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http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/Columnists/Toronto/Peter_Worthington/2004/07/22/551693.html
Generals disarmed
By PETER WORTHINGTON
There'll be more tears than cheers in the military about our new defence minister.
The appointment of Bill Graham to replace David Pratt seems to indicate a leftward shift. Pratt had been assiduously groomed by generals to be their guy at the top, but sadly Pratt was rejected by the voters. Now it's back to square one for military manipulators.
In one sense (one must try to be positive) Graham is a fitting choice for defence: In foreign affairs he was an advocate of "soft power," and if there's one thing our army has been reduced to in recent years, it's soft on power.
Do-nothing diplomacy, do nothing militarily.
Put bluntly, our military has been so depleted of personnel, equipment and weaponry that we could not sustain military action against a well-armed enemy.
We've been involved in several conflicts since the early 1990s: In the first Gulf War our troops were relegated to garrison duty, not fighting, and endured no casualties.
In Somalia our only casualties were self-inflicted wounds. In Rwanda we had one suicide. In Kosovo, again no casualties.
In Afghanistan, the Princess Pats did no fighting, but our snipers performed well. The main casualties were from a U.S. hotshot bombing our guys for no valid reason.
The Americans gave our troops 30 Bronze Stars which went to four snipers (for valour) and the rest to the senior officers and senior NCOs -- zilch for the rank-and-file.
Now the military's got Bill Graham!
Graham screwed up foreign affairs so royally that the PM must be hoping he'll do the same for the military. (Paul Martin, like his dad, has little interest in things military).
In foreign affairs Graham was a great appeaser. He believed the Saudis when they said Bill Sampson wasn't tortured. He paid court to Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's version of Stalin, and opposed the Commonwealth imposing sanctions. Nary a peep from Graham when Mugabe framed Zimbabwe's gallant opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai for treason.
Graham tugs a forelock to Beijing, and gives the back of his hand to Taiwan -- a flourishing democracy.
Graham opened diplomatic relations with North Korea, and supports aid which goes not to the starving but to Kim Jong Il's army.
As for Israel, we vote against it or abstain when it is routinely condemned by the UN. On Graham's watch, Canada supports the Palestinian Authority with humanitarian cash that helps indoctrinate young Palestinians with hatred and encourages suicide bombers.
This outlook isn't encouraging for our military.
Maybe these dire expectations are unfair. Maybe Graham will surprise us -- and the army -- as John McCallum did when he was a surprise choice for defence minister.
McCallum turned out to have a greater social conscience on behalf of serving soldiers and veterans than any predecessor in living memory.
Refreshingly, McCallum knew right from wrong and did something about it. Now McCallum is gone, even from veterans affairs. Pity. He's revenue minister, whatever that means.
The thing about Graham in defence, is that he seems to have neither interest nor a clue about soldiering.
He's a rather dainty fellow for the rough trade of soldiering.
It's hard to visualize Graham visiting troops in the field, or munching on hard rations.
He seems more a wine-and-canapes guy.
Kind of precious.
Soldiers aren't likely to identify with his rather effete personality.
Oh, he'll try to be one of the boys on occasion, and generally will guffaw on cue, but the troops will roll their eyeballs and wonder what they've done to deserve this.
Once again, the army gets a kick in the groin.
Generals disarmed
By PETER WORTHINGTON
There'll be more tears than cheers in the military about our new defence minister.
The appointment of Bill Graham to replace David Pratt seems to indicate a leftward shift. Pratt had been assiduously groomed by generals to be their guy at the top, but sadly Pratt was rejected by the voters. Now it's back to square one for military manipulators.
In one sense (one must try to be positive) Graham is a fitting choice for defence: In foreign affairs he was an advocate of "soft power," and if there's one thing our army has been reduced to in recent years, it's soft on power.
Do-nothing diplomacy, do nothing militarily.
Put bluntly, our military has been so depleted of personnel, equipment and weaponry that we could not sustain military action against a well-armed enemy.
We've been involved in several conflicts since the early 1990s: In the first Gulf War our troops were relegated to garrison duty, not fighting, and endured no casualties.
In Somalia our only casualties were self-inflicted wounds. In Rwanda we had one suicide. In Kosovo, again no casualties.
In Afghanistan, the Princess Pats did no fighting, but our snipers performed well. The main casualties were from a U.S. hotshot bombing our guys for no valid reason.
The Americans gave our troops 30 Bronze Stars which went to four snipers (for valour) and the rest to the senior officers and senior NCOs -- zilch for the rank-and-file.
Now the military's got Bill Graham!
Graham screwed up foreign affairs so royally that the PM must be hoping he'll do the same for the military. (Paul Martin, like his dad, has little interest in things military).
In foreign affairs Graham was a great appeaser. He believed the Saudis when they said Bill Sampson wasn't tortured. He paid court to Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's version of Stalin, and opposed the Commonwealth imposing sanctions. Nary a peep from Graham when Mugabe framed Zimbabwe's gallant opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai for treason.
Graham tugs a forelock to Beijing, and gives the back of his hand to Taiwan -- a flourishing democracy.
Graham opened diplomatic relations with North Korea, and supports aid which goes not to the starving but to Kim Jong Il's army.
As for Israel, we vote against it or abstain when it is routinely condemned by the UN. On Graham's watch, Canada supports the Palestinian Authority with humanitarian cash that helps indoctrinate young Palestinians with hatred and encourages suicide bombers.
This outlook isn't encouraging for our military.
Maybe these dire expectations are unfair. Maybe Graham will surprise us -- and the army -- as John McCallum did when he was a surprise choice for defence minister.
McCallum turned out to have a greater social conscience on behