CALGARY - With news of another death on the battlefield still fresh, the words of Prime Minister Stephen Harper struck a sombre note.
"The mission there in Afghanistan has been long, hard and difficult," Harper told soldiers and supporters at a fundraiser for the Military Museums on Friday evening.
"There is no doubt we are making real progress in Afghanistan, but we have more work to do before we are done."
Cpl. Matthew McCully became the 55th Canadian soldier to die in the war-torn country Friday after stepping on a roadside bomb.
Another death and another upcoming ramp ceremony is a sad, painful and familiar reminder for those soldiers who have served in Afghanistan and have stood solemnly as their comrades began their final journey home.
"It's a costly business to provide hope and opportunity for a country while there's a counterinsurgency going on at the same time," said Brig.-Gen. David Fraser, the former leader of NATO's southern command of RC South.
"But compared to where it was at this time last year, it's off to a much slower start."
The Taliban has been almost an invisible enemy for the last number of years - striking at a moment's notice and then disappearing seamlessly back into the general population. Every time it has appeared they are defeated or have given up, the attacks start anew with suicide bombers and roadside blasts.
It's a frustrating war for the soldiers to fight, acknowledged Fraser, but their commitment to the mission remains as strong as ever.
"Soldiers are doing what they believe in. After 26 years in this force soldiers, airmen and seamen tell me what they believe, and they don't lie," said Fraser. "Every soldier over there, he or she tells me they're doing what they believe over there."
The Harper government has hinted that Canada may extend its mission in Afghanistan beyond February 2009.
Fraser wasn't willing to wade into what he called a political decision but said the mission to help move the impoverished and violent country into a democracy has not stalled.
"There is progress and I say that because of the confidence of the Afghan people in Kandahar city today versus this time last year," explained Fraser. "They're more confident in their leadership, and as long as the Afghans want us there, we'll continue to work with them."
The prime minister, who returned from a visit to Afghanistan earlier in the week, said Canadian soldiers have made heroic sacrifices and have improved the lives of thousands of Afghans.
"We have wrapped up an impressive list of accomplishments. Whenever and wherever we have confronted the enemy in force, he has always taken the worst of it by far," Harper added.
NATO forces have heralded the death of a number of senior Taliban commanders over the last seven months. The most recent was that of the man known to some as the "butcher of Kandahar" - top Taliban military commander Mullah Dadullah, a senior military lieutenant of Taliban leader Mullah Omar.
"When we were there last year there was a huge push to dislodge NATO," said Maj. Chris Adams, the incoming commander of B Squadron, Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) armoured regiment based in Edmonton.
"We've killed off a number of key guys over the last two years, which is going to allow us to expand the bubble around those development zones," he said.
There are no surprises ahead for Canadian soldiers in the next couple of years said Adams, who will be commanding the squadron of new Leopard 2 tanks when he returns to Afghanistan next February.
"I was there for Mountain Thrust, Medusa and the whole nine yards. It does start to get a little nerve-racking," he said.
"But professionally speaking, I really do want to go back again. My last job was a desk job and what I was trained to do is what I am about to do - lead a squadron of tanks in combat," said Adams. "It's an opportunity of a lifetime."
