse

John Grisham (n) (10) (2)

5. Maudit que le bonheur coute cher!

Francine Ruel (f) (5) (7)

6. L'elegance du herisson

Muriel Barbery (f) (−) (1)

7. Forteresse digitale

Dan Brown (f) (−) (10)

8. Edna, Irma &Gloria

Denise Bombardier (f) (6) (5)

Bestsellers 166 9. Evangeline &Gabriel

Pauline Gill (f) (3) (7)

10. Le meilleur de soi

Guy Corneau (n) (9) (15)

Bestsellers 167 Enduring sorrow in Afghanistan; Hosseini's second novel centres on the lives of two women

IDNUMBER 200705260021 PUBLICATION: Montreal Gazette DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Final SECTION: Weekend: Books PAGE: J5 Photo: JOHN DOLAN PENGUIN / Khaled Hosseini's novel covers awide time span − ILLUSTRATION: from pre−Soviet invasion to post 9/11. ; BYLINE: IAN MCGILLIS SOURCE: Freelance WORD COUNT: 1036

A Thousand Splendid Suns

By Khaled Hosseini

Viking Canada, 336 pages, $34

The phenomenal success of Khaled Hosseini's 2003 debut novel The Kite Runner − 4 million sold and still very much ticking − can no doubt be ascribed in part to the world's desire to better understand a country that has been the unfortunate flashpoint for the defining conflict of the past quarter century.

For many, Hosseini provided a first glimpse into Afghanistan beyond journalistic accounts and electronic media soundbites. But topical worthiness only goes so far; what really sold The Kite Runner was its author's firm grip on age−old principles of character and storytelling. Now, the much−anticipated follow−up has arrived as a female counterpart to The Kite Runner's story of two boys, and it's hard to imagine many of those 4 million being disappointed.

The central figure of the novel's first section is Mariam, a woman bearing the brunt of oppressive patriarchal tradition. The unwanted illegitimate daughter of Jalil, owner of the cinema in Herat, she is shunted to a pariah's village on the city's outskirts and raised by an embittered single mother. Eventually, to get her further out of the way, Jalil marries her off to a middle−age Kabul shoe seller.

Rasheed is a man who expresses his dislike for his wife's cooking by forcing her to chew pebbles; it's hardly surprising that he makes her dawn the burqa and beats her for the crime of failing to bear him a child.

Just when we think Mariam's entrapment will make for a narrative and thematic dead end, Hosseini shifts the focus down the street to the teenage daughter of a progressive former university professor.

Free−spirited Laila is in love with childhood companion Tariq; years later, Tariq having fled with his family to Pakistan, Laila becomes Rasheed's second wife, and the forced alliance of these two women against the common foes of domestic violence and the war outside, and for the common cause of the two children Laila bears Rasheed, form the heart of the novel. It's a complex relationship, progressing in fits and starts over many years from open hostility to uneasy accommodation to love, and Hosseini handles it with a delicacy that makes it wholly convincing.

Enduring sorrow in Afghanistan; Hosseini's second novel centres on the lives of two women 168 The story covers a long span, from pre−Soviet invasion Afghanistan through subsequent civil war, the Taliban regime, and the post−9/11 landscape. Hosseini makes a game attempt to integrate the personal and the historical but doesn't always manage very well. Updates are inserted awkwardly, sometimes as authorial interjections ("The leadership council was formed prematurely. It elected Rabbani president. The other factions cried nepotism") other times placed in the mouths of characters. He is far more effective when he shows instead of tells, and fortunately that's more often than not. The arrival of the conquering Taliban into Kabul occasions a complete quoting of their list of proscribed activities (including the flying of kites), but the new regime's impact is conveyed far more efficiently by accounts of how Laila's simple wish to walk a few streets to an orphanage becomes a life−threatening gauntlet where she is subject to car−aerial lashings from zealous Taliban patrols. Among the most harrowing scenes in the book are those that take place in an all−female hospital, where surgeons are forced to perform Caesareans without anesthetic while surreptitiously removing their burqas just enough to be able to see what they're doing.

Most readers will be more familiar with Hosseini's settings, at least on a superficial level, than they were a few years ago, and that's a change that can't help but influence the experience of reading the book. There's an undeniable jolt in seeing a place name like Kandahar, now so unavoidably entwined in our minds with ongoing conflict and Canadian casualties, dropped into the narrative as no more than another city on the refugee trail. But we're reminded frequently that there are things we didn't know at all, and much of the power of Hosseini's canvas is found in the edges and the background, which are filled with details so surreal they could only be true. Who, for example, was aware of Kabul's Titanic craze of 2000? "That summer, Titanic fever gripped Kabul. People smuggled pirated copies of the film from Pakistan − sometimes in their underwear. After curfew, everyone locked their doors, turned out the lights, turned down the volume, and reaped tears for Jack and Rose and the passengers of the doomed ship." If you've ever had any doubts about the potency of pop culture as an agent of transference and a focus for hope, you won't anymore. In post−Taliban Kabul, "On windowsills, Laila spots flowers potted in the empty shells of old Mujahideen rockets − Rocket Flowers, Kabulis call them." References dropped with seeming casualness hit with sucker−punch force: at one point after 9/11, the manager of a hotel mentions, as a selling point, that "Bin Laden slept here."

