Posted on 03/27/2006 1:26:19 PM PST by fanfan
Tony Burman is Editor in Chief of CBC News – which includes news, current affairs and Newsworld. He is CBC's chief journalist, in charge of editorial content on radio, television and the internet. With more than 30 years' experience, he has produced many award-winning news and documentary programs for both CBC-TV and Radio. He has covered stories in more than 30 countries, including the Ethiopian Famine of 1984, the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe and the release of Nelson Mandela in South Africa. ---------------------------------------
I wish I had been an invisible presence on that emotional Air Canada flight on Sunday that brought former Canadian hostage James Loney back home.
I would have quietly snatched those copies of the Globe and Mail and the National Post that the smiling flight attendant would have wanted to hand to an eager Mr. Loney hungry for Canadian news.
"Not a good idea," I would have whispered. "At least not yet."
My heroic action would have spared, or at least delayed, this returning Canadian from experiencing the triple whammy that these Saturday newspapers had in store for him.
* From the National Post: In an editorial, it criticized Mr. Loney's Christian Peacemakers Team for being "either callous or woefully naive in their willingness to risk the lives of aid workers." * From columnist Margaret Wente in the Globe: "Just as Lenin and Stalin had their useful idiots — Westerners who strenuously defended Russia and denounced the West — so did Saddam, and so does Hamas." * From columnist Rex Murphy (a CBC colleague and friend): "It would have been an even more gratifying moment if it had been coloured by a more ready acknowledgement of the rescuers, and an equal willingness ... to name the real villains of this sad episode."
Welcome home, James. I hope at least they didn't charge you for the wine.
I find these outbursts of media hostility toward the Christian Peacemakers somewhat perplexing. Informed criticism is legitimate, of course. But before any of these men have had the opportunity to utter a word, where does this come from?
There had been some of this criticism in British newspapers but that isn't surprising. The head of the British army had made a big point about how "saddened" he was that the peacekeepers' organization failed to express immediate "gratitude" to them for the rescue. This also happened with some in the U.S. media who were prodded on by their military.
But here in Canada, who really has the time for hand-wringing about people supposedly "being naive" or "unprepared" or not fast enough in "thanking" the military rescuers? Can any of us forget what is currently at stake in Iraq and throughout the region?
I suspect most Canadians have little patience for this. Most of us not only felt genuine relief and happiness about the rescue but, more profoundly, saw in these "peacemakers" something that was quite admirable, courageous — and classically Canadian.
A desire to get involved. To help out. To make a difference even if it involves real personal risk. That's what Canadians do, in very real terms.
I think many of us saw in the actions of this group — at least with the two Canadians — something that was part of a history of peaceful Canadian involvement in the world.
Not military conflict or conquests, but peacemaking and peacekeeping. Perfect? Of course not. But constructive and honourable? Yes.
The extensive involvement of Canadians in all kinds of crucial but risky circumstances is a bit of a state secret in Canada. Many of us are unaware of it, and those who are often forget it.
In the mid-1970s, I spent a year travelling throughout South America by bus, marvelling at a continent that was as compelling as it was troubled. Virtually every country at the time was in the grips of a tough, right-wing military dictatorship.
I knew that before I started, but what I didn't know was that hundreds of Canadian priests, nuns, nurses, doctors, social workers and activists were quietly at work in many of the most dangerous locations.
In Pinochet's Chile, when I visited the impoverished barrios outside of Santiago, most of the local leadership had been jailed or killed. But the community's organization was being led by Canadians. It was the same in the slums around Lima and Buenos Aires, and in the teeming favelas of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo in Brazil.
Often working anonymously and below the radar, Canadians were everywhere. And usually working at considerable risk. Were they "naive" or "foolish" or "meddlesome"? Many were criticized as such, but I don't think so.
In the 1980s, while covering the long Lebanese civil war, we saw many Canadians of all backgrounds trying to ease the tensions among the warring groups. And during the Ethiopian famine in 1985, the first aid workers Brian Stewart and I came across in the horrible famine camps in the country's northern highlands were doctors with Save The Children – U.K. and Médecins Sans Frontières – France. Both were Canadian.
On this list, I would also include the Canadian military contingent serving in Afghanistan right now. In the interviews we did with them during our recent broadcasts out of Kandahar, it was clear that many of them see their role in that country with the same public spirit as the others I have mentioned.
There is another reason I think the story of the two Canadians, James Loney and Harmeet Singh Sooden, and their colleagues resonated so strikingly with Canadians.
