Read what this free lance writer and reporter says about the Australian and Polish soldiers. I new my son had the right thoughts about the Aussies, he said there darn good troops and worth every bit to fight beside.

worldnetdaily.com/inde...eId=69743#

You can't blame soldiers for government policy.
The polies are always tying the hands of the military.

Quote::

Canadian attempts to avoid casualties have emboldened Taliban forces in Canadian controlled Khandahar.

This guy has some nerve.

So you have a province where the Taliban and other extremists have used as a strong hold because they jump the boarder into Pakistan when they are being over run and yet its the troops fault ..... right.

As it stands 24 Canadian troops have died in combat (actions, ambushes, RPG/mortar attacks etc) 6 of them (25% of combat related deaths) were "friendly fire" by American forces. Another 51 were killed by IEDs and suicide bombers.

Considering the Soviet Red Army could barely hold onto Khandahar and the Taliban are hiding cowardly using IEDs for the most part avoiding direct action I got to say I think the troops are doing a fine job.

Dimitri

Big D, consider the source, the reason that rag is on the net and not on paper is so that people don't wipe their a##es with it.

Oh Tracker I know still I am not fond of liers.

Everyone has a right to free speech but abusing that right to spread lies and deception to undermine our freedoms and culture can make that right go away.

Such as many anti-war posters that imply the troops are "bad", "murderers" etc for fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan and in Iraq where the US removed a mass murderer from power, don't seem to stay up all that long I found. I have nothing to do with that by the way.

Dimitri

Guys I am truly sorry, I did not catch that part of what he had posted. I was just trying to point out there are some really good troops out there.
To each and everyone I am sorry for this.


Lou

Duce,

You didn't write the artical there is ZERO need for you to be sorry.

Dimitri

I agree!!

It doesn't matter which country the soldiers come from...those soldiers are a part of the society of that country and as is the case with society, there are good and bad contained within it....hence there are good and bad soldiers within every Army.

'Mitri....don't let it get to you mate...it only fuels the fire in the journos gut and it annoys the hell outa you....and believe me when I say, you are the only one that will suffer...all the journo cares about is his by-line being seen and the number of papers sold.

Duce old mate...you did nothin' bad. You highlighted the good part of the article, not the not so good parts.

Cheers, Vince

Dimitri wrote:

... As it stands 24 Canadian troops have died in combat (actions, ambushes, RPG/mortar attacks etc) 6 of them (25% of combat related deaths) were "friendly fire" by American forces. Another 51 were killed by IEDs and suicide bombers.Dimitri

The correct figure is 86 dead Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan, plus one diplomat.

Dimitri wrote:

... Considering the Soviet Red Army could barely hold onto Khandahar and the Taliban are hiding cowardly using IEDs for the most part avoiding direct action I got to say I think the troops are doing a fine job. Dimitri

Dimitri, I am not sure that the Taliban soldiers (who essentially are the same tribes that forced the Russian Army out) should be referred to as cowards. Which takes nothing away from our guys doing a fine job, and the other coalition soldiers as well.

The advantage the Taliban fighters have over our guys is that they know the terrain, the people, the climate. Their disadvantages: no aircraft, no satellites, no UAVs, no real artillery, their radio comms are intercepted. What about motivation? They are fighting to free their own country; our guys are fighting for freedom in someone else's country. Apparently, they sleep in 'caves' and are hunted 24/7; when they make it back to base rather than at an FOB our guys sleep in camps with showers, chill out at Tim Horton's and do fly home on leave from time to time. What's left unnoticed in the background is something called "The Great Game".

The Taliban also know that in a set-piece battle, our guys can and quite properly do radio-in backup in the form of: 155mm artillery, Leopard tanks, Blackhawk strikes, ground attack fighter strikes with cluster bombs and miniguns, even strategic bombers with satellite-guided bombs of every description. The Taliban have no such assets, probably not even night vision for their AKs. When they are sick or wounded, they get by or die; when ours get sick or wounded, they are flown by helo to the nearest hospital.

What soldier would not want to fight a battle on his tactical terms, leveraging his advantages by deciding where and when to strike? To do otherwise invites certain death and failure as soon as we the Coalition bring our technological and strategic assets to bear.

The Taliban are simply making use of Officer tactical school 101 stuff: bring your strengths to bear on the enemy's weaknesses, not the other way around. A well planned ambush in depth is recognized as one of the best tactical methods there is, and they do ambushes very well. So do our guys...but we don't know the terrain, so the BGs usually get the upper hand in that department. They are not cowards. Neither are our guys.

When looking at this conflict, is is helpful to put ourselves in the other guy's sandals or boots. Then ask ourselves whether we would have the grit to trade places with him - or our own guys - for a couple weeks...

twofifty wrote:

The correct figure is 86 dead Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan, plus one diplomat.

No my figure is correct for COMBAT losses. That figure includes suicide and roadside bombs, friendly fire on base, accidents with the LAV 3s etc as well.

twofifty wrote:

I am not sure that the Taliban soldiers (who essentially are the same tribes that forced the Russian Army out) should be referred to as cowards.

The same tribes were indeed absorbed into the Taliban.

However the Taliban was not in the war with the Soviet Union. They instead spent their time in Pakistan getting brainwashed by their religion. Then after being trained and supplied by Pakistan's Interservices Intelligence Agency (or ISI) they went back into South Eastern Afghanistan (the Helmand, Kandahar, and Uruzgan areas) where they were from and started their rise to power.

twofifty wrote:

They are fighting to free their own country

No they are fighting to take back the country they took by force in 1996 (when they took 12 of 34 provinces and the capital Kabul). The first fighting the Taliban didn't happened till 1994 which was 2 years after the fall of the Soviet puppet government.

They were in constant war with the Northern Alliance (who helped with the invasion in 2001) from 1996 till they marched on Kabul with the American led coalition. So no its not "their" country they are fighting for. They are fighting to gain back the power they lost.

Dimitri