Mike Blanchfield
The Ottawa Citizen
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Canada's ultra secretive JTF2 special forces commandos are becoming "tools of choice" in targeting top Taliban leaders in Afghanistan, the country's top soldier said yesterday.
Gen. Rick Hillier, chief of defence staff, spoke briefly on the operations of the Canadian Forces elite commando unit during an address to the Canadian Club of Ottawa.
"Our special forces are the tools of choice. They are in incredible demand. Our special forces are world class," Gen. Hillier told a luncheon gathering of several hundred.
In the past two years, Gen. Hillier said, JTF2 has been "growing their capacity" to conduct operations on Canadian soil "when needed" and also abroad, specifically Afghanistan.
"They have had significant impact in Afghanistan helping Afghans rebuild their country," Gen. Hillier said in a 45-minute speech in which he quickly singled out the unit for the work it is doing in Afghanistan before he moved on to other topics.
Asked after the speech to expand on the role of JTF2, Gen. Hillier indicated that the unit has taken the fight against the Taliban and anti-western insurgency in southern Afghanistan directly to its top leaders.
Gen. Hillier said the unit is offering "direct support to the Afghan government, and of course trying to mitigate the Taliban threat and particularly their leaders who intimidate, who coerce people into doing things for them. At the soldier level, trying to help neutralize those leaders is a key part of their role and that's what they will continue to do."
Gen. Hillier declined to discuss the matter further.
As a rule, the government does not publicly discuss the operations of JTF2.
The unit operates under a shroud of secrecy, outside the command structure of the regular army.
Even its size is not known, though it has mounted an extensive recruiting drive in recent years that is believed to have more than doubled the unit's strength from its original size of about 300 soldiers.
Some critics say the secrecy policy does not hold it to account and leaves it with a virtual carte blanche.
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