Interesting perspective in the article below, if it's true. I'm presuming the "defence sources" quoted below work in close proximity to the MND, if in fact they aren't Mr. Graham himself:
By Stephen Thorne
OTTAWA (CP) _ Defence Minister Bill Graham has tossed out initial drafts of the department's comprehensive policy review, calling it ``dreadful dreck'' and demanding a clear bold vision.
Graham's frustration shows how difficult it can be to propel conservative generals and defence bureaucrats in a radically new direction, particularly in a minority government.
Policy-makers at National Defence had been labouring on a blueprint for the future of Canada's military for almost a year when Graham arrived there in July.
In December, Graham suddenly dismissed what senior officials described as ``dreadful dreck that would not be acceptable in the public domain.''
The draft that had been promised by Christmas would have been pilloried had it gone beyond the grey walls of defence headquarters in downtown Ottawa, defence officials told The Canadian Press.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, officials said the document relied on the status quo set by the 1994 White Paper on defence, ``minus the slash-and-burn'' of the 1990s and adding a demand for more money.
``You want me to go out and demand more money for the status quo?'' Graham told his officials. ``It's not going to work.''
The document was peppered with references to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, said the officials.
The theory was: ``If you throw in 18 references to 9-11, people will think it's an innovative defence policy.''
``It was a train wreck waiting to happen.''
Graham was aghast. He told his officials: ``We've got to get a new chief (of defence staff) in here now.''
The old document retained a traditional, three-service view of the military. The new one, still being drafted, embraces a smaller, more integrated, mission-ready approach with a large boost in profile for the elite Joint Task Force 2 commando squad.
``It has three themes,'' said a senior leader. ``First of all, we have to fix the Canadian Forces right now, we have to grow it and then we have to transform it.
``It's complicated, hard stuff with some people supportive and others passively fighting tooth and nail.''
Ideas now being discussed include making more troops available for overseas duty _ the government has already announced a 5,000-member expansion _ as well as a streamlined, more effective command-and-control structure.
``We have too many headquarters,'' the senior officer said.
The new approach was born last summer after a bruised Graham lost his coveted Foreign Affairs job and landed in Defence in the post-election round of cabinet appointments.
Initially disappointed at losing what he thought was his dream job, Graham soon realized he was heading a department on the rise that was about to get a large cash infusion after years of being slashed.
Graham was in some ways qualified for the job _ at Foreign Affairs, he had come to know many of the issues and key players in the military world. He had developed a personal rapport with U.S. State Secretary Colin Powell, the Pentagon's former chief of defence staff.
But it was only after spending a transatlantic plane ride reading papers given to him by British Defence Minister Jeffrey Hoon outlining ideas for an integrated defence policy that Graham's own thoughts began to crystallize.
Graham realized he was not seeing in the drafts and redrafts coming across his desk the kind of revolutionary change he felt Canada's new defence policy would require.
``Now all of a sudden he's starting to drive the bus instead of the bureaucrats driving him,'' said an official. ``It was about that point in time where you started to see the frustration.''
The minister already had a new deputy. Former CSIS head Ward Elcock had arrived a few weeks after Graham.
His chief of defence staff, Gen. Ray Henault, was on the way out. He had won the chairmanship of NATO's military council in Brussels, but he wasn't scheduled to vacate the defence chief post until April.
Lobbying had begun for Henault's replacement. Among the dark horses _ far off Prime Minister Paul Martin's radar screen _ was the army chief, Lt.-Gen. Rick Hillier, a veteran of several overseas missions who had just returned from heading the 34-nation NATO contingent in Kabul.
Graham asked him what he would do if given the opportunity to redesign the Canadian Forces from scratch. His plan was bold while other candidates offered bland.
``Gen. Hillier, evidently, had at that point given some more considerable thought to what the vision of the Canadian Forces would look like than perhaps more parochial, service-specific visions would look like.''
During meetings with Graham, Hillier _ a gregarious Newfoundlander _ outlined his ideas in multi-coloured ink on large sheets of paper mounted on a stand. Graham liked what he saw and heard.
On Nov. 30, Graham bounced some of Hillier's ideas off Powell during the visit of U.S. President George W. Bush to Ottawa.
By mid-December, Graham was telling the prime minister he should at least have a coffee with Hillier to listen to his sweeping ideas.
At the meeting at 24 Sussex Drive on the Saturday before Christmas, Hillier didn't have his rainbow array of pens or large sheets of paper he favours, so he got down on the floor and drew his charts and diagrams on foolscap.
Martin, who was also tiring of the innocuous plans he had seen, signed on that afternoon.
Hillier was already working on drafts in early January, a week before news leaked that he was to be appointed the next chief of defence staff.
Henault's exit was moved up. The change-of-command ceremony took place Feb. 4. Hillier has been buried in the policy review process ever since.
Senior military leadership will be discussing the plan next week, when the appointment of Maj.-Gen. Andrew Leslie to the critical post of director-general of strategic planning will be announced.
The youthful Leslie, who was deputy head of Kabul's NATO force before Hillier went over, will be in charge of long-range planning, formulating strategies to implement the new ideas and crunching the numbers.
