MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – August 23, 2012
- Afghanistan More on the new Semrau book “The day he was alleged to have killed a wounded, unarmed Taliban fighter, Capt. Robert Semrau watched in dismay as stoned Afghan soldiers passed around “King Kong” marijuana joints and carried their rifles like baseball bats. The former Canadian infantry officer, who was at the centre of a national debate over mercy killing in war, has broken his silence in a book that paints a stark, searing portrait of the chaos in the Afghan war. An advance copy of the book was obtained by The Canadian Press. Throughout his trial for second-degree murder and in the aftermath of his dismissal from the military, Semrau has been silent about what happened on Oct. 19, 2008, following a horrific firefight. And anyone looking for a tabloid-type revelation, an explanation — or even contrition — in his book, The Taliban Don’t Wave, will be disappointed ….”
- Way Up North (1) Practicing using roads as runways “People driving west out of Tsiigetchic, N.W.T., might see an unusual sight this week — Twin Otter planes landing on the Dempster Highway. One of the planes will land on the highway every morning until Saturday. The exercise is part of the Canadian military’s annual Operation Nanook and it’s meant to help them learn how to handle different situations in the North. One of those situations is landing in an area without an air strip. “You never know what kind of scenario is going to come up where you have to respond to some situation,” said Lt.-Col. Desmond Brophy, who is in charge of the 440 Squadron flying the planes. “There may be an airfield, there may not be. And where there isn’t, that’s where the Twin Otter’s unique capabilities really resonate.” The planes are outfitted with special ‘tundra tires.’ Brophy said they are larger and softer than regular tires, so landing on the gravel highway isn’t a problem ….”
- Way Up North (2) More on what the RCAF is up to on Operation Nanook “…. Several RCAF units are participating in the exercise, including 400 Tactical Helicopter Squadron, 1 Wing Kingston, Ont., and located at CFB Borden, Ont.; 405 Long Range Patrol Squadron, 14 Wing Greenwood, N.S.; 440 Transport Squadron, 17 Wing, Man., but located at Yellowknife, N.W.T.; 443 Maritime Helicopter Squadron, 12 Wing Shearwater, N.S., but located at Patricia Bay, B.C.; and 8 Air Communication and Control Squadron, 8 Wing Trenton, Ont ….”
- Americans dropping by to train in Canada “Soldiers from the Washington National Guard’s 204th Engineer Company arrived at the Royal Canadian Army armory here Saturday for the first day of the combined training exercise Kootenay Castor 2012. The American combat engineers joined their counterparts from across Canada for a two week training exercise consisting of maritime, demolitions, and other tactical operations, as well as a “best sapper” competition. “This is a great opportunity for the soldiers,” said Sgt. 1st Class Kevin Anderson, a native of Onalaska, Wash., and platoon sergeant for the 204th Engineer Company. “They’re looking forward to the combined training are excited to be here.” ….”
- “The air conditioning is working again at the Camp Hill Veterans’ Memorial Building in Halifax after a 24 hour malfunction. A part of the cooling system broke on Monday and had to be flown in from Toronto. The building’s air conditioning was restored around 9 p.m. Tuesday night. In the meantime, patients were given extra water to drink and the windows in the hospital were opened ….”
- Khadr Boy Summary of some of the latest, including this perspicacious observation: “…. Khadr is a Canadian, born in Toronto. His family, who are also treated as pariahs, lives in Scarborough. He has a right to return, even if his public image hovers somewhere near Karla Homolka territory ….”
- A reminder about how Chinese wire service reporters are still, bottom line, working for the Chinese government “Mark Bourrie had just finished listening to the Dalai Lama speak at the Ottawa Civic Centre with his wife and daughter when he says his cellphone rang: It was his boss — the Ottawa bureau chief for the Chinese state-run news agency, Xinhua — asking Mr. Bourrie to take notes at the spiritual leader’s press conference and pin down what happened at the Dalai Lama’s private meeting with Prime Minister Stephen Harper earlier that April day. On its face, the request was not an odd one. Mr. Bourrie, an award-winning Canadian journalist and author, had for two years worked as a full-time freelancer for the news agency and had covered the Dalai Lama’s speech at a convention the day before. But by this point a series of what he called “odd” requests by bureau chief Dacheng Zhang had Mr. Bourrie concerned the news agency was gathering intelligence on Chinese dissidents and sending information back to Beijing. He said he asked Mr. Zhang if his reporting on the Dalai Lama’s visit would be published as a news story; Mr. Zhang, he said, told him the news agency does not typically publish anything related to the Dalai Lama, the Buddhist leader who has long campaigned for the separation of Tibet from China. What then, did Xinhua want with Mr. Bourrie’s coverage? “They tried to get me … to write a report for the Chinese government on the Dalai Lama using my press credentials as a way of getting access I wouldn’t otherwise have,” Mr. Bourrie, a long-time freelancer who has written for several major Canadian newspapers, said in an interview with the National Post ….”