A quote from early in the book can stand for what Hosseini has pulled off in A Thousand Splendid Suns: "Mammy's heart was like a pallid beach where Laila's footprints would forever wash away beneath the waves of sorrow that swelled and crashed, swelled and crashed."

Melodramatic? In any other context, yes, but here such charges are easily countered by the non−fiction accounts of Afghani women themselves, whose world really was one where the line between right and wrong was clearly drawn. Similarly, complaints that the narrative is ploddingly linear simply get trampled in the momentum of the story and the need for its being told. This, one comes to see, is the key to Hosseini's commercial appeal: he has the common touch. Armed with that gift, he is able, without downplaying or cheapening the horrors his characters suffer, to infuse their lives with the possibility of redemption.

Ian McGillis is a Montreal writer.

Enduring sorrow in Afghanistan; Hosseini's second novel centres on the lives of two women 169 Calgary soldiers joining Afghan war; Reservists say they're ready to serve country

IDNUMBER 200705260250 PUBLICATION: Calgary Herald DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Early SECTION: News PAGE: A1 / FRONT Colour Photo: Mikael Kjellstrom, Calgary Herald / PrimeMinister Stephen Harper ILLUSTRATION: announces $5 million in museum funding during a speech in Calgary on Friday. ; BYLINE: Joel Kom SOURCE: Calgary Herald; with files from CanWest News Service WORD COUNT: 383

The Calgary Highlanders will send 64 members to Afghanistan next year, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced in Calgary on Friday.

Harper, speaking at the Roundup Centre, also revealed the Military Museums Society would receive a $5−million federal boost.

As news of the death of another Canadian soldier Friday sinks in, members of the Highlanders are voluntarily joining the mission.

There's a bartender, some construction workers and some students.

In a little more than eight months, they will all drop their full−time lives in Calgary because of a part−time passion.

Emmett Kelly, a project manager overseeing Calgary condo construction, is one of them.

For the band of reservists, and particularly for the 42−year−old Kelly, it was a chance they couldn't pass up.

"I've been given the opportunity now with Afghanistan," he said after the event. "After 26 years (as a reservist), I think I'd have to kick myself in the ass if I didn't do it."

A master warrant officer, Kelly will be trading his office job in Calgary for battle fatigues in Kabul, from where he'll co−ordinate operations for about 120 soldiers.

His wife and three children have been prepared for his six−month deployment, but that isn't making it easier for all of them.

"The son's said nothing," he said of his 14−year−old boy.

Kelly will be following 27 fellow Highlanders who returned from Afghanistan last year. The biggest thing he learned from them was simple: never let down your guard.

"You have to be sharp, you have to be ready," he said. "You have to be a sponge for six months."

Calgary soldiers joining Afghan war; Reservists say they're ready to serve country 170 Afghanistan was the main focus of last night's dinner, with Prime Minister Stephen Harper repeating his message that Canada will commit as long as is necessary.

His remarks came on the heels of his visit to Afghanistan earlier this week, where he opened the door to Canadian troops remaining there past the February 2009 deadline, saying Canada shouldn't obey "arbitrary deadlines."

His speech Friday came hours after the latest Canadian casualty from the war.

"The mission there has been long, hard and difficult, as the tragic death earlier today of Cpl. Matthew J. McCully reminds us," he told a crowd of about 500.

The same message was also repeated across the country, where Canada's top soldier spoke to a Toronto business audience.

"It's always tough when we lose a soldier," Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier said. "There's no way you ever get used to it, no way you ever want to get used to it."

"(But) we're making incredibly good progress . . . We can't reduce the risk of attacks to zero as we saw again last night," he added later.

Harper said the contribution to the Military Museums would ensure soldiers' stories are well−told in new facilities expected to open in November.

The new museum will include two new galleries devoted to the Navy and the Air Force, as well as 20,000 square feet of space to house one of the largest military history libraries in Canada. [email protected]

Calgary soldiers joining Afghan war; Reservists say they're ready to serve country 171 Calgary soldiers joining Afghan war; Reservists say they're ready to go

IDNUMBER 200705260246 PUBLICATION: Calgary Herald DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Final SECTION: News PAGE: A1 / FRONT Colour Photo: Mikael Kjellstrom, Calgary Herald / PrimeMinister Stephen Harper ILLUSTRATION: announces $5 million in museum funding during a speech in Calgary on Friday. ; BYLINE: Joel Kom SOURCE: Calgary Herald; with files from CanWest News Service NOTE: Also See: Canadian corporal killed on page A3 WORD COUNT: 432

The Calgary Highlanders will send 64 members to Afghanistan next year, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced in Calgary on Friday.

