Medium-T
May 13th, 2002, 01:09 PM
From the Winnipeg Free Press
Ottawa's meddling a travesty
Mon, May 13, 2002
Fred Cleverley
Why is Ottawa hiding behind protocol roadblocks to delay the awarding of medals for bravery to five Canadian snipers?
Why, with the exception of the National Post and the Winnipeg Free Press, is the story virtually invisible in Canada? Where are the TV reports?
The five soldiers, all members of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, were recommended for United States bronze stars for their bravery and professionalism last March. The recommendations were approved by General Warren Edwards, the deputy commanding officer for coalition forces in Afghanistan. Then, on the eve of the planned presentation, Ottawa bureaucrats put everything on hold, citing reasons of Canadian protocol.
That protocol, apparently, requires the U.S. embassy in Ottawa to ask Ottawa's permission to honour the soldiers. This request must go to the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs Office of Protocol, which then sends it to the Chancellery at Government House, which in turn will present it to a committee of eight officials who will decide whether the United States can extend its appreciation to our soldiers.
Where's Defence Minister Art Eggleton in all this? Apparently left out. After the first National Post story, he said that it was the first he had heard about the medals.
He must have heard about the snipers. His vice-chief of the defence staff, Vice Admiral Greg Madison had commented in public about the snipers suppressing enemy mortar and heavy machine gun positions which, Admiral Madison said, had likely saved many allied lives. Time dragged on. Faced with more published details, Mr. Eggleton said, during the week of April 22, that he had no objection to the Canadians getting the medals. He was only waiting for an official American request. On May 2 Sub Lieutenant Pierrette Ledrew, speaking for Mr. Eggleton's department, said no request had been received.
Strange. During the Gulf War, two Canadian F-18 pilots were awarded U.S. bronze stars, and no one raised the protocol objection. As National Post columnist Mark Steyn wrote, that was before the establishment of the Conrad Black memorial committee on honours incompatible with Canadian citizenship.
What is happening is an example, as the same writer said, of the government's vexed relationship with the military.
At the sharp end of Canada's military, where snipers carry their heavy but terribly efficient MacMillan Tac-50 rifles, the grunts and the non-coms and the officers know what they are about and what it takes to defend our ideals, our ideas and preserve freedom in the nation we should be so proud of.
Not so at the top. Sunil Ram, a former Canadian officer who now teaches history, writes: "As the Somalia Inquiry report observed, there is a complete lack of leadership at the highest levels in the Canadian forces. Generals have become politicians and bureaucrats. They are no longer warriors."
The American military has a reputation of bestowing medals like popcorn and some argue that for this reason we should reject their honours, accepting only our own. Have we forgotten that the soldiers the Americans now want to honour belong to the first non-American unit to earn (and still wear) a U.S. Presidential Citation for their valour at Kapyong? Foreign Affairs has the luxury of being squeamish when it comes to killing, or even talking about killing.
Our soldiers do not. The Americans at their side are unreserved in their praise. Capt. Paul Madej, a Catholic padre from the U.S. 101st Airborne, who spent 13 days with the Canadians, said: "They were professional soldiers. They were physically and mentally ready. You can't just put a war-hungry gun in there. They were trained to think."
Do they deserve those bronze stars? Recommending the establishment of the award in 1944, U.S. General George C. Marshall wrote then-president Franklin Roosevelt: "The fact that ground troops, infantry in particular, lead miserable lives of extreme discomfort and are the ones who must close in personal combat with the enemy makes maintenance of their morale of great importance. Infantry riflemen suffer the greatest losses, and endure the greatest hardships."
In 1962, President John F. Kennedy authorized the awarding of the bronze star to include those serving with friendly forces. It is awarded to individuals who have distinguished themselves by heroic or meritorious achievement or service, accomplished with distinction.
It is a question both of morale and of doing the right thing. Ottawa appears perplexed that Canadian troops, despite being fed a constant diet of political correctness, can do what their main job is and was long before the words politically correct were in fashion
Ottawa's meddling a travesty
Mon, May 13, 2002
Fred Cleverley
Why is Ottawa hiding behind protocol roadblocks to delay the awarding of medals for bravery to five Canadian snipers?
Why, with the exception of the National Post and the Winnipeg Free Press, is the story virtually invisible in Canada? Where are the TV reports?
The five soldiers, all members of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, were recommended for United States bronze stars for their bravery and professionalism last March. The recommendations were approved by General Warren Edwards, the deputy commanding officer for coalition forces in Afghanistan. Then, on the eve of the planned presentation, Ottawa bureaucrats put everything on hold, citing reasons of Canadian protocol.
That protocol, apparently, requires the U.S. embassy in Ottawa to ask Ottawa's permission to honour the soldiers. This request must go to the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs Office of Protocol, which then sends it to the Chancellery at Government House, which in turn will present it to a committee of eight officials who will decide whether the United States can extend its appreciation to our soldiers.
Where's Defence Minister Art Eggleton in all this? Apparently left out. After the first National Post story, he said that it was the first he had heard about the medals.
He must have heard about the snipers. His vice-chief of the defence staff, Vice Admiral Greg Madison had commented in public about the snipers suppressing enemy mortar and heavy machine gun positions which, Admiral Madison said, had likely saved many allied lives. Time dragged on. Faced with more published details, Mr. Eggleton said, during the week of April 22, that he had no objection to the Canadians getting the medals. He was only waiting for an official American request. On May 2 Sub Lieutenant Pierrette Ledrew, speaking for Mr. Eggleton's department, said no request had been received.
Strange. During the Gulf War, two Canadian F-18 pilots were awarded U.S. bronze stars, and no one raised the protocol objection. As National Post columnist Mark Steyn wrote, that was before the establishment of the Conrad Black memorial committee on honours incompatible with Canadian citizenship.
What is happening is an example, as the same writer said, of the government's vexed relationship with the military.
At the sharp end of Canada's military, where snipers carry their heavy but terribly efficient MacMillan Tac-50 rifles, the grunts and the non-coms and the officers know what they are about and what it takes to defend our ideals, our ideas and preserve freedom in the nation we should be so proud of.
Not so at the top. Sunil Ram, a former Canadian officer who now teaches history, writes: "As the Somalia Inquiry report observed, there is a complete lack of leadership at the highest levels in the Canadian forces. Generals have become politicians and bureaucrats. They are no longer warriors."
The American military has a reputation of bestowing medals like popcorn and some argue that for this reason we should reject their honours, accepting only our own. Have we forgotten that the soldiers the Americans now want to honour belong to the first non-American unit to earn (and still wear) a U.S. Presidential Citation for their valour at Kapyong? Foreign Affairs has the luxury of being squeamish when it comes to killing, or even talking about killing.
Our soldiers do not. The Americans at their side are unreserved in their praise. Capt. Paul Madej, a Catholic padre from the U.S. 101st Airborne, who spent 13 days with the Canadians, said: "They were professional soldiers. They were physically and mentally ready. You can't just put a war-hungry gun in there. They were trained to think."
Do they deserve those bronze stars? Recommending the establishment of the award in 1944, U.S. General George C. Marshall wrote then-president Franklin Roosevelt: "The fact that ground troops, infantry in particular, lead miserable lives of extreme discomfort and are the ones who must close in personal combat with the enemy makes maintenance of their morale of great importance. Infantry riflemen suffer the greatest losses, and endure the greatest hardships."
In 1962, President John F. Kennedy authorized the awarding of the bronze star to include those serving with friendly forces. It is awarded to individuals who have distinguished themselves by heroic or meritorious achievement or service, accomplished with distinction.
It is a question both of morale and of doing the right thing. Ottawa appears perplexed that Canadian troops, despite being fed a constant diet of political correctness, can do what their main job is and was long before the words politically correct were in fashion