the ADMINISTRATOR
Posts: 1215
(9/4/06 13:43) Reply
Ooooops; We Did It AgainCanadians shocked by new friendly fire incident
September 4, 2006
PANJWAII, Afghanistan (CP) - The sun lifted into a clear sky with the usual haze of dust at 5:30 a.m. Monday while two U.S. A-10 Thunderbolts swept down the narrow Arghandab River valley, blasting away at supposed Taliban positions.
A young corporal from Newfoundland glanced toward the heavens, noting one aircraft's sickening low-pitched moan as it shattered the ground with a 10-second burst of about 300 shells the size of a pop cans.
It's far from the rat-tat-tat usually associated with a machine-gun.
"It's like the noise a whale makes when it runs into a ship," said Cpl. J. R. Smith from Mount Pearl, N.L.
An hour later, the soldiers found out more than 30 Canadian soldiers, including one who died, were the unintended targets at the bottom of that strafing run. A giant Chinook helicopter was needed to ferry out all the wounded.
Immediate anger gave way to resigned frustration.
[at American military incompetence]
Smith described friendly fire as "the worst thing that can happen."
Other soldiers had questions and remembered the friendly fire incident four years ago when a U.S. plane bombed Canadians on a training exercise, killing four of them.
"It's not forgotten for me, and it's not forgotten for the public, either," said Cpl. Pablo Mckelvey of Montreal.
"They will want answers. We have so much equipment to prevent this sort of thing, all kinds of protective measures.
I can't understand why an incident like that can still happen."
[see my comment on the sheer incompetence of the USA military]
The first attempt at a ground assault from the south on Sunday was pushed back by fierce Taliban resistance. Four Canadian soldiers died and six others were wounded.
While those deaths seemed to stiffen the resolve of Canadian solders, many seemed more rattled by the friendly fire.
"It's enough that we have to deal with the threat coming from the outside and a very well-known enemy," said McKelvey.
"You never expect you're just going to be around your carrier and you're going to get friendly fired. You don't expect it. You never expect it."
2006, Canoe Inc.
Edited by: XSha Tell at: 9/4/06 13:49
the ADMINISTRATOR
Posts: 1216
(9/4/06 13:48) Reply
Re: Ooooops; We Did It Again
Canadian killed by 'friendly fire' in Afghanistan
Last Updated Mon, 04 Sep 2006 16:12:03 EDT
CBC News
Two U.S. aircraft mistakenly fired on a Canadian platoon taking part in a massive anti-Taliban operation west of Kandahar on Monday, killing one soldier and injuring dozens of others.
NATO said the aircraft engaged friendly forces during a strafing run using cannons. The Americans were taking part in Operation Medusa, a NATO air-land offensive aimed at purging Taliban militants from the dangerous Panjwaii area west of the city of Kandahar.
The military has not yet publicly identified the dead Canadian, who was one of about 2,200 Canadian troops in Afghanistan. Thirty-three Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have died since the mission started in 2002.
Five of the 30 soldiers wounded in the attack will be airlifted to hospitals outside of Afghanistan. Their conditions were not immediately made public.
Canadian general promises thorough probe
Brig.-Gen. David Fraser, the Canadian Armed Forces general who is in charge of the NATO forces in southern Afghanistan, promised the incident would be thoroughly investigated.
"We've got to find out what were the details there," Fraser said.
"We do have procedures, we do have communications, we do have training and tactics and techniques and procedures to mitigate the risk, he said.
It isn't the first time that Canadian troops have died in so-called friendly-fire incidents in Afghanistan.
However, the friendly-fire case that created the greatest controversy and outrage in Canada came in 2002, when a U.S. fighter jet mistakenly dropped a bomb on Canadian forces as they conducted a training exercise.
The bomb killed four Canadians from the Edmonton-based Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry and wounded eight others.
The incident on Monday came less than 24 hours after four Canadian soldiers were killed in the same district while battling Taliban as part of Operation Medusa.
Two of the four Canadians were identified on Sunday: Warrant Officer Frank Robert Mellish, who grew up in Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia, and Warrant Officer Richard Francis Nolan, from Newfoundland and Labrador.
On Monday, Department of National Defence officials identified a third soldier, Sgt. Shane Stachnik, who served with the 2 Combat Engineer Regiment based out of CFB Petawawa in Ontario.
