The Pessimist

Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf are of differing opinions on the porosity of their shared border. NATO commanders in Afghanistan assert that Taliban militants are being freely resupplied with personnel and materiel across the border. And when the skirmishes are lost, they equally freely retreat across the border to their bases in Pakistan.

Musharraf says that this is not so. Karzai says Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar are both living in Pakistan; Musharraf says they are in Afghanistan. He said, he said.

Canada's defense minister Gordon O'Connor has suggested Canadian officers and specialists could be deployed to Pakistan to assist in the search for Taliban militants. Musharraf dismissed the idea as an insult to Pakistani sovereignty and said it showed a lack of trust amongst allies. Then in an interview on the CBC Musharraf said "Canada has had only two dead and all they do is cry and complain". Look chuckles ... Canada has had 36 dead and hundreds wounded in the last few months. Get your facts straight. The only complaining Canada is doing is about Pakistan's truck trade and sympathy with the Taliban enemy. If you are an ally, act like one.

NATO forces, mostly Canadian, took on the Taliban in operations in the Panjwaii region last month. In a departure from their typical cowardly tactics of suicide bombings and midnight beheadings, the Taliban engaged in a stand up battle with Canadian forces. Five Canadians were killed, but when it was over, NATO spokesmen said that 500 Taliban were killed, striking a serious blow to their operational capabilities. While I was saddened by the loss of Canadian soldiers, you have to like those odds One hundred to one has to be considered a rout.

But is it true? The Taliban says that they had only 10 killed, and that most of the dead were civilians.

"The Truth is the first casualty in war."

I hope the truth lies somewhere closer to the NATO version of events. Killing a few thousand Taliban would make me ecstatic.

But back to that border issue. What the Canadians should do in the aftermath of battle is take a few surviving Taliban; shove a GPS locating device up their ass; and drop them back on the battlefield. If we can track wolves and bear around the Rockies with electronic devices, why not Taliban in the Hindu Kush. Watch where they go after they regain consciousness. If they end up in Pakistan, drop a bunker-buster on their position. Then let Musharraf know where the Taliban base was.