Posts Tagged ‘Rick Hillier’
MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – 21 Dec 10
- Corporal Steve Martin, R22eR, R.I.P. He’s expected to arrive at CFB Trenton this afternoon. A bit more here.
- Suuuuuuure the Taliban tries to prevent civilian casualties…. “A respected villager, his three brothers and his young son were walking home from early-morning prayers at their mosque when the man spotted something suspicious on the dusty road outside his family’s mud-walled compound. Crouching down to investigate, there was an eruption of dirt and shrapnel — the man, 38, was blown apart, the four others seriously wounded. The dull, concussive boom of the explosion shook awake the occupants of a nearby Canadian combat outpost camp, located in the Panjwaii district southwest of Kandahar City …. Was it a message to the village, a traditional Taliban safe haven, but in an area where the Van Doos and the Afghan security forces have announced their intentions to now stay? Or was it in response to a visit the previous day by Afghan and Canadian generals to a neighbouring village where the message was one of coming operations to chase out the insurgents? “It could have been for intimidation, but it was probably targeted at us, not the local population,” said Warrant Officer Claude Belisle of 5th platoon B Company, based at COP Imam Sahib …”
- The latest (and a warning) on the change o’ mission for Canada in Afghanistan: “2011 will be a year of massive transition for Canadian Forces in Afghanistan, as troops close out the mission as combat warriors in Kandahar to open a new chapter as trainers in Kabul. After years of gruelling, costly and deadly warfare, the military will pull combat soldiers from the field. But the mission will continue — with up to 950 soldiers based around the Afghan capital – in a training and development capacity. Conservative Sen. Pamela Wallin, chair of the Senate defence committee that urged the government to maintain a role in Afghanistan post-2011, said the impact would have been “quite profound” had Canada completely withdrawn. “It would have been a loss for the world,” she told QMI Agency. “It would have been a loss for NATO, it would have been a loss for the Afghans and I think it would have been a loss for Canadians if we hadn’t agreed to stay to finish what we set out to do.” …. despite the move from Kandahar to the relatively safer region of Kabul, Wallin warned the entire country remains a war zone and Canada could still suffer casualties ….”
- Speaking of training Afghan security forces, there still appears to be pretty big gaps to be filled. “NATO is not meeting its target for assembling specialized trainers to build up Afghanistan’s army and police forces, the key that would open the way to a withdrawal of coalition troops beginning next year. An internal progress report from the training mission headquarters here warned that it “does not have the required number of trainers, which threatens our ability to sustain momentum through the summer of 2011 to develop and professionalize the Afghan national security force.” The Dec. 12 report, obtained by The Globe and Mail, said NATO member countries have so far pledged to fill just half of the 819 “critical” trainer slots that need to be filled if Afghanistan is to begin to assume responsibility next year for its own security. Some nations that have made offers, including Canada, have yet to confirm their pledges or decide what kinds of skills and capabilities their trainers would bring. “It’s a huge jigsaw puzzle,” said a senior NATO officer in Kabul. “Some countries can confirm their pledges right away. Others say they need time to resolve political and budgetary issues.” ….”
- More on what Canada should be doing to protect women’s rights in Afghanistan, from Senator Mobina Jaffer, the Chair of the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights: “…. If Canada is going to help create a more stable and secure Afghanistan then it will need to ensure that women are part of the equation. In addition they will also have to adapt their training so that it is gender sensitive. If this is not done then Afghanistan, a country that has experienced over 23 years of war, will never see peace.”
- Taliban Propaganda Watch: Taliban claims to blow up 2 Canadian “tanks” – no mainstream media confirmation.
- “If you read only one letter over the holiday season, let this Canadian trooper’s heartfelt words be it”
- Some work for armoured fighting vehicle builders in London, Ontario. “…. GM GDLS Defense Group, LLC, JV, Sterling Heights, Mich., was awarded on Dec. 16 a $9,614,102 firm-fixed-price/cost-plus-fixed-fee contract. This award will provide for 350 Stryker retrofit video display electronic terminal A-kits. Work will be performed in Shelby Township, Mich., and London, Canada, with an estimated completion date of July 31, 2011. One bid was solicited with one bid received. The U.S. Army TACOM, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-07-D-M112) ….”
