HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
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Mr. Chrétien, don't shame our soldiers
By LEWIS MACKENZIE
Tuesday, November 27, 2001 – Page A17
The past week has been more than a little embarrassing for Canada's army
and those that support it. Ottawa's decision to place a battle group of
1,000 Canadian soldiers on 48 hours notice to move to Afghanistan was a
welcome manifestation of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's oft-quoted
resolve to stand "shoulder to shoulder" with our U.S. friends in the war
against terrorism. The unit's mission of protecting food distribution
centres and securing convoy routes for the delivery of humanitarian aid
was a source of national pride.
All that was undone, however, by a few ill-chosen words.
The decision to delay the deployment of the battle group drawn from the
Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry was entirely legitimate. No
one wants even our best-trained Canadian soldiers deployed to a volatile
battlefield without the kind of military equipment needed to protect
themselves. But to suggest that our soldiers were not up to the task of
being in harm's way was inexcusable.
Imagine how our seasoned soldiers, veterans of missions in Bosnia and
Somalia, would have greeted words such as these from the Prime Minister:
"We aren't going [to Afghanistan] if there is hard fighting; if hard
fighting breaks out we will leave." Or how about: "We won't go where we
are not welcome."
Well if that's the case, why do we bother to carry guns?
I welcomed the decision to delay our troops' deployment.
Humanitarian-support responsibilities in a relatively peaceful
operational theatre require a modestly equipped military force. But
deploying ground troops into a volatile situation bordering on anarchy
demands that you prepare for the worst -- fighting and killing to
protect yourself and those you are mandated to protect. That means
tanks, heavy antitank weapons, armoured personnel carriers.
Unfortunately, we are incapable of deploying such a unit in a timely
manner, and incapable of sustaining it when and if it ever got there.
So, it was not the sober second thought that troubled me. It was the
incredibly demoralizing way the delay was explained to Canadian and
international audiences.
Our army has suffered significant casualties during the past 10 years,
particularly in the Balkans. More than 20 soldiers have died on duty and
more than 100 have been seriously injured. Canadian body parts have
littered the Balkan countryside providing gruesome testimony to our
"humanitarian" mission.
Even in situations short of war, deploying elements of the army can and
frequently does result in death. So it is important that our political
leadership fulfill its responsibility to motivate our soldiers as they
prepare for deployment.
Had the Prime Minister or Defence Minister simply said: "We are
reviewing the situation in Afghanistan and when we are satisfied that we
can contribute to stabilizing the situation we will deploy," no one
would have objected.
But giving the impression that our troops were somehow not up to a
military task saps an already-tested morale.
Soldiers will put up with a lot without complaint, but not embarrassing
them in front of international colleagues. I can just hear some British
soldier yelling out to the first Canadian soldier as he or she steps off
the plane at the airfield north of Kabul: "Don't worry, Canada, no need
to run. That shooting was coming from a wedding celebration over the
hill!"
Our soldiers have earned better.
Retired major-general Lewis MacKenzie commanded a battalion of the
Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry from 1977 to 1979. He was
the first commander of UN peacekeeping forces in Sarajevo
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