Harper, speaking at the Roundup Centre, also revealed the Military Museums Society will receive a $5−million federal boost for its expansion.

"For months they have given up family and leisure time for training," Harper said of the Highlanders, the reserve infantry regiment of 41 Canadian Brigade Group. "Now they're ready to serve Canada for six months in this very dangerous part of the world."

The Highlanders weren't letting news Friday of another Canadian military death in Afghanistan sway their resolve. The deployment will be one of the largest for the Highlanders since the mission began.

In a little more than eight months the group of volunteers will drop their full−time lives in Calgary because of a part−time passion.

Emmett Kelly, a project manager overseeing Calgary condo construction, is one of them.

"I've been given the opportunity now with Afghanistan," said the 42−year−old after the event. "After 26 years (as a reservist), I think I'd have to kick myself in the ass if I didn't do it."

A master warrant officer, Kelly will be trading his office job in Calgary for battle fatigues in Kabul, from where he'll co−ordinate operations for about 120 soldiers.

His wife and three children have been prepared for his six−month deployment, but that isn't making it easier for all of them.

"The son's said nothing," he said of his 14−year−old boy.

Kelly will be following 27 fellow Highlanders who returned from Afghanistan last year. The biggest thing he learned from them was simple: never let down your guard.

Calgary soldiers joining Afghan war; Reservists say they're ready to go 172 "You have to be sharp, you have to be ready," he said. "You have to be a sponge for six months."

Afghanistan was the main focus of last night's speech, with Harper repeating his message that Canada will commit as long as is necessary.

His speech Friday came hours after the latest Canadian casualty from the war.

"The mission there has been long, hard and difficult, as the tragic death earlier today of Cpl. Matthew J. McCully reminds us," he told a crowd of about 500.

The same message was also repeated across the country, where Canada's top soldier spoke to a Toronto business audience.

"It's always tough when we lose a soldier," Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier said. "There's no way you ever get used to it, no way you ever want to get used to it.

"(But) we're making incredibly good progress. . . . We can't reduce the risk of attacks to zero as we saw again last night," he added later.

Harper said the contribution to the Military Museums would ensure soldiers' stories are well−told in new facilities expected to open in November.

Calgary soldiers joining Afghan war; Reservists say they're ready to go 173 Canadian Forces 'lost a good kid' to terrorist bomb; 55th soldier killed in Afghan campaign

IDNUMBER 200705260239 PUBLICATION: Calgary Herald DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Final SECTION: News PAGE: A3 Photo: Reuters, Department of National Defence / Animprovised explosive device ILLUSTRATION: claimed the life of Canadian Cpl. Matthew McCully on Friday while he was on a joint patrol with Afghan troops near the southern city of Kandahar. ; KEYWORDS: WAR DATELINE: KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan BYLINE: Tom Blackwell SOURCE: CanWest News Service WORD COUNT: 377

Cpl. Matthew McCully had been carrying out one of the most important tasks the Canadian Forces have here: helping train the newly formed Afghan national army.

One day, it is hoped, the ANA will replace all NATO troops in Afghanistan, providing the West its longed−for exit strategy. That is a day McCully, 25, will never see.

The young "mentor" for local troops was killed Friday when a bomb blew up next to him as he marched alongside his Afghan colleagues in a major anti−Taliban operation.

A second Canadian was wounded and an interpreter aiding the unit was slightly injured in the blast at about 8 a.m. near the village of Nalgham, 35 kilometres west of Kandahar.

"Our mentoring team are comrades in arms with the Afghans," said Cessford, deputy commander of the Canadian mission in Afghanistan.

"They share the risks, they work closely with them. Unfortunately, when this soldier was moving forward with other Canadians and with Afghan soldiers, an IED was triggered and he was killed."

"We lost a good kid today," said Cessford. "It's a pretty sad day, but he was doing what he needed to be doing and what he wanted to do. . . . We'll miss him."

His friends, the commander said, "thought very highly of him." The soldier's home town was not available Friday.

Canadian Forces 'lost a good kid' to terrorist bomb; 55th soldier killed in Afghan campaign 174 McCully's body was flown to the NATO base here, while the wounded soldier was being treated for non−life threatening injuries at the camp's trauma hospital. He has already spoken to his family, said Cessford.

The men were part of Operation Hoover, an offensive against the Taliban in Zhari district, where the insurgents have engaged Canadian troops in several firefights lately.