- The Globe & Mail‘s Geoffrey York (AGAIN) flogging his favourite question: why isn’t Canada helping the Congo? “It has become a grim Christmas ritual: hundreds of innocent civilians massacred in remote corners of Africa by the Lord’s Resistance Army, one of the world’s cruellest and bloodiest guerrilla forces. Now, fearing a Christmas attack for the third consecutive year, the United Nations is mobilizing 900 peacekeepers to protect villages in Congo, and the United States has promised its own action against the LRA. But activists are calling for a much stronger response to prevent another wave of gruesome attacks by LRA fighters, who routinely kidnap, rape, torture and mutilate their victims. More than 1,000 adults and children were killed by the LRA in the days around Christmas in 2008 and 2009, while hundreds more were kidnapped and conscripted into the rebel army …. Canadian Senator Roméo Dallaire, a former lieutenant-general who commanded the UN force in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide, warned that there is an “imminent threat” of further massacres by the LRA this month. He joined a group of former high-ranking diplomats and UN officials in calling for a stronger strategy against the rebel army. “How many lives must be lost and destroyed before the international community agrees to take the threat seriously and act?” Mr. Dallaire said.” Since Mr. York didn’t mention it, the CF already HAS a presence in Democratic Republic of Congo. This isn’t the first time he’s asked for this – more here on his last call in
AugustOctober (thanks Mark at Unambiguously Ambidextrous for the bit in red) for Canada to do more there. Also, more on Canada’s national interests (or lack thereof?) in Congo at Army.ca here. - The Canadian Press has been trolling jihadi online forums for some intriguing stories, the latest being one of Coptic Christians being named on these forums (maybe as possible targets?). “More than 100 Canadian-Arab Christians are listed on an al-Qaeda affiliated website, apparently targeted because of their alleged role in attempting to convert Muslims. Some of those named say concerned Canadian intelligence officials have contacted them. The Shumukh-al-Islam website, often considered to be al-Qaeda’s mouthpiece, listed pictures, addresses and cellphone numbers of Coptic Christians, predominantly Egyptian-Canadians, who have been vocal about their opposition to Islam. Three pages of the fundamentalist, Arabic-language website titled “Complete information on Coptics” sets to “identify and name all of the Coptics throughout the world who hope to defame Islam,” The website calls the Coptic Christians living abroad “dogs in diaspora,” a derogatory reference in Arabic. In a forum on the website, one member named Son of a Sharp Sword, says “We are going to return back to Islam and all of the Mujahedeen [holy warriors] will cut off their heads.” ….”
- A bit of a review of recent media speculation on Rick Hillier as Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, from the Ottawa Citizen.
MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – 4 Dec 10
- The F-35? Greatest thing since sliced bread – just ask the manufacturer! More, this time throwing the “lookit all the jobs you’ll get” card onto the table during committee hearings in Ottawa here. More of the same discussion coming to the House of Commons Standing Committee on National Defence next week as well.
- Congrats to Brigadier-General Hilary Jaeger, Director General Reserves and Cadets, and Commander Josée Kurtz, Commanding Officer, Her Majesty”s Canadian Ship Halifax: “Two senior Canadian Forces (CF) officers were recognized among the Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada by The Women”s Executive Network (WXN)™ on Monday, November 29. Brigadier-General Hilary Jaeger, Director General Reserves and Cadets from Ottawa, Ont., received an Award under the Cisco Public Sector Leader category, and Commander Josée Kurtz, Commanding Officer, Her Majesty”s Canadian Ship Halifax from Halifax, NS, received the Xstrata Nickel Trailblazers & Trendsetters Award. “I am so proud of the accomplishments of these two outstanding officers,” said General Walt Natynczyk, Chief of the Defence Staff. “This award is a real testament to their leadership and commitment to the Canadian Forces.” …. Canada”s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Awards is Canada”s most recognizable award for the country”s highest achieving female leaders in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors where women are selected for recognition by an independent advisory board ….” More on the history of women in the CF here, and congrats from the Defence Minister here.
