Canadian Troops' Afghan Mission Could Raise Terror Risk, Warns Expert
Posted on: Sunday, 24 July 2005, 09:00 CDT
Canadian troops' Afghan mission could raise terror risk, warns expert
OTTAWA, July 23 (Xinhua) -- In sending troops to Afghanistan, Canada may be boosting the risk of a terror attack on its territory, an expert warned Saturday.
"You cannot go into a war and expect you're not going to get shot at. It's foolish and it's illusory to do so, so Canadians have to be prepared," Eric Margolis, a terrorism expert told Canadian Television.
"If they want to send troops to go and kill Afghans, Afghans are going to come and kill Canadians," he said.
About 300 Canadian troops flew out early Saturday evening to Kandahar, Afghanistan, following another 250 troops.
The country's secretive, elite special forces unit -- Joint Task Force 2 -- has already been deployed for combat operations there.
According to a defense ministry plan, about 2,000 Canadian soldiers will be serving in Afghanistan by February.
Not sending Canadian troops to Afghanistan would have left Canada at the low end of risk for a terrorist attack, while this current operation moves the risk estimation up to the mid-point, Margolis said.
Canada sent troops to Afghanistan in 2003 after the US-led war on the Taliban regime following the Sept. 11 attacks. It was therefore named on a target list by Osama bin laden, together with the United States, Britain and other countries.
Source: Xinhua News Agency - CEIS
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