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Updated Monday, February 8, 2010 10:02 am TWN, By Eric Talmadge, AP



	In this Jan. 25 photo a Light Armored Vehicle driven by Canadian soldiers from Task Force 3-09 Battle Group is silhouetted at the start of operation Tazi, a village search and security operation in the Dand area of Kandahar Province, southern Afghanistan. (AP) Enlarge Photo

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As U.S. begins Afghan surge, Canada plans its exit

About three-quarters of the way through the Khadan compound search, the police chief, Shir Shah, said he had seen enough. A village woman had died, a grave was being dug, and he didn't want to disrupt village life any further.

So the Canadians pulled back.

No weapons caches, explosives or suspected insurgents were found. No doors were kicked in, and the primary intelligence gleaned was about what the villagers needed — well pumps, and perhaps a school.

“We would have liked to see more, but it is his call,” said Maj. Mark Popov, the commander of the reconnaissance squadron behind the operation. “The Canadian combat mission is ending. I don't have a crystal ball. But it's not all about fighting. You can't kill your way to victory.”

Shah, meanwhile, was encouraged by what his 30 Afghan National Police officers had accomplished.

“There are some bad guys here, but mostly they are receptive to us,” he said through an interpreter. “This isn't the Russians all over again. The Canadians are here to help, to build roads and schools. Most people appreciate that.”

Though overshadowed by the Americans and British, Canada has played a crucial role in southern Afghanistan.

A key trade route to Iran, India and Pakistan, Kandahar is where the Taliban was born in the early 1990s. A city of 800,000, its population is mainly ethnic Pashtun, the same as the Taliban. And as the coalition shifts its strategy to securing population centers, Kandahar has come even more into focus.

Though it had in the past concentrated more on peacekeeping operations abroad, Canada's choice to do the heavy lifting in Kandahar was deliberate.

After staking out a place near the relative quiet of Kabul in 2002, Canada decided its military was ready and able to do more. Kandahar, violent and insecure, was the perfect proving ground.

But the troops have faced huge obstacles.

Only about 500 are actually part of the infantry battle group that is at the center of the mission. That has left the Canadians spread dangerously thin.

“There are times when I just don't have enough people to do the number of patrols I would like,” said Popov, who goes by the name Major Mark when dealing with local officials because he doesn't want them to associate him with the Russians who invaded Afghanistan in 1979 and stayed for 10 years.

That equation is now changing.

The surge in U.S. and other coalition troops will concentrate on Kandahar and neighboring Helmand province because they must be stabilized if counterinsurgency is to move forward.

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