- Rick Hillier for Premier? Not so Fast! Perpetual anti-Conservative columnist James Travers over at the Toronto Star suggests the latest probe into unproven allegations against Canadian commandos could be a millstone around The Big Cod’s neck: “…. Horrible things happen in the fog of war and are often excused by it. But Sand Trap Two is making the brass unusually edgy by going beyond the events to deconstruct how the command chain reacted and what actions it took. Making that particularly troubling is the unique special forces command structure. Unlike other units, it skirts the military’s many layers to report directly to the CDS, the country’s most senior soldier …. There are also risks in secretive systems. Accountability is suspect and there’s no place for the buck to stop but at the top …. this week new questions were being asked, first about children Canadians turned over to Kabul’s notorious interrogators and then about the Sand Trap probes. Hillier, who declined an opportunity to comment for this column, has more than earned the benefit of the doubt and no conclusive evidence has seeped into the public domain that the commandos broke laws. But the very nature of JTF2 operations creates situations, doubts and suspicions that the inquiry needs to dispel before the general responsible for the special forces could safely begin a second career in politics.”
- Speaking of special forces troops, the Winnipeg Free Press says ANOTHER level of staffing should keep the “men in black” in line better (assuming they’re out of line in the first place, of course): “…. A new investigative body could still preserve JTF2’s necessary secrets, while ensuring Canadian principles and values are being upheld. It’s not a repudiation of the military, but an opportunity to ensure the trust of Canadians is never lost.”
- Remember what I said about “hard” journalists and others in Afghanistan? Well, if you believe this rabble.ca piece, not all reporting teams can claim to be hardened by the experience in Afghanistan: “…. A major Canadian broadcaster has a team of two here. They are nice, pleasant to talk to and working hard. The problem is, one of them refuses to “leave the wire,” military speak for going off the base. In three days, my partner and I have spent more time off the base than they will in their entire tour. How can a reporter report accurately on anything when so disconnected from their surroundings and the people who live, work, and die here, much less a national election dripping with corruption and complexity? The simple answer is they can’t. What suffers most in this scenario is the base of knowledge and understanding back home, the ability of our population to ask the right people the right questions, and make a somewhat educated vote in our own elections. True democracy requires an informed public, and that is precisely what we in Canada are not ….” To put a touch of context to this, I wonder if insurance is the issue? If head office wanted a presence in AFG, but didn’t want to pay the (likely) HUGE money needed to cover someone headed outside the wire, it’s not the reporters’ fault. However, if they’re covered and CHOOSE not to go, not quite holding up the traditions, are they?
MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – 12 Nov 10
- A recurring theme this time of year: Time remains the real assassin as the number of World War 2 vets decline over time at Remembrance Day ceremonies. This from the Canadian Press: “…. The Historica-Dominion Institute says the average age of Canada’s 125,000 remaining Second World War veterans is 88 years. They are passing away at a rate of 400 to 500 a week, meaning that in another five years or so, all but the hardiest of Canada’s 1.1 million Second World War vets will be gone….”
- Families of the fallen travel to Kandahar remember.
- Soldiers are getting a chance to say goodbye to their fallen colleagues in a way that may help the survivors heal. More on that from Postemedia News.
- “Your parents could be taken away by their job for just a weekend and it might seem like forever, but some kids may never see their folks again. It’s a feeling 16-year-old Madeline Mills knows too well. She’s spent most of her teen years helping care for her younger siblings while her dad fought in Afghanistan. She doesn’t want attention for her challenge, but attention may soon surround her. Madeline shared her story in a new documentary about Canadian children whose parents have seen combat in Afghanistan. The National Film Board of Canada marked Remembrance Day with the national simultaneous release of the film, Children of Soldiers ….”
- An interesting tidbit buried in this Globe & Mail piece, quoting military writer/publisher Scott Taylor: “Only a “small sliver of the society is being impacted by the war in Afghanistan.” Most of the troops now are the sons and daughters of other soldiers, he said, explaining that 40 per cent of recruits either have one or both parents in the military ….” As others smarter than me have said, could this suggest Canadians’ support for the military is a mile wide and a millimeter deep?
