There's no way to tell for sure what lies in store for Canadian forces in Kandahar in two years. Harper has repeatedly promised that Canada's combat mission in Kandahar will end in 2011 but don't expect those soldiers to actually leave Afghanistan.
Yesterday's happenings in Kabul may give a clue to what lies in store. Eight Taliban fighters launched three, coordinated attacks focusing on the Justice Ministry. When they were finally eliminated they had killed more than 20 civilians.
My guess is that Canadian soldiers will be in Kabul or Kandahar City by 2011, trying to secure them against Taliban attacks. It's been apparent for months that the Taliban are massing around Afghanistan's major cities. The prison break in Kandahar, the Indian embassy bombing in Kabul and now the attack on the Justice Ministry demonstrate that the insurgency is sufficiently well established inside the key cities that it can operate with remarkable freedom.
By threatening the capital the Taliban can force a significant diversion of Western forces from the effort along the Pakistan-Afghan border. In this way, a small contingent of insurgents can effectively tie down a large number of defenders.
If the U.S. and NATO can't secure the cities, the war is essentially lost.
Yesterday's happenings in Kabul may give a clue to what lies in store. Eight Taliban fighters launched three, coordinated attacks focusing on the Justice Ministry. When they were finally eliminated they had killed more than 20 civilians.
My guess is that Canadian soldiers will be in Kabul or Kandahar City by 2011, trying to secure them against Taliban attacks. It's been apparent for months that the Taliban are massing around Afghanistan's major cities. The prison break in Kandahar, the Indian embassy bombing in Kabul and now the attack on the Justice Ministry demonstrate that the insurgency is sufficiently well established inside the key cities that it can operate with remarkable freedom.
By threatening the capital the Taliban can force a significant diversion of Western forces from the effort along the Pakistan-Afghan border. In this way, a small contingent of insurgents can effectively tie down a large number of defenders.
If the U.S. and NATO can't secure the cities, the war is essentially lost.
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