Check out the link
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iU7NjzI2ivo

Wow, the coverage reminds me of the movie "We were Soldiers".

It's sad to see soldiers over seas fighting the war on terror when they do not have the tools or manpower to back them. It's like sending them to their death.

I was in the British army for 12 years,and was sent to Northern Ireland,Afgan,Bosnia and other places....even then we were under equiped,and under manned.

I still remember when we brought 6 Apache attack helos from the US,and had no-one to fly them,for 2 years.

lol oh man that sucks

In 1984, I spent 3 months in northern Pakistan as part of a cultural exchange program. My counterpart on the exchange, Jamil, was a member of the Pathan tribe, one of the tribal groups whose territory is bisected by the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. His father worked for the "tribal relations" branch of the Pakistani government.
Some history:
The tribal areas of northern pakistan and afghanistan were the only parts of the British empire that the british were never able to completely subdue. This was because there was no central government to defeat or negotiate with. Each tribe, and each family within the tribe, was an entity unto itself. This is the main reason that the tribal areas of Afghanistan have NEVER been conquored, by Alexander the Great or any of the armies that have passed through the area since. After decades of low scale warfare, the british finally accepted this, and negotiated a rather odd settlement; the british would control the roads, and 10 meters on either side of the roads. All other areas were under tribal control.
When Pakistan became a nation in 1947, they wisely kept this policy.
Foriegners aren't allowed into the tribal territories. Too much potential for them to be captured and held for ransom (an old and respected tradition) or outright killed for violating local customs.
I was the exception to this rule. As I mentioned, Jamils father worked in tribal relations, so one fine december day, Jamil and his brother and father, a driver, and two armed guards set out in a covered truck from Peshawar into the tribal areas, and through the Khyber pass to within about 1/2 a mile of the Afghan border. But that's another story.

Anyway, in 1984, pakistan was home to some 3 million refugees from the fighting in Afghanistan. I met and talked to many of these people. It was not uncommon for Afghan families to run a small, under-the-counter business in pakistan. Family members would take turns running the business, both to help support the family and to get a break from the fighting. They all regarded the Russians as simply the latest in a long line of foriegn invaders. They all knew that the war would continue until, eventually, the Russians would grow tired of it and would leave. That was the recurring theme of the history of the tribes in the area: Invaders came, and were fought until, eventually, they left.

It's 22 years later. The Russians are long gone, and now, sad to say, the invading troops are, among others, Canadians. Yes, they were invited by the democratically elected Afghan government, but to tribal villagers in the valleys of Kandahar, this makes no difference. Once again, foriegn troops have come into their valleys. They will be fought and eventually, everybody knows, they will grow tired of fighting, and leave. That's the way it's always been.

It's a very complicated situation. I don't claim to understand all the ins and outs. But this I know for a fact:

THERE IS NO MILITARY SOLUTION IN AFGHANISTAN.

There is no structure in Afghanistan that allied troops cannot destroy.
There is no place in Afghanistan that allied troops cannot go, if they go in strength.
Allied troops will rarely, if ever, lose a battle.
Many, many times more Afghan fighters will die in the fighting than allied troops. Many times more civilians, too.
And the allied troops will never win.

Lasting change, if possible at all, will take decades of diplomacy and humanitarian assistance. Each tribe, each valley, and each village will have to be won over individually, and see change as to their own advantage. There is a role for the military in this, but only in defending friends won by diplomacy, not by going out and "defeating enemy forces".

Conventional forces cannot defeat a well motivated guerilla force. That's been proved over and over again through history. 6Pak, it's not "like" we're sending our troops to their death. That's EXACTLY what we're doing, and condemning countless Afghans, combatants and not, to their deaths as well. Think we need more tools and manpower to support our troops? All that will accomplish is more death, destruction, and suffering. It will bring "victory" not one inch closer.

Eventually, Canadian forces will leave Afghanistan. And all that death will have been for nothing.