Korean Job Discussion Forums

[SOOHWA101]

[TheUrbanMyth]

[ddeubel]

Obviously you lack nuance and didn't get my satire.....

I was criticizing your fanatical arguing about being in the "middle" etc....

You will never see the forest for the trees nor the blood on the head of the pin, for all the angels dancing on it.

I really don't care how you spell things, the topic is Afghanistan..........

DD

[SOOHWA101]

[Nowhere Man]

[igotthisguitar]

2 Canadians Killed, 8 Wounded in Suicide Attack
Near Kandahar City
Sat Jul 22, 8:12 PM

By Terry Pedwell



KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) - Two Canadian soldiers were killed and eight wounded Saturday when their battle-weary convoy was hit by the first of two suicide bombings near Kandahar City.

Killed were Cpl. Francisco Gomez, 44, of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, based in Edmonton, and Quebec City native Cpl. Jason Patrick Warren, 29, of the Black Watch, the Royal Highland Regiment of Canada, based in Montreal.

Two of the wounded were from Shilo, Man., and the remainder from Edmonton.

Gomez had been driving the vehicle when the attack occurred.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of Cpl. Gomez and Cpl. Warren," said Col. Tom Putt, deputy commander of Task Force Afghanistan.

"We will not forget their sacrifice."

Their Bison armoured vehicle was at the back of a convoy of Canadians that was returning to Kandahar Air Field after two gruelling weeks of sometimes intense fighting in the Kandahar region and in neighbouring Helmand province.

Soldiers who had already arrived at the base were celebrating their return, unaware of what had happened to their comrades. However, their joy quickly turned to sorrow when news of the attack spreading across the camp.

"They're in mourning (for) their comrades," said Putt.

"Two of their comrades are not with us."

Canadian Forces Maj. Christopher Phare said in Montreal that Warren was born in Quebec City and enlisted in 1999.

"Cpl. Warren was an excellent soldier," Phare said in a telephone interview.

"He worked very, very hard throughout his career. He served in Bosnia very well in 2002 and this was his second mission.

"We're sad to lose a good soldier such as him."

Phare said Warren, who grew up in various places and had been living in Montreal since 1995, was due back home in the next three to four weeks.

"It's hard," he said.

"It's very hard, especially for the people who were closest to him, his section mates, the other corporals he worked very closely with."

Seven Afghan civilians were killed and 30 injured in the second explosion, about 30 metres away from the first blast, witnesses said.

In the first attack, a car packed with explosives blew up directly beside the Canadian Forces Bison, military officials said.

"They likely only had a split second to react," said one soldier who didn't want to be identified.

"There's no way you can stop something like this."

The attack happened in the early evening, around 5:30 p.m. local time, some five kilometres west of Kandahar.

Witnesses said in the confusion that followed the attack, the Canadians opened fire on a car and people in the area, perhaps in an effort to avoid being struck again.

"One of the vehicles went too close to the convoy," Abdul Rahman said through an interpreter.

"The Canadians just began firing. They shot (at) everybody."

"Men, women and children."

Military officials, however, disputed the claim.

"There was no return fire," said Putt.

"We have absolutely no evidence of that."

About an hour after the first blast, a suicide bomber walked into a crowd and detonated a body pack filled with explosives, killing and wounding scores of civilians who had gathered in the area.

Both bombers died in the explosions, officials said.

A purported Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the attacks, which came as NATO prepares to take command of the volatile region.

The two Canadians who were killed were transported by road to a coalition outpost, where they were pronounced dead.

The wounded soldiers were airlifted to Kandahar Airfield's multinational hospital.

Five of the injured were treated and released from hospital and were expected to return to active duty while two others were admitted for observation.

An eighth was taken to a military hospital in Germany for further treatment.

None of their injuries was considered life-threatening.

Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean, who is Commander in Chief of the Canadian Forces, released a statement saying she was "very saddened to learn today in Italy about the incident near Kandahar, Afghanistan that cost the lives of Corporal Francisco Gomez and Corporal Jason Patrick Warren and that also injured eight other Canadian military personnel."