- “Soldiers serving in Afghanistan were the first to receive the newly designed poppy coins on Remembrance Day. More than 3,000 troops stationed throughout Afghanistan were the first to receive the special 25-cent memento from the Royal Canadian Mint, each batch delivered in velvet pouches ….” More on the new coin here.
- Again witrh the “should Parliament decide Canada’s next mission in Afghanistan?” question, but this time, with an answer from the PM. This from the Globe & Mail: “My position is if you’re going to put troops into combat, into a war situation, I do think for the sake of legitimacy, I do think the government does require the support of Parliament,” he said. “But when we’re talking simply about technical or training missions, I think that is something the executive can do on its own.”
- So, is this a flip-flop on the Prime Minister’s part? It sure is, according to Norman Spector writing at the Globe: “…. as the even the Prime Minister himself had to (very slightly) concede in the CTV interview, leaving any troops in any role in any region of Afghanistan would constitute a major shift in his position….”
- Further to the right on the media political scale, QMI/Sun Media columnist Michael den Tandt wonders: “What took the Harper government so long? Why all the strenuous denials, month after month, that such an outcome was even possible? Because it was always likely, if not inevitable, given the situation on the ground and Canada’s alliances, that we would keep an armed force of some kind in Afghanistan beyond July, 2011 ….”
- This, from former Chief of Defence Staff Rick Hillier, on the prospect of Canadian troops training Afghan forces while avoiding combat: “You can come up with all kinds of schemes to hide away in camp and train people for the Afghan army, but they lack credibility …. If you try to help train and develop the Afghan army … you are going to be in combat.” CBC.ca says this is a quote from a “recent” interview with Macleans. The original Macleans article where this was quoted is from October 22, 2009 (more from Hillier here). Also, a point I raised about a year ago (or “recently”, using the CBC clock/calendar): if the Canadians train Afghan troops and don’t go out to fight with them, how long will the Taliban Info-machine take to start the “they come to help, and send you to die” message track?
- A new approach promised by Canada’s new Veterans Ombudsman – this, via CBC.ca: “Canada’s new ombudsman for veterans affairs said Thursday he’ll try to keep “buoyant” the issues raised by his predecessor, Pat Stogran. “Mr. Stogran has brought the issues to the surface,” Guy Parent said in an interview with the CBC News program Power and Politics. “I think my responsibility is to keep them buoyant now and to make sure we separate the issues into ‘chunkable’ pieces and that we can provide specific recommendations based on the issues.” But Parent, whose term began Thursday, made it clear he would be taking a different approach to the role than Stogran did. “I would definitely say so,” he said, laughing, when asked if he and Stogran had different styles. “Sometimes you accomplish much more through negotiations than you do by being vocal.” ….”
- Taliban Propaganda Watch: Alleged Taliban Boss in Kandahar City Op Claims Taliban Rules the Night, “tried our best to completely end any civilians casualties on our part”.
Hillier: No Avoiding Combat Post-2011
Speaking to the Toronto Star promoting his new book, former CDS shows how NOT to mangle messages, as is being done in the Mission Messaging Mambo by politicians and staffers these days:
There will still be a need for security and counter-insurgency operations when Canada’s current mandate expires in 2011, he said. If experienced Canadian troops leave Kanadhar, some other nation, likely less familiar with the local terrain and power brokers, will have to do the job.
Hillier also said there’s also no need for Canadian troops, except in Kandahar or the northeast, and there’s no way Canada can carry out a goodwill mission without encountering frequent violence.
“If you stay in the south and try to do something like training, you will still be in combat. I don’t care what (political) staffers say in the media about how they can find a way to do it. You simply will not. You will be in combat,” Hillier said during a promotional interview for his new book, A Soldier First: Bullets, Bureaucrats and the Politics of War.
Living behind blast walls and trying to carry out aid and reconstruction projects are futile, and potentially dangerous in a country where NATO and insurgent forces are battling for the trust of the local population.
“It would be like going to shore at Normandy on the sixth of June (1944) and driving around . . . sightseeing and leaving the enemy the opportunity, flexibility and initiative to attack you when they want,” Hillier said … “to have people and staffers coming out and saying that we can do this job in two years or five years, or we can train without being in combat . . . it’s just baloney.”
