Home Safe

Relieved father, Prince Charles and brother Prince William greet Prince Harry upon his return at RAF Brize Norton. Photo courtesy AP

Prince Harry is back home from mission in Afghanistan 2 months early. Why? Well read on..

Prince Harry landed at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, where he was met by Prince Charles and Prince William. The prince's tour was cut short after a news blackout collapsed, raising fears he would be targeted by the Taliban.

Dad is relieved upon seeing his son.

The Prince of Wales said he was pleased about his son's return and praised the efforts of all armed forces personnel.
Prince Harry, 23, a second lieutenant in the Household Cavalry, was flown out from Helmand Province under orders from the Chief of Defence Staff.
The prince's deployment was subject to a news blackout in a deal struck between the MoD and newspapers and broadcasters in the UK and abroad.

Particular frustration
The agreement broke down after the story appeared on influential American website The Drudge Report.

The Ministry of Defence said the safety of Prince Harry and his colleagues had been compromised. As the soldiers arrived to collect their belongings some were greeted by Prince Charles. Later the Prince of Wales told journalists: "I feel particular frustration that he [Prince Harry] was removed unexpectedly early because - apart from anything else - he had been looking forward to coming back with the rest of his regiment."
Prince Harry was sent secretly to Afghanistan in December but was ordered out of the country by defence chiefs on Friday.
Prince Charles said he had found it "quite difficult" to keep the secret.
"People kept saying to me 'you must be so frustrated about Harry not being able to serve abroad'" He said when he was asked where Harry was, he'd reply: "He's on exercise somewhere."
Pride
The Prince of Wales said he was now more aware of the stresses and worries of families with loved-ones serving in places like Iraq and Afghanistan.
"We owe an enormous amount to those families of servicemen who endure so much and support their loved ones with such understanding. It makes a huge difference," he said.
"I also feel very strongly that we don't often appreciate what the people in the armed forces are doing, putting up with the most impossible conditions, very often in hazardous circumstances in heat or freezing cold, being shot at or rocketed at and goodness knows what else."
He said all armed service personnel were owed "an enormous debt of gratitude for performing their duty".
Finally Prince Charles said: "I've been incredibly proud of Harry and I promise you, equally proud of all the dedicated service given by all our armed forces."

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PM appoints panel to review Canada's options in Afghanistan

John Manley new head of an independant, non-partisan panel reviewing Canada's mission and future role in Afghanistan,

Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Friday appointed a panel of "eminent Canadians" to recommend Canada's future role in Afghanistan, as tensions mount in Parliament over the current military mission.
"Today I am pleased to announce the formation of an independent panel of eminent Canadians who will consider our options and provide expert nonpartisan advice that will help parliamentarians make our decision (on Afghanistan)," Harper said in the foyer of the House of Commons.
The panel will be presided by John Manley, the former Liberal deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs when Canada embarked on its Afghanistan adventure in 2002.
He will be joined by former a Canadian ambassador to Washington, a former journalist and the president of a non-governmental agency.
The panelists will visit Afghanistan, before reporting in January 2008, Manley said.
The panel is tasked with evaluating "four main options for the future of our mission in Afghanistan," said Harper.
These are:
-- to continue training the Afghan army and police so that Canada can begin withdrawing its forces in February 2009;
-- to focus on reconstruction and have NATO forces from another country take over security in volatile Kandahar province;
-- shift Canadian security and reconstruction efforts to another region in Afghanistan; or,
-- withdraw Canada's military except a minimal force to protect aid workers and diplomats in February 2009, its current mandate.
"Our government wants a full, open and informed debate about our options. We also want the debate to be as nonpartisan as possible," said Harper.
However, opposition parties have threatened to topple his minority Conservative government if Harper does not signal Canada's exit from Afghanistan soon.
As casualties mount, public support for the military mission has also waned.
Some 2,500 Canadian soldiers are deployed in the war-torn nation alongside other NATO-led forces to stabilize the country amid an insurgency following the ouster of the Taliban regime in 2001.
Manley, the first Canadian minister in 2002 to visit Afghanistan in more than 40 years, shortly after a US-led invasion ousted the Taliban, returned there in May 2007 on a humanitarian mission.

Efforts in Afghanistan

Brig.-General Tim Grant

The man who has led Canadian troops in Afghanistan for the past nine months says he thought about his wife as a bomb went off near a convoy he was travelling in last week. (see posting below)
“The first thing that went through my mind is: `What’s my wife going to say?’,” Brig.-Gen. Tim Grant said Monday in an interview with CTV’s Canada AM, noting he had also been on hand when a rocket attack occurred a couple of days before Thursday’s suicide bomb attack.
“It shouldn’t be any surprise that she was unhappy with me when I finally made contact,” he said. Grant survived both attacks unscathed.
No other Canadian troops in the three vehicle convoy were injured when a suicide bomber detonated a car southeast of Kandahar City.
But the attack was powerful enough to make an RG-31 Nayala vehicle roll in a ditch and flip over. Grant had nothing but praise for the Canadian soldiers who in the convoy.
“The things they (the soldiers) did in split-second timing saved the lives of numerous people,” said Grant. “There is no doubt in my mind that if they hadn’t done what they did in the way they did it, then everyone would not have walked away.”
Unlike many generals with the militaries in other countries, Canadian generals use the same ground transport as the troops rather than travel by helicopter.
Grant is slated to leave Afghanistan this week after a nine-month stay and will hand the command of Canadian forces in Kandahar to Brig.-Gen. Guy Laroche, who arrived at the base on Friday.
Grant said on the weekend that he is handing Laroche an Afghanistan that is more confident that it was a year ago.
He said Canadian and NATO efforts in Afghanistan have helped save the lives of 40,000 children.
Grant credited the success to improvements in health care, which has led to a drop in the region’s infant mortality rate.
In an interview with CBC Newsworld also broadcast Monday, Grant expressed frustration with the difficulty of explaining the importance of the Afghanistan mission to the Canadian public.
“I can give you examples across the board about how we’re making a difference with the people here.”
Grant told the CBC. “This is a poor country, 30 years of war, it needs a lot of help to get back on track.”
Grant blamed a lack of information for poll results that suggest Canadians are uneasy with Canada’s role in Afghanistan.
“The focus always ends up being on casualties, attacks, on the military-security situation,” he said. “In fact, where we’re making the most difference is on reconstruction and development.”
“If I could find the magic solution to explain to Canadians how important this is, it would make me a happy man.”
See: Progress in Afghanistan