Bless Corporal Byron Greff - October 29, 2011

MCpl. Byron Greff
It is with sadness, we announce that a Canadian Forces member was killed by a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device while transiting through Kabul as a passenger on an International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) vehicle. The incident took place at approximately 11:30 a.m. (Kandahar time) on October 29, 2011. The incident has resulted in casualties to ISAF personnel. Killed on operation was Master Corporal Byron Greff from the 3rd Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, based in Edmonton, Alberta. He was serving as a mentor and trainer on Operation Attention, the Canadian Forces contribution to the NATO Training Mission in Afghanistan. His role was to advise Afghan National Army trainers who provide recruit training to Afghan soldiers. The Canadian Contribution to the Training Mission-Afghanistan (CCTM-A) includes more than 900 Canadian Forces men and women who, with some 4500 other partners from 33 other nations in NTM-A, are enabling the growth, professionalization, and capacity building of the Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police. At this sad time, our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of our fallen Canadian comrade. Our primary focus at this time is to provide the best possible support to Master Corporal Greff's family and his colleagues.Master Corporal Greff, his teammates, and the contingent of more than 900 Canadians serving with him in and around Kabul are there to provide training, leader development and capacity building. By the end of 2014, this training to the Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police will provide security for Afghans who will ultimately take on this responsibility on their own. Master Corporal Greff is a great Canadian soldier who was serving selflessly toward this mission. His teammates, CCTM-A, and the Canadian Forces remain committed to this mission to achieve peace, stability and security by Afghans for Afghans.

REPATRIATION

The C-17 Globemaster touched down on the tarmac at CFB Trenton around 5 p.m.Cpl. Byron Greff, 26, was killed Saturday in a suicide bomb attack on a NATO bus convoy transporting people to their peacekeeping jobs around Kabul.Moments after the aircraft stopped, military pallbearers carried the flag-draped casket to a waiting hearse.Grieving family members led by Greff’s wife, Lindsay Raphael, and their two children — Kellar and Bielle — slowly made their way to the hearse. Raphael could be seen wiping tears from her eyes as the family placed roses on the casket.Dignitaries at the ceremony included Governor General David Johnston, Defence Minister Peter MacKay and Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Walt Natynczyk looked on.Dozens of people stood in silence outside the perimeter fence on a stretch of Highway 2 known as Repatriation Row.It’s an all too familiar sight at the base.Trenton resident Mike Rightmeyer brought his four young children to watch the ceremony.“We’ve never been to a repatriation before. I thought it was important for them to watch this,” said Rightmetyer. “We came here out of respect. It’s been a gut wrenching, emotional experience for us.”The motorcade that included the hearse and limousines carrying family members drove slowly through the crowd that lined both sides of the road.

God Bless Major Raymond Ruckpaul

CANADIAN FATALITY: ENEMY ACTION RULED OUT
Dead soldier identified as armoured officer
August 31, 2007
The Canadian soldier who died of a gunshot wound this week in a secure compound in Kabul was Major Raymond Ruckpaul, a 41-year-old armoured officer who was working at the International Security Force to Afghanistan (ISAF) headquarters.
Major Ruckpaul died yesterday morning at ISAF's secure compound. He was found in his room injured by a gunshot wound. Efforts to save him failed, and he was pronounced dead about an hour later.
Major Ruckpaul was based at the NATO Allied Land Component Command Headquarters in Heidelberg, Germany.
The military did not identify Major Ruckpaul's regiment or home town.
The death is now under investigation by the military's National Investigation Service, which probes all cases of serious injury.
Only enemy action, because he was found within the perimeter of the compound, has been ruled out.
Major Ruckpaul's 55 colleagues at the headquarters held a memorial service for him yesterday, and a small ramp ceremony for him today.
John Ruckpaul, a second cousin of the dead soldier, remembered a man who was destined to be in the army.
"He had the right attitude and he loved it," the 71-year-old retired airman said from Kingston yesterday.
Major Ruckpaul grew up in Hamilton and attended McMaster University. He had been interested in the military since he was a young teenager, and after his first year at university, he entered the Regular Officer Training Plan.
"He was really an army type. He was fitted for the army. ... He knew where he was going; he had direction," Mr. Ruckpaul said.
Major Ruckpaul had been stationed in Heidelberg, Germany, where he met his wife and had a son and daughter.
Mr. Ruckpaul said he did not believe there was any chance his cousin was suicidal.
"He kept himself physically fit. Sound body, sound mind."

