Canadians scale back military demo in D.C.

[PMedMoe]

Canadians scale back military demonstration in DC later this month; no simulated blasts, shots
Article Link

By Eileen Sullivan, The Associated Press

WASHINGTON - A planned Canadian military demonstration that would have included simulated bomb blasts within blocks of the White House and the Capitol, has been scaled back after media reports focused on the explosive elements.

The Canadian Embassy had planned to simulate the detonation of an improvised explosive device several times over two days starting Sept. 23 to demonstrate what life is like in devastated Afghanistan and how Canadian forces there respond with medical help.

In a Sept. 7 story, Canada's military attache in Washington, Lt. Col. Douglas Martin, told a Canadian newspaper that the demonstration would take place in the front courtyard and driveway of the Canadian Embassy.

The embassy sits along the fabled Washington boulevard within sight of the U.S. Capitol.

The Associated Press learned Friday that the Canadians had scrapped the IED blast simulation.

Under the new scenario, it is likely that people on Pennsylvania Avenue will hear loud voices behind the 6-foot gate surrounding a fake Afghan village in the Canadian Embassy's driveway, Martin said. But there will be no sounds of fake gun shots or bomb explosions, he said.

More on link

 

[VIChris]

I may be missing something here, but who is the demo for? John Q Public? Washington lobbyists? Why are we showing the Americans what's going on over there? Fox news does it every night for them. Why not do such a demo up here?

 

[HDE]

A lot of the American media have a very USA-centric worldview; if it involves American troops they're all over it.  I'd imagine there are all sorts of Americans who don't know that they even have allies in Afghanistan, much less who they are.  As to whether or not the display planned for Washington is the best way to raise our profile...  I like the US, and have several American family members, however I think there's so much on the go down there that they only notice the crisis-of-the-day.  If it isn't a problem it won't get noticed.

 

[Civvymedic]

If it's a PR event for the media and U.S. Government officials to attend then great! Might help with some of the comments by U.S. media and politicians in regards to our efforts in Afghanistan.

Sometimes a little reminder to our friends as to what we do together is a good thing,sometimes they seem to forget and others just seem ignorant to it.

 

[X-mo-1979]

A lot of the American media have a very USA-centric worldview; if it involves American troops they're all over it.  I'd imagine there are all sorts of Americans who don't know that they even have allies in Afghanistan, much less who they are. 

While I am the furthest away from being anti American,and getting on with such rhetoric,however I have to agree.When we were doing work up training in Texas the HET crews couldn't believe that we were in Afghanistan.They thought only Americans were there.

 

[Edward Campbell]

Here, reproduced under the Fair Dealing provisions (§29) of the Copyright Act from today’s Globe and Mail is a report that the entire thing has been cancelled:

http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/89088.0.html

Military abandons plans to erect mock Afghan village
Canadian officers tight-lipped about reasons for scrapping simulation in Washington

Paul Koring

Washington
Saturday, Sep. 19, 2009

Canada's military scrapped its scheme Friday to erect a mock Afghan village in the courtyard of the Canadian embassy in Washington, ending an effort to stoke U.S. awareness of Canada's combat role in Afghanistan by staging IED blasts.

“I can confirm that the village component of the Afghanistan forum has been dropped,” said Jennie Chen, spokeswoman for the embassy.

Senior Canadian Forces officers, who had been touting the mock village and the value of staging a “hyper-realistic” simulation only 10 days ago, were tight-lipped and no explanation for scrapping the mock village was given.

The decision to “disappear” the village even before it was built was only the latest rollback from the original scheme.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay had already told the military to abandon plans to set off small explosives at the embassy, located in the heart of security-conscious downtown Washington in a prestigious location between the White House and the Capitol.

“I don't think it's required to make loud noises on the [National] Mall to show people what the Canadian Forces are doing in Afghanistan,” Dan Dugas, a spokesman for the minister said after the decision was taken to eliminate the explosions.

The original scenario was for Canadian troops to arrive at the Afghan village just as an improvised explosive device ripped through the market, “critically wounding” one of the actors playing an Afghan villager, who would then be treated by a Canadian military medic.

After Friday's decision, it remained unclear whether the whole two-day conference will be scrapped.

Ms. Chen said no further information was available.

Scores of invitations have already been sent out and top Canadian military commanders – including army commander Lt.-Gen. Andrew Leslie – were listed among the featured speakers.

To add realism to the two-day event and attract attention, the Canadian Forces had arranged for a division of Lockheed Martin that specializes in combat-training simulations to construct the mock village of three buildings and a mini souk (market) and provide Afghan actors, who would play civilians. Strategic Operations Inc., a California company, would provide the pyrotechnics for the IED explosions.

Originally, the agenda called for twice-daily IED attacks at noon and 2 p.m. On the first day, an Afghan luncheon is to be hosted by Kabul's envoy to Washington, Ambassador Said Jawad.

While the mock village was intended to be the highlight of the conference, the working sessions were scheduled to grapple with many of the enormous challenges in Afghanistan. A panel of Canadian and American police officers will deal with the difficulties of training Afghan police. Another panel will consider the usefulness of pre-deployment training to try and reduce the psychological damage of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Not sure what this says about the relationship between enthusiasm and good staff work.

 

[The Bread Guy]

My guess:  the mission has been, subtly over the past few months, been "civilianized", so someone WAAAAAAAAAYYYY up in the food chain said, "we're not going to be a mainly military mission for much longer, so let's not emphasize that bit."

That said, this could have been said when the whole concept was being planned, too....

 

[TCBF]

- I would be VERY surprised if the genius who thought of doing this in the first place actually wears a uniform to work.

 

[The Bread Guy]

- I would be VERY surprised if the genius who thought of doing this in the first place actually wears a uniform to work.

No matter who came up with the plan, at some level, SOMEONE without a uniform (who runs for election) had to give a final "yea" (especially at the embassy of our biggest, most important international partner), just like someone without a uniform also gave the "nay" in the end.

 

[Edward Campbell]

- I would be VERY surprised if the genius who thought of doing this in the first place actually wears a uniform to work.

Check this out. For a wee while "we" were very pleased with this.

 

[TCBF]

Check this out. For a wee while "we" were very pleased with this.

-(heh-heh-heh) Well, golly, I'll just be moving along now... (heh-heh-heh...)

 

[The Bread Guy]

Note the "progression" of spokespersons:

1)  LCOL saying "we're doing this, and we're doing some small explosions"

2)  Defence Minister's spokesperson saying "uh, we don't need the pyrotechnics, thanks."

3)  DFAIT employee/embassy spokesperson saying, "it's happening anymore."