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Canadaâs overseas troop strength to drop sharply
Canada will reduce its overseas military deployments to just 1,200 personnel by fall, down from 4,500 a year ago, the chief of defence staff said on a stopover today in advance of next weekâs NATO summit in Turkey. Gen. Ray Henault said deep cuts in troop commitments to its two biggest NATO missions â Afghanistan and Bosnia â and the withdrawal of naval ships from the Persian Gulf, will give the countryâs armed forces a much-needed respite. ...In a wide-ranging interview, Henault said the number of troops in Bosnia is currently down to 650 from 1,250 and will be fewer than 100 observers and surveillance troops supporting a European Union mission by September. There will continue to be nominal deployments in Africa, the Middle East and Haiti, where an infantry company will be reduced to a couple of UN staff officers by September. The biggest immediate change will come in Kabul, where the current contingent of 2,300 infantry and mechanized soldiers â the cityâs largest foreign troop presence â will be replaced by two successive rotations of about 900 troops, most of them armoured reconnaissance soldiers.This is bad for our WOT. Say what you will about Canadaâs decision not to officially join the Iraq War, Canada has discreetly helped the US by maintaining naval ships in the Persian Gulf as well as keeping their superb soldiers in Afghanistan. Unlike Mexico, GWBâs great "friend" [cough, cough] on the southern border whose country has been lavished with ongoing Uncle Sam tax $, Mexico has not sent a single Federale to help our troops either in Afghanistan or Iraq. Posted by: rex 2004-06-26 |
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