Canada counts cost of military presence in Afghanistan
Posted: 10 April 2007 0751 hrs

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OTTAWA : Canada on Monday was counting the cost of its military presence in Afghanistan after suffering its heaviest troop loss in 50 years, on the day it marked the anniversary of a key World War I victory.

The deaths of six Canadian NATO soldiers killed Sunday by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan dominated the country's front pages, with the French-language Journal de Montreal calling it a "Bloody Easter."

It was the heaviest single-day loss sustained by Canadian forces since May 1953 during the Korea War.

Foreign Minister Peter MacKay said on CTV television that the deaths were "a very serious reminder of the cost of freedom and the cost of these conflicts."

Comparing the conflict to a World War I battle won by the Canadians in Vimy, France, MacKay said the sacrifice "highlights exactly what it means to be at war and what it means to be protecting people in Afghanistan as we did in France and parts of Europe over 90 years ago."

The six dead soldiers "carry on the valiant tradition of putting country before self," said Defense Minister Gordon O'Connor in a statement.

He said it was "in Canada's national interest" that Afghans "regain control of their own destiny - to ensure their country never again becomes a launching pad for global terrorism.

"There can be no doubt that the desperate terrorists who carried out (Sunday's) attack want to return a murderous regime to power," O'Connor said.

A total of 51 Canadian soldiers have now died in Afghanistan.

Canada has deployed some 2,500 soldiers in southern Afghanistan in the past five years as part of the NATO operation to quell a Taliban insurgency.

The English-language press stressed the necessity to keep a perspective on comparisons between Canada's mission in Afghanistan and the battle of Vimy.

"The Vimy anniversary is an opportune time to put our Afghanistan losses in context," said the conservative daily The National Post.

"In the five years since our military deployed to Afghanistan, 51 of our soldiers have been killed, along with one diplomat - less than one thousandth of the 66,655 soldiers we lost in World War I."

The battle of Vimy Ridge was a costly victory for Canada, but one that helped shape the former British colony's national identity.

At 5:30 am on April 9, 1917, almost 100,000 Canadian soldiers charged the ridge, which the German army had fortified heavily with trenches, barbed wire, artillery and machine-gun nests.

A total of 3,598 Canadian troops were killed and 7,004 were wounded over four days of fighting as they slowly took control of the escarpment, which lies near the town of Arras in northern France.

The Sunday bombing is likely to raise new questions about the duration of Canada's participation in Afghanistan.

The three opposition parties, who together hold a majority in Parliament, are against prolonging the mission beyond its mandate, which ends in February 2009.

They have argued there should be a greater balance between the mission's military and humanitarian roles.

The ruling conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper extended the mission's mandate for two years in 2006, and did not rule out that it could be extended beyond February 2009.

The decision is likely to hang on the outcome of national elections, with Harper hoping to win greater support in Quebec and be returned with a majority government.

However, opposition to Canada's participation in Afghanistan is at its highest in the French-speaking province. - AFP/ch