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Posted on 06/06/2006 1:48:38 PM PDT by Clive
A report published today paints a grim picture of retired Mountie Mark Bourque's dying moments in Haiti after he was gunned down in an ambush last December.
An article published in Toro magazine says Bourque lay dying with blood pouring from his bullet wound as a group of soldiers from the same United Nations mission took photos of the critically injured Canadian.
But none of the troops in a nearby armoured personnel carrier responded to the frantic appeals for help from Bourque's friend and colleague, says the article.
Bourque was driving with his colleague Pierre Perreault, both retired RCMP officers, when they came under attack last December near Cite Soleil, a violent slum just on the outskirts of the capital Port-au-Prince.
Bourque, 57, and Perreault worked for the policing arm of the United Nations stabilization mission ahead of the elections in the war-torn Caribbean country.
They were just five minutes away from reaching their destination when their unmarked rented jeep was ambushed.
When Bourque cried out that he had been shot, Perreault noticed a nearby UN troop carrier, which he recognized might be their best chance for safety.
Perreault grabbed the wheel and managed to steer the SUV to the right shoulder of the road, where the car came to a stop.
A nearby troop carrier parked in front of their jeep, allowing the wounded man and his colleague some cover.
In the article, Perreault describes his mounting desperation as Bourque lay unconscious at the wheel and the soldiers stood idly by.
At first he thought the soldiers didn't understand what he was saying, Perreault says.
He yelled at the soldiers in French, asking them to pull Bourque into the troop carrier but he received no response.
Perreault says he noticed the soldiers wore Jordanian shoulder patches.
He tried in English, Haitian Creole, in the little Spanish he knew -- but again, they stared back at him blankly.
One of the soldiers climbed down from the troop carrier and seemed to take Bourque's pulse, the article says.
He tried acting out his requests and he tried pleading.
"Please! Please!" Perreault begged.
"Please help me.
"He's going to die! If we don't get him in your tank!
"To get to the hospital! Please."
Perreault was almost sobbing when his cellphone rang.
It was Pierre Ratelle, the friend Perreault and Bourque had been on their way to meet.
Perreault told Ratelle that Bourque had been shot and they needed help.
Ratelle notified his superior officer, who in turn advised the UN's Joint Operations Centre of the shooting.
Ratelle was ordered to drive to the nearest hospital, an Argentinean-run base, just a five-minute drive from the ambush scene.
According to the article, Bourque arrived at the hospital at 10:55 a.m., nearly an hour after the 10 a.m. shooting. He was declared dead at 11:08 a.m.
Initially, reports suggested peacekeepers who arrived from a nearby UN checkpoint returned gunfire and helped Bourque and Perreault to get to the hospital.
A spokesman for the UN mission in Haiti defended the response of the troops.
"They're not supposed to leave their station," David Wimhurst told Toro, a publication which bills itself as "Canada's magazine for men.''
According to the article, one of the Jordanian soldiers squatted beside the pool of blood at Bourque's feet while another snapped his photograph.
When Perreault shook a finger at the soldier, he put away his camera.
The article's author Christopher Shulgan says he was given copies of the photos by a documentary filmmaker, who had obtained them from a contact in the UN's Jordanian detachment.
"The soldier's facial expression, and its absence of urgency, is the most concrete evidence I saw of how tragic -- and avoidable -- Bourque's death was,'' Shulgan wrote.
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They were just obeying the Prime Directive.
Canada ping!
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Well I'm speechless but not suprised.
...and just imagine how it would be with our Army if a significant portion of our soldiers only spoke spanish.
The UN is toothless.. they're entire idea of a soldier is a paper-pusher in a cool uniform. When Koffi Annan (hoch-ptooiee) took his office, he was told point blank that the U.N. Peacekeepers were seen as a paper tiger. He immediately took action and ordered thicker paper.
It shouldn't be a surprise seeing as UN troops stood by and let thousands die in Srebinicia.
More evidence (as if we needed any more) of what an utterly worthless waste of resources the UN is. If there's ever a disaster in the US and the UN sends their idiots, I swear to god I'll shoot at them.
How utterly disgusting. Someone ask John Kerry, the UN lover boy, for one of his Liberal quotes on this.
“Hiss not my chob!”
Yes siree - THE UNITED NOTHINGS!!!! Pathetic indeed. WHY is this corrupt and useless organization not disbanded and shut down?
If the police will not save you in your own town, how much response do you expect to get out of a Jordanian UN contingent?
The UN is useless at every level, from the foot soldier to the very top.
I wish SOMEBODY in our government(s) would at least float a serious proposal to get us out of that rotten organization
Better make sure your 8-year old daughters are kept well away from them, too. The bluehats have quite a hankering for baby clams.
Shook his finger at the soldier?? You mean like when you're scolding your dog?
Yep. Better to be rid of them and to just take their weapons.
Not surprising once it's understood that the main objective of UN troops is not to get hurt.
They're utterly disgusting.
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