CANADIAN MILITARY GEARS MISSING FROM AFGHAN MISSION SHIPMENTS
OTTAWA, Canada - The Canadian Forces have experienced serious security breaches with military equipment being shipped back from Afghanistan, CBC News has learned.Chris Alexander, parliamentary secretary to the minister of defense, told Power & Politics host Evan Solomon Tuesday that 10 containers had been broken into and that equipment was missing when the containers from Afghanistan were opened in Canada.
Rather than containing the expected military equipment, the containers were filled with rocks and sand, presumably to mimic the weight of the missing supplies so the breach would go undetected.- The Department of National Defence confirmed Tuesday that various military hardware and gear was missing from containers being transported to Canada from Afghanistan by chartered sea vessel, and said a full investigation is underway.
- A Defence spokesperson told CBC News in a statement the missing equipment is "non-critical."
- The department also said no uniforms were missing from any of the containers inventoried so far. "Equipment in these containers would consist of items such as tires, tools and tents," Lt.-Cmdr. John Nethercott said.
- The job of shipping the supplies back to Canada was contracted to Montreal company A.J. Maritime after the Canadian base in Kandahar was closed last November.
- A.J. Maritime said 448 Canadian shipping containers remain in Afghanistan, while 182 have been returned to Canada and 40 are currently in transit.
According to Public Works, the total loss expected for the Department of National Defence for the year 2010-11 due to loss or property damage is $4.7 million. However, it is not known how much of those losses is a result of theft.Military investigators are trying to determine where the supply chain is vulnerable to pilfering and security breaches. The situation is further complicated by blockades of NATO supply crossings at the Afghan-Pakistan border and tensions with militants in the area.
AFGHAN STAR'S TARANA WINS PROVINCAL COUNCIL SEAT
To most Afghans, the face of Farida Tarana, 27, evokes her tumultuous 2006 ascent to the No. 8 position on the widely watched local version of American Idol.
Source: Time
- She was the first female competitor from the conservative western province of Herat, and while she charmed audiences nationwide with her joyful renditions of classic Afghan songs, she was persecuted by conservatives for daring to break cultural taboos against women singing in public.
- These days, however, her face, emblazoned on election posters and billboards across Kabul, symbolizes the shattering of new barriers: popularly elected women in politics.
- Last week it was announced that Tarana had been elected to the 29-seat Kabul Provincial Council (akin to a U.S. state legislature), winning with the second highest number of votes - 8,404 - out of a field of 524 candidates.
- "When I competed for Afghan Star, I wanted to prove that a woman from Herat could sing," says Tarana, adjusting her trademark stylish rectangular glasses. "Now that I have been elected to the provincial council, I will prove to people that a lady who can sing can be in politics as well."
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