CBC: Afghan troop restrictions draw fire from O'Connor

[tuvor]

Canada's defence minister has urged some NATO allies to do more in volatile areas of Afghanistan, saying they put too many restrictions on their troops — sometimes even banning nighttime missions.

A day after Canada lost its 40th soldier on the mission, Gordon O'Connor told CBC Newsworld on Sunday that the country, Britain and the United States are currently bearing most of the burden in dangerous southern Afghanistan.

O'Connor said Poland recently agreed to contribute 1,000 troops to NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), but said other countries should be contributing more.

"There are larger NATO countries that have put a whole lot of restrictions on their forces. They will not move geographically from the north or from the west. Some of them will not even allow their forces to go out at night," O'Connor told the CBC.

"We want these restrictions taken off their forces so that they can be deployed by the ISAF commander anywhere in Afghanistan."

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2006/10/08/afghanistan.html

[Spazito]

1. O'Connor wants to reduce the number of Canadians killed, not because

he cares but because there is political blowback, so he wants other countries to provide human fodder instead. The other NATO countries actually care about their troops and are not going to provide them as fodder to help the faux cons reduce the number of Canadian casualties and I don't blame them. I only wish our government cared instead of saying the deaths are a sign of "leadership", another way of saying they are mere "commas".

Edited to add clarity.