• Thanks for stopping by. Logging in to a registered account will remove all generic ads. Please reach out with any questions or concerns.

Are VIP Trips to AFG REALLY Military's "Fault"?

The Bread Guy

Moderator
Staff member
Directing Staff
Subscriber
Donor
Reaction score
4,154
Points
1,260
Am I the only person reading this thinking the military is involved, but there has to be a VERY high level political OK before people can go in theatre? 

Shared in accordance with the "fair dealing" provisions, Section 29, of the Copyright Act.

Military draws heat over visits to Afghanistan
Bars senators, oks supporters

Mike Blanchfield, National Post, 16 Nov 06
Permalink

OTTAWA - The military says Kandahar is not safe for visits by
committees of MPs, senators or the Governor-General, but recently
welcomed a taxpayer-assisted junket of retired senior officers, all
of who routinely appear in the media to support the controversial
mission.

The trip has drawn criticism from at least one pundit who was not
invited -- and who has been openly critical of the government's
conduct of the Afghanistan deployment. It has also prompted a
warning from one senator to the government not to play politics with
who it allows to visit its soldiers.

The group of retired military officers included a former admiral,
two former generals and at least one retired colonel. They spent
several days in Afghanistan in late October and early November,
travelling first to Kabul and then to Kandahar Air Field, where the
group was on hand for the change of command of the NATO mission from
a Canadian to a Dutch general.

General Rick Hillier, the chief of the defence staff, invited the
group, which included retired major-general Lewis Mac Kenzie, a
well-known military commentator; retired colonel Alain Pellerin, the
executive director of the Conference of Defence Associations, a
leading military lobby group; retired rear admiral Ken Summers, a
frequent television military pundit; Don Macnamara, a retired
brigadier-general and senior fellow in international relations at
Queen's University in Kingston, Ont.; and Alex Morrison, president
of the Canadian Institute of Strategic Studies.

"I was a bit surprised that they did not extend this invitation to
me since I have been fairly active in the debate along with many of
the other analysts," said Steven Staples of the left-leaning Polaris
Institute
, an organization that has heavily criticized the military
intervention in Afghanistan and which has aligned itself with the
NDP, which wants the government to bring Canadian troops home.

The visit came several weeks after the Senate committee on national
security and defence spent a week in nearby Dubai waiting in vain
for permission from Gen. Hillier to board a military flight to
Kandahar.

The committee later faced accusations of wasting taxpayers' money
in Dubai, but a separate Senate panel said the $30,000 spent there
did not violate the upper chamber's travel policy, and that its
budget had been approved.

Liberal Senator Colin Kenny, the chairman of the Senate defence
committee, said his committee still wants to go to Afghanistan and
has since been assured by Gen. Hillier that it will be granted
access.

Mr. Kenny said if his committee is allowed to visit Kandahar by the
end of the year, "then I'll say they're not playing politics. But if
I see another gang going in, or I see the Commons going in before we
go, then I'll say they're yanking our chain."

Mr. Pellerin said his group travelled from Canadian Forces Base
Trenton in Ontario on a military Airbus that was already flying to
Afghanistan with supplies and personnel. "We paid for our own
hotels where that was required."

Mr. Mac Kenzie said he saw nothing wrong with accepting Gen.
Hillier's invitation. "If I was in his shoes, I'd recognize there
are people out there writing that have military background, have
experience, appearing in front of Senate committees and Commons
committees fairly regularly and he might as well give us the goods."

 
milnewstbay said:
"I was a bit surprised that they did not extend this invitation to me since I have been fairly active in the debate along with many of
the other analysts," said Steven Staples
Perhaps we're using two different dictionaries. "Debate" is not "dogmatic repetition"; eg - 'whatever the CF is doing is wrong, bad, evil.' Cherry-picking quotes is not the same as giving due consideration to all sides of a debate.
Mr Staples is the antithesis of an "analyst."


I tend to be an unabashed fan of the Senate Committee on National Security and Defence, however
Mr. Kenny said if his committee is allowed to visit Kandahar by the end of the year, "then I'll say they're not playing politics.
this reads like extortion, and

But if I see another gang going in, or I see the Commons going in before we go.....
this reads like nothing more than school-yard pouting...especially if those unwashed masses in the elected chamber actually get to see what they are responsible for.  ::)
Both comments are beneath Mr Kenny.
 
+ 1 JM,

that and the fact that visitors are supposed to improve morale....
 
I think there might be just a little politicking going on....Mr Kenny's trip was smack in the middle of Operation Medusa, this trip was after...
 
GAP has it exactly right and that's likely the answer here - which Blanchfield, in typical style, hasn't hit on.  Visits are restricted during times of more intense operational activity so they don't divert effort from the staffs and increase demands on the support system.  This is a call made almost entirely by staff in theatre.

As for Staples - get him on a flight tomorrow.  Perhaps if he actually had a look at the things he was so "expert" at spouting off about, he might assume a more rational perspective.
 
Teddy Ruxpin said:
As for Staples - get him on a flight tomorrow.  Perhaps if he actually had a look at the things he was so "expert" at spouting off about, he might assume a more rational perspective.

Yes, bring him out there, by all means.  :threat:

 
If I was unkind, I would suggest giving him a flak jacket marked VIP in large letters. Seriously, perhaps a trip would add to his credibility, if not the accuracy of his pronouncements.
 
Perhaps he and NDP Jack could go out and "debate" with the Taliban together...just a thought.
 
I'm with RN PRN............Steven Staples and Jack Layton should be over there and out where the Taliban are so they can "talk" - and on their own without all that "security" they keep yammering about..... ;)
 
If they are at all concerned for their safety, perhaps we could hook them up with Jolie's bodyguards. They seem to be fabulous crowd controllers.  ::) http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/afpentertainment_india
 
"I was a bit surprised that they did not extend this invitation to
me since I have been fairly active in the debate along with many of
the other analysts," said Steven Staples of the left-leaning Polaris
Institute,

Dear Mr Staples:

Well he hasn't asked me to go yet either, doofass, and I've asked. Instead of pouting I'm getting on with it and trying to figger out a constructive way to contribute instead of whining to the media....

PS I have more constructive things to say on the mission and I am actually qualified to be there...
 
hey Steve,

when the Government of Canada needs the input of a school-teacher on how the Afghanistan mission should be run, I'm sure you'll be the very first person they call.
 
I'd imagine Steven could request permission to visit Afghanistan, although whether or not he'd be able to do it on the taxpayer dime is debatable.  Maybe he should have a chat with the various journalists who've made the trip and find out how to go about it ;D
 
Back
Top