That the Globe & Mail was too political to ask;
The Globe & Mail, in keeping with what is apparently its long-standing editorial policy, finds the most negative ideas it can, and magnifies them to critical proportions. For example, the Globe tells us that "by buttoning down [sic] inside a tank, Canadian soldiers could also end up losing personal contact with locals, which is crucial in building public support."Debunking the Globe & Mail's sloppy and dishonest reporting on this story would require more typing than I'm willing to do. Suffice to say that the total number of the 2000-plus Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan who will be buttoned up in those fifteen Leopards will be ... 60.
[...]
The Leo mounts a 105 mm gun along with two 7.62 mm machine guns. The 105 mm gun is aimed using thermal sights and a laser rangefinder. It is fully stabilized, meaning that remains laid on its target even when the tank is moving across rough terrain. Wind sensors correct for crosswinds. Temperature sensors correct for the effect of air temperature and density. There's even a laser sensor on the end of the gun barrel to correct for droop -- that is, for the way the end of the gun begins to droop under its own weight as it heats up from repeated firing. This system can hit a target the size of a car door on the first try at two kilometres, with a 105 mm high explosive squash-head shell that makes a very loud bang.
The rest at The Torch.
More on the alienated locals at The Telegraph;
Nato forces claimed last night to be on the verge of achieving their first major success against the Taliban since the launch of their campaign to pacify southern Afghanistan.The militia's fighters were reported to be scrambling to escape from an operation to crush them inside a corridor bounded by a road and a river west of the strategically vital city of Kandahar.
"There are definite signs that they have had enough," said a senior officer with the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). "There is no doubt they have taken a big hit."ISAF calculates that more than 500 Taliban have been killed in the 13 days since the launch of Operation Medusa. If true, that would mean that a third of the 1,500 fighters believed to be in the area had been wiped out. Seven ISAF soldiers and two Afghans died in the fighting.
Military sources insist that they have solid evidence gleaned from satellite imagery and reports on the ground that the statistics are accurate.
But ISAF officers were in no hurry to declare victory, saying that this was only the first stage in a long campaign.
"The word victory has a funny way of coming back and biting you," said one. "What we are doing here is trying to establish a secure environment in which we can start the reconstruction and development work that is essential to bring real stability."
The operation was led by the 2,200 Canadian troops in the area with support from the Americans and the Dutch. The ground assault was heavily reinforced with artillery and air attacks. Units of the Afghan army aided by international support teams also took part.
Related - once again, Poland steps up with 1000 NATO reinforcements while Old Europe sips latte under a sky dotted by clouds of burned Citroens.
C'est bon.
The sad truth is that the Canadian media is almost entirely lacking in any "journalists" or columnists capable of cogently commenting on military matters beyond the level of "armymen with guns."
The G&M failed to provide the math that shows how the entire army fits into a Leopard tank. Because the only way that there would be no contact with locals is if all personnel piled into tanks.
G&M's point is just plain stupid.
..... "once again, Poland steps up with 1000 NATO reinforcements while Old Europe sips latte under a sky dotted by clouds of burned Citroens."
Very apt.....
ISAF my not want to decalare victory but it sure sounds like the war is going their way. 500 out of 1500 is a real good start. THe NDP are going to have to start sending in reinforcements for their predictions to come true.
You forgot to add, Shaken: "and never gets out of the tanks." Does the G&M expect anyone to believe that the entire body of Canadian troops will button themselves up in their tanks and never come out again or something?
Sheesh.
i am all for buckling up. As long as the commander has the visibility to direct the operation, no need to give the enemy an unarmored target.
Well, to be perfectly candid there was a time that it seemed that the entire Canadian Army could fit in a Leopard tank with enough room for a sailor if he left the dinghy outside.
Today the military seems to be growing back those teeth the previous governments yanked out. New toys and a real sense of purpose can go a long way towards a renewed espirit de corps.
disclaimer: I was a victim of the '94 "what the f*ck, let's save a b*ck" purge of the little sob from Shawinigate.
