The Siege of Jadotville - Netflix

[jollyjacktar]

They were OK until Trudeau the Senior.  Have been shit, since then.

 

[dimsum]

It's because Canadians are in love with the idea that if we all just join hands and sing "Kumbaya", all will be well. To most Canadians, the military is seen as a somewhat 'icky' kind of thing, best not seen and not heard, but they want to have some way of getting Canada a place on the world stage, and peacekeeping seems to be the way to do it. Canadians seem to be most comfortable with the idea of soldiers as helpful Boy Scouts, and not as men armed with rifles, bayonets and other weapon systems who are trained to kill other people when the situation demands it.

I think the near-totally pacifist stance has a lot to do with the tremendous losses of people Canada sustained in the First and Second World wars - that is, so many people lost family members in those wars and they would like it very much if that kind of thing was never repeated. That's an admirable desire and goal, but it ignores the fact that the world has been exposed to conflict and wars since day one, and there doesn't seem to be much evidence that that natural state is going to change for the better anytime soon. By not having at least minimally competent military forces, you actually increase the risk of people dying or being injured.

I also think another part of it comes from having elected so many French-Canadian prime ministers who, because they came from Quebec, tended to have a mindset that favoured a pacifist outlook.

Just my two cents - or maybe $0.01, adjusted for inflation.

A slight rebuttal:

I'll agree that a certain segment of Canadians see us as Boy Scouts - I've known people who, paraphrasing (but not by much), have said "why don't you guys just keep the parades and looking good, but not bother fighting?" 

However, I won't agree that it's because of losses.  Australia, for example, had probably close to the same dead per capita but seem to have less of a reluctance to see their military as what it is.  Then again, they weren't raised with the concept that "Peacekeeping is Canadian", so they're probably less inclined to believe in it as much.

 

[bLUE fOX]

I don't think it helps that in all of the major conflicts of the last century, we were relatively isolated from the actual violence. Nobody between Ontario and Alberta really saw any of the really awful stuff like what was happening in Britain, France and else where. The distance between Canada and most threats today makes it harder for the average Canadian to justify the need for well equipped and trained military.

 

[blacktriangle]

Watched it this weekend. It sure didn't motivate me to deploy under the UN banner.

 

[jollyjacktar]

And not a peep from Altair, who is eager for a deployment... 

 

[daftandbarmy]

Watched it this weekend. It sure didn't motivate me to deploy under the UN banner.

Then don't watch this either

Shake Hands with the Devil http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0472562/

But you should watch this, just for the drill https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guns_at_Batasi

 

[AbdullahD]

Just watched the show this weekend, mainly because of the excitement here and my wife and I were not let down.

For civvies like us, it 'seemed' fairly 'lifelike' and all in all very engaging... but definitely not very pro-UN... them lads who actually went to Jadotville, must have went through hell, I hope this movie is what they wanted.. but they are heroes in my eyes... the politicians not so much.

Abdullah

 

[medicineman]

Just watched the show this weekend, mainly because of the excitement here and my wife and I were not let down.

For civvies like us, it 'seemed' fairly 'lifelike' and all in all very engaging... but definitely not very pro-UN... them lads who actually went to Jadotville, must have went through hell, I hope this movie is what they wanted.. but they are heroes in my eyes... the politicians not so much.

Abdullah

There are a couple of good books about the battle out there you should read, as there are many things not shown in the movie due to artistic and time constraints - as a for instance after they soldiers were released from a month's captivity, they were back out on the line and involved with some more of the battles between UN and Katangan forces for another month or two before going home.  The surrender wasn't quite so dramatic as the movie portrayed. 

MM

 

[AbdullahD]

There are a couple of good books about the battle out there you should read, as there are many things not shown in the movie due to artistic and time constraints - as a for instance after they soldiers were released from a month's captivity, they were back out on the line and involved with some more of the battles between UN and Katangan forces for another month or two before going home.  The surrender wasn't quite so dramatic as the movie portrayed. 

MM

I always find books are more informative, with movies being more entertaining. But, I can not afford to add more books to the 'to read' list, I have to finish the ones I already have. I kind of assumed the Movie used artistic license, it is kind of a given, but thanks for letting me know there is more to the story.

Abdullah