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Canadian general is British commander’s ’eyes and ears ’ in Helmand

09 February 2010 01:42 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. Canadian Brig.-Gen. Craig King (far right) listens to a briefing given by British and Afghan officers at a base that was once a "Taliban hotel", APA reports quoting â€œVancouver Sunâ€ newspaper. The top Canadian in NATO’s command in southern Afghanistan, King’s job is to provide future battle plans. To get the lay of the land he often visits remote outposts across the south.
As he sat before a table map of Helmand province in what was once a "Taliban hotel," Brig.-Gen. Craig King listened intently while British and Afghan commanders explained the lay of the land in great detail with a special emphasis on where the Taliban were and what they were up to.
The self-effacing 49-year-old Winnipegger is one of British Maj.-Gen. Nick Carter’s "eyes and ears." As Carter’s director for future plans for the 40,000 NATO troops in southern Afghanistan, King has become a frequent visitor to outposts such as this British base about 150 kilometres northwest of Kandahar City.
"I literally needed to see the ground in Helmand," King said upon returning to Regional Command South’s headquarters at Kandahar Airfield after a day in northern areas of a province where NATO has vowed that it is about to launch its biggest operation ever in Afghanistan.
"It is essential in my job to see the physical terrain and to understand the human terrain. There are problems that cannot be solved with e-mails. It is important for the commander’s staff to fan out and find out for themselves."
During his visit to Helmand, King got a 360-degree rooftop view of the battle space around the base at Musa Qala, which was manned by soldiers from the Royal Anglian Regiment of the Queen’s Division.
Much of what King heard was similar to what Canadian commanders have said about Kandahar. Governance at the district level is weak, the Taliban have established illegal checkpoints whenever they could and used violence to cow and coerce the local population. As everywhere in Afghanistan today, the insurgents’ weapon of choice is homemade landmines known universally as IEDs, or improvised explosive devices.
But there are encouraging signs, too. Patrol Habib, near Musa Qala, had been built on ground recently dominated by the Taliban, pushing them further north. Even in these new sanctuaries, the enemy melted away when NATO air assets arrived on the scene.
One of those escorting the visiting general told him: "The insurgency is very much on its back foot."
After the briefing, which was punctuated by questions from King, the Canadian "one leaf" said: "The British have done a tremendous job in what is a hugely complex place."
As Carter’s director of operations, U.S. Brig.-Gen. Ben Hodges, "worries about getting us to the next hill crest," King said. "I look at getting us two to three kilometres down the trace by shaping the commander’s intentions and then co-ordinating them. It is a grand game of interpretation, co-ordination and integration of all the different elements that contribute to complex problem-solving. We make proposals. The commander then decides want he wants to do."
One of the crucial issues, particularly since U.S. President Barack Obama ordered 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, has been the force flow and force laydown of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force and of the Afghan security forces.
"Of all the things that come across my desk, there is no more important element right now than the training of Afghan forces in partnership with ISAF," King said, adding that everything he did was in close collaboration with Afghan partners.
Not every file concerns the war, however. Plans were being drawn up with the Afghan government to deal with a potential humanitarian crisis because of a severe drought this winter that may or may not be alleviated by recent rains.
King’s previous job was as commander of the training centre at Wainwright, Alta., which prepared Canadian soldiers for duty in Kandahar.
While the war in Helmand has received much more attention from the British and American media, King was of the opinion that what happens in Kandahar was of greater importance because that province is the spiritual centre of the Pushtuns and the Taliban and because it is the largest population centre in the south.
"The main effort must be on Kandahar City and its environs because of the importance of this place to the Pushtuns," he said. Because of this, "the Canadians in Kandahar are going to be at the tip of the spear" this summer.
As for Canada’s intention to leave Kandahar by the end of next year, the man responsible for future plans in the south, said that "everyone" with whom he works is aware of Ottawa’s position.
"There are no discussions about that here now, but it is another factor that will have to be taken into account," King said. "It may become a factor by this summer."