Dutch general says Canadian troops have done good work

Last Updated: Friday, November 10, 2006 | 12:51 PM ET

CBC News

NATO's new commander in southern Afghanistan said Friday that Canadian troops have made it easier for him to focus on reconstruction work in the volatile region.

Dutch Maj.-Gen. Ton Van Loon took charge last week, which means he oversees a NATO coalition force of about 9,500 troops in six southern provinces of Afghanistan. It is mostly composed of Canadian, British and Dutch soldiers.

Van Loon, who replaced Canadian Brig.-Gen. David Fraser, told CBC News that priorities have already begun to shift in southern Afghanistan. Fraser was in charge of the troops for eight months.

"I think when the Canadians came in, they encountered a really difficult situation, they were challenged very hard, and the Canadians really did a great job," he said from Kandahar.

"Because they did such a great job, because David Fraser did such a great job, my chances are really much greater in going for the reconstruction part."

Canada has more than 2,000 troops in Afghanistan, with the majority stationed in the south. Forty-two Canadian soldiers have died since Canada first sent troops to the country in early 2002.

"The most important thing we need to do right now is to really exploit the successes we had in the period that David Fraser commanded the southern region," he said.

"We really need to get started, even more than we did before, on building and reconstructing the Afghan structures to help the Afghan government to really work for its people. It is already shifting as much as we can."

Van Loon, however, said there is no question that NATO will continue to fight Taliban insurgents when necessary to provide security for the mission. "From that perspective, there is no change. If the Taliban challenges us or challenges the Afghan government, we need to fight them as hard as we can."

Supporting the government

Reconstruction means not just working on development projects, but also supporting the fledging Afghan government, Van Loon said, adding it needs to gain more control over its people.

"Success here in Afghanistan is clearly that we are more and more, every day a little bit more, every year a little bit more, giving over to the Afghans so they can deal with their own fate," he said. "It is all part of getting the Afghans to do their part of the job. And we need to support them in that."

Asked how long NATO troops will be in southern Afghanistan, Van Loon referred to the NATO mission in Bosnia, saying it took years of involvement and thousands of troops to bring stability to Bosnia, but now, the government can function with the support of small numbers of NATO forces. "We could do the same thing here," he said.

"It's not about us being here forever."

Fraser transferred control of the NATO troops in southern Afghanistan to Van Loon last week in a rotational change of command ceremony. During the ceremony, Fraser said the mission needs more help and Van Loon agreed.

"The more we get, the better it is, but the guys that we have here are incredible," he said.