The former commander of Canadian and NATO forces in Kandahar province is welcoming the announcement that more American reinforcements are coming to help Canadian soldiers combat insurgents in Afghanistan.
Brig.-Gen. Denis Thompson, who just finished a nine-month post as Joint Task Force-Afghanistan commander in February, says the 4,000 new troops that U.S. President Barack Obama announced on Friday can only help the war effort.
"The most important things to say in a counterinsurgency environment is that more is better," he told Canada AM Monday.
"I think it is recognized that were never truly enough security forces, whether it be Western soldiers or Afghan soldiers. So 17,000 combat troops, 4,000 additional troops to do capacity building -- it's all good news from the standpoint of securing the population."
The boost in U.S. troops comes amid reports that security is deteriorating in Kandahar, the spiritual birthplace of the Taliban and where many of Canada's more than 2,500 troops are currently stationed.
In the latest attack, a suicide bomber wearing a police uniform blew himself up inside a police headquarters in southern Afghanistan on Monday, killing nine people and wounding eight others.
Thompson has said the war in Afghanistan had been underresourced for far too long. But in his last weeks on the ground, his confidence was bolstered with the knowledge that Obama was planning a change in the Afghan mission strategy.
"During my nine months in Kandahar province, we knew this was coming. And so all the preliminary planning has been done over the last year," Thompson said. "You don't just put 17,000 soldiers on the ground without some preliminary planning. So we knew this about to occur, though the specifics are just being released now."
Taliban attacks have spiked the last three years, as militants have taken control of wide swaths of countryside. The push is now on for those 17,000 additional U.S. combat troops to help the 58,000 international forces already on the ground regain control ahead of the Afghan presidential election, now scheduled for Aug. 20.
Thompson says he believes the election will go well, given that the month-long process to securing sites for voter registration went relatively well.
"I personally believe that to secure an election which is only a day in duration or two days if there needs to be an election runoff, that it's definitely feasible," he said.
Canada's military involvement is scheduled to end in 2011 and is expected to be replaced by a smaller force that may include police and army trainers and a provincial reconstruction team.
Thompson says it's important to note that what is withdrawing in 2011 is the military component of Canada's contribution "and not necessarily its entire effort."
"I think the better way to view this is as an international community. So we have, as an international community, every intention of staying the course. Canada has decided which window of time it wants to put is shoulder into this problem and has done so and can hold its head up high and be proud of its contribution."
