From: abc@a123.ca   
      
   Returning commander proud of Canada's success in Afghanistan   
      
   BY TOBI COHEN, POSTMEDIA NEWS JULY 22, 2011   
      
   Bombadier Christian Douglas gets a funny look from his daughter Autumn,   
   3, when he first sees her as troops arrive in Ottawa.   
      
      
   OTTAWA — Two weeks after Canadian troops turned Kandahar Airfield over to   
   the Americans amid several brazen attacks that continued to rock the   
   restive southern region, the last Canadian combat commander arrived home   
   Friday proud of his troops' accomplishments and confident that they'd   
   "flattened" the insurgency.   
      
   Cheers, tears, hugs and kisses filled the large airport hangar as Brig.-   
   Gen. Dean Milner and 117 men and women under his direct command marched   
   off a military jet into the anxious arms of loved ones.   
      
   "This marks another chapter in Canada's contribution in Afghanistan and   
   again, we feel good. We feel proud of the accomplishments," Milner told   
   reporters.   
      
   "We definitely flattened the insurgency. Afghanistan still has its   
   challenges but we feel that there is significant improvement in the fight   
   against the insurgents."   
      
   Milner said governance has improved in the districts Canadian troops were   
   operating in and that much progress has been made in mentoring Afghan   
   soldiers and police so that they could eventually take over   
   responsibility for security.   
      
   In the meantime, he said, NATO partners will remain for at least the next   
   three years.   
      
   "I'm guardedly optimistic that things are moving in the right direction,"   
   he said.   
      
   Canada's combat mission officially drew to a close on July 7 when Milner   
   transferred authority for Panjwaii, Daman and Dand districts in Kandahar   
   to American forces, marking the end of more than five years of heavy   
   fighting in Afghanistan's restive south.   
      
   About 950 troops will remain in the Kabul area as part of a training   
   mission set to last until 2014.   
      
   The transfer came the same week the Afghan president's half brother Ahmed   
   Wali Karzai, a powerful but controversial leader in Kandahar with alleged   
   ties to the drug trade, was shot dead by a supposedly trusted bodyguard.   
      
   While the Taliban took responsibility, it's believed the murder was more   
   of a personal dispute between the two men which in itself raises   
   questions about the country's ongoing governance issues. It was followed   
   up with a deadly suicide bombing during a memorial service in his honour.   
      
   Meanwhile, a week before Canadians combat troops pulled out there was a   
   massive and deadly suicide attack on Kabul's western-style Inter-   
   Continental Hotel.   
      
   Despite a pair of "unusual" terrorist attacks Friday in Norway, a   
   Canadian ally in both Afghanistan and Libya, Defence Minister Peter   
   MacKay agreed progress has been made in routing out insurgents in   
   Kandahar which is both the birthplace of the Taliban and the area where   
   Osama bin Laden is said to have masterminded the 9-11 assault on the   
   United States that prompted Canada's mission in Afghanistan and the   
   global war on terror in the first place.   
      
   "I think what we've seen in Afghanistan is the suppression of a country's   
   ability to export terror which Afghanistan was doing," he said after   
   greeting returning troops.   
      
   "It was very much an epicentre of the exportation of terrorism. That's no   
   longer the case."   
      
   Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Walt Natynczyk, who was also on hand to greet   
   the returning soldiers, said it's far too soon to talk about Canada's   
   legacy in Afghanistan as it will "take a few years before we find out how   
   things unfold."   
      
   As for the impact of the nearly decade-long combat mission — the first of   
   its kind since the Korean War — on the military itself, Natynczyk said   
   "we found ourselves again."   
      
   Army chief Lt.-Gen. Peter Devlin added there have been many lessons   
   learned in Afghanistan. Troops now have experience countering improvised   
   explosive devices, deploying unmanned aerial vehicles and operating   
   helicopters in combat situations.   
      
   Going forward, he said, it'll be important to "capture the lessons   
   learned to make sure the Canadian Forces and the army continues to be a   
   vibrant force that's ready to go" the next time it's called upon to do   
   so.   
      
   A transition team will remain in Kandahar until the end of the year to   
   pack up military vehicles, equipment and weapons which will be shipped   
   back to Canada. While some of it will most certainly need refurbishing or   
   replacement, Devlin expects to have enough equipment to "field a force"   
   similar in size to the one leaving Afghanistan by fall 2012.   
      
   As for the soldiers themselves, they'll return to work for three half-   
   days before taking about a month of leave to reintegrate with their   
   families. While some may need a little more time to recuperate, Natynczyk   
   said there are many who are already anxiously inquiring about the next   
   deployment.   
      
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