Major Raymond Ruckpaul, an armoured officer based at the NATO Allied Land Component Command Headquarters in Heidelberg, Germany who was serving in Kabul, Afghanistan with the International Security Assistance Force Headquarters (ISAF HQ), died on 29 August 2007. He was found significantly injured within the confines of the ISAF HQ in Kabul and later died of his injuries. The matter is under investigation by ISAF authorities and the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service

Statement by the Minister of National Defence
The Honourable Peter Gordon MacKay, Minister of National Defence and Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, issued the following statement today on the death of Major Raymond Ruckpaul:"I would like to extend my condolences to the family of Major Raymond Ruckpaul who died in Afghanistan. My thoughts and prayers are with them during this difficult time.This is a challenging mission, but Canada's government is showing international leadership by working alongside our international partners and standing up for something that is just. We are committed to helping the Afghan people achieve peace and stability and rebuild their country and its institutions."

Statement by Prime Minister of Canada - Stephen Harper
"On behalf of the Government of Canada, I would like to extend my deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Major Raymond Ruckpaul who died yesterday in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Major Ruckpaul was serving as part of an international coalition working to bring peace and security to Afghanistan. The Government of Canada stands proudly with our soldiers, sailors, airmen and airwomen as they strive to make a difference in this war torn country."
If you'd like to leave share a memory of Major Ruckpaul, visit: http://www.respectance.com/

PM makes surprise visit to Afghanistan

Photo Credit: Tom Hanson Prime Minister Stephen Harper presents Afghan President Hamid Karzai with a baby jumper featuring the logo of the Ottawa Senators hockey team.
Karzai told Harper he'd like his infant son to 'play hockey as soon as he can
walk.'

Kabul, Afghanistan
Prime Minister Stephen Harper touched down unannounced in Afghanistan Tuesday to see first-hand the development of Canadian aid projects in the war-ravaged country and to meet with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
The surprise two-day visit began Tuesday morning in the capital Kabul, where Karzai met with Harper — who was joined by Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor — to discuss the progress of Canada's mission in Afghanistan.
During a news conference at the presidential palace courtyard, Harper reaffirmed Canada's commitment to the reconstruction and defence efforts in the region, calling the mission "Canada's most important foreign policy endeavour."
He also reiterated his belief that Canadian redevelopment aid and security efforts were improving life for people in Afghanistan.
"Yes, there remain challenges," the prime minister said as Karzai looked on. "But our determination is strong. We are not daunted by shadows because we carry the light that defines them — the light of freedom of human rights and the rule of law."
The prime minister dismissed suggestions his trip was in response to waning support of the Afghan mission at home, telling reporters: "I'm not here because of the polls. I'm here because it's the right thing to do."

Karzai Guarantees No Prisoners Abused
The visit comes after Harper's government has faced weeks of criticism in the House of Commons for its handling of the war.

'I will assure the Canadian people that if there is any such incident [of torture], Afghans will be the first to take me to task on it.' —Afghan President Hamid Karzai

A key theme of opposition attacks has been the treatment of people detained by Canadian soldiers and whether they face torture after being handed over to Afghan authorities.
Karzai rejected the suggestion that any prisoners had ever been abused while in Afghan custody.
"Take my guarantee to the Canadian people on that," he said. "I will assure the Canadian people that if there is any such incident Afghans will be the first to take me to task on it."

Praise for Canadian Aid
Karzai praised Canada for its efforts in Afghanistan, outlining the benefits his country has seen as a result of Canadian efforts:
10,000 jobs have been created in Kandahar.
30,000 people, mostly women, have had access to microcredit loans.
40,000 more infants have survived childbirth.
"Have we accomplished all we are seeking? No," Karzai said. "If we leave half the way [Islamic militants] will re-emerge … Let us complete it and not abandon it half the way."
Harper saw Canadian aid work first-hand Tuesday, when he handed out pencil cases in a Kabul school funded by Canadian dollars. The Aschiana School, which receives $39,500 a year from Canada, teaches young children painting, music and how to use woodworking tools until they reach vocational age.

