Canadian troops have served alongside Americans and others in Afghanistan for years, with 2,700 currently posted primarily in Kandahar.

The combat Afghanistan represents the most intense fighting Canadian forces have seen in decades, since the country fought in Korea. Since 2001, 111 Canadian soldiers have lost their lives in Afghanistan — a higher casualty rate than other international forces given the size of Canada’s force.

Canada is scheduled to withdraw its combat troops by 2011, a plan supported by about 65 percent of Canadians. The government estimates that the Afghanistan mission could cost $18.1 billion by 2011, or $1500 per Canadian household.

Below, explore a timeline of Canada’s involvement in Afghanistan by scrolling or pressing the play button. Also, click on the “video” icons to view scenes from on the ground.

Photos courtesy of Flickr users under a Creative Commons license. Footage courtesy of Canadian Forces Combat Camera.

AUDIO: Scott Peterson, a correspondent for The Christian Science Monitor, reports from Baghdad on uncertain future for the Sons of Iraq.

Today in Iraq, two suicide bombings killed at least 24 people in Baghdad mosques, marking the end of the Ramadan holy month.

Yesterday, the U.S. military transferred responsibility for the “Sons of Iraq” or the “Awakening Councils” to the Shia-led Iraqi government. The U.S.-backed paramilitary force is a group of 100,000 Sunnis credited with taming violence in Iraq.

The question remains whether the Awakening Councils will be able to integrate into the Shia-led Iraqi government.

Over the last five years, the Iraqi government has endured significant governmental changes. Below is a timeline of the major power transfers within Iraq.

2003

March 19 – U.S. President Bush declares war against Iraq. Days later, the U.S. gains control of Baghdad.

May 24 – U.S. administrator Paul Bremer abolishes the Baath Party and other institutions of Saddam Hussein’s former regime.

2004

March 8 – The government council signs an interim constitution.

June 28 – After the government council is dissolved on June 1, the U.S. transfers power to an interim government led by Iyad Allawi.

2005

January 30 – About 8 million Iraqis vote for the National Assembly (the interim parliament). The Shia United Iraqi Alliance wins a majority and many Sunnis boycott the election.

April 6 – Iraq’s parliament names Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani the president of the transitional government and Shia politician Ibrahim Jaafari is later named prime minister.

October 25 – Iraqis approve a new constitution.

December 15 – Iraqis hold the first full-term parliamentary election since the invasion.

2006

March 16 – The new parliament convenes.

April 22 – After Jalal Talabani is reelected president by the parliament, he asks Nouri al-Maliki to form a government as Iraq’s permanent prime minister, following outgoing transitional leader Ibrahim Jaafari.

December 30 – Saddam Hussein is executed by hanging.

2007

August 12 – Sunni members of the main Iraqi Accordance Front bloc withdraw from the cabinet due to disagreements with Prime Minister Maliki’s power arrangement. Kurdish and Shia leaders ally to support his government.

December 17 – Britain hands over its remaining controlled territory, the southern Basra province, to the Iraqi government.

2008

January 12 – Parliament passes legislation to allow former Baath party members to return to government jobs and public life.

July 19 – The main Sunni Arab bloc rejoins the Shia-led government.

September 1 – U.S. forces hand control of the Sunni province of Anbar to the Shia-led Iraqi government.

September 24 – Iraq passes laws that enable provincial elections next year.

October 1 – The U.S. turns over control of the Awakening Councils to the Iraqi government.

Source: BBC, The New York Times, Reuters

August 7-16, 2008

First compiled on August 28, 2008, this timeline is continuously being revised as more information becomes available. The latest PDF version can be downloaded from my web site.

This unified timeline of the onset of the crisis in the Caucasus is based on the detailed timelines available on the web sites of the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Russia Today news service. These have been supplemented with various Georgian, Russian, and international press reports (references in brackets refer to the list of sources at the end of this document: “G” for Georgian, “R” for Russian, “M” for miscellaneous). For convenience all local times have been converted to GMT (UTC) which, at the time these events unfolded, was GMT (UTC) +4 in both Moscow and Tbilisi. There are surprisingly little disagreement about the actual sequence of events. Those that exceed two hours are noted with italics. My comments, in yellow at the bottom, attempt to highlight notable findings.

After six days of intermittent sniper and machine-gun exchanges between Georgian troops and South Ossetian militia, on August 7 the conflict intensifies. South Ossetian separatists claim that Georgian forces seek to occupy the surrounding hills. Georgia denies this, but by the morning of August 7 has amassed some 12,000 troops on the border to South Ossetia…

To read more, visit the original post.

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Associated thumbnail courtesy of Flickr user openDemocracy under a Creative Commons license.