Posted on 08/02/2005 9:12:47 PM PDT by NorthOf45
Rick Hillier's Right, So Back Off
By Lewis MacKenzie
August 1, 2005
Now that we have a chief of the defence staff who calls a spade a spade rather than a pitchfork, and a terrorist a "scumbag" rather than a disenfranchised youth who had a rough childhood, and confirms that our military's role is to kill as efficiently as possible once the political order has been given rather than participate in "peacekeeping" missions that rarely meet the criteria for success, the critics have come out of the woodwork.
The problem, if there is one for General Rick Hillier, has been the absence of unfettered military advice from the top soldier in the land since the integration of the Defence Department's military and civilian staff in the early 1970s. For years, I blamed defence minister Paul Hellyer, who had unified the Canadian Forces (same uniform, common services for the navy, army and air force etc.) for the tragedy of integration.
That is, until he asked me to stop identifying him as the culprit, reminding me that it was his successor, Donald Macdonald, who had carried out Pierre Trudeau's bidding to emasculate the military by putting our soldiers in bed with their civilian counterparts in the Defence Department as "co-equals." During the conversation, Mr. Hellyer assured me he would have "fallen on his sword" if Mr. Trudeau had ordered him to integrate the Forces' headquarters with the Defence Department's civilians. What followed was, by necessity in the interests of survival, a new military culture at the top that, more times than not, publicly repeated and reinforced the opinions of the political and bureaucratic masters.
Lest the reader erroneously conclude that I am proposing some sort of Canadian military dictatorship as the answer, let me stress that I am talking about the importance of unfettered military advice, not decision-making. The chief of the defence staff should not be in the business of making foreign policy decisions, but he certainly should be at liberty to comment on them. In the most recent case involving Gen. Hillier's thoughts regarding our redeployment in Afghanistan to Kandahar to rejoin the war against the Taliban/al-Qaeda coalition, critics found fault with comments that merely reinforced our government's appropriate policy decision. Go figure.
In the vast majority of Western nations, it is required of senior military leaders that they provide, without restriction and cognizant of security, their best professional advice regarding their responsibilities. A good example was provided by the recent disagreement between President George W. Bush and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Richard Myers, after the release of the report on intelligence failures that contributed to 9/11. One of the recommendations (and one approved by Mr. Bush) was the creation of a centralized intelligence co-ordination agency that would reduce some of the Pentagon's influence in intelligence matters. Gen. Myers spoke out publicly against the proposal even while the President was saying that it sounded like a pretty good idea to him.
In Canada, a similar display before such a decision was made would be grounds for the figurative beheading of the senior officer. In the U.S., when the media got to the President with what they anticipated would be the story of the day, Mr. Bush replied (and I paraphrase him): That's what Gen. Myers is paid for, to give his honest opinion; he gave it, I disagree with it and we are implementing the recommendation.
The President and Gen. Myers then went back to work. End of story.
Some critics have suggested that Gen. Hillier is not only wrong in commenting on foreign policy but that he's off base. They repeat the latest popular theory that the prime motivating influence behind suicide bombers is the desire to rid their "homeland" of foreign armies and that perverse religious interpretations and the clash of civilizations have nothing to do with their cause. If that's the case, why did fighters from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Sudan, Jordan, Gaza, Canada and the U.S. try to rid Afghanistan of foreigners like ourselves. Afghanistan was not their homeland. No one has a monopoly on the causes of terrorism because they aren't common, consistent or discernible. Gen. Hillier's deductions are as valid as those who write books on the subject.
When you deal with the media, the most important thing to ask yourself before opening your mouth is: "Who is my target audience?" With Gen. Hillier, it's obvious that he's frequently talking through the media to his soldiers, sailors and pilots in language they appreciate. Listening in is the Canadian public, which is being told that an appropriate foreign policy decision to dispatch as many terrorists as possible for an early reunion with their maker is a dangerous but necessary business.
Retired major-general Lewis MacKenzie was the first commander of United Nations peacekeeping forces in Sarajevo.
Somebody tell JTF-2 we have two barber shops here.
I'm curious, do you have images?
Ping
Nope. One has to be very careful where one points a camera around here.
Northof45, thanks for the ping.
CannoneerNo4, thanks for the great photo's.
Are those from today?
Ping!
Wow I feel better about the country today. I'd rather see my "skimmed" tax dollars going straight to the military rather than into Group Action's next liberal campaign.
Thanks for the picture posts.
Parrish, eat your fascist heart out.
Are there guns on these?
I'd feel even better knowing they will be replaced one day, by men who will make them proud, and continue to strongly assert what Canada once, and should again, stand for.
Good pics, though.
Good to see Canadian boots on the ground, helping to make the world a better place.
Thank you.
"The Canadian Provincial Reconstruction Team has arrived and they look like they know what they're doing."
That's great news! Thank them for all of us.
Yes - in the scarred hands of men who grew up dishing and eating elbows in the corner.
These Canadians will make a difference.
Just kidding!
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