Afghanistan 'Take Note' Debate Prep (en francais)

For those who care to take some time and inform themselves prior to the debate, here are a series of links covering various issues. Extensive reading but worthwhile if you wish to get a better handle on the overall situation. I had a number of links from the CIDA website, but the site seems to be experiencing problems right now (at least for me)

Update: Despite all the public sources available, NDP Defence Critic Dawn Black continues to try and confuse the situation regarding command of the mission. (CTV Question Period) The sources below demonstrate that the mission was always to be a transition between Operation Enduring Freedom and ISAF. Initial timeframe for the change of operational control was to be spring of 2006, now estimated to be summer of 2006.


Afghanistan: A timeline of Canadian involvement post-9/11
CTV.ca News

Canada in Afghanistan - A CTV News Special - Extensive links, reports and original sources

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1510 (2003) - The Situation in Afghanistan

Speaking Notes for the Honourable Bill Graham, P.C., M.P. Minister of National Defence at a joint session of the Standing Committee on National Defence and Veterans Affairs and the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade
Ottawa, Ontario - May 16, 2005


Canada Expands Security and Reconstruction Efforts in Afghanistan
NR-05.035 - May 16, 2005

Canadians begin tearing down Kabul's Camp Julien
Updated Thu. Aug. 4 2005 11:30 PM ET
Canadian Press

KABUL — Camp Julien, home to the majority of Canadian soldiers serving in Afghanistan over the past two years, will soon be gone. The camp, on the outskirts of the capital, Kabul, is being torn down, and will close in less than four months.

Originally built in early 2003, and opened in August of that year, it was designed to house up to 2,000 soldiers.

Now, roughly 700 Canadian soldiers and civilian support staff live at the base at any given time. In the coming months, they will complete the base closure, which is scheduled for Dec. 1.

The camp is also currently home to troops from Norway, Hungary, the United States, Turkey and Italy, who were given notice July 1 that they must vacate.

The decision to close the base was made in Ottawa in May, after the federal government decided to move Canada's military focus in Afghanistan to Kandahar, where a provincial reconstruction team is being established.

The team, made up of 250 soldiers, two RCMP officers and members of Canada's foreign affairs and international aid departments, will work with other NATO countries to secure the Kandahar region and attempt to rebuild some of its infrastructure.

By February, Canada also plans to send an additional 1,500 soldiers to set up a brigade headquarters and army task force in Kandahar.

NATO in Afghanistan

NATO in Afghanistan - Press Fact Sheet

Map of Afghanistan (shows 3 stages of deployment)

NATO approves Stage 3 Operational Plan

'Take Note Debate' - 15 Nov, 2005

1915 - Hon. Bill Blaikie (Elmwood—Transcona, NDP)

1935 - Hon. Bill Blaikie (Elmwood—Transcona, NDP)

1940 - Hon. Bill Blaikie (Elmwood—Transcona, NDP)

1955 - Hon. Bill Blaikie (Elmwood—Transcona, NDP)

2000 - Hon. Bill Blaikie (Elmwood—Transcona, NDP)

2015 - Hon. Bill Blaikie (Elmwood—Transcona, NDP)

2020 - Mr. Bill Siksay (Burnaby—Douglas, NDP)

Hon. Bill Blaikie

2040 - Hon. Bill Blaikie

2045 - Hon. Bill Blaikie (Elmwood—Transcona, NDP)

2245 - Hon. Bill Blaikie (Elmwood—Transcona, NDP)

Backgrounder
Canadian Forces Operations in Afghanistan
BG–06.003 - February 28, 2006
The situation today

Canada's Provincial Reconstruction Team

Canada's Active Role in Afghan Development

Prisoner Transfer Agreement - as signed by CDS Hillier for then Defence Minister Bill Graham

Prisoner Transfer Agreement(.pdf file)