Via Péter Marton, here is Graeme Smith’s accounting of the massive prison break outside Kandahar last month:
Brigadier-General Denis Thompson, the top Canadian commander in Kandahar, confirmed that NATO surveillance tracked the fugitives as they fled. But he said it’s not Canada’s job as part of the International Security Assistance Force to hunt down escaped prisoners.
“You can ask yourself the rhetorical question, what if we find 100 fugitives in the fields?” Gen. Thompson said. “What is ISAF’s duty in that circumstance? Is it to go arrest people?”
The commander continued: “We’re not policing this country, right? It’s not our role to police this country. Our role is to stand behind our Afghan partners and assist them.”
But the Afghan forces stationed nearby did not consider themselves capable of standing up to the Taliban that evening, as police in three outposts around the prison hunkered down behind their fortifications and refused to intervene.
So that’s not necessarily constructive. There is obviously more, including the bit that the Taliban warned local civilians so they wouldn’t get hurt, that highlight just how broken the effort in the south is, but the behavior of the Canadian general is terrible. Why would he say that?
Naturally, Sayed Agha Saqib, Kandahar’s former chief of police who was fired over the prison break—at least someone gets fired, somewhere, for abject failure, right?—is furious:
More broadly, Mr. Saqib described the prison break as a military failure in the districts around Kandahar city. The raiding party of insurgents, which he estimated at 100 to 200 fighters, should never have been allowed to reach the city limits, he said.
“Who came to release the prisoners?” he asked. “It was the Taliban. What is NATO doing here in Afghanistan? They are fighting the Taliban. So why didn’t NATO and the ANA keep the Taliban away from the city?”
Despite making the good point that local militias have major weaknesses—namely that local Taliban fighters know where the families live—he remains under investigation for his possible or alleged role in the prison break.
This post was written by...
Joshua Foust – author of 1801 posts on Registan.net.
Joshua Foust is a Fellow at the American Security Project and the author of Afghanistan Journal: Selections from Registan.net. His research focuses primarily on Central and South Asia. Joshua is a correspondent for The Atlantic and a columnist for PBS Need to Know. Joshua appears regularly on the BBC World News, Aljazeera, and international public radio. Joshua is also a regular contributor to Foreign Policy’s AfPak Channel, and his writing has appeared in the New York Times, Reuters, and the Christian Science Monitor. Follow him on twitter: @joshuafoust
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{ 6 comments }
“the behavior of the Canadians is terrible”
I care very much to disagree with you. B. Gen. Thompson’s public statements on the matter were, I suspect, politically motivated and had nothing to do with us refusing the task of recapturing the escapees. The simple fact of the matter is that our forces are so over stretched in Kandahar that responding quickly and effectively to that incident was very difficult, if not impossible. Neither lazyness nor apathy were part of it. . .shit happens my friend.
You constantly admonish others (either rightly or wrongly) in this blog for their supposed ignorance of Afghanistan and for going into matters that they have little expertise in. When it comes to complaining about our efforts in Kandhar, I suggest that you follow your own advice.
SECURITAS
“the behavior of the Canadians is terrible”
I care very much to disagree with you. B. Gen. Thompson’s public statements on the matter were, I suspect, politically motivated and had nothing to do with us refusing the task of recapturing the escapees. The simple fact of the matter is that our forces are so over stretched in Kandahar that responding quickly and effectively to that incident was very difficult, if not impossible. Neither lazyness nor apathy were part of it. . .shit happens my friend.
You constantly admonish others (either rightly or wrongly) in this blog for their supposed ignorance of Afghanistan and for going into matters that they have little expertise in. When it comes to complaining about our efforts in Kandhar, I suggest that you follow your own advice.
tbird,
I actually considered that. However, if that were the case, then think about the politics of what he is saying: Canada has no initiative. Since the Canadians have otherwise distinguished themselves in combat in the area, I doubt this was what he meant to say.
Or, rather, imagine if he said what you imagine the situation to be: Canada simply had not enough troops to apprehend the escaped prisoners. That would be a far different matter, placing the onus for the current status of Kandahar on Canadian parliament the MOD for not authorizing additional troops, rather than the current portrayal, which is as a feckless adherence to inappropriate ROE.
Yes, shit happens. But how you respond to it matters immensely. Politically-motivated or no, Thompson responded to an enormous breach in security, essentially, with a shrug of the shoulders and a “meh, not my problem.”
And that, my friend, is terrible behavior.
“think about the politics of what he is saying: Canada has no initiative”
We agree that the Thompson’s statement is loaded, but for different reasons. In this case, context helps a lot. Recently, there has been something of a scandal regarding treatment of POWs by the CF: we send them to the ANA or ANP for process and holding rather than keeping them ourselves (PW camps). This policy was put into place by Gen. Hillier (CDS) with the tacit consent of several MNDs. Since then, there have been allegations of prisoner torture. The scandal is that we are accomplices to these crimes, and the MNDs and Hillier have been reluctant to accept their responsibility for these acts.
Hillier, though recently retired, is a VERY popular figure amongst Army DND types. He has a strong following of soliders in high places willing to protect his legacy. Thompson is simply a typical career officer: politically aware and a bit of an adherent to the philosophy of CYA. If he were to say that the problem was because we should be controlling the PW situation (and not the incompetent ANP), thus effectively blaming the former CDS, his career would be dead in the water. With regards to his recorded response, Thompson was not astute in his alternative explanations, thus making us seem apathatic. But, I assure you that this is far from being the reality on the ground. We care immensly that this occured, but we simply cannot gather the force requirements in the time frame needed to respond effectively to that incident.
As I say, we are spread all over Hell’s half acre and to send a platoon to go against 100-200 armed Taliban in addition to 1000 criminals and an unknown battlefield is unrealistic. To get more troops into action is both logistically infeasible and politically unpalatable. Hence, the politicians are only willing to go so far in their support of the mission. But, given the very strict nature of DND’s media policies, having Thompson say that inconvieniant truth to the journalists is hopeless in that he will be either contradicted (and muzzled) by his superiors or greeted with a non-response from the public.
In sum, yes, Thompson’s statement may have been “terrible” behaviour on his part. Hell, I may even be wrong in being so charitable to him: he may be an apathetic idiot who either cares not one wit or can’t grasp the gravity of the situation. However, you are certainly wrong in attributing the apathy of one officer (real or imagined) it to us (the CF) in general by saying that “the behaviour of the canadians is terrible.” As facts are, we are far from apathetic to the situation on the ground. We are trying to do the best we can with very limited resources: its like asking us to put 20 pounds of shit into a bag that can only hold 5 pounds.
tbird,
That’s fair, and very well-spoken (and I almost entirely agree). I will no longer consider Thompson as representative of the Canadian effort in Kandahar.
Joshua
Thank-you very much. It was good having this debate with you. Not to sound like an arrogant dick, but I only ask, on behalf of my friends who are in Kandahar right now, that your post be re-written to acknowledge your new position.
Again, Thanks