"The increasing toll of our brave soldiers killed or injured while conducting "reconstruction" operations in Afghanistan, on behalf of Canada and in solidarity with a civilian population that has suffered such hardships, serves as a painful illustration of the tense predicament in which this country finds itself."

"With each new incident, we are getting a sense of the sacrifice and efforts needed to restore peace and justice to this part of the world. We lack the words to properly recognize the immense determination and selflessness of the members of the Canadian Forces who day in and day out carry out their noble mission to ensure the safety and improve the living conditions of the Afghan people."

"Corporal Gomez and Corporal Warren served their country admirably. From the bottom of our hearts and with the utmost respect, we wish to express our deepest sympathies to their families, friends, loved ones and comrades and to assure them that all Canadians stand with them during these very trying times."

Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a statement in Ottawa on the deaths of Gomez and Warren.

"On behalf of Canadians, I extend my deepest condolences to the families and friends of Corporal Gomez and Corporal Warren, who lost their lives today as a result of a suicide vehicle attack in Afghanistan."

"Today's tragic incident also injured eight other Canadian Forces members, who are currently receiving treatment."

"Canadians will never forget the sacrifice these men made on behalf of our country. While deeply saddened by their loss, we are proud of the men and women of the Canadian Forces, who continue to stand on guard for Canadian values around the world, in spite of personal risks to their own safety."

Qari Yousaf Ahmadi, a purported Taliban spokesman, said both suicide bombers were Afghans and threatened more suicide attacks and ambushes against coalition and Afghan forces.

NATO, which is increasing its force in Afghanistan from 9,700 to 16,000, is poised to take over the command of the country's insurgency-racked south by the end of July. The alliance already has a presence in the capital Kabul and in the west and north.

The NATO troops, mostly British, Canadian and Dutch, are deploying in the south and working with U.S. troops in the fight against the Taliban.

Some 2,200 Canadian troops are currently deployed in the south.

[TheUrbanMyth]

[igotthisguitar]

Speaking of linking corrupt drug policy to foreign "liberation", spreading democracy, keeping the world safe from communism etc, am i the only one here who's heard of the first-hand testimonies of body bags being flown back to the US during the Vietnam "freedom" era, not only with soldiers corpses, but also LOTS of "illicit" substances?

Hmmmmmm ... Afghanistan

Four Canadian soldiers Killed In 2 Separate Attacks In Afghanistan
Thu Aug 3, 9:44 PM

By Terry Pedwell

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) - One soldier described it as a well-planned ambush: stealthy Taliban forces formed a horseshoe around Canadian troops holed up in a tiny schoolhouse surrounded by landmines, then launched a volley of rocket-propelled grenades their way.



As the soldier poked his head out of a doorway, he recalled Thursday at the end of the deadliest day ever for Canadian troops in Afghanistan, a grenade swished by him and scorched his forearm. Turning his head, the soldier said, he watched as the grenade struck a wall and the ensuing spray of shrapnel killed three of his comrades.

"They were targetting us," another soldier said as he returned from the fighting, his hands trembling as he put a cigarette to his cracked lips. "They were too organized; we had to pull back."

Neither man wanted to be identified after another day of carnage in Afghanistan that saw two roadside bombings and the hail of grenades kill four Canadian soldiers and injure 10 more in the single heaviest day of death and injury Canada has endured in the strife-torn country.

In addition to the three soldiers killed in the school near the village of Pashmul, west of Kandahar city, a fourth Canadian soldier - Cpl. Christopher Reid of Truro, N.S. - died when his vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb planted on a nearby highway. Another soldier was injured in the same incident.

All four of the dead were from the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry based in Edmonton.

Two of the three killed in the grenade assault were identified as Sgt. Vaughan Ingram and Cpl. Bryce James Keller. Their ages and hometowns were not immediately available. The name of the third dead solider was not released at the request of his family.

Reid, 34, died in an area where Canadian soldiers have been advancing on Taliban insurgents, said Col. Tom Putt, deputy commander of Task Force Afghanistan.

Three more Canadians were hurt when a second roadside bomb exploded along the same road three hours later.

"That area west of Kandahar is known to be a Taliban area," Putt said. "That's why we're there."