Although the Canadian battle group was involved, the operation was being led by the Afghans, part of a push to give them a bigger role in the counter insurgency war.

Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier said in Toronto the moral support of ordinary Canadians is essential to the success of the military, especially the mission in Afghanistan.

"It's always tough when we lose a soldier," Hillier told a business audience on Bay Street.

"There's no way you ever get used to it, no way you ever want to get used to it. This is a tough day."

Despite McCully's death, Hillier insisted the Canadian Forces are making tremendous progress.

Canadian Forces 'lost a good kid' to terrorist bomb; 55th soldier killed in Afghan campaign 175 Quote

IDNUMBER 200705260193 PUBLICATION: Calgary Herald DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Final SECTION: Q: Queries − Quibbles − Quirks PAGE: A25 ILLUSTRATION: Photo: (Col. Mike Cessford); SOURCE: Calgary Herald WORD COUNT: 39

We lost a good kid today. It's a pretty sad day. But he was doing what he needed to do, what he wanted to do

Col. Mike Cessford, deputy commander of Joint Task Force Afghanistan, on the latest casualty there.

Quote 176 Troops join cancer march

IDNUMBER 200705260165 PUBLICATION: Calgary Herald DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Final SECTION: City &Region PAGE: B8 CANCER; LUNG CANCER; MEDICAL CARE; MEDICAL RESEARCH; KEYWORDS: PROSTATECANCER; SMOKING; AGE BYLINE: Paula Beauchamp SOURCE: Calgary Herald WORD COUNT: 177

Canadian soldiers who recently returned from Afghanistan joined an all−night march to raise money for the fight against cancer.

As most Calgarians enjoyed a good night's sleep, more than 2,000 people walked or ran around a track at the Calgary Rugby Union in an event called Relay for Life.

The annual overnight fundraiser is run by the Canadian Cancer Society.

Cpl. Chris Poonwah said his group, Soldiers for Survivors, marched to give back to the community.

"The community showed us soldiers such great support while we were overseas," he said. "We just want to show our support in return.

"As long as I can stand up straight, I just want to keep serving."

The four soldiers wore full army gear, including desert combat pants, army boots and backpacks weighing 30 to 40 kilograms during the 12−hour relay.

About 150 cancer survivors took part in a victory lap to celebrate their victories against cancer.

"We make this a big celebration and a special part of the night," said event spokeswoman Rose Matjasic.

At dusk Friday, candles were lit around the relay track to honour people whose lives have been touched by cancer.

The Soldiers for Survivors group said their training would help them cope with sleep deprivation.

The team includes three Calgary Highlanders −− corporals Josh Morris, Craig Costin and Poonwah. The fourth member, Kevin Knight, serves in the Canadian forces full−time.

The Calgary relay last year raised more than $700,000. Organizers hope to crack the $1−million mark this year. [email protected]

Troops join cancer march 177 Mail Bag Column

SOURCETAG 0705260644 PUBLICATION: The Winnipeg Sun DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Final SECTION: Sports PAGE: S8 COLUMN: Mail Bag WORD COUNT: 614

REST IS HISTORY

Some people may think a long rest will help Ottawa in the Stanley Cup final as the Sens will have nine days off. Think again. Since 1990, 12 Cup champions have had the shorter rest heading into the final. The long rest will be detrimental to the Sens. Look at Edmonton last year, Anaheim in 2003, and the Detroit Tigers who had a week off before the World Series last year. The Ducks will take care of the Sens in six.

ANDREW SHEEHY

(Hey, take your time with your pick.)

PARTY GAME

I've been watching the debate about which sport is better, and I want to point out the irrelevance. Soccer (football) and basketball are popular because kids play it from humble beginnings. For soccer you don't even need a real ball, and for basketball I've seen plenty of old spokeless bike rims for nets. The poorest nations have a thriving soccer league and the poorest ghetto has a basketball court. But the real difference is the betting and partying. For soccer, NFL and NASCAR, it's not about the game, the party is the attraction. The game is secondary and you can bet a lot of fans pass out and find out the score the next day. Let the fans get a few kegs in the back of their pickup and watch the CFL become successful.

MITCHELL ST. CROIX

(That'd be terribly un−Canadian.)

TOEING THE LINE

Feel free to call it soccer, Pete Agius (Mail Bag, May 25). It's still football. What does a foot kicking a ball infer to you? The sport you refer to as football maybe should be called, "Throw ball and rest for a few minutes".

SYD JOHNSON

(Let's just call it foosball.)

AUSSIE RULES RULES

So, football players are tough (Mail Bag, May 23)? They wear more armour than the troops in Afghanistan, and have to take team breaks every 15 minutes. In a 60−minute game there is actual movement for under 11

Mail Bag Column 178 minutes! Don't like soccer? Try rugby or Aussie rules football −− football without the armour and without taking breaks every few seconds.

