Canada’s area of military responsibility in Afghanistan is being reduced to maintaining a security perimeter—described by one Canadian soldier as a “doughnut of stability”—around Kandahar City and conducting anti-Taliban operations in Arghandab district just to the northwest of the city, the Globe and Mail reports (see here and here). The new role will be shared […]
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RSS feed for this sectionObama escalates Afghan war, promises a way out
U.S. President Barack Obama announced on Tuesday night that he is increasing the U.S. contingent in Afghanistan by 30,000 troops and asking NATO to increase its own troop presence by 5,000 to 10,000. He also stated that the U.S. would seek to speed up the transfer of responsibility for Afghan security to the Afghan government […]
Canadians want a Torture Inquiry
Dear Ceasefire.ca supporters, The news from Ottawa is shocking. Senior intelligence officer Richard Colvin repeatedly warned the government about the routine use of torture in Afghan prisons, yet the Canadian Forces continued to hand over their prisoners to brutal Afghan authorities. Stephen Harper’s Conservative government, rather than taking the charges seriously, has instead used a […]
Who's Who in the Afghan torture investigation
The CBC has compiled a useful guide to the players named in senior intelligence officer Richard Colvin’s testimony.
Harper Conservatives smear Canadian senior intel officer as "Taliban dupe"
The Harper Conservatives have reached a new low. Rather than taking seriously the alarming information about the torture of Afghan detainees taken by Canadians and held in Afghan prisons, the Conservative attack-machine tried to smear senior intelligence officer Richard Colvin as a Taliban dupe, says the New York Times in a story by the Associated […]
And so it begins – Canada starts to plan for Afghanistan troop pull out
With the end date of 2011, Canada’s Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Walter Natynczyk has ordered the beginning of the planning phase of Canada’s military pull out of Afghanistan. The move comes in light of the Harper government’s intent to stick to its end date on Canada’s military participation in Afghanistan and for the […]