According to Richards, NATO staff asked for a reserve force of 1,000 soldiers more than a year ago. "That reserve ... is nothing more than nations knew was the military advice that was required for 18 months now, endorsed by the NATO chain of command," Richards told the newspaper" That requirement has never been met by nations. The bit it lacked was a hard-hitting reserve of about 1,000 people that I can use wherever I need to use it throughout Afghanistan, although obviously its focus would be the south."
As I wrote here the NATO reinforcement needs were known to the Canadian government prior to and after last years election. The fact is that in February under the Harper government our mission changed from security operations in Kabul to war making in the Pashtun dominated south.
PRTs are not peacekeeping missions: they exist to extend central government influence throughout a nearly post - apocalyptic feudal land. The goal is to combat insurgency using a variety of lethal and non-lethal tools.
Our mission in Afghanistan had "Officially" ended in December of 2005. In February using parliamentary perogative, the Harper government committed our armed forces to a NEW mission. A NEW mission folks. Not a mere continuation of our previous mission.
Operation Athena
In August 2003, Operation Athena began in Kabul as part of ISAF, with a 1,900-strong Canadian task force providing assistance to civilian infrastructure such as well-digging and repair of local buildings.