LES WHITEHEAD

(Who has more padding, an NFLer or J.S. Giguere?)

DANCING AROUND ISSUE

Ron Grechny implies rugby is the "toughest sport" in the world (Mail Bag, May 23). I totally disagree. Ballroom dancing is just as physically exhausting as rugby and much more precise. In ballroom dancing there is also the inherent danger of making one bad move and getting a four−inch stiletto heel in the groin. Rugby players may have their tackles and scrums but until they start playing the game in spiked heels they'll never be considered real men. So, la de da and cha cha cha.

ERIC MCMILLAN

(Why is called "ballroom" if they don't have a ball?)

REAL HOCKEY OUT THERE

That was a great comment on the Leafs (Jim Mooney, Mail Bag, May 23). Funny, I was upset when I tuned in for my regular Leafs game only to find out it had been held hostage by Leafs TV and if I didn't want to pay the ransom, then I couldn't watch. In turn, I watch other games and realize the old no−talent Leafs game is not the norm. Go ahead and put all Leafs games on TV, I've become an NHL fan instead of a Leafs fan. I'll be thrilled to watch the Sens win the Cup.

ROSS WOOD

(Don't flip the Leafs the digital.)

SPEAKING OF LEAFS TV ...

I notice you print about one letter a week from Jim Mooney. I can't figure out why. All he does is complain about the Leafs. His letters are boring, repetitive and lack originality. In his latest rant he asks the Leafs to place all the games on Leafs TV as he doesn't get the channel. I have some simple advice, if you don't want to watch the Leafs games change the channel.

DAVID SMITH

(He's the official Leafs watchdog.) KEYWORDS=OTHER SPORTS

Mail Bag Column 179 Violence in Lebanon serves Syria

SOURCETAG 0705260611 PUBLICATION: The Winnipeg Sun DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Final SECTION: Editorial/Opinion PAGE: 11 BYLINE: SALIM MANSUR WORD COUNT: 537

The capacity of Palestinian militants with their supporters among the wider Palestinian community in the Middle East and elsewhere to self−destruct seems to be hard−wired into their politics. This is again in evidence in the newest round of violence sparked by Palestinian militants of Fatah al−Islam linked with al−Qaida in the Nahr el−Bared refugee camps in Tripoli, Lebanon.

The purpose of al−Qaida is unambiguous. It is to undermine political order through terror in pursuing the strategic goal of precipitating sectarian conflicts within Muslim countries.

Violence and disorder, al−Qaida operatives believe, will contribute to the making of Islamist revolution and seizure of power by those allied to the aims of al−Qaida as were the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Palestinian Islamists gathered under the banner of Hamas are joined to al−Qaeda and ready to do the biddings of regimes, such as Iran and Syria. Their war (jihad) against Israel is part of the larger war against the West in general and the United States in particular.

The appearance of Fatah al−Islam in the Palestinian refugee camps located in Lebanon comes as no surprise, and its confrontation with the Lebanese state is not much different than that of the Hezbollah in undermining the authority of the central government in Beirut.

A weak Lebanese state has fallen prey to the wider politics of its neighbour, in particular Syria whose rulers in Damascus have viewed Lebanon for a long time as their doormat.

DESTABILIZE

The question that hovers over the current violence in Lebanon is to what extent this serves Syrian interests, converging with the strategic purpose of al−Qaida, to destabilize a weak and communally divided country.

The answer is likely a great deal. The present crisis coincides with efforts in the Security Council to establish a tribunal under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter for bringing to trial suspects in the February 2005 murder of Rafik Hariri, the former prime minister of Lebanon.

Kofi Annan as Secretary−General appointed Germany's Detlev Mehlis as the Commissioner of the UN investigation into the murder of Hariri in May 2005. The Commission's report concluded "many leads point directly towards Syrian security officials as being involved with the assassination."

The Syrian regime views the UN effort to bring Hariri's murderers to trial as an existential threat. The regime is a family−clan business under the present dictator Bashar Assad, and the regime has a record of ruthlessness in maintaining power.

Violence in Lebanon serves Syria 180 But Hariri's murder sparked a popular outcry among Lebanese known as the "Cedar Revolution," and it forced Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon that had come to be seen as an occupation stretching over nearly three decades.

Damascus has been reluctant to accept Lebanon's relative freedom from its control. Some Lebanese −− such as journalists Gebran Tueni and Samir Kassir −− critical of Syria have paid with their lives while others have been intimidated by Syrian goons associated with the Hezbollah.

TIMING

Palestinian militants of Fatah al−Islam might be independent of the Syrian regime and financed by sources not linked to Damascus. But the timing of their confrontation with the Lebanese military is indicative of their collaboration with Syrian authorities against the politics of the "Cedar Revolution" that runs deep across communal divisions in a new Lebanon struggling to be born.

