In Afghanistan, we're using tanks Hillier wanted *written off*.

[tuvor]

I did a little digging after reading this LTTE in the Toronto Star about the decision to deploy Leopard tanks in Afghanistan:

Fund our forces properly
Tanks bought in '78 and written off three years ago may not be the best equipment for our troops
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1158961810998&call_pageid=970599119419

And I found this interesting comment from Rick Hillier, originally from the Ottawa Citizen, October 31 2003:

But army commander Lt.-Gen. Rick Hillier said that while the Leopard tank has many qualities, it is limited in what it can do on missions such as those the military now finds itself taking on. In the past, the army has not made much use of its tanks, he added.

"The strong qualities of a Leopard tank parked in Valcartier or Edmonton or elsewhere are useless to our soldiers in Kabul, Eritrea, Bosnia or anywhere else that we deploy them," said Lt.-Gen. Hillier.

"In some cases, we can‘t get it there because the only aircraft that can fly in are the C-130s and it‘s too heavy for that. In other places, it cannot manoeuvre and I give you the streets of Kabul, as an example of that."

http://forums.army.ca/forums/index.php?topic=16101.0

[Spazito]

1. Good catch!

It seems Hillier has been taking lying lessons from south of the border, no surprise though, he is a war-monger, just like them, as well.

[MrPrax]

2. Good one...

Shows quite clearly that Hiller is a partisan hack and should be 'de-commissioned' at first chance...the military doesn't need officers like that...they get people killed due to qualifying military decisions with their political spin.

[tuvor]

3. Toronto Sun: Leopard headed for hotspot

Change of plan surprises even military veterans

Some have been placed in museums or made into monuments. Others are used for target practice. And now -— within weeks and possibly days -— a number will accompany Canadian troops into battle in Afghanistan.

Ottawa's decision to send its aging Leopard tanks into Kandahar has taken some by surprise, among them, former defence minister John McCallum.

(snip)

So committed was the military to eliminating the Leopards, that its Gagetown, N.B. base stopped training people in them. In June 2004 the military posted a nostalgic article on its official website entitled, "Armour corps students use Leopard tank for last time," detailing its final training sessions.

(snip)

Reminded of the 2003 press conference at which he said the Leopard's day had passed, Hillier confirmed the military had "started down the road" to procure a lighter, more mobile weapons system, but had not yet obtained one.

"So ... we'll use the one that we were keeping in place," he said.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1158790225663&call_pageid=968332188854&col=968350060724

[daleo]

4. I think the tanks are simply a morale booster for the troops

They may not really be operationally useful, but infantry generally like the idea of tanks being around (especially when the other side doesn't have any). I think the morale of our troops is in the tank and this is an effort to boost it.

There was an article on the BBC website a week or so ago that made reference to poor morale among Canadian troops (by a British correspondent who as with them during Operation Medusa). I can't find the link - sorry.