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"Our job is to create a functional government that earns the respect of its population. The people of Kandahar are not asking for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. They want Canada's peace, order, and good government. We're getting there. But it takes time, Thankfully Afghans are more patient than people back home." - Gavin Buchan, Director, Foreign Affairs, Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team, 2006-07
"My soliders got to know every inch of Zharey District and its people. It was our back-yard. We knew it better than the Taliban, especially the foreign fighters. People learned to trust us and started staying in their homes while we rant he enemy out of town." - Major David Quick, India Company
From the Inside Flap
Kandahar Tour is the story of TF 1-07, from its training for war and peace building in Canada to it's efforts in the frontlines of the struggle to rebuild a shattered society and restore hope in a land where there was little. Lee Windsor, the lead author, was given extraordinary access to Canada's Joint Task Force Afghanistan. He takes the reader into the command posts and forward operating bases, and the hills and fields where firefights erupt. He witnessed first-hand Canadian Forces working to earn the trust of the Afghan people and reconstruction efforts to restore the flow of water to parched farms, so critical to breaking the hold of the Taliban and drug lords on Afghan farmers. Co-authors David charters and Brent Wilson ably round out the narrative with historical background and reportage from the home front.
The reader will come to know members of the Task force through eye-witness battle scenes, the carnage of mine and IED blasts, on patrol and on the carpet in council with village elders. The book of necessity records the tragedy of loss, but also the valour and composure under fire exhibited by Canadian solders that speak to their professionalism and world-class training.
Waving together the complex threads of Canada's effort in Kandahar was made possible through open access to Department of National defense and Canadian International Development Agency documents, and remarkably candid interviews with diplomats, aid workers, Mounties and solders of all ranks. Kandahar Tour's story is not finished; it will continue to unfold. Nevertheless, in the aftermath of Operation Medusa, the first half of 2007 marked Kandahar's turning point as all aspects of Canada's missions encompassing diplomacy, aid, reconstruction, mentoring, and combat could finally deliver at full capacity.
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Most helpful customer reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Detailed and Balanced,
By G.L.H. (Charter Settlement, NB) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Kandahar Tour: The Turning Point In Canada's Afghan Mission (Hardcover)
'Kandahar Tour' is a comprehensive account of the six month rotation of a Canadian Task Force to Afghanistan. In a society where the average citizen's knowledge of Canada's commitment in Afghanistan is based on short television news clips, 'Kandahar Tour' serves as a tutorial on the multipronged campaign being waged against an enemy guilty of countless intentional human rights violations against their own people.This book is a tribute to the efforts and sacrifices of the members of TF 1-07. While the overall tone of the book is supportive of Canada's soldiers, both their successes and failures are found in its pages. To the reader, the complexities of operating in an environment that is developmentally hundreds of years behind our own quickly become apparent. In the end, anyone who reads 'Kandahar Tour' walks away from the experience better equipped to make an informed decision on their support for the mission.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great for detail of events little reported upon...,
This review is from: Kandahar Tour: The Turning Point In Canada's Afghan Mission (Hardcover)
This book has a lot of detail of the Canadian involvement in the Kandahar region, now drawing to a close. A common complaint from those who have been there is that there is only coverage of events when a serviceman is killed. Little to no coverage is made of the reconstruction activities (most Canadians probably could not name one major project that the Canadian government sponsored) and the complex nature of the conflict, with contending factions within the Taliban and the government, not to mention regional players who are more than happy to stir the pot for their own purposes, is not reported upon. This is seen by the reviewer who gave this book a low rating. His review smacks of the ideological, but giving him the benefit of the doubt, the basis of his review is that this book can not be true as it doesn't match up with what he reads in his newspaper in Canada...hmmm.Personally, when there is a long running and controversial issue, if it interests me, I will often read four or five books on the subject, from varying perspectives, and always include at least one or two histories of the region. For me, that works in trying to form an informed opinion as there is often background detail not covered in the media. If you want to formulate an opinion upon the Canadian involvement in this region, that I would definitely recommend this book, no doubt. I think it would be a mistake to make this the only book you read on the subject, but this provides pieces to the jigsaw puzzle. The focus of the book is, however, upon the military aspects of our involvement as a heads up. For this, it is much more accurate and interesting than the 'body count' that the media partake in, only reporting when there is a casualty, usually with a story that gives no background or context to what happened. If you want an understanding of what our troops are actually doing, not just anecdotes, read this book. The copy which I bought at the bookstore, had a large fold out DND map inserted of southern Afghanistan. I am a sucker for maps, always have been. I am unsure if this is in all the copies of this book, but if so, you could get this book just for the map and not feel ripped off. I really found the map helpful in constructing in my mind events related in this, and other, books. What can I say, I love maps. As an aside, I was surprised about a year ago, while watching Al Jazeera English (which is hardly Fox News) a story about Canadian troops in Afghanistan, the story went on about how they had fewer violent incidents in their area (compared to Brits and Americans I presume) because of their focus upon Development Aid and Reconstruction. Funny that I had to see this on Al Jazeera, not my local Canadian TV channel, or maybe it isn't funny...
7 of 28 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
The Turn For the Worse,
By R. Ovenbird (Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Kandahar Tour: The Turning Point In Canada's Afghan Mission (Hardcover)
This book is well written and the author clearly knows how the Canadian Army works and operates. Much care has been put into the detail.It's interpretation, however, of the relative success of the tour, and overall mission, is completely at odds with anything approaching the reality of what is being reported out of Afghanistan by the media. Admittedly this is the author's main point however it is curious to note that the Gregg Centre is in many ways a corporate front for the Canadian Army. In any event, it talks of pacifying Zhari-Panjwayi, and then spreading the security bubble out. Fast forward one year and Zhari-Panjwayi are the scene of contacs and casualties at a rate unseen since before the events of this book. This is an interesting read, but not to be taken seriously. This is Canada's first book to duplicate the unsupportable optimism that permeates the US pro-Iraq lobby.
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