The military said nine other Canadians were injured in the fighting, one seriously, while NATO troops killed about 200 militants.
the ADMINISTRATOR
Posts: 1219
(9/5/06 22:51) Reply
the Man that was Murdered
Tuesday, September 5, 2006 Canadian killed by U.S. warplane
Donald McArthur
CanWest News Service; Windsor Star
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
CREDIT: CanWest News Service/DND
Sept. 4: Pte. Mark Anthony Graham, a member of 1st Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, based at CFB Petawawa, Ont., killed and dozens of others wounded in a friendly fire incident involving an American A-10 Warthog aircraft.
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - A Canadian soldier was killed and dozens wounded, five seriously, when two U.S. fighter jets called in for close air support mistakenly strafed them with cannon fire Monday morning near the front lines of a battle where four Canadian soldiers died and several were wounded the day before.
Pte. Mark Anthony Graham, a member of 1st Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, based at CFB Petawawa, Ont., died in a friendly fire incident involving an American A-10 Warthog aircraft.
Stretcher after stretcher ferried the wounded into the beleaguered hospital at Kandahar Air Field as Brig.-Gen. David Fraser and the military's chaplain rushed to the scene to offer their support.
"An investigation has been ordered into this event and while this event is tragic, Operation Medusa and the Canadians continue to operate in the Panjwaii district in support of Afghan government efforts to rid the area of Taliban."
The nature of the probe has yet to be determined. When four Canadian soldiers conducting a training exercise were killed in Afghanistan on April 18, 2002, by a 225-kilogram bomb dropped by an American F-16 fighter jet, independent boards of inquiry were convened by the U.S. and Canadian militaries.
"You're just questioning and asking who you want to know names. The why we don't know," said Corp. Pedro Mckelvey from the front lines Monday where the booming of artillery guns and the rushing of planes raining bombs and missiles on insurgent positions continued throughout the afternoon and evening.
"We know the explanation is going to come after, but it's not about accepting, it's about finding it really mysterious and why it happened."
2006 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks Publications Inc.
the ADMINISTRATOR
Posts: 1220
(9/5/06 22:57) Reply
Re: the Man that was Murdered
Canadian Press
9/5/2006 2:42:30 PM
TORONTO (CP) - At six foot four and packing a rock-hard physique, Mark Graham cast an imposing shadow when he stepped onto the track.
But Olympic teammates who knew Graham best say the sprinter had a smile that matched his massive frame, and his intimidating physical stature belied an easygoing demeanour.
Graham, who grew up in Hamilton, joined the military after his track career and was based at CFB Petawawa. A private, Graham was killed and more than 30 others wounded Monday in Afghanistan as two U.S. aircraft opened fire on Canadians during a strafing run. He was 33.
"He was a really intimidating figure, but he was also so giving with his smile," Olympic teammate Byron Goodwin said from Winnipeg. "You would see this giant, and you would think, oh my God, he's going to tear me apart. But then he flashed his smile and it would totally put you at ease."'
Graham was a member of Canada's 4x400-metre relay team at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
Graham also won a silver medal at the 1993 and 1994 Canadian championships.
"He was a great competitor and you knew if you were going to beat him you had to be on that day," said Goodwin, who beat Graham at the '94 national championships. "I certainly got handed my share of losses by him."
Many recalled an athlete who was loaded with talent - his personal best time of 46.16 seconds he ran while still a junior ranks him 19th on Canada's all-time senior list in the 400. But he was plagued by injuries, which eventually cut short his promising career in 1994.
"Many of us are going back and looking at our scrapbooks right now and thinking of all the good times we had with him," said Peter Ogilvie, who ran on Canada's 4x100 team in Barcelona, and is now the executive director of Athletics Alberta. "It's truly a sad story, he's a hero not only for the Canadian forces, but the athletics community will be in mourning for quite a while as well."
Canadian distance veteran Kevin Sullivan grew up 20 minutes down the road from Graham in Brantford, Ont., and got to know the sprinter when the two were budding Ontario high school stars. They went on to represent Canada on several national teams together including the 1993 world indoor championships and 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria.
"He was this massive human being, if you wanted a perfect physical specimen as an athlete, he's the guy you would point at," Sullivan said from Amsterdam, where he's training for the upcoming IAAF World Cup. "But despite what some people would think of as an intimidating presence, he was a really down-to-earth, kind person, got along well with everybody. Everybody genuinely liked him and got along well with him."
Graham Hood ran the 1,500 for Canada at the Barcelona Olympics, but growing up in Burlington, Ont., had the misfortune of racing against Graham in high school relays.