The UN tribunal might hold a gun to the head of the Syrian regime by unmasking the murderers of Rafik Hariri. Damascus in turn might be warning Beirut through Palestinian thugs linked with al−Qaida of greater harm it can unleash against Lebanon in the future.

Violence in Lebanon serves Syria 181 Afghan bomb kills Canadian Dies marching with local men he trained

SOURCETAG 0705260583 PUBLICATION: The Winnipeg Sun DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Final SECTION: News PAGE: 2 photo by Ministry of National Defence and CP Cpl. Matthew McCully became ILLUSTRATION: the 55th Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan when he stepped on a mine yesterday. BYLINE: JAMES MCCARTEN, CP DATELINE: MA'SUM GHAR WORD COUNT: 242

A Canadian soldier marching into battle alongside Afghan troops he helped to train was killed yesterday when he stepped on an anti−tank mine during the opening stages of Canada's largest anti−Taliban offensive in nearly two months.

Cpl. Matthew McCully, 25, was part of Canada's Operational Mentor and Liaison Team helping to shape their Afghan counterparts into organized fighting units.

"As this soldier was moving forward, with other Canadians and other Afghan soldiers, an IED (improvised explosive device) was triggered and he was killed," said Col. Mike Cessford, deputy commander of Canadians in Afghanistan.

"We lost a good kid today. We're thinking about him and our thoughts are going out to the family ... It's a pretty sad day. But he was doing what he needed to do, what he wanted to do."

McCully was the 55th Canadian soldier to die in Afghanistan. He was a signals operator from 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group Headquarters and Signals Squadron based at Petawawa.

Michelle McCully, who confirmed she was McCully's mother, declined to comment when reached by phone in Prince George, B.C. "It's not a good time, sorry," she said.

McCully was killed around 8 a.m. near the village of Nalgham, 35 km west of Kandahar City, as he marched with Afghan soldiers at the start of a new offensive to flush insurgents out of the Zhari district.

It was the second buried bomb targeting coalition forces to detonate within about an hour; the first struck a Canadian tank that was just heading into battle. No one was injured in the first blast.

The second blast killed McCully and caused non−life−threatening injuries to another soldier. An Afghan interpreter was also wounded. KEYWORDS=CANADA

Afghan bomb kills Canadian Dies marching with local men he trained 182 Mail Bag Column

SOURCETAG 0705260477 PUBLICATION: The Toronto Sun DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Final SECTION: Sports PAGE: S18 COLUMN: Mail Bag WORD COUNT: 614

REST IS HISTORY

ANDREW SHEEHY

(Hey, take your time with your pick.)

PARTY GAME

MITCHELL ST. CROIX

(That'd be terribly un−Canadian.)

TOEING THE LINE

SYD JOHNSON

(Let's just call it foosball.)

AUSSIE RULES RULES

Mail Bag Column 183 minutes! Don't like soccer? Try rugby or Aussie rules football −− football without the armour and without taking breaks every few seconds.

LES WHITEHEAD

(Who has more padding, an NFLer or J.S. Giguere?)

DANCING AROUND ISSUE

ERIC MCMILLAN

(Why is called "ballroom" if they don't have a ball?)

REAL HOCKEY OUT THERE

ROSS WOOD

(Don't flip the Leafs the digital.)

SPEAKING OF LEAFS TV ...

DAVID SMITH

(He's the official Leafs watchdog.) KEYWORDS=FAN FARE

Mail Bag Column 184 Violence in Lebanon serves Syria

SOURCETAG 0705260410 PUBLICATION: The Toronto Sun DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Final SECTION: Editorial/Opinion PAGE: 16 BYLINE: SALIM MANSUR WORD COUNT: 537

The purpose of al−Qaida is unambiguous. It is to undermine political order through terror in pursuing the strategic goal of precipitating sectarian conflicts within Muslim countries.

A weak Lebanese state has fallen prey to the wider politics of its neighbour, in particular Syria whose rulers in Damascus have viewed Lebanon for a long time as their doormat.

DESTABILIZE

Violence in Lebanon serves Syria 185 But Hariri's murder sparked a popular outcry among Lebanese known as the "Cedar Revolution," and it forced Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon that had come to be seen as an occupation stretching over nearly three decades.

TIMING

Violence in Lebanon serves Syria 186 Afghan bomb kills Canadian Dies marching with local men he trained

SOURCETAG 0705260381 PUBLICATION: The Toronto Sun DATE: 2007.05.26 EDITION: Final SECTION: News PAGE: 2 photo by Ministry of National Defence and CP Cpl. Matthew McCully became ILLUSTRATION: the 55th Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan when he stepped on a mine yesterday. BYLINE: JAMES MCCARTEN, THE CANADIAN PRESS DATELINE: MA'SUM GHAR WORD COUNT: 246

Cpl. Matthew McCully, 25, was part of Canada's Operational Mentor and Liaison Team helping to shape their Afghan counterparts into organized fighting units.