'If we leave half the way, [Islamic militants] will re-emerge... Let us complete [the mission] and not abandon it half the way.' --Afghan President Hamid Karzai appeals to Canada to see the Afghan mission through.

Harper also visited diplomats at the Canadian Embassy for a briefing on various aid projects since the ouster of the Taliban in 2001.
Paul Hunter, reporting on Harper's visit for CBC News, said Harper may have chosen to focus heavily on Canada's humanitarian work in Afghanistan on Tuesday because of polls that suggest some Canadians are wary of Canada's military involvement in the country.
"I would say it's very interesting they decided to really promote the fact that we're doing more than just military in Afghanistan," Hunter said from Kandahar.
He said Harper will have more of a military focus Wednesday, when he has breakfast with some of the 2,500 Canadian soldiers stationed in Afghanistan and addresses them in a brief speech.
The Harper government has committed to the military mission only until February 2009.
Trip Shrouded in Secrecy
The last time Harper was in Afghanistan in March 2006, he spent three days touring military installations and camping out with soldiers.
Harper's office spared no effort to keep his surprise two-day trip shrouded in secrecy.
A call went out Friday telling journalists to pack for a warm climate and show up at a military hangar on Sunday if they wanted to join Harper on a foreign trip.
Reporters were warned they could be arrested for breathing a word about the prime minister's travel plans.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Prime Minister Stephen Harper
in Kabul on Tuesday.

Afghanistan Grateful for Canadian Sacrifice: --Karzai
Before wrapping up his visit to Afghanistan, which began late Sunday, Harper visited Karzai at his presidential palace.
Karzai was the first head of state the prime minister has met since his Conservative government won the January federal election.
As U.S. military helicopters buzzed overhead, Karzai asked Harper to deliver a message of thanks to Canadians for their financial and military aid since the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan following the Sept. 11 attacks.
"Please convey to your people, to the people of Canada, the immense gratitude of the Afghan people for what your country, your people have done for us," said Karzai.
"For giving the lives of your sons, for contributing in money, for contributing in soldiers and for being one of the biggest helpers in Afghanistan."
Harper responded by inviting Karzai to visit Canada.
"I've said to the president I hope to see him in Canada," said Harper.

And Now the Taliban Plant the Mines...

An 11 year old boy recounts how his leg was blown off above the knee.

