The National Post reports that, “July is set to be the deadliest month in the eight-year-old Afghanistan war as offensives by U.S. and coalition forces have met unprecedented violence.”
“The death toll for foreign troops in Afghanistan halfway through July equals the highest for any month of the war. Wednesday, authorities announced a U.S. soldier had been killed by a bomb and two Turks had died in a road accident, raising the toll of U.S. and allied foreign fatalities in the first half of July to 46, equal to full-month highs set in August and June, 2008.”
“In the three weeks since U.S. and British troops launched their massive assaults, Western troops have died at an average rate of three a day, nearing the tempo of the bloodiest days in Iraq.”
“Meanwhile, …a new Ipsos Reid poll conducted on behalf of Canwest News Service and Global Television …found that 52% of people believe Canada should bring its troops home at the end of the mission in 2011, up from 37% in January of 2008.”
The CBC reports today that, “Nationally, 54 per cent (of Canadians) said they opposed (the war), while 34 per cent said they supported it, according to the (new EKOS) poll. Twelve per cent were undecided. Opposition was decisive in Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada, while Western Canada had a narrower gap between those who support the mission and those who oppose it, EKOS found.”
“Since the mission started (in 2002), Canada has lost 124 Canadian soldiers, two aid workers and one diplomat.”
The National Post article is at http://www.nationalpost.com/m/story.html?id=1794417&s=Home.
The CBC report is at http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/07/15/ekos-afghanistan-mission-support015.html.