It coincided with some of the main conclusions of a major study the CBC has conducted about what Canadians "want" and "need" from their news media.
According to this study, more Canadians than ever feel that news shouldn't be a passive process. It should stimulate action and engagement, and help connect Canadians with the major challenges of our times.
The study also indicated the majority of Canadians feel that Canada should be taking a more outwardly active approach to world affairs. They think that Canada should be far more of an international player than in the past.
Both themes were reflected in this story as it evolved.
As for James Loney, I do wish I had been on that plane Sunday.
Apart from slipping him the sports and the arts sections, and taking away the rest, I would have shaken his hand.
"Thank you, Mr. Loney," I would have said. "Thank you for being part of the Canadian idea that this world will become a better place only if each of us does our bit in the best way we can. And you certainly did that. Welcome home."
that is a GIANT barf!!!
Were they there as Christians, or were they there as peace activists?
Because if they were there to win souls for Christ, then good for them. They are brave people.
But if they were there as peace activists, then any bravery is wasted in a dishonorable cause. Because pacifism always sides with the most violent. They would probably prefer not to see themselves that way. But in a war between evil, and those who would be free of evil, pacifism serves evil.
"But here in Canada, who really has the time for hand-wringing about people supposedly "being naive" or "unprepared" or not fast enough in "thanking" the military rescuers? Can any of us forget what is currently at stake in Iraq and throughout the region?
I suspect most Canadians have little patience for this. Most of us not only felt genuine relief and happiness about the rescue but, more profoundly, saw in these "peacemakers" something that was quite admirable, courageous — and classically Canadian."
They were there to protest the Western Occupation of Iraq.
Bingo. In the service of evil.
"But in a war between evil, and those who would be free of evil, pacifism serves evil."
Pacifists are the foundation of tyranny.
I fixed It!
:-D
Tony Burman CBC News.
Alas, my liberal spouse- non drinking, non swearing, heard my curses. She being in the kitchen.
I read the article. Herewith curses.
"You F...... Sod. "
Ah, rarely do I emote thus. I have the local rag, which rejoices in the name The Sault Star. Heavy headlines read. Loney "Spit out from black hole". Let me quote further
"he first wants to slip into an abyss of love with his homosexual partner....."
. It is nothing new to us in this rough around the edges, working class city, Sault Ste Marie. Heart of gold this, old town. Yet, taking the advice of many a resident, certain of their children are advised this: "Get out of Sault Ste Marie" . This they do.
When a certain fame comes their way, or success, the local rag, dotes on them. They are in Hawaii, the Carribean, Toronto, and Ottawa.
Those who stick with the old place, are just blinking their eyes in the glorious sunlight. The winter is over.
Our court house has the war memorial in front. The fighting men and women of Sault Ste Marie, Ontario have often made the "supreme sacrifice". Large numbers served in two world wars and some in Korea. Some are with the American forces in Iraq. Others in Afganistan.
Our only Victoria Cross was earned Sgt William Merrifield VC. (WW1). I understand there were no demonstrations supporting anti-war, this last time.
Ah well, leave it to the press. Loney can go back to Toronto. He does not belong here.
Well, that just proves how left leaning the CBC is, based on the comments of the person who runs it. These idiots were not there to help out and not to make peace. They were their to help the terrorists. They rage against U.S. military action, yet condone the violence of their captors. THey do not want peace. They only want to see the west.suffer at the hands of these terrorists. They don't want a free Iraq. They want is run by the most violent Islamofacists in the world today. Canadian Peacemakers, your name is Hypocrisy
Oh, don't be coy Tony !!!
As one of the most biased
msm hacks on the planet,
doubtless your longing for
physical intimacy with Loney
goes well beyond merely
wanting to shake his hand.
Correction needed. The quote should read:
.....slip into an abyss of love and get re-aquainted with his homosexual partner,Dan Hunt,his family and community.
I recall checking them out during the Rachel Corey incident (If I understand correctly, they are the same group).
IIRC, they recruit and fund raise heavily, targeting the naive, young college crowd and are Boston based.
The CPTs went to Iraq to do what?
Did they tell ANY Iraqis or Muslims they were Christian or gay or are those facts suitable just for Westerners?
IMO, for this editor to lump the work of the CPT in with other charitys and NGOs might be WAY out of line.
Many of those other groups may deserve better than having their work being compared to that of the CPT.
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