Brig.-Gen. David Fraser denied the Taliban had timed the attacks to coincide with the turnover of a new batch of Canadian soldiers coming in from Canada, saying the battle was initiated by coalition forces.

"We picked it ... we, being the Afghan government, picked the fight," he said. "They had information that there was Taliban there and so we picked the conditions (and) we went in after them."

Some of the soldiers who were killed or injured were just a couple of weeks away from returning home; some had even been scheduled to leave Afghanistan within days.

"The operation today did come at a cost, but the operation will carry on in a co-ordinated fashion with Afghan security forces," Fraser said. "The cost today was significant. The cost against the Taliban was even more significant."

The wounded were receiving top medical treatment from coalition force hospitals, he added.

The seriously wounded were evacuated to a hospital at the Canadian base in Kandahar and a British facility. All were in stable condition.

Thursday's fatalities brought to 23 the number of soldiers killed since Canadians moved into Afghanistan in 2002; 15 have died in the last six months alone. There are now about 2,200 Canadian troops in Kandahar region.

In April, four soldiers were killed when their G-Wagon patrol vehicle was destroyed by a roadside bomb near Gumbad, north of Kandahar. In 2002, four soldiers died and eight others were injured when a U.S. F-16 fighter mistakenly bombed the Canadians as they were on a pre-dawn training exercise.

Reid's parents held a brief news conference in the garden of their Truro home on Thursday, describing their grief at the loss of their son before urging Canadians to support their troops.

"We are shocked, saddened and we are lonely already," said Angela Reid, adding her son died doing what he loved. "We are truly thankful to have had a son such as Christopher. He will be in our hearts forever."

Reid was remembered as an avid outdoorsman who loved being a soldier and was eager to get to Afghanistan, said Sgt. Mike McNeil, a friend who'd known Reid since they were in the militia together in Truro in the early 1990s.

"Chris was very excited to go. Very excited. He was actually disappointed that he had missed some previous trips to Afghanistan," McNeil recalled from Halifax.

"He was very proud to be in the army, an excellent soldier and he was probably one of the most outgoing people I've ever met."

Speaking in Cornwall, Ont., Prime Minister Stephen Harper offered the country's condolences to Reid's family but pledged to stand behind Canada's mission in Afghanistan.

"What the men and women in harm's way want and need to know at moments like this is that the government and Canadians stand behind their mission," Harper said.

"Through good times and bad, this government will honour their sacrifice, we will stand behind their mission and we are proud of the work that they are doing."

Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor was unflinching in his defence of the Canadian mission.

"This is a very unfortunate day and this happens," he said. "It's high-risk. We train our soldiers as best we can, we equip them as best we can, and sometimes they're unlucky."

At CFB Edmonton, military padres were up all night notifying the families of the dead and injured.

Baptist Rev. Derrick Marshall said one of the soldiers killed was from 1 Field Ambulance, the base's medical unit. Marshall said members of the unit were shocked to hear one of their comrades had been killed, but he added that the base is like a "band of brothers" with a large support network.

"They're hurting very much," said Marshall. "They soldier on and they do the best they can, but it does affect them personally. The mood is subdued, willing to accept the risks as they do. But there's always a human cost to that, and the cost is very real."

Pte. John Suchan said he was not really surprised at the number of casualties given the tactics the Afghan insurgents have been using.

"A lot of people are concerned. If you don't have a family member, you know someone who is over right now," said Suchan as he strapped his two daughters, aged 3 1/2 years and 2 1/2 months, into bicycles outside a convenience store on the base.

"I wouldn't want it to be me, because I wouldn't want to leave my kids behind," he added.

Suchan's wife, Martina, said her husband is supposed to go to Afghanistan in 2008.

"It's scary," she said. "I think of all the people over there and their families. I'm just glad that it's not me yet. I'm scared, and I think about when it's going to be me and how I'm going to cope."

The Afghan ambassador to Canada called it a tragic day for both Canadians and his coungtrymen but that the casualties died for a noble cause - defending freedom and dignity in a country filled with what he called terrorists.

"Our hearts and our prayers go out to the families and friends of those who have lost their lives defending freedom and dignity in Afghanistan," said Omar Sadam.

