Canada woman dies in Afghan raid

[Ethyl]

Capt Goddard is Canada's 16th military fatality in Afghanistan

A female Canadian soldier has been killed in Afghanistan in clashes with suspected Taleban militants.

The death was the 16th fatality among Canadian troops in Afghanistan. A senior diplomat was killed in January.

The latest death was confirmed as parliament began debating a government proposal to extend Canada's involvement in Afghanistan by two years, to 2009.

Canada has some 2,300 peacekeeping troops in Afghanistan, but opposition parties want to block the proposal.

The country stayed out of the war, but has steadily increased its involvement in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taleban in late 2001. It is part of the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf).

Prime Minister Stephen Harper told MPs his conservative government would unilaterally extend the country's military mission by one year, even if parliament votes against the two-year extension.

"If we are surprised by the results of the vote I don't think it's feasible for Canada to simply walk away," Mr Harper said.

"We would proceed cautiously for a year. If we believe we need to go further beyond that we will seek the mandate from the Canadian people."

Political opposition

Canada's defence ministry named the dead soldier as Capt Nichola Goddard.

She was killed in clashes some 25km (15 miles) west of the southern city of Kandahar, a centre for Taleban insurgents.


"I don't know if this is a first, a female combat death. It's certainly not a first that we ever want to celebrate," Mr Harper told parliament.

Mr Harper's heads a coalition government and needs the support of opposition parties to push plans to extend the troop mandate through parliament.

The main opposition Liberal party said it would allow its members a free vote on the issue.

Two other opponents, the Bloc Quebecois and the New Democratic party, both said they would vote against the move.

The result of the vote is non-binding, but correspondents say it could harm Canadian ambitions to assume command of Isaf later this year.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4992116.stm

[Ethyl]

Canada backs Afghan mandate extension

Parliament narrowly backed a two-year extension of Canada's Afghan mission to February 2009 on Wednesday, despite serious misgivings by many opposition legislators.

The House of Commons voted 149-145 in favor of the motion by the minority Conservative government. It clears the way for Canada to seek a more prominent leadership role in trying to bring security to Afghanistan.

A relieved Prime Minister Stephen Harper confessed to reporters afterward to having been concerned that the vote might fail, although he had pledged to go ahead with a one-year extension of the mandate regardless of the outcome.


He also said some had voted no just to oppose his government. "Support for the mission is a lot stronger than the vote," he told reporters outside the House.

Canada has close to 2,300 troops near the southern Afghan city of Kandahar with a mandate to stay through February. But it said it had come under pressure from NATO partners to commit to a longer period.

"We honor those who take risks and make the ultimate sacrifice by staying the course and supporting their mission," Harper said in a debate in Parliament on his motion.

He said Canada was volunteering to take general command of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) for a year, most likely starting in February 2008.

Harper also said Canada, which heads a smaller multinational brigade in Kandahar, would lead the brigade again for an additional six months next year. Defense Minister Gordon O'Connor said this would start in November 2007.

In addition to clearing the way for a longer-term commitment, Harper appeared also to have sought to square away support now before a possible drop-off if casualties mount. The prime minister had previously brushed off calls for a vote.

16TH CANADIAN SOLDIER KILLED

Harper said a Canadian officer was killed in a combat operation against Taliban forces in Afghanistan. Capt. Nichola Goddard was the 16th Canadian soldier to die in Afghanistan since Canada sent forces there in the wake of the September 11, 2001, suicide attacks.

Two small opposition parties, the Bloc Quebecois and the leftist New Democrats, voted against the motion, but it drew enough members of the once-governing Liberal Party to pass.


The Liberals, defeated in the January 23 election, had been in a particularly touchy spot, since they sent the Canadian Forces to Afghanistan in the first place, and a number of Liberals were absent from the vote.

Liberal leader Bill Graham, defense minister under the previous government, complained of the short time to consider a two-year commitment but ended up voting in favor. "We've had a gun put to our heads," he told reporters before the debate.

Another former Liberal minister, Stephane Dion, angrily called the motion "odious" and voted against.

The vote never jeopardized the minority government, since it was not deemed a confidence matter. But it might have had eventual electoral implications.

Harper had said before the vote that if Parliament voted no and if he needed to tack a second year on to the mission later, his government would "go so alone, and we will go to the Canadian people to get that mandate."

NATO official in Brussels said the alliance was holding a series of regular meetings in coming days at which nations would be asked to bid for a number of senior positions in NATO operations, including the ISAF force in Afghanistan.

Britain took command of the force earlier this month. ISAF now has about 9,000 troops in the relatively peaceful capital of Kabul as well as the north and west. In July, ISAF is due to take over command of an additional 7,000 British, Canadian and Dutch troops who are or will be based in the south.


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