NATO in Afghanistan

Aired on June 21, 2007
Canadians are painfully aware that we're at war in Afghanistan. But Canadian troops are fighting in the complex terrain of the wider NATO mission.

This is the largest NATO combat operation ever with more than thirty-five thousand soldiers from thirty-seven different countries. That includes 17-thousand U.S. troops.

But here's the thing that's not often made clear. There are eight thousand MORE U.S. soldiers acting autonomously and with a very different focus.

The NATO mission is supposed to focus on counter-insurgency, where political considerations about impacts on civilians are supposed to have equal weight with military objectives. Meanwhile the U.S.-coalition is in counter terrorism mode hunting al Queda, frequently using airstrikes for cover, responsible for the majority of civilian casualties. Killing the so-called enemy, is the top priority.

Avi talks to NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer who is in Canada seeking to soothe growing scepticism about the war in Afghanistan.

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• Afghanistan

[Drovosekk]

A nation that deceided to fight for its freedom till the end will never be defeated, leave afganistan nato you wont win this war

[AustralianLeprechaun]

Cant believe this is still going on.

[Redmond91]

qarnain06 because the farmers want to make money and the Taliban pay them a lot of money for their poppies and thats where the Taliban gets most of their money is from opium there was a very good idea a journalist came up with is that Nato should start buying the poppies from the farmers so the Taliban cant get their funding and thus they can recruit anymore kids to fight for them because they cant offer them money

[Imat00l]

Shut the fuck up. You're an idiot. You don't know shit.

[xxCanuck]

Buddy I am a canadian soilder and we call in air strikes all the time, and the people that bring in the air stricks are american. But they are a little reckless i will admit

[qarnain06]

Why then cant a farmer make a living by growing FOOD rather than narcotics?

You cant feed a population on narcotics!

[Ginjew90]

Canada Has better trained soldiers and better equiptment. We rely more on the quality then quantity. I'f we had the ability to lead nato we would complelte this war alot faster. The US is focusling on Iraq more then Afghanistan. The Taliban forces are a very large and alarming force; they have the ablility to launch very well planed attacks. 911 is a good example. In the end The US needs to pick up the slack.

[ArtypNk]

Cowardly americans, they hear the shot and they call air strike. Nobody cares that they will destroy civilian homes, and that homeles and family-less civilian usually becomes a `terrorist`.

Fucking america is the main cause of terrorism.

[duckjm17]

ok Canada lead with all 2500 troops against the extremists,lol good luck with that

[vatossan]

shut up hater,get a life.