"We are seeing a pattern emerge over the past few months of more and more terrorists crossing our borders, coming into Afghanistan to target not only NATO troops, but also civilians, schoolteachers, nurses, road workers, religious figures, tribal figures - anyone that they deem as an obstacle to their attempts at disrupting normalcy in Afghanistan."

In Thursday's deadliest attack in Afghanistan, a suicide car bomber detonated a huge explosion in a crowded market near a Canadian patrol in Panjwayi, a town about 25 kilometres from Kandahar, killing 21 civilians and wounding 13. Police blamed the Taliban.

The blast tore through the main bazaar in the early afternoon, leaving a carnage of body parts, twisted metal and burning shops.

Interior Ministry spokesman Yousef Stanezai said children were among the dead.

It was one of the deadliest bombings in Afghanistan since the ouster of the Taliban in late 2001 by U.S.-led forces.

The latest Canadian deaths in Afghanistan happened just hours after a memorial service was held in Montreal for Cpl. Jason Warren.

He and Cpl. Francisco Gomez of Edmonton died July 22 when a suicide bomber detonated a car filled with explosives beside their Bison armoured vehicle.

Gomez and Warren were interred Thursday at the Beechwood National Military Cemetery in Ottawa.

Since 2002, one Canadian diplomat and 23 Canadian soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan. Here is a list of the deaths:

2006
Aug. 3 - Cpl. Christopher Jonathan Reid, 34, of the 1st Batallion of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, based in Edmonton, killed by a roadside bomb. Three other members of the same batallion killed in a rocket-propelled grenade attack by Taliban forces west of Kandahar, including Sgt. Vaughan Ingram and Cpl. Bryce Jeffrey Keller; the third solider was not immediately identified.

July 22 - Cpl. Francisco Gomez, 44, of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, based in Edmonton, and Cpl. Jason Patrick Warren, 29, of the Black Watch, the Royal Highland Regiment of Canada, based in Montreal, killed when a car packed with explosives rammed their armoured vehicle.

July 9 - Cpl. Anthony Joseph Boneca, 21, a reservist from the Lake Superior Scottish Regiment based in Thunder Bay, Ont., killed in a firefight near the village of Pashmol west of Kandahar City.

May 17 - Capt. Nichola Goddard, an artillery officer based in Shila, Man., with 1st Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, killed in a Taliban ambush during a battle in the Panjwai region. She was first Canadian woman to be killed in action while serving in a combat role.

April 22 - Cpl. Matthew Dinning of Richmond Hill, Ont., stationed with 2nd Canadian Mechanized Brigade in Petawawa, Ont.; Bombardier Myles Mansell of Victoria, Lieut. William Turner of Toronto, stationed in Edmonton and Cpl. Randy Payne, born in Lahr, Germany, stationed at CFB Wainright, Alta., all killed when their G-Wagon patrol vehicle was destroyed by a roadside bomb near Gumbad, north of Kandahar.

March 29 - Pte. Robert Costall of Edmonton, a machine-gunner, killed in a firefight with the Taliban insurgents in Sangin district of Helmand province, north of Kandahar.

March 2 - Cpl. Paul Davis of Bridgewater, N.S., and Master Cpl. Timothy Wilson of Grande Prairie, Alta., killed when their armoured vehicle ran off the road in the Kandahar area.

Jan. 15 - Glyn Berry, a British-born Canadian diplomat who had served with the Foreign Affairs Department since 1977, killed in a suicide bombing near Kandahar.

2005
Nov. 24 - Pte. Braun Scott Woodfield, born in Victoria and raised in Eastern Passage, N.S., killed when his armoured rolled over near Kandahar.

2004
Jan. 27 - Cpl. Jamie Brendan Murphy, 26, of Conception Harbour, Nfld., killed in suicide bombing while on patrol near Kabul.

2003
Oct. 2 - Sgt. Robert Alan Short, 42, of Fredericton, and Cpl. Robbie Christopher Beerenfenger, 29, of Ottawa, killed in a roadside bombing southwest of Kabul.

