MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – September 15, 2012
- “Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird offered a vote of confidence Friday for the governments and security forces of Libya, Egypt, Tunisia and other Arab countries where protesters have been launching unprecedented attacks on Western embassies. “The one thing you see in Cairo, you see in Tunisia, you see in Benghazi and Tripoli and Khartoum, is the governments, the security forces, are doing what they can,” Baird said in Montreal. “I believe they’re doing what they can to protect these diplomatic installations.” Local police and military forces have been out in force across the Middle East and North Africa this week to keep anti-U.S. protesters from launching fresh assaults on American and Western diplomatic missions. In some instances, police have resorted to deadly force to stop demonstrators, who some say are angry about an amateur film that purportedly ridiculed the Prophet Muhammad. “We’re horrified with the violence that we’ve seen,” Baird said, “but at least the state is providing a modicum of support for the diplomatic community.” …..”
- Afghanistan (1) A story about Canadian work being done in Afghanistan NOT cranked out by the CF Info-machine! “It is an almost pitch-black night, and dust and diesel fumes fill the air. Outside of the glow of a Humvees low lights the compound wall, the ridge top of the mountain beyond, and the night stars are obscured by the talcum of sand in the air. Armoured vehicles of every shape and size idle noisily. In truck bed after truck bed, truck after truck, Humvee after Humvee, ambulance after ambulance, newly minted Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers are waiting to head out into the darkness beyond the wire. For most this is their first deployment. The mission of the somewhat innocuously named Consolidated Fielding Center (CFC), is to man, equip, train, and then deploy entire Kandak units for the battlefield. The 300 strong CFC at Camp Blackhorse is mostly staffed by Canadians, of the 2nd Battalion Royal Canadian Regiment with a smattering of Americans, Romanians and a couple of Brits. Next door is the Afghan CFC where the Canadians mentor them daily in training techniques. At any single moment there can be almost 3,500 soldiers in ANA units undergoing that training. A Canadian, Colonel Ian Hope is the overall director of collective training at the CFC. A lifetime soldier, Col. Hope has been in the British and Canadian Army, and has served his countries all over the world. He lives in Kingston, Ontario but considers Nova Scotia as home. “This is my third tour here. [Afghanistan] is a completely different place now. [The ANA] are way better than they were in 2006. I actually dismissed it then, I said that ‘We can’t build this army the way that we want to’, but we actually have done a pretty good job,” Colonel Hope said ….”
- Afghanistan (2) Taliban: honest, some religious guys say we’re OK killing people!
- Stuart Langridge, R.I.P. (1) “A last-minute witness has been added to the public hearing into the suicide of a Canadian soldier, prompting a flurry of objections from federal lawyers. Mark Freiman, who represents the Military Police Complaints Commission, says the witness came forward just recently and has something relevant to add to the investigation into the handling of Cpl. Stuart Langridge’s death. Kirk Lackie, a friend of Langridge, is the unexpected addition to the witness list. But Justice Department attorney Elizabeth Richards says bringing in a surprise witness may not be fair to the military cops accused of conducting a biased investigation into the Edmonton suicide. Richards also says she’s concerned because the witness has a criminal record and the Crown knows little about him ….”
- Stuart Langridge, R.I.P. (2) “Piercing, uncomfortable moments of silence filled the air Friday as the chairman of a military watchdog agency rebuked and lectured the Canadian Forces investigator who probed the 2008 suicide of Cpl. Stuart Langridge. Glenn Stannard, a former police chief, systematically ripped apart some of Sgt. Matthew Ritco’s most important assumptions about the Langridge’s death — perceptions that it turns out shaped almost the entire investigation. “You’re a police officer … Stuart Langridge was counting on you investigating,” Stannard told Ritco at the end of a 20-minute barrage of pointed questions and clarification that at times bordered on a stern lecture. That observation prompted Langridge’s mother, Sheila Fynes, to drop her glasses and burst into tears ….”
- “A man fatally shot at his home in a confrontation with RCMP in Prince George, B.C., was a veteran of the Bosnian conflict who was finally getting treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, says his family. Greg Matters was a soldier for 15 years, his sister told reporters on Thursday. He left the Canadian Forces in 2009 and after he returned to his hometown in northern British Columbia it became clear to those who loved him that Matters was suffering from PTSD, she said. “There was a delay in him getting treatment,” said his sister, who returned to Canada from Australia after learning her brother was dead. “We actually, as a family, suspected he had post-traumatic stress disorder and we sought treatment independently.” About a year and half ago, he began treatment at the Operational Stress Injury clinic in Vancouver, one of nine across Canada funded by Veterans Affairs. “He was just back to the good old Greg that I knew 20 years ago,” Tracey Matters said. “He was an absolute riot. I loved him to bits. “He was a decorated veteran suffering from PTSD, but was making amazing success. He was improving dramatically.” But on Monday, an RCMP emergency response team was deployed to a rural property near Prince George, about 750 kilometres north of Vancouver, where a confrontation ensued, and 40-year-old Matters was fatally shot by police ….” – more at Milnet.ca here.
- Remembering the Battle of Britain this weekend – more here, here and here.
- Remembering other fallen, too.
- Not forgetting WW1, either.
- War of 1812 MORE battle-honours handed out “Prime Minister Stephen Harper today paid tribute to military regiments who successfully defended Canada during the War of 1812 by announcing that battle honours will be awarded to select regiments with ties to units who won decisive battles in the war. “Canada’s victory in the War of 1812 was a pivotal point in the development of our great country,” said Prime Minister Harper. “During that war, the French, English and Aboriginal peoples took up arms together to achieve a common objective, to resist the American invasion. The ties our ancestors forged laid the foundations of a truly pan-Canadian identity and made our Confederation possible, a country of great diversity with two national languages.” In commemoration of the War of 1812, the Prime Minister announced the awarding of Battle Honours that will commemorate the contribution of regiments who participated in successful engagements in the defence of Canada during the War of 1812 ….” More from the Minister of National Defence here, info on the newest battle honours in general here, info on “The Creation of the Commemorative Theatre Honour and Honorary Distinction “DEFENCE OF CANADA – 1812-1815 – DÉFENSE DU CANADA” ” here, and info on the process of perpetuation” here.