"We lost a good kid today. We're thinking about him and our thoughts are going out to the family ... It's a pretty sad day. But he was doing what he needed to do, what he wanted to do."

McCully was the 55th Canadian soldier to die in Afghanistan. He was a signals operator from 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group Headquarters and Signals Squadron based at Petawawa.

Michelle McCully, who confirmed she was McCully's mother, declined to comment when reached by phone in Prince George, B.C. "It's not a good time, sorry," she said.

It was the second buried bomb targeting coalition forces to detonate within about an hour; the first struck a Canadian tank that was just heading into battle. No one was injured in the first blast.

The second blast killed McCully and caused non−life−threatening injuries to another soldier. An Afghan interpreter was also wounded. KEYWORDS=CANADIAN ABROAD; MILITARY; FATAL; CANADA

Afghan bomb kills Canadian Dies marching with local men he trained 187 Majority fools Harper may ruin his chances in the next election by chasing polls

SOURCETAG 0705210417 PUBLICATION: The Toronto Sun DATE: 2007.05.21 EDITION: Final SECTION: Editorial/Opinion PAGE: 16 ILLUSTRATION: photo of STEPHEN HARPER "Do what's right BYLINE: PETER WORTHINGTON WORD COUNT: 529

Even his admirers (and he has some) are uneasy that Stephen Harper may be jeopardizing his chances of winning a majority in the next federal election.

As a congenital optimist (every year I half expect the Leafs to win the Stanley Cup), I still think the Tories should win a majority whenever Harper decides to call an election. But he isn't helping his chances with acts he thinks will make him popular.

PANDERING

Despite evidence to the contrary, politicians think a secret to success is pandering to opinion polls, though they don't call it that. Chasing opinion polls, or trying to anticipate what the people will vote for, is a mug's game. Right now, in Canada, polls show a majority of people have doubts about keeping our troops in Afghanistan, so politicians are piling on.

When the last Liberal government began to realize that generations of abusing and cutting the military had been a mistake, Harper grabbed the issue, ran with it, and won support from most Canadians outside Quebec.

The wheel has turned somewhat (thanks to seemingly insoluble problems in Iraq that don't involve us).

Today, Harper's support of the Afghan mission and things military is deemed to be a minus, and may prevent his dream of a majority.

One thing is certain. If Harper were to reverse his previous pledge to keep our military in Afghanistan until that country is secure and fight its own battles, he'd kiss his future goodbye.

I don't know if Harper adopted the military as a cause because he spotted that most Canadians support their soldiers and joined the bandwagon, or if he truly believes in it. I hope the latter.

Politicians who stick to their philosophy and aren't panicked by opinion polls or the musings of media gurus, do better than the cynically ambitious.

Ronald Reagan stuck to what he was, and didn't pander.

He was secure in his beliefs made tough decisions, was respected and popular −− a difficult combination.

Remember the air controllers strike when he first took office?

Majority fools Harper may ruin his chances in the next election by chasing polls 188 Margaret Thatcher never wavered, never lost public support, but did lose support of her party which lost its nerve. Even Charles de Gaulle prevailed with unpopular stands −− witness Algerian independence.

When the Reform Party was first launched by Preston Manning, it took stands the media disliked. But against all predictions it prevailed in Alberta and didn't pander. But when the party came east, it started chasing polls, sacrificing principle for popularity −− and flopped.

SOFTENED

If you're going to fail, why not fail by doing what's right and what you believe? Harper has softened on issues he supposedly once believed in. I suspect he (and other Tories) would be more trusted if they stopped trying to appeal to everyone.

If Harper doesn't believe in same−sex marriages, why pretend he does? If he believes medicare needs reforming and that private clinics would ease the burden on hospitals, do it. If he believes in one official language for Canada, go for it and persuade country. If he doesn't truly believe Quebec is a "nation," don't pretend he's changed his mind.

On the issue of global warming, if Harper listened to the Friends of Science Society from the University of Calgary he'd realize it's a fraud he now pretends to support.

Some hope his stands are a ploy to be elected with a majority, after which he'll revert to what he believes. I hope so, too, though I'm disappointed in transparent cynicism.

All we know for sure is that the Liberals' Stephane Dion is a pathetic excuse for a leader. But Liberals are smart enough to know this (they're smarter than Reform dumbos who assassinate leaders who disappoint them, like Stockwell Day). Right now Bob Rae is set to be the next Liberal leader when Dion self−destructs.

Wait and see.

