PUBLICATION: The Guardian (Charlottetown) DATE: 2011.07.22 BYLINE: Matthew Fisher DATELINE: KANDAHAR, Afghanistan A journalist's reflections on Afghanistan Although I witnessed far more combat in Iraq and Chechnya and saw far more death in Rwanda, Afghanistan was my war. It involved lots of Canadians in a leadership role and I spent more time here than at any of the other 13 conflicts I have covered. Over time, it was impossible not to become emotionally invested in this battle. I first landed in Kandahar in the early spring of 2002 when the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry and a brigade from the 101st Airborne were taking the fight to the Taliban in the mountains near the Pakistan border. This has been an odd war of shadows and phantoms. Most deaths have not resulted from firefights or classic military offensives. Those Canadians who died were mostly blown up by improvised explosive devices and by suicide bombers. I saw or heard few firefights in Kandahar. But I did have two very close calls. A few weeks after my truly gentle and keen Christmas replacement, Michelle Lang of the Calgary Herald, died in an IED strike along with four Canadian soldiers on December 30, 2009, a Taliban rocket smashed into a sea container about 20 metres from where I was standing beside an open door in a tent at the main Canadian compound. The old Chinese missile was a dud. But the impact scattered small pieces of shrapnel from the shattered fuselage. By the time a few of them hit me they felt and sounded like hail. A few months later, at a forward base in Panjwaii District, a Taliban mortar exploded about 30 metres away on the roof of a building that I was walking towards. The blast debris fell about 10 metres away from where I was at the time. What this attack showed was that the Taliban knew exactly how to use mortars to bracket a target and zero in for the kill. It also showed what perverse tactics the enemy have used to such great effect. The insurgents were firing from compounds that were home to lots of children, so the drones and artillery guns that quickly had them in their sights could not get permission to fire. The two brigadier-generals here that I admired the most were Jon Vance and Dean Milner. Vance was a rough-hewed infantryman and born leader who, as he says himself, had the good fortune to arrive in Kandahar at the right moment in 2009 to take advantage of the first surge of U.S. troops to implement classic counter-insurgency tactics in the model village of Deh-e-Bagh. More than that, Vance was fascinating to talk with about many subjects and gave me unprecedented access to his war room and to private meetings that he had with senior Afghan and NATO officials. Milner, whose command ended last Thursday and has been a friend of Vance's since they were both teenagers, grew hugely in the job after he arrived early last fall. More than any other Canadian, the career tanker forged close bonds and got respect and loyalty in return from the Afghan commanders who must lead this fight when U.S. forces start withdrawing in 2014. His enthusiasm and optimism were infectious. The general who was a disappointment was Daniel Menard and not because he was alleged to have had an affair with a woman in his headquarters who was 10 ranks lower than he was. Menard's short tour was a trainwreck of missed deadlines and opportunities, despite having had a very good team behind him. In a way, Vance's return as an emergency replacement for Menard may have saved the day. His presence certainly gave the mission renewed impetus. This has been a long slog for Canada's combat forces. There was the constant menace caused by forests of IED's that lay "outside the wire." Temperatures for most of the year were in the 40s and 50s. Chalky dust wafted everywhere. Vineyards competed for space with opium poppies and marijuana plants. The Taliban has terrorized the local population. Over time Canada's mission evolved from bloodbath to stalemate to battlefield success. But in this environment they may never be described as victories. The troops had a steep learning curve as they confronted the weather, the medieval culture, pervasive corruption and an enemy that was as elusive as it was ruthless. To cope the troops had to be aid workers one minute and warriors the next, using infantry, tanks, artillery, drones equipped with missiles as well as attack helicopters and fighter jets in concert. With not nearly enough troops in the early going and none of its own air support, Canada gamely saved NATO's reputation by holding the fort across Kandahar from the spring of 2006 until 2009, when the helicopters arrived and the U.S. cavalry started to show up in large numbers. This shift allowed the Canadians to concentrate their forces in Panjwaii, where they were soon able to mostly eliminate the Taliban from the battlefield. Whether these gains hold is something else entirely. Afghanistan is a notoriously complex place of shifting tribal loyalties. As always since the British and Russian empires began to play the Great Game several centuries ago, neighbours and distant powers continue to make mischief as they jockey for advantage. Canada emerges from this combat mission with a still modest, but more potent and experienced military capable of playing a bigger role on the world stage than at any time since its Herculean efforts in the Second World War. More such dramas are likely as Canada moves ahead of the faltering nations of western Europe and searches for its place in a world that will be dominated by the U.S., China and India. For Canada, Kandahar has been the first chapter in a new book or the last chapter in an old book. To have had a ringside seat for much of this journey was a privilege. Matthew Fisher of Postmedia News left Afghanistan last week after spending more than 900 days there since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, mostly spent with Canadian troops.
