Canadian Soldiers Under Investigation for Video with Racial Overtones

[Bruce Monkhouse]

What's old is new again........sigh.


http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1284710--canadian-soldiers-under-investigation-for-video-with-racial-overtones
Richard J. Brennan
National Affairs Writer


A controversial video showing a Canadian military member pretending to be Osama bin Laden’s brother has sparked an investigation by National Defence.

The video, shown during a formal dinner at Canadian Forces Base Greenwood in Nova Scotia in January 2010, was leaked to the CBC.
The soldier, wearing brown makeup and a turban, jokes on the video his niece works for the base and helped him come to Canada, and that he was driving a taxi in Vancouver.

“I am driving one very nice taxi! (walks off camera and shouts) Hey kid get away from that car bomb, I mean taxi. It is very dangerous. Don’t be giving me your dirty finger. I am telling you. I will come to your home and I’ll hump your goat. Now go away, stay away from that s---. Praise be to Allah. He would be so pissed if he heard that s---. I’m sorry. Where were we?”

When the video was made Canada was still involved in a combat mission in Afghanistan.

The CBC reports that the woman referred to as the niece found out about the video and raised it with brass on the base and received apologies from everyone involved in the production.

“There are serious allegations that its content was inappropriate and culturally insensitive. Although I have not seen the video, the information I received so far warranted my concern and immediate action,” Lt.-Gen. Yvan Blondin, head of the Canadian Air Force said in a statement.

Blondin said he has requested the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service conduct a probe into the circumstances surrounding that video.
“I express my apologies to those who may feel offended, and reaffirm my commitment to take any possible administrative, disciplinary or corrective actions that may be warranted,” he stated.

 

[Bluebulldog]

Read the transcript on CBC.ca.

Much ado about nothing.

 

[medicineman]

Read the transcript on CBC.ca.

Much ado about nothing.

Optics are everything...especially in this country.

MM

 

[Journeyman]

What's old is new again........sigh.

Yep. Airmen doing wrong and innocent "soldiers" being tarred with it.


That's what you meant, right?

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

I was thinking more along the lines that someone is a jerk-off enough to involve the press which leads to............stuff.

 

[Gronk]

Bravo CBC, what a stellar pile of in depth reporting you've managed to pinch off, I mean pull off. This ranks up there with the hard hitting "apparently some sailors got drunk in Key West" story. Please accept my congratulations for the Pulitzer Prize which I'm sure is on the way.

 

[Occam]

I wonder what Raj Binder would have to say about this...

 

[Bluebulldog]

I wonder what Raj Binder would have to say about this...

Having seen Shawn Majumner live, I'd be betting that he's kicking himself for not doing a bit like this on "This Hour Has 22 Minutes".

 

[Snakedoc]

Yeah.. Seems to me the issue was already taken care of by the CoC... much like the Key West news story for the RCN.  What is the story here?  "Here is an issue that was already taken care of and we're making it an issue again by making it public and involving the military police."

 

[dapaterson]

CoC Apologized - good.

CoC allegedly ordered destruction of all copies - if so, stupid.  "Hey, we did something that we realized was dumb, so maybe we can pretend it never happened."

 

[NavalMoose]

"Racial Overtones"....cool name for a band ;D

 

[Staff Weenie]

I am so glad the PC Police weren't around in the 40's - we'd have to ban all the posters, comic books, cartoons, movies, and everything else that made fun of Hitler and the Germans.....then we'd have to apologize to all the Nazis we'd offended.....

Can't for the life of me remember where I read it, but I once came across a theory that demonizing the enemy is an important part of being able to kill him.  I believe there's a fundamental aspect of truth in that.

 

[Teflon]

I am so glad the PC Police weren't around in the 40's - we'd have to ban all the posters, comic books, cartoons, movies, and everything else that made fun of Hitler and the Germans.....then we'd have to apologize to all the Nazis we'd offended.....

Can't for the life of me remember where I read it, but I once came across a theory that demonizing the enemy is an important part of being able to kill him.  I believe there's a fundamental aspect of truth in that.

Might not be where you read it but it is covered in LCol (Retired) Grossman's book "On Killing"

 

[OldSolduer]

Optics are everything...especially in this country.

MM

While many say "no harm done" it gives ammunition to people that don't like our line of work, our profession, to cut our funding or force more "sensitivity" training.

 

[Oompah-Loompah@]

While many say "no harm done" it gives ammunition to people that don't like our line of work, our profession, to cut our funding or force more "sensitivity" training.

When the bad guys show up on their door, they'll say sorry for not opening the door.

Honestly, these people need to stop forcing PC on everyone.

 

[ModlrMike]

Interesting that the majority of "most agreed" comments on the CBC consider the video satire and not racist.

 

[Jarnhamar]

Maybe I'm taking this in the wrong context.

Normally I'd agree that it's a joke and people are over reacting however when I read this;

The soldier, wearing brown makeup and a turban, jokes on the video his niece works for the base and helped him come to Canada, and that he was driving a taxi in Vancouver.

I see someone singling out a base employee (possibly middle eastern decent?) and insinuating they're a terrorist sympathizer. Not only that but made a big production about it semi-publicly. 

I don't think many of us would appreciate being associated with a mass murderer or rapist in our work place, joke or not.

I'd also suggest it constitutes as harassment. (embarrassing someone professionally)

 

[The Bread Guy]

I see someone singling out a base employee (possibly middle eastern decent?) and insinuating they're a terrorist sympathizer. Not only that but made a big production about it semi-publicly. 

Here's how the CBC puts it....

.... the soldier portraying the bin Laden character names an officer working at the military base as the reason he is granting the interview. CBC News has decided not to name the officer.

The officer has confirmed to CBC that she became aware of the video after it was viewed at the mess dinner. She said she questioned her superiors about it and received apologies from everyone involved in the production ....

If this is correct, I might be unhappy too if I was in this person's position, depending on how I was portrayed.

I don't think many of us would appreciate being associated with a mass murderer or rapist in our work place, joke or not.

I'd also suggest it constitutes as harassment. (embarrassing someone professionally)

Good point to consider.

While many say "no harm done" it gives ammunition to people that don't like our line of work, our profession, to cut our funding or force more "sensitivity" training.

:goodpost:  Remember, it only takes one "holy s**t" to cancel out a thousand "atta boy's".

 

[Edward Campbell]

I'm not surprised when people do dumb things; I'm even less surprised when the people are young and alcohol is involved. Holding the Queen's Commission does not render one immune to periodic attacks of idiocy.

What worries me is the casual, almost cavalier attitude that some (many? most?) people have towards information, of all sorts, and the recording, storage and distribution of it. If people are casual enough about recording and distribution copies of this sort of "skit" then how do they handle classified information? Are they equally casual and careless?

 

[dapaterson]

What worries me is the casual, almost cavalier attitude that some (many? most?) people have towards information, of all sorts, and the recording, storage and distribution of it. If people are casual enough about recording and distribution copies of this sort of "skit" then how do they handle classified information? Are they equally casual and careless?

Not at all.  Don't be ridiculous.  It's not like we let a 2Lt copy info from Secret systems on to flash drives and sell it to the Russians.







Oh.