Majority fools Harper may ruin his chances in the next election by chasing polls 189 Sun excellence rewarded Toronto Sun staff outdid themselves in 2006, snaring 10 Dunlop awards for journalistic supremacy

SOURCETAG 0705240869 PUBLICATION: The Toronto Sun DATE: 2007.05.24 EDITION: Final SECTION: News PAGE: 25 8 photos 1. photo of MIKE STROBEL Top columnist/humour 2. photo of VERONICA HENRI Multiple award winner 3. photo of THANE BURNETT Investigative reporting 4. ILLUSTRATION: photo of ALEX UROSEVIC Photography 5. photo of BILL MURRAY Layout and design 6. photo of DARREN MCGEE Layout and design 7. photo of BILL HARRIS Runner−up in writing 8. photo of JIM SLOTEK Critical writing WORD COUNT: 383

Edward Dunlop would be proud of the Toronto Sun journalists, photographers and editors who earned 10 of the awards named after the paper's founding chairman for their work in 2006.

"It truly shows the hard work and ingenuity of our very talented columnists, photographers and desk staff," said Glenn Garnett, the Sun's editor−in−chief. "They are the best and this proves it once again."

The annual Dunlop awards announced Tuesday recognize work done throughout the Sun Media chain.

The Toronto Sun's Veronica Henri won for sports photography with a shot of a high school football player being tackled and upended.

The former National Newspaper Award recipient was also runner−up in the feature category with a poignant picture of a homeless man huddled with his dog on a freezing day.

The Sun's Mike Strobel won the columnist category for his piece about a 15−year−old Markham teen who was stabbed by a paranoid neighbour who was then allowed by authorities to return home.

Strobel was runner−up in the humour category for squeezing into a corset, stockings, and stilettos for Pride Week festivities.

The investigative award went to Thane Burnett, now a Sun Media national reporter, for a look at the prostitutes and orphans of India afflicted with HIV and AIDS.

He was also runner−up in the feature category for telling the story of two Port Perry sisters, paralyzed after a car crash, who went to China for experimental stem cell treatment.

The Sun entertainment department's Jim Slotek won top honours in critical writing for a look at the meltdown of Michael Richards, aka Kramer. Runner−up in the category was the Sun's Bill Harris who looked at the past 50 years of rock 'n' roll.

Sun excellence rewarded Toronto Sun staff outdid themselves in 2006, snaring 10 Dunlop awards190 for journalistic supremacy The Sun's entertainment department got a runner−up nod in the We'll Be There category for Golden Years −− 50 Years of Rock 'n' Roll.

The top spot in that category went to the Toronto Sun photographer/videographer Alex Urosevic and the Edmonton Sun's Doug Beazley for a glimpse into Canada's efforts in Afghanistan.

Urosevic also took top spot with Sun Media's Geoff Brennan for presenting the stills and video transmitted via satellite from Afghanistan right to your computer screen.

Sun editors Bill Murray and Darren McGee were runners−up for their layout and design of a special section on the changing face of Toronto.

OTHER PAPERS HONOURED WITH DUNLOPS

Other Sun Media winners:

− Creighton award: Tom Braid, Edmonton Sun.

− Columns −− Runner−up: Earl McRae, Ottawa Sun.

− Investigative −− Runner−up: Robyn Stubbs, 24 hours Vancouver.

− Layout and design −− Winner: Andrew Pollreis, Winnipeg Sun.

− Feature writing −− Winner: Earl McRae, Ottawa Sun.

− Spot news −− Winner: London Free Press. Runner−up: Max Maudie, Edmonton Sun.

− Writing (under 50,000) −− Winner: Larissa Liepins, Fort McMurray Today. Runner−up: Daniel Pearce, Simcoe Reformer.

− Sports writing −− Winner: Paul Friesen, Winnipeg Sun. Runner−Up: Jonathan Huntington, Edmonton Sun.

− Humour −− Winner: Wade Ozeroff, Edmonton Sun.

− Feature photography −− Winner: Blair Gable. Ottawa Sun.

− Spot news photography −− Winner: Blair Gable, Ottawa Sun. Runner−up: Jim Wells, Calgary Sun.

− Sports photography −− Runner−up: Ryan Jackson, Edmonton Sun.

− Photography (under 50,000) −− Winner: Scott Wishart, Stratford Beacon− Herald. Runner−up: Elliot Ferguson, Woodstock Sentinel−Review.

− New media award −− Tied for top spot with Toronto Sun: Al Charest, Darren Makowichuk, Kevin Udahl and Jim Wells, Calgary Sun. KEYWORDS=TORONTO SUN; AWARD; SUN MEDIA

Sun excellence rewarded Toronto Sun staff outdid themselves in 2006, snaring 10 Dunlop awards191 for journalistic supremacy