Brigadier-General Charles Lamarre (left) presents the Canadian flag to Lieutenant-General Stuart Beare (right) during the last flag lowering ceremony at Kandahar Airfield (KAF) on Dec. 1, 2011.Cpl Patrick Drouin
The flag has been taken down at Task Force Kandahar as Canadian soldiers mark the coming end of their presence in the bloody Afghan province. The last task, to send kit home, is being held up at the line that always loomed over the mission, the Pakistan border.
The lowering of the Maple Leaf in a quiet ceremony on Thursday at the Kandahar Air Field marked the symbolic end of Canadian presence in the war-ravaged southern province after six years.
The Canadian Forces troops who are there to dismantle equipment and send it home after the combat mission ended in July will leave by Dec. 12.
Lt. Gen. Stuart Beare, the commander of Canadian expeditionary forces, told The Canadian Press it was "gratifying" to witness the last ceremony in Kandahar, and that allies understand the decision to leave the province and send 950 soldiers to the Afghan capital, Kabul, for a training mission.
"They may miss us in terms of seeing the flag walking around KAF," he said. "They know we're still in the game and we're going to be doing it from Kabul."
But the delay in completing the last task of sending equipment home is symbolic of challenges Canadian troops faced in Kandahar that still threaten the training mission's goals of building Afghan forces that can secure the nation.
Sensitive weapons and equipment have been sent by air, but road convoys to carry the rest have been delayed by Pakistan's decision to close the border over U.S. cross-border strikes on Nov. 26 that killed 24 soldiers.
For years, Canadian soldiers fought to clear Kandahar Taliban insurgents, who slipped across the Pakistan border and returned for new fighting with the acceptance or support of at least elements of Pakistan's army and intelligence service, according to western officials.
It meant Canadian soldiers in Kandahar were in a battle they could not win on Afghan territory alone, said Gordon Smith, the director of Centre of Global Studies at the University of Victoria.
"They did a great job. They lost their lives," he said. "It was mission impossible."
Mr. Smith faced criticism when he issued a 2007 report that said political settlement with elements of the Taliban would be necessary, a sentiment that has since become a tenet of NATO policy. One reason he cited was Pakistan's acceptance or support of Taliban activities.
Canadian troops' shift to training Afghan forces in the hope they can eventually secure the nation is tied in part to some form of political reconciliation. Pakistan's border closing could work as an obstacle to NATO allies' efforts to encourage a political settlement in Afghanistan.
With a report from The Canadian Press