Natynczyk upbeat on Afghanistan.

Perhaps Natanczyk is upbeat due to his positive experiences helping the U.S. in Iraq and because he was awarded a medal(by Canada) for his service in that illegal and immoral war. He can probably expect a medal for his services in the Afghan invasion led by the U.S. No doubt the cheerleaders in both the Liberal and Conservative parties who eagerly support our troops by providing them as cannon fodder will gladly recognise his further services to U.S. imperialism under the guise of NATO and the UN.


New defence chief upbeat on Afghanistan
The Canadian Press
July 13, 2008 at 11:47 AM EDT
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Canada's newly appointed top soldier has completed a five-day visit to Afghanistan and offered the uniquely upbeat assessment that any increase in violence this year has been negligible.
The cheerful prognosis from Canada's new chief of defence staff, General Walter Natynczyk, flies in the face of an independent analysis that shows a 77-per-cent surge in Taliban attacks in Kandahar province this year.
The comparatively sunny assessment from Gen. Natynczyk after his tour of Afghanistan is also at odds with the increasingly grim portrait being painted by Canada's allies.
The Pentagon has cited a 40-per-cent increase in insurgent attacks in eastern areas of Afghanistan where U.S. forces operate, and notes that it is now losing more soldiers here than in Iraq.

Britain's Defence Secretary calls Afghanistan a generational struggle that will require a foreign troop presence for many years.
Local business people say they are increasingly discouraged about the security situation in their city, amid fear that the economic gains after 2001 are being wiped away.
In Ottawa, however, the Canadian government has been a beacon of unparalleled optimism and its sunny read of the situation was echoed this week by the new military boss.
Gen. Natynczyk flew into Kandahar only two weeks after being sworn in as defence chief, visited a handful of outlying Canadian bases, and toured the region by helicopter and in convoys.
He has been in the region three times before and said he sees encouraging signs.
”We're generally along the same lines as we have been the past few years,” Gen. Natynczyk told a news conference at Kandahar Airfield.
”Looking at the statistics, we're just a slight notch – indeed an insignificant notch – above where we were last year.”
According to a prominent security firm that compiles insurgent incidents reported by NATO and local security forces, that notch is actually a 77-per-cent increase in attacks from 2007.
Statistician Sami Kovanen at Vigilant Strategic Services Afghanistan says the number of killings, bombings, kidnappings, suicide strikes, mine explosions, and mortar assaults by pro-Taliban insurgents through July 6 was 532 incidents this year, compared with only 300 last year.
When confronted with such numbers, Canadian officials respond that incident tallies tell only part of the story.
They note that the economy has grown since 2001, far more children are going to school, and human rights have expanded dramatically since the days of the Taliban.
When asked about security, their optimism appears based on anecdotal evidence; some locals have tipped them off about the location of a roadside bomb, they have seen a traffic jam – a sure sign of activity in Kandahar city, a bazaar has reopened and there are new businesses.