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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tekboy who wrote (20329)	3/3/2002 3:43:16 PM
From: Condor	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Ah Hah! ....proof Canada is the only country whose ships are fully integrated with the U.S. navy. A Canadian frigate can take the place of a U.S. warship in a regular battle group formation. The Vancouver is now serving in the battle group commanded by the aircraft carrier USS John Stennis. nationalpost.com C@sizeisn'teverything.hmm ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ March 2, 2002 Canada's warships hunting al-Qaeda Number of arrests has been 'significant,' says top naval officer Mike Blanchfield Ottawa Citizen OTTAWA - Canadian warships are involved in the hunt for fleeing al-Qaeda terrorists in the Arabian Sea and have made a "significant number" of arrests, the head of Canada's navy has revealed. Vice-Admiral Ron Buck, chief of the maritime staff, has confirmed for the first time that Canadian Forces personnel are tracking al-Qaeda on the high seas in a bid to stop them fleeing to safe havens. "We have stopped some vessels that clearly had some significant number of people in them," the vice-admiral said in an exclusive interview this week. Asked how many may have been members of terrorist leader Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, Vice-Admiral Buck replied: "Those are operational details that we normally don't talk to." The Vice-Admiral said it was Canada's job to find and arrest suspicious people on the high seas while leaving it to others -- namely the Americans -- to assess whom they have captured. He said many of those arrested -- he declined to give specific numbers -- have been turned over to "civil authorities from a variety of countries in the area," mainly India and Pakistan. "Clearly we do that in conjunction with the United States," he said. Canadian frigates have stopped ships loaded with narcotics and alcohol, in addition to the undisclosed number of people, Vice-Admiral Buck said. Canada has been involved in hailing 40% of the 1,700 suspicious ships that have attracted the attention of coalition naval forces in the region. In January, Canada's elite commando unit, Joint Task Force 2, captured three al-Qaeda members near the southern Afghan city of Kandahar. After turning them over to U.S. forces, a storm erupted in Canada over when Art Eggleton, the Minister of Defence, was informed, and the nature of conflicting statements he made to the House of Commons about the arrests. Since a combination of air strikes and strategically placed special forces operatives working in conjunction with Afghan rebels drove the Taliban from power in Afghanistan last fall, the U.S.-led coalition has been trying to choke off the escape routes for al-Qaeda and Taliban members. They have mounted a concerted effort to block al-Qaeda terrorists from taking to the seas and making a run for the organization's other bases in Yemen and Somalia. "Leadership interdiction" -- the term given to hunting down ships that might be carrying top al-Qaeda leaders -- has been one of the main jobs of Canada's five warships currently on patrol in the Arabian Sea region, Vice-Admiral Buck said. The other big job has been to provide cover for landings by U.S. marines in Afghanistan. Marines used aircraft carriers and other battleships to launch their land assault on the southern portion of Afghanistan last fall, after the Taliban's hold on the country collapsed. Canadian frigates provided cover for that first marine landing in the desert south of the one-time Taliban stronghold of Kandahar, said Vice-Admiral Buck. "On that mission we were doing above-, on-, and below-water surveillance," he said. "One of our missions was to ensure that nothing approached the amphibious ready ships and the carriers.... We've done that on an ongoing basis." Canada's maritime contribution has meant its warships have been at sea for long periods. HMCS Vancouver this week passed the 80-day mark without touching dry land. "Even during the Second World War, ships would be at sea maybe two weeks. This is unprecedented," Vice-Admiral Buck said. He refused to speculate on whether the navy would be capable of assisting the U.S. in a possible attack on Iraq. So far, the Canadian government has been noncommittal about supporting U.S. military action towards Iraq. Canada is the only country whose ships are fully integrated with the U.S. navy. A Canadian frigate can take the place of a U.S. warship in a regular battle group formation. The Vancouver is now serving in the battle group commanded by the aircraft carrier USS John Stennis. Vice-Admiral Buck dismissed any suggestion that the close relationship compromises Canada's sovereignty. "This is not a case at all of us subordinating our sovereignty or anything like that because these are Canadian government approved missions with a specific set of rules around them," he said. Canada's contribution to the coalition grew yesterday with the government's announcement it was sending 130 additional ground troops to join the 750 already in Kandahar.