2002
April 18 (April 17 in Canada) - Sgt. Marc D. Leger, 29, of Lancaster, Ont., Cpl. Ainsworth Dyer, 24, of Montreal, Pte. Richard Green, 21, of Mill Cove, N.S., and Pte. Nathan Smith, 27, of Tatamagouche, N.S., all killed when when a U.S. F-16 fighter mistakenly bombed the Canadians as they were on a pre-dawn training exercise. Eight other Canadians were wounded in the friendly-fire incident.

[igotthisguitar]

NATO General Asks Canadians
To Continue Supporting 'Just War' in Afghanistan
Tue Aug 8, 5:41 PM
By Terry Pedwell

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) - The commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan is pleading with Canada to stay the course in Afghanistan despite suffering its heaviest losses so far in the war-torn country.

Canada and other NATO countries owe Afghans a debt of gratitude for helping to topple the former Soviet Union, said Lt.-Gen. David Richards, a British general in charge of NATO forces in Afghanistan. "I bitterly regret the loss of life," Richards said Tuesday as the last of five Canadian soldiers killed in southern Afghanistan last week was being returned home.

"But I believe that . . . if ever there was a 'just war,' this is it."

Four Canadians were killed in attacks by Taliban insurgents last Thursday and a fifth died in a traffic accident Saturday while travelling with a military resupply convoy. Another 13 Canadian soldiers were injured, some seriously.

Four British soldiers have also died since NATO took command of international forces in southern Afghanistan on July 31.

In all, two dozen Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have been killed since Canada entered Afghanistan in early 2002.

"I think those soldiers have died for as good a cause as I can think of," said Richards. "And maybe we just need to stay the course now and hang on in there."

Recent polls in Canada indicated Afghanistan has become a contentious issue. A survey last month by Strategic Counsel suggested 56 per cent of Canadians opposed the military mission in Kandahar, up 15 percentage points from March.

And a report on the weekend said Prime Minister Stephen Harper's office received 1,453 letters and e-mails in May about the deployment to Afghanistan, two-thirds of them calling on the government to get the troops home

[igotthisguitar]

Afghan Farmers "Discover" Alternative To Opium:
Marijuana
By Jon Hemming
Thu Sep 27, 7:20 AM ET

BALKH, Afghanistan (Reuters) - As Afghanistan struggles to cut its raging opium production, aid workers try to find alternative crops, but for some former poppy farmers the choice was easy -- they planted marijuana instead.

Afghanistan's opium crop topped all records this year, producing some 93 percent of the world's supply of the drug.

CONT'd ...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070927/wl_nm/afghan_drugs_dc

[thiophene]

I'm in favour of 'licensing' the farms to produce legal opiate alternaties. It'll help develop an economy and help with the shortage of legal opiates which could be life saving (morbidly speaking). Heck it worked in Turkey. I don't understand why the US is against Afghanistan legalizing the poppy trade for medicine, perhaps India is pressuring them (along with Australia, UK, france...all with legal opium markets)? And it can't be because they want to protect consumers either (since when does corporate america truly care about public safety?) Anyone wit ideas?

And anyone thinking the drug war in afg is workign or even has a smidgen of a chance in working is being very unrealistic. How many of you would choose to die hungry? I do'nt think the transition to legal trade will be smooth or ideal but it'll def help the country and citizens. Slowly wean the farmers away from supporting the taliban and closer to trusting their government.

[igotthisguitar]

Why not strike at the root for once & clearly understand that PROHIBITION is the REAL CRIME?

Watched CNN's hyped-up feature documentary on Afghanistan:"NARCO STATE" with Pandersome Pooper
today on the tube.

What phony half-baked journalism

Not ONCE was the destructive impact of prohibition ever mentioned

What are AmeriKan DEA doing in Afghanistan?

SHAME !!!

[igotthisguitar]

Two More Canadian Soldiers Die After LAV Hits Landmine; Three Wounded Sat Nov 17, 2:42 PM

By Bill Grave-land, The Canadian Press



KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Two months of relative calm came to an explosive and tragic end Saturday on a narrow road in the volatile Zhari district of southern Afghanistan, with the deaths of two Canadian soldiers and injuries to three more.

MORE ...

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/071117/world/afghan_cda_casualties_6