International Security Assistance Force HQ Public Affairs

Courtesy Story

KABUL, Afghanistan – Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, commander of the International Security Assistance Force met with Canadian Brig. Gen. Jonathan Vance, commander of Task Force Kandahar and Mr. Ken Lewis, Representative of Canada in Kandahar, June 25, in the Afghan village of Deh-E-Bagh.

The village, located in Dand District, south of Kandahar City, is the first village to benefit from Canada's initiative to secure and enable villages in southern Afghanistan. This is achieved by securing the village and subsequently providing aid in the form of reconstruction projects in order to allow the village to flourish on its own. Kandahar governor, Tooryalai Wesa, and district leader Haji Ahamadullah Nazak, were also present for the occasion.

"The Canadian's have done a really, really good job with the people here," praised Gen. McChrystal. "At the end of the day, we win when the population makes the decision to support the government of Afghanistan and us supporting that. So everything that we do to convince these people to make a choice and make the right choice that gives them a free Afghanistan is the right step. So that is more powerful than any round we can shoot."

The success seen in Deh-E-Bagh will be duplicated in other selected villages around Kandahar City in order to bring more security and ownership to the people of southern Afghanistan.

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