"He kicked my butt pretty soundly, I remember him flying by me in the relay," Hood said, laughing. "He was a very talented athlete, I remember being extremely intimidated by him as a small kid in high school. He was quite a physical specimen, just a massive towering guy with a ton of ability."
John Cannon was Canada's relays coach at the Barcelona Olympics and went on to coach Graham in Calgary for a year after Barcelona. In an event where you seldom see a runner over six feet tall, let alone packing the football physique that Graham did, his size alone, remembers Cannon, drew widespread attention.
In an interview from Calgary, Cannon remembers the first day of training in Barcelona. Graham was jogging shirtless under the scorching 35 C sun, and Cannon was standing looking on with John Smith, who at that time was the coach at USC and is still well known in international track.
"John said to me, `I'll give that guy a full scholarship.' I said, `You don't even know what he runs.' And he said, `I don't care. With a body and physique like that, he can run whatever he wants,'" Cannon recalled laughing.
Glenroy Gilbert ran on the 4x100 team in Barcelona, and went on to win Olympic gold as part of the famous 4x100 at the Atlanta Games four years later. Gilbert said Graham's talents weren't just on the track. He remembered Graham blowing away his teammates with his performance at "rookie night" in Barcelona.
"He could also sing, he had an amazing singing voice," said Gilbert, who's now the relays coach for Athletics Canada.
Following the 1992 Olympics, Graham attended the University of Nebraska on a track and field scholarship before continuing his collegiate career at Kent State University in Ohio.
The Canadian Olympic Committee praised Graham as "a courageous patriot and an outstanding athlete."
"We are extremely saddened to learn of the passing of Mark Graham," COC president Michael Chambers said in a statement. ``As an Olympian and as a private in the military, Mark dedicated his life to representing Canada.
"He will forever be remembered as a courageous patriot and an outstanding athlete. He will be dearly missed."
"Mark Graham was a man of great character who was an excellent role model during his athletic career," Jackson said in a statement. "While this is an extremely difficult time for his family and friends, we can take comfort in knowing that Mark took great pride in serving his country. We are all deeply proud of him and all that he accomplished."
Graham was the oldest of three brothers, one of whom has also joined the military.
the ADMINISTRATOR
Posts: 1234
(9/19/06 15:54) Reply
Re: Ooooops; We Did It Again
September 19, 2006
Canadians Fault U.S. for Its Role in Torture Case
By IAN AUSTEN
OTTAWA, Sept. 18 — A government commission on Monday exonerated a Canadian computer engineer of any ties to terrorism and issued a scathing report that faulted the United States for his deportation four years ago to Syria, where he was imprisoned and tortured.
The report on the engineer, Maher Arar, said American officials had apparently acted on inaccurate information and then misled Canadian authorities about their plans for Mr. Arar before transporting him to Syria.
“I am able to say categorically that there is no evidence to indicate that Mr. Arar has committed any offense or that his activities constituted a threat to the security of Canada,” Justice Dennis R. O’Connor, head of the commission, said at a news conference.
The report’s findings could reverberate heavily through the leadership of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, which handled the initial intelligence on Mr. Arar that led security officials in both Canada and the United States to assume he was a suspected Al Qaeda terrorist.
The United States government refused to cooperate in the inquiry.
But its conclusions about a case that had emerged as one of the most infamous examples of rendition — the transfer of terrorism suspects to other nations for interrogation — draw new attention to the Bush administration’s handling of detainees.
And it comes as the White House and Congress are contesting legislation that would set standards for the treatment and interrogation of prisoners.
“The American authorities who handled Mr. Arar’s case treated Mr. Arar in a most regrettable fashion,” Justice O’Connor wrote in a three-volume report, not all of which was made public. “They removed him to Syria against his wishes and in the face of his statements that he would be tortured if sent there.
"Moreover, they dealt with Canadian officials involved with Mr. Arar’s case in a less than forthcoming manner.”
A spokesman for the United States Justice Department, Charles Miller, and a White House spokesman traveling with President Bush in New York said officials had not seen the report and could not comment.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Canada planned to act on the report but offered no details. “Probably in the few weeks to come we’ll be able to give you more details on that,’’ he told reporters.
The Syrian-born Mr. Arar was seized on Sept. 26, 2002, after he landed at Kennedy Airport in New York on his way home from a holiday in Tunisia.
On Oct. 8, he was flown to Jordan in an American government plane and taken overland to Syria, where he was held for 10 months in a tiny cell and beaten repeatedly with a metal cable.
He was freed in October 2003, after Syrian officials concluded that he had no connection to terrorism and returned him to Canada.
Mr. Arar’s case attracted considerable attention in Canada, where critics viewed it as an example of the excesses of the campaign against terror that followed the Sept. 11 attacks.
The practice of rendition has caused an outcry from human rights organizations as “outsourcing torture,” because suspects often have been taken to countries where brutal treatment of prisoners is routine.
The commission supports that view, describing a Mounted Police force that was ill-prepared to assume the intelligence duties assigned to it after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Mr. Arar, speaking at a news conference, praised the findings. “Today Justice O’Connor has cleared my name and restored my reputation,” he said. “I call on the government of Canada to accept the findings of this report and hold these people responsible.”
[ie: the United States of America; if you had done this to any other nation's citizens it would be an Act of War]
His lawyer, Marlys Edwardh, said the report affirmed that Mr. Arar, who has been unemployed since his return to Canada, was deported and tortured because of “a breathtakingly incompetent investigation.”
The commission found that Mr. Arar first came to police attention on Oct. 12, 2001, when he met with Abdullah Almalki, a man already under surveillance by a newly established Mounted Police intelligence unit known as Project A-O Canada. Mr. Arar has said in interviews that the meeting at Mango’s Cafe in Ottawa, and a subsequent 20-minute conversation outside the restaurant, was mostly about finding inexpensive ink jet printer cartridges.
The meeting set off a chain of actions by the police. Investigators obtained a copy of Mr. Arar’s rental lease. After finding Mr. Almalki listed as an emergency contact, they stepped up their investigation of Mr. Arar. At the end of that month, the police asked customs officials to include Mr. Arar and his wife on a “terrorist lookout” list, which would subject them to more intensive question when re-entering Canada.
However, the commission found that the designation should have only been applied to people who are members or associates of terrorist networks. Neither the police nor customs had any such evidence of that concerning Mr. Arar or his wife, an economist.
The American police described Mr. Arar and his wife as, the report said, “Islamic extremists suspected of being linked to the al Qaeda movement.”
The commission said that all who testified before it accepted that the description was false.
According to the inquiry’s finding, the Mounted Police gave the F.B.I. and other American authorities material from Project A-O Canada, which included suggestions that Mr. Arar had visited Washington around Sept. 11 and had refused to cooperate with the Canadian police.
The handover of the data violated the force’s own guidelines, but was justified on the basis that such rules no longer applied after 2001.
In July 2002, the Mounted Police learned that Mr. Arar and his family were in Tunisia, and incorrectly concluded that they had left Canada permanently.
[when in reality he had been kidnapped by the CIA]
The Canadian police “had no idea of what would eventually transpire,’’ the commission said.
“It did not occur to them that the American authorities were contemplating sending Mr. Arar to Syria to be tortured.
While the F.B.I. and the Mounted Police kept up their communications about Mr. Arar, Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs was not told about his detention for almost three days. Its Canadian officials, acting on calls from worried relatives, that found him in a Syrian torture facility.
American officials denied Mr. Arar’s requests to speak with the Canadian Consulate in New York, a violation of international agreement
Evidence presented to the commission, said Paul J. J. Cavalluzzo, its lead counsel, showed that the F.B.I. continued to keep its Canadian counterparts in the dark even while an American jet was carrying Mr. Arar to Jordan.
The panel found that American officials “believed — quite correctly — that, if informed, the Canadians would have serious concerns about the plan to remove Mr. Arar to Syria.”
Mr. Arar arrived in Syria on Oct. 9, 2002, and was imprisoned there until Oct. 5, 2003. It took Canadian officials, however, until Oct. 21 to locate him in Syria. The commission concludes that Syrian officials at first denied knowing Mr. Arar’s whereabouts to hide the fact that he was being tortured on behalf of the CIA.
It says that, among other things, he was beaten with a shredded electrical cable until he was disoriented.
American officials have not aknowledged the case publicly. But in an interview last year, a former official said on condition of anonymity that the decision to send Mr. Arar to Syria had been based chiefly on the desire to get more information about him and the threat he might pose. The official said Canada did not intend to hold him if he returned home.
Mr. Arar said he appealed a recent decision by a federal judge in New York dismissing the suit he brought against the United States.
The report recommends that the Canadian government offer him compensation and possibly a job.
Mr. Arar recently moved to Kamloops, British Columbia, where his wife found a teaching position. Edited by: XSha Tell at: 9/19/06 16:00
Email This To a Friend
Topic Commands
Click to receive email notification of replies 
Click to stop receiving email notification of replies 