Get it now?
UPDATE (1): More of the same quoted by Macleans:
Is there a safer way to teach those Afghan recruits? Hillier doesn’t think so. Here’s what he told us about the sort of scenario sketched by Soudas: “You can come up with all kinds of schemes to hide away in a camp and train people for the Afghan army or police, but they lack credibility. If you try to help train and develop the Afghan army or police in southern Afghanistan, you are going to be in combat.”
UPDATE – Hillier: I Told the Government About Torture Allegations
A little more is seeping out about who shared and read what with respect to memos a Canadian diplomat says he sent up the line alleging torture of detainees by Afghan authorities after being handed over by Canadians.
We’ve already heard anonymous sources saying these reports had reached then-Chief of Defence Staff Rick Hillier. While some media outlets awaited Hillier’s comments in response to this, it appears the Globe & Mail’s John Ibbitson actually found the appropriate passage in Hillier’s new book, “A Soldier First: Bullets, Bureaucrats and the Politics of War” – this, from the Globe:
By Spring 2006, as military operations in Kandahar province expanded, Canadian troops started taking an increasing number of prisoners. As previously agreed, the prisoners were transferred into Afghan custody. In Spring 2007, The Globe and Mail reported on allegations of abuse of detainees in Afghan prisons. Mr. Hillier acknowledged that was to be expected.
“Their judicial and prison systems were still somewhat nascent, and there was always some risk that abuse could occur,” he wrote.
The military decided to make frequent unannounced visits to Afghan prisons to monitor conditions, but the first visit raised sufficient alarms that “we lost confidence that basic, responsible measures were in place to ensure the humane treatment of prisoners.”
The book does not say when the first visit took place or how long the time lag was until the transfers were stopped in December, 2007. The Globe and Mail has reported that the first inspection visit was in May, 2007. Transfers resumed in early January, 2008.
Throughout the process, Mr. Hillier writes, the federal government was kept fully informed of the military’s handling of prisoners….
Here’s what the PM had to say last week on this, according to CBC.ca:
Speaking in Toronto, where he was making a funding announcement, Harper said he didn’t see the reports “at the time.”
Meanwhile, yesterday, in the House of Commons, Minister of National Defence Peter MacKay said neither he nor the deputy minister received these reports. Now, if the Globe & Mail quoted him correctly speaking outside the House, the Minister also had this to say:
“There are hundreds if not thousands of documents, reporters, memos, advice that come through all departments,” Mr. MacKay told reporters outside the House of Commons. “The fact that one report or a series of reports weren’t read by a minister or a deputy minister shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone.“
Compare this to what he said in the House on 19 Oct 09:
We receive hundreds, if not thousands, of reports annually through the Department of National Defence, as well as the Department of Foreign Affairs. That is why it did not make it to my desk …. I intend to hear from the Department of Defence, as well as foreign affairs, as to where this report stopped, because it did not make it to the deputy minister or my desk.
Am I the only one seeing a difference between “we didn’t GET the reports” and “we didn’t READ the reports”?
And the latest messaging? From the Minister in Tuesday’s Question Period Hansard here and here:
Two and a half years ago, on allegations that were circulating at the time, on thousands of reports that were circulating at the time, we acted to improve the transfer agreement that was left in place by the previous government. We then went about mentoring prison officials, went about mentoring police and went about improving the overall security situation …. We are co-operating with ongoing investigations. We are not pre-empting or prejudging those investigations. We are acting within the legislation, within the decisions that have been handed down by the Federal Court …. We are co-operating with investigations that are ongoing about what Afghans did to Afghans …. We will continue to work with officials to improve the human rights situation in Afghanistan.
UPDATE (1): The new title replaces the old one:
Hillier: I Told Prime Minister’s Office About Torture Allegations
thanks to some clarification in a discussion forum at Milnet.ca, where it’s made a bit clearer what the book said about who Hillier informed about possible abuse issues. Special thanks to Old Sweat for this!
You think I’d learn about believing the headlines of news stories….