Photo Credit: AP

Land Mine Accidents Drop in Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan- At a lecture on dangers of land mines, the schoolchildren listened in horror as a guest speaker recounted how his left leg was blown off above the knee. It was three years ago, 11-year-old Massoud said, and he had been playing with a kite near his home.
"When I arrived over the top of the hill, suddenly a bomb exploded," the sweet-faced boy said. "No one would come near me because they were afraid another mine would explode. Then I crawled out of the mined area."
After a quarter century of war, Afghanistan is still littered with millions of land mines and other unexploded ordnance, and more mines are being planted in regions of the south where a Taliban-led guerrilla war against NATO forces has been escalating.
Yet as Afghanistan marks International Mine Awareness Day Wednesday, there is some cause for optimism. Accident rates have declined dramatically, thanks to the imaginative and culturally sensitive efforts of organizations such as OMAR—a mine-clearing NGO that recruited Massoud for the recent lesson in a Kabul mosque.
His audience, a classroom full of boys about his age, listened, their mouths agape. Their wide eyes moved from his face to the artificial leg under his gray tunic.
Massoud, who like many Afghans uses only one name, is one of nearly 800 people maimed and killed by the debris of war in Afghanistan every year. That's less than half the number five
years ago, when the country was embarking on reconstruction after the fall of the Taliban, the Islamic movement routed by the U.S. and its Afghan allies for hosting Osama bin Laden.
While nothing conveys the danger of land mines quite like a personal account, Massoud's macabre show-and-tell was just one small moment in a campaign that owes much of its success to its sensitivity to conservative Islam.
The U.N. has been demining Afghanistan since 1989, spending an estimated $300 million. It now believes it has cleared more than 60 percent of land sown with mines since the Soviet invasion in 1979. But as many as 4.2 million Afghans still live in suspected mined areas, according to U.N. statistics.
To teach the dangers, educators must tiptoe through a dizzying list of no-no's in a society hypersensitive about portraying even modestly dressed women and girls. In some conservative parts of the country, just photos of human forms and video, which were forbidden by the Taliban during their repressive rule, are also frowned upon.
"Some people object to seeing girls in any of our materials. They don't object to boys, but they do object to girls," said Susan Helseth, an adviser for the U.N. Mine Action Center for Afghanistan who oversees the development of education materials.
The Association for Aid and Relief, Japan (AAR-Japan) had to redo a mine awareness booklet whose cover showed a girl and boy sitting together in a class. An Afghan review committee said children of that age should be segregated by sex, so it was reprinted with boys and girls on separate pages.
AAR-Japan also uses two mobile cinemas run on generators to show villagers an 8-minute mine awareness video called "The Way to Home"—but not in the south, where conservative Muslims reject the idea of screening movies, said the group's director Koji Miyazaki.
He said there is also concern that the actress in the film, Marina Golbahari, may cause anger in former Taliban strongholds because of her role in the award-winning 2003 movie "Osama." The movie portrayed some Taliban as misogynistic pedophiles.
The communications firm Sayara, which works with the aid organization Handicap International, uses mobile theater to get its message across, although without any female characters.
The firm's director Antoine Heudre said it was a good way to reach illiterate people, particularly in villages that lack electricity to run televisions. Some 86 percent of women and 56 percent of men in Afghanistan cannot read.
Despite the many cultural and educational challenges, the mine awareness message, combined with the efforts of deminers, appears to be working. According to the international Red Cross, there were 771 victims of mine and ordnance accidents in 2006—down from 1,717 victims in 2002.
In all, mines and unexploded ordnance have killed at least 942 people and injured 4,543 in the past five years. Most of the victims are male.
Over the years, simple color-coded messages have been painted on rocks, houses and mountains around the country by deminers: red for danger, white for a cleared area. Also, mine risk educators use painted diagrams to warn children about land mines, cluster bombs and other explosives.
Despite such powerful education efforts, continued land mine accidents appear inevitable. Nearly 90 percent of accidents happen in unmarked areas, and it would take decades to clear Afghanistan entirely—and that is without factoring in the leftovers of ongoing violence.
Mullah Mahmood, a Taliban commander in the southern province of Helmand, told The Associated Press that militants have planted new land mines as part of their armed campaign against heavily armed NATO forces.

Earthquake Shakes Afghanistan

Powerful Earthquake Hit Northeastern Afghanistan
An earthquake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale has hit a remote and mountainous area of northeastern Afghanistan Tuesday morning, shaking buildings in the capital, Kabul, parts of Pakistan, Tajikistan and India. The temblor was centered in Badakhshan province, about 200 miles northeast of the capital, Kabul. Residents reported shaking buildings and shattered glass but no immediate casualty figure was available, AP reported. "It was a very strong earthquake," said Agha Noor Kemtoz, the provincial police chief of Badakhshan. "My room was shaking and the light was swinging back and forth." The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was centered 40 miles south of Faizabad and hit at 8:05 a.m. Damage reports from northeastern Afghanistan are often slow to trickle in, because of the region's remoteness and a lack of communication facilities. Badakhshan-- the most remote area in Afghanistan-- is located in the towering mountains of the Hindukush and is a region prone to earthquakes. The province shares a border with Pakistan, Tajikistan and China. A 6.7 magnitude quake struck Badakhshan in December 2005, killing five children. That quake was centered about 60 miles southeast of Faizabad.

It's Raining, It's Snowing?

