Afghanistan campaign -- Canadian Forces stretched too thin

In any campaign you have to work with what you have.

The story below suggests that Canadian Forces are stretched too thin.

Ignoring the public relations issue, especially if some hired guard, say, uses a Canadian gun to kill his cousin, it seems obvious Canadian Forces would prefer to guard themselves.

Hiring locals to guard Canadian bases raises the possibility of Taliban infiltration. Imagine, say, Union forces hiring local guards from Hilton Head Island for Union bases during the US Civil War; wouldn't have happened.

"Canada secretly armed Afghan civilians"

MURRAY BREWSTER
The Canadian Press

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 12:00:00 EDT

Canada's military secretly provided weapons to Afghan civilians who were hired as security guards at a forward operating base in Afghanistan, federal documents show.

The unidentified "guard force" was also provided with uniforms so its members would not be "mistaken for Canadian soldiers or for that matter members of the Afghan National Army," says a briefing note obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act.

All Canadian bases in southern Afghanistan have some form of private protection involving paramilitary forces. They often employ local Afghans under the supervision of former Western soldiers.

The handover of surplus C7 rifles - the Canadian variant of the U.S. M16 - was approved by the Strategic Joint Staff, the military's senior decision-making body.

"The distribution of weapons to civilian personnel remains problematic in terms of potential for public criticism, especially in the event of misconduct by an Afghan guard using a Canadian weapon," says the censored document from May last year.

But it was deemed an urgent operational requirement.

The force guarding the unidentified base was different from private security firms, which are plentiful in Afghanistan, because "guard force" members are hired directly off the street.

"The individuals were extensively screened," Lieutenant-Colonel Norbert Cyr, an adviser to the joint staff, said in an interview.

The guards free up Canadian soldiers to patrol or train Afghan troops.

Private security contractors provide their own weapons and training.

The Canadian weapons carried by guard staff "were at the end of their life cycle." The note indicates the weapons were to be disposed of once replacements could be found.
James Morton
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