On the news stories online there is the letter that General Fraser sent praising the MND for deployment there, its quite the read.
16 September 2006
Chief Constable J.H. Graham
Chief Constable of the Vancouver Police
1. I have had the pleasure of having Constable and Major Harjit Sajjan work for me for the past nine months on OPERATION ARCHER/ATHENA, Canada’s contribution to the global war on terror in Afghanistan. I must say that Major Sajjan is one of the most remarkable people I have worked with, and his contribution to the success of the mission and the safety of Canadian soldiers was nothing short of remarkable.
2. Maj Sajjan was specially selected for that demanding and challenging task of acting as the Liaison Officer of the Afghan National Police on behalf of the Combined Task Force (CTF) Aegis HQ because of the civilian skillset he has brought to the table as an undercover narcotics officer. His job further changed into being a special intelligence officer working direct to Commander CTF Aegis because of his ability to understand and exploit criminal networks. He consistently provided the most timely and accurate intelligence available, and he personally fused broad sources of information into an extremely coherent picture upon which most of the formations major operations were based. Not only did he display a rare high level of intellect and experience in his analysis, he also demonstrated remarkable personal courage in his collection efforts, often working in the face of the enemy to collect data and confirm his suspicions, and placing himself almost daily in situations of grave personal risk. His products were cogent and demonstrated a profound understanding of the Taliban (TB) and tribal networks which were critical in making formation and unit operations successful. He was the best single Canadian intelligence asset in theatre, and his hard work, personal bravery, and dogged determination undoubtedly saved a multitude of Coalition lives. Through his courage and dedication, Major Sajjan has single-handedly changed the face of intelligence gathering and analysis in Afghanistan.
3. He tirelessly and selflessly devoted himself to piecing together the ground truth on tribal and Taliban networks in the Kandahar area, and his analysis was so compelling that it drove a number of large scale theatre-resourced efforts, including OPERATION MEDUSA, a large scale conventional combat operation that resulted in the defeat of the largest TB insurgent cell yet identified in Afghanistan, with over 1500 Taliban killed or captured. I rate him as one of the best intelligence officers I have ever worked with - fearless, smart, and personable, and I would not hesitate to have him on my staff at any time in the future. I have advised my chain of command that the Canadian Forces must capture his skillset, and seek his advice on how to change our entire tactical intelligence training and architecture to best meet the needs of future deployed units fighting in extremely complex battle space.
4. I cannot thank you enough for allowing Constable Sajjan to deploy with us on OPERATION ARCHER, and he has been an outstanding representative of the Vancouver City Police. I would ask that you pass my personal thanks to Constable Sajjan, and to those who supported him and his family while he was over here with us. I pray that he stays safe now that he returns to the challenges and dangers of his “everyday job,” and ask that if I can ever be of assistance to either Constable Sajjan or your Department, that you do not hesitate to ask.
Sincerely,
David Fraser
Brigadier General
Commander CTF Aegis
Now that being said are these letters often written by Generals or are they written by a staff officer and often without the general even looking at it? Was this inflated a bit or is he that good?
Further to that here is a response concerning the MND supposedly from someone in theater. Its looks real but I never deployed there. I wonder if there is any truth to it.
From M. Allen.
"I have kept my head out of the news and facebook for a while, but this one caught my attention. As many of you know I was in Afghanistan during the time that Sajjan boasts about. I had limited engagements with him, but have many accounts of his f*ckery. The best description of what he accomplished during the 7 months we were there, is that he continuously undermined the efforts of every REAL analyst on the ground. So, below are a few of his greatest hits.
Minister Sajjan’s embellishments throughout his campaign rubbed me the wrong way, but they were just that, embellishments. His recent outright lies have compelled me to give my account of his, well, quite frankly shenanigans in Afghanistan. My statements are a true account of my recollections and do not serve to slander. The sarcasm is free.
From what the media has explained and from what I remember, Sajjan was a liaison between the ANP and Task Force Kandahar Headquarters (TFKHQ) or something like that. He was NOT a member of the 1 RCR BG. I know that he was often present at daily meetings at the Provincial Governors compound.
We too had a liaison with the provincial governor, a Cpl. By all accounts Sajjan’s behavior at the governor level was deplorable. Our Cpl often exclaimed that it was hard to work with him because his blatant disrespect and disdain that he showed the local Afghans made them too angry to work with at times.
I also question his involvement in the Intelligence process at Kandahar. I knew, or at least “knew of”, every Canadian analyst there and he wasn’t one of them. I would like to ask him a few questions though. Questions that every soldier present that day should hear the answers to. Why was the BG ordered to cross the river that day? Two days early? When EVERY actual intelligence person I know that was in theater that day said not to? Was that on your wise old intelligence analyst advice? You claimed to have been one of the best intelligence officers Gen Fraser had ever met. Because let’s be honest, you wrote it he signed it right? If that is the case, only you know why that decision was made.
While we are asking questions, I have another for you. You wear the Commander in Chief commendation. Do you were that for your service in Afghanistan with the TFK HQ? Pretty sure that commendation was awarded to the 1 RCR BG. If that is the case, I ask that you kindly remove it and publicly apologize to all of the soldiers of TF 3-06 for being such a disgrace to the uniform.
You cannot apologize for what you have done. You lied, in public, about a very sensitive topic. You did this of your own free will. There is no forgiveness for stolen valor and that is exactly what you have done."
Sooo, if you could just go ahead and resign, that would be great.