Floods, Avalanche Kill 51 in Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan - Flooding and an avalanche have killed at least 51 people and destroyed hundreds of homes over the last 10 days, following warm weather and heavy spring rains across much of Afghanistan , officials said Sunday.
In total, 31 people have died in the province from the avalanche and flooding over the last 10 days, provincial Gov. Sultan Ali Uruzgani said late Sunday.
About 300 people are shoveling snow to clear a road between Daykundi and neighboring Bamiyan province that was buried under 115 feet of snow after the avalanche, he said.
Floodwaters killed eight people in Parwan, north of Kabul, where officials are using old tanks — the debris from decades of war — to shore up the banks of the swollen Parwan river, said provincial Gov. Abdul Jaber Taqwa.
In western Herat, seven people were killed, including two children, said Noor Khan Nekzad, spokesperson for the provincial police chief.
Afghanistan has endured about a decade of drought, and residents say this year‘s spring rains are heavier than they‘ve seen in years.
-

TRADED AND FREE

Five Taliban Prisoners Freed

.....In Exchange for Hostage

Yesterday, 5 Taliban prisoners were released back to the Taliban in exchange for the Italian reporter they were holding hostage. The reporter, Daniele Mastrogiacomo had witnessed the decapitation of his Afghan driver being held during the two weeks in captivity. He is alive and safe now. On the other side, one of the Taliban prisoners did not wish to be released to the insurgients. Was this a good deal on behalf of the Afghan government? Will there be any repercussions?

Taliban Prisoners Freed in Exchange for Italian Reporter

1:15 AM KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Italy's deputy foreign affairs minister confirmed Wednesday that the Afghan government released five Taliban prisoners to win the freedom of a reporter who had been kidnapped in lawless Helmand province.Daniele Mastrogiacomo, who writes for Italy's La Repubblica newspaper, was freed Monday after two weeks in captivity. He had been seized in southern Helmand province with his Afghan driver, who was beheaded, and his translator, whose whereabouts are unknown.Though the Afghan government called the swap "an exceptional case," the deal was sharply criticized."When we create situations where you can buy the freedom of Taliban fighters when you catch a journalist, in the short term there will be no journalists anymore," the Dutch foreign minister, Maxime Verhagen, said during a visit to Kabul on Wednesday. more...

600 Afghans Rescued by NATO-Led Troops

NATO evacuates 600 in Afghanistan floods
KABUL: NATO-led troops used helicopters to evacuate some 600 stranded villagers in southern Afghanistan after their homes were destroyed by widespread flooding, the alliance says.
Despite poor weather and persistent rainfall, Dutch and American helicopters managed to land and rescue people in the border regions between the southern provinces of Helmand and Uruzgan, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said in a statement."In some cases, ISAF had to persuade frightened people to accept being hoisted out of danger," the statement said.
The rescue operation happened at the time when NATO is conducting its largest ever offensive in southern Afghanistan, aimed at winning over a population long supportive of militant fighters.
The UN mission to Afghanistan together with the government have prepared food, tents, tarpaulins and blankets for an estimated 400 affected families, said Aleem Siddique, a UN spokesman.
Heavy rains triggered floods in Afghanistan's south and east, destroying homes and fields and killing several people, officials said.

Gov. General Spends Women's Day in Afghanistan

Governor General visiting Afghanistan

Afghan President Hamid Karzai shakes

hands with Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean
at the presidential palace in Kabul Thursday.

Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean landed in Afghanistan on Thursday for her first visit to the war-ravaged country.
Jean, who is commander in chief of Canada's armed forces, started the visit by meeting Afghan President Hamid Karzai in the capital Kabul.
She also plans to speak to soldiers, RCMP teams, aid workers, diplomats and other Canadians working in Afghanistan.
For security reasons, the Governor General's trip was kept secret until her plane touched down in Kabul on Thursday.
She arrives in time to celebrate International Women's Day on March 8, and is expected to speak with leading Afghan women.
"The women of Afghanistan may face the most unbearable conditions, but they never stop fighting for survival," Jean said in a statement.

Of course, we, the rest of the women around the world, took too long to hear the cries of our Afghani sisters, but I am here to tell them that they are no longer alone. And neither are the people of Afghanistan."
Along with daily discrimination, women and girls in Afghanistan commonly live with the risk of violence, rape, kidnappings and forced marriage, according to Amnesty International.
In the statement released on Thursday, Jean said Canada is proud to be among the 37 countries restoring stability in the region and wished the Afghan people "peace, prosperity and happiness" on a "difficult, sometimes painful, journey."
Jean had previously asked permission to visit the capital, but was denied twice due to security concerns, the Canadian Press reported last year.
That was despite similar visits by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay and Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor.
Jean's predecessor, Adrienne Clarkson, visited Canadian troops in Kabul on New Year's Day 2005.