OTTAWA — France will send 1,000 soldiers to Afghanistan, either to reinforce Canadian troops or to allow an equivalent number of Americans to assist the Canadian forces in Kandahar, according to reports in a British newspaper.
The Times cited unidentified senior ministers on Saturday as saying French President Nicolas Sarkozy wants to demonstrate his commitment to the NATO alliance's Afghan mission during his two-day visit to London, which begins Wednesday. It did not spell out where in Afghanistan the French troops would be heading.
"President Sarkozy is said to be still deciding whether the extra troops should be sent to the south to fight alongside the Canadians or east to the border with Pakistan," the report said.
A senior Liberal MP says, however, that the Americans were prepared to send 1,000 reinforcements to assist the Canadians even before the Manley commission recommended such an arrangement.
U.S. and Canadian soldiers with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force leave after Easter prayers at the Kandahar air base on Sunday. (SHAH MARAI/AFP/Getty Images)
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The Conservative government, with the help of the Liberals, recently approved a motion to extend the mission in Afghanistan to 2011 on condition that another NATO country send 1,000 troops to assist the Canadians in Kandahar. That was the recommendation of a commission led by former Liberal cabinet minister John Manley which issued its report in January.
But Denis Coderre, the Liberal defence critic, said the addition of 1,000 NATO troops was already a "done deal," although it is his understanding that the French soldiers will not be sent to Kandahar, the dangerous southern province where the Canadians are stationed.
Instead, said Mr. Coderre, they will go to the eastern region that is under the control of the Americans, allowing U.S. troops to go to Kandahar.
"What I have learned is that, even before the Manley report, there was already a deal that Americans, if they don't have anybody [to assist the Canadians], will step up to the plate and provide that 1,000 soldiers," said Mr. Coderre.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy will tell British Prime Minister Gordon Brown this week that France will send the soldiers to the war-ravaged country, the Times of London said Saturday. It cited unnamed senior ministers as saying Mr. Sarkozy wants to demonstrate his commitment to NATO's Afghan mission during his two-day visit to London, which begins Wednesday.
The newspaper report did not spell out where in Afghanistan the French troops would be heading. "President Sarkozy is said to be still deciding whether the extra troops should be sent to the south to fight alongside the Canadians or east to the border with Pakistan," it said.
In January, U.S. President George Bush approved the deployment of 3,200 Marines to Afghanistan to help the NATO-led security forces in the south. That included 2,200 combat troops and an additional 1,000 to help train the Afghan army and police.
"My understanding is that the Americans will take those 1,000 [dedicated to training] and they will remain in Kandahar," Mr. Coderre said.
Defence Minister Peter MacKay was unavailable for comment yesterday. His spokesman said the French deployment is speculation at this point.
But both Mr. Coderre and the British news report said the plans will be revealed at a North Atlantic Treaty Organization meeting in Bucharest next week. "It's being orchestrated to make some announcement," said Mr. Coderre.
The Canadian military is said to prefer working with American soldiers because they train with Canadian troops and are familiar with the Canadian command structure.
But some experts have suggested that 1,000 troops will not be enough to bring the unruly state of Kandahar under control or to keep increasingly active Taliban insurgents at bay. Mr. Coderre agrees.
"We have to change the mission because you will never, ever accomplish the goal through military solutions," he said. "We need to refocus on reconstruction."
The New Democrats, on the other hand, say all Canadian troops should be returned home now.
Dawn Black, the NDP defence critic, said yesterday there is no way of knowing yet whether the American troops sent to Kandahar will work under NATO command or remain part of the U.S. Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), which is separate from the NATO mission.
The new deployment may mean "things are going to really heat up in Kandahar because, if they are under OEF, that's going to mean more air strikes, more poppy eradication, all of the things that have fuelled the insurgency," said Ms. Black.
Steven Staples, president of the Rideau Institute, a policy organization that has been critical of Afghan mission, holds similar views.
"The additional troops will have more political than military significance. With the 1,000 troops, French President Sarkozy scores points with U.S. President Bush, President Bush claims victory at NATO next month, and [Prime Minister] Stephen Harper can keep Canada in the war for another three years," Mr. Staples said in an e-mail yesterday.
"What is most concerning is that Canada, surrounded by 1,000 additional U.S. troops, will become increasingly implicated with U.S. forces and their aggressive war-fighting approach to the conflict."
With reports from The Canadian Press and Associated Press