A Guinness (spelling or would that be a beer?) world record for our military, outstanding. To bad for all those colledge kids and their phone booths and volkswagens. Typical G&M idiotic reporting.
Poland steps up to the plate, old Europe remains in the dugout. How many times has France been bailed-out ?? Game over.
ok a little off topic here, but very interesting:
"Amnesty International has accused Hezbollah Millitants of Violating International Law by Deliberately Targeting Civilians".
Did Taliban Jack & The NDP just not show support for the Hezbollah? Declaring them a legal political group.
Therefore Amnesty International don't know what they are talking about! Because the NDP are better versed in the Hezbollah & recent activities & What Taliban Jack say's is so.
Great comments - That had to be a 'sociology grad' writing that earnest, fatuous drivel in the G&M. Can you imagine - stating that IF you use tanks, it will mean that you NEVER 'interact' with the locals. Incredible; the silly twit has changed a tank from a combat vehicle into a metallic caravan, a 'home away from home' where you never emerge to the light of day.
And thanks to Poland; they remember the war and they remember what it was like to live within a totalitarian government. France forgets that its legacy is its immediate surrender and its equally rapid movement into a Vichy support for the Nazis.
Your comment, Shaken, "The G&M failed to provide the math that shows how the entire army fits into a Leopard tank..."
That's why I have renamed it The Probe and Fail.
Whenever their journalists/reporters "probe" (yeah, right), they fail to unearth the truth, the facts, what's really happening.
BTW, Shaken: LOL!
Leopard C2 Tank?
The Al Qaeda/Taleban types will just have to learn how to say "nice kitty".
Lets see, Leopards occasionally roar, like to mark out territory, and are carnivores who are on a steady diet of meat.
Leopard
Common Name: Leopard
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata (Vertebrata)
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Felidae
Genus: Pantherinae Panthera
Species: pardus (asian)
Sub-species: (Not all listed, these are the
most common)
Javan leopard - P.p. melas
Amur leopard - P.p. orientalis
Indian leopard - P.p. fusca
North Chinese leopard - P.p. japonensis
Somali leopard - P.p. nanopardus
Zanzibar leopard - P.p. adersi
Sinai leopard - P.p. jarvisi
Sri Lankan leopard - P.p. kotiya
Barbary leopard - P.p. panthera
Persian leopard - P.p. saxicolor
Arabian leopard - P.p. nimr
Anatolian leopard - P.p. tulliana
Caucasus leopard - P.p. ciscaucasica
Indochinese leopard - P.p. delacouri
African leopard - P.p. leopardus
The leopard is capable of running just under 40 miles per hour for brief periods. It can leap more than 20 feet horizontally, and 10 feet vertically. It is also a very adept swimmer.
Habitat: The leopard can adapt to almost any type of habitat that provides it with sufficient food and cover, which excludes only the interior of large deserts. In its range, it is the only large predator in the rain forests.
Distribution: Throughout Africa, from the Arabian Peninsula through Asia to Manchuria and Korea.
So our Leopards should be at home in Afghanistan.
Social System and Communication: Leopards are solitary cats, and use the same methods as the other cats for defining their territory: scent marking, feces, and scratch marks. It has a variety of vocalizations including grunting, growling, hissing, purring and meowing. One of their most recognized sounds is their distance call which sounds something like someone sawing wood.
Hunting and Diet: Leopards are very opportunistic animals and have an extremely flexible diet. They will consume protein in almost any form, from beetles up to antelopes twice its own weight. It readily eats carrion, and caches sizeable kills in trees, returning nightly to feed on them. Their main diet consists of over 30 different species including: medium sized antelopes (reedbuck, impala, Tommy's gazelles) and the young of larger species (topi, hartebeest, wildebeest, zebra) as the primary food sources, with hares, birds and small carnivores rounding out the list. They have even been known to include the occasional baboon in their diet.
"It readily eats carrion, and caches sizeable kills in trees, returning nightly to feed on them."
So there you have it folks, leopards eat SMALL DEAD ANIMALS. But when we view the leopards at home, we make sure the meat we feed them doesn't come from those that have 'mad cow' disease.
Now everybody, smile for the camera and say to the leopard: NICE KITTY.
Al Qaeda and the Taleban now will learn, in a send up to Kevin Costner's film, a new little jig entitled:
"Dances with Big Cats"
Cheers
hey texas...i was a victim of the 70's/early 80's lib decimation of the caf.....just seemed to go on and on...my last blown mind happened when they started to deliver the iltis jeeps.....death buckets
Poland, in deed and in truth. Poland, the Catholic land of new Europe.
Some background on Poland: ...-
Poland's May 3rd Constitution timely since 1791
Radio Polonia ^ | 03.05.2006
Poland's May 3rd Constitution timely since 1791
03.05.2006
Poles are celebrating the anniversary of the May 3rd Constitution of 1791. It was the first such parliamentary approved document in Europe and second only to the American supreme law of the land, the world’s oldest constitution defining democratic principles of organizing state activity. ...-
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1626096/posts
To be fair, the concern about Leos is something we were discussing a LONG time ago, when the first suicide bomber hit one of our patrols. That was back when our patrols still used the old Iltis jeeps. The discussion was between the need for protection and the need to be able to interact with the locals. Presence patrolling works a lot better if you can keep you threat posture at a minimum, and expose yourself to the locals as much as possible, so it was felt by many that a jump to get everyone mounted under armour would be a bad idea.
However that concept loses all validity in this case since the Leos aren't been brought in for patrolling. Nobody is suggesting that it'd be a good idea to take them for daily rides through downtown Kabul. We want the Leos to help us destroy the enemy, not to conduct PR missions.
If your reading, greatest respect, troops. Kudos to Poland, you're number one, too.
Reinforcements will expedite eradication of terrorists toward 'light at the end of the tunnel' for our troops and the mission overall.
kingstonlad, you forgot to mention web gear held together with velcro...
The Euroweenies react in typical fashion, preferring washroom patrol in the north to real action in the dangerous south. Talk is cheap, but the Fwench and Krauts are showing their true mettle by their cowardly actions.
Way to go Poland!
With regard to the Leopards, being in a Tank definitely does cut you off from those on the ground, but as was rightly pointed out here those in the Leo's are not going to go to Afghanistan to hold hands and pass out leaflets.
The HESH ammo of our tanks will be idealy suited to destroying fortified buildings, in addition the tanks offer precision engagement out to 2000m against any target that can be seen. The favorite weapon of the Taliban (RPG-7) has a range of about 300m.
Alex:
Of course the CAF is happy to have german tanks "onside" rather than opposing them this time round.
Naturally, the Leopard comes from a long line of related genus such as the Panther (panthera pardus) and TigerI/II (panthera tigris).
I believe the Allied tankers used to refer to the Sherman as the 'Ronson lighter'.
On the other hand we could resurrect the Panthera tigris virgata or Caspian/Persian Tiger. This would make short work of Al Qaeda/Taleban. They have a fine and distinguished history:
The Caspian tiger or Persian Tiger (Panthera tigris virgata) appears to have become extinct in the late 1960s, with the last reliable sighting in 1968, though it is thought that such a tiger was last shot dead in the south-eastern-most part of Turkey in 1970. Historically it ranged through Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, the former Soviet Union and Turkey. This tiger was said to be yellow with black stripes. The Caspian tiger was one of two subspecies of tiger (along with the Bengal) that was used by the Romans to battle Roman Gladiators.
I gather this wouldn't be classified as PR work either.
Giving a whole new meaning to "Dances with Big Cats".
Cheers
Ahh. the Leopard..warms my heart..having crew served the big P*ssy for 15 years ,starting first as loader and eventually a crew commander, i have a real soft spot for them.
We could regularly best M1A1 's in gunnery competition, and i believe that our skills are second to none.
We still use doctrine handed down from the Germans on
deployment of tanks,and we trained at old panzer kasernes in Germany.
Wait till the Talibs get a taste of the Hughes ground denial round.It fires the 21st century equivalent of cannister shot at knee level out to 1000 meters.It will cut a swath 10m w x 300m L
It is a specialty round,and is commanders discretion,off the ready rack,not alternated like the armour piercing-high explosive..
BTW..on excercise reforger we woke up one day to find this painted on our turret
убийца мыши
feel free to translate!
Kursk, I've never heard of the Hughes round, do you have any info on it?
I was also under the impression that all rounds fired were the descretion of the commander.
Kursk, what armour piercing high-explosive round are you talking about?
What regiment were you in?
Sorry but your post leaves some questions for me. :-)
Garbage in garbage out -- it's really no wonder that the Mop and Pail's readership holds the opinions it so fequently espouses in polls etc. I can't frankly imagine a Leopard going hatches down through a built up area unaccompanied by infantry -- definitely a bad idea, so the Globe writer's point is moot -- pure fiction. But, that's about what we'd expect from it wouldn't we? Seems we sure have a lot of ex-zipperheads commenting on this blog.
Kursk:
Re: Exercise Reforger
Leopard Tank
убийца мыши = Mouse Murderer !!
See I told yah, maker of 'Small Dead Animals'!!
I translate it as "killer of mice." Works well though.
Helmer Fudge:
Wouldn't you call the story below re"Merkel"ble?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060913/wl_nm/mideast_lebanon_dc
Germany's cabinet approved "historic" plans on Wednesday to send naval and air forces to Lebanon to help guarantee security after Israel's one-month war against Hizbollah guerrillas.
A 2,400-strong German naval contingent will patrol Lebanon's coast to prevent weapons reaching Hizbollah to help enforce the U.N.-sponsored truce that ended the war.
"Sending troops to the Middle East is for us a historic decision," Chancellor Angela Merkel said.
Germany's traditional caution over committing forces abroad -- because of memories of Nazi militarism -- is even more pronounced when it comes to the Middle East, and Jewish memories of the Nazi Holocaust.
Zip
I was an instructor at the armoured warfare school both in Munster and Lahr as well as liason for the Bundeswehr armoured infantry school.
I first started out in the no.1 leopard to ever be delivered to Canada..."Mouse murderer (killer)"!!
The Hughes corp ground denial round is a false cased sabot round with 2200 flechette barbs that is meant to deny enemy infantry ground in the event of an infantry attack on the tank.
We tested them in the 80's and i believe they are under a different designation in todays CAF .I know the Americans were using them in the first gulf war..
While all rounds are technically commanders discretion,the doctrine used to be fixed (no brainers..no brain no pain..:) hard target-HE
Armour-AP
With the infantry swarming,we felt that a hgd , followed by 2-HE would really rock their world.
I hear the latest leos can defend close quarter with auto grenade dischargers, is this so?
Zip..one of my above comments should read 'not alternated like the armour piercing OR high explosive..
[From a]Cdn soldier wounded in Afghanistan
HARROW, Ont. (CP) — A Canadian soldier who endured two surgeries to remove shrapnel from his brain said Thursday that he bears no ill will toward the Americans who accidentally strafed his unit in Afghanistan and longs to return to the frontline. ...-
cnews
Good on Poland! The Poles don't get enough credit for their contributions. These are the folks who gave us John Sobieski (victor at the gates of Vienna in 1683) and the Polish II Corps that covered itself with glory in Italy in WWII. Not to forget that they are the new centre of Catholic Europe and the homeland of John Paul II.