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As US begins Afghan surge, Canada plans its exit

06 February 2010 22:17 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. By the crack of dawn, the Royal Canadian Dragoons’ armor was in position, fanned out across a dusty vineyard for Operation Tazi to secure a key land route into Kandahar from the Taliban, APA reports citing â€œAssociated Pressâ€.

It was a mission the Canadians have done countless times before in other Afghan places. But, this time, they weren’t officially running the show. The local police chief was, and he wasn’t there yet.

"You have to work on Afghanistan time," Master Cpl. Jason Dunnett, 27, of Oshawa, Ontario, said after the soldiers were issued their orders and briefed on what to expect. "We’ll go when they are ready."

Fighting its bloodiest conflict since the Korean War, Canada has paid a heavy price â€” 139 Canadian troops have died. With about 2,800 soldiers in the country, the third-largest contingent in the U.S.-led coalition, the Canadians have taken more casualties, proportionately, than any other.

After four years of often-intense combat since moving down to Kandahar, the spiritual center of the Taliban, Canadian military planners are now fine-tuning their exit strategy, bringing the Afghans in as closely as possible to ensure that their hard-fought progress doesn’t evaporate after they leave.

"We are killing insurgents with our right hand, and killing the insurgency with our left," said Capt. Jade Watson, a planning officer for the Canadian Battle Group in Kandahar. "We can offer a future. The insurgents can only offer a past."

President Barack Obama has said the U.S. also plans to begin its own withdrawal by July 2011, adding a further sense of urgency to getting the Afghans themselves to take a leadership role.

"2010 will be a pivotal year for Afghanistan," said Canadian Ambassador William Crosby. "I can’t predict what the place will be like 18 months from now. My focus over the next 18 months is to deliver on Canadian promises."