When the United States was attacked by terrorists on September 11, President Bush immediately put out a call to countries around the world. He requested support to battle al Queda, Osama bin Laden and all terrorist organizations. At that time, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretian assured President Bush and the US that Canada would give support in any way possible.
On September 20, the Minister of Defense authorized Canadians who were serving in an exchange program in the US to participate with US Armed Forces in retaliation of the attacks.
NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson announced October 4, that the North Atlantic Council would invoke Article 5 of the Washington Treaty. Article 5 states that any attack on a NATO nation from outside that nation is considered an attack on all NATO nations. Canada was a war!
On October 7, Prime Minister Jean Chretian announced that Canada would lend military support to the campaign against terrorism.
Canada’s initial deployment consisted of 2,000 Canadian Forces personnel. As well, five warships have joined the coalition force. On October 8, the HMSC Halifax, with 230 Canadian Forces crewmembers on board, was serving with NATO. The ships was directed to the Arabian Sea to join forces with the coalition. Shortly thereafter, the HMCS Vancouver was deployed as a member of the US Navy Carrier Battle Group.
On October 17, three ships, the HMCS Iroquois, the HMCS Charlottetown and the HMCS Preserver left Halifax Harbor to join the other ships in the war zone. A Canadian Naval Task Force, including two frigates (including the Halifax) one supply ship and one destroyer have now been deployed. The crews total over 1,000 men and women. Sea King helicopters support the ships. A sixth ship will be deployed to replace the Halifax and will be serving NATO’s STANAVFORLANT. The Canadian Air Force has deployed three CC-130 Hercules transportation aircraft and one CC-150 Polaris passenger aircraft. Two CP-140 Aurora maritime patrol aircraft will supply surveillance support. The Air Force will also be dropping humanitarian supplies into Afghanistan.
At the request of the United States, a component of Joint Task Force 2 (JTF-2) will join the coalition effort against terrorism. This unit is the disaster assistance response team.
Canada’s response to assist the US is only the tip of the iceberg. We still have a lot to do to meet our commitment to counteract terrorism both at home and abroad. We must prepare ourselves for a long and intensive effort.
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