Monday, July 18, 2005

Good News in the Winds

Winds of Change brings us this good, and underreported news, from Afghanistan:

Australia is stepping up with 150 SAS special forces troops for the Afghanistan mission in the Global War on Terror. This is up from its current troop deployment level of one (there was previously a larger contingent, later withdrawn). It may also send a 200-person provincial reconstruction team later. More.

Canada, too, is stepping up its commitment in Afghanistan in a major way. Its elite Joint Task Force 2 soldiers are joining Canada's new 2,000 man deployment to Afghanistan.

While the contribution of some coalition troops has been limited in the GWOT, the Aussie and Canadian special ops guys have been superb. Not only are they truly fighting forces, but they also have looser restrictions on bringing in beer, so the U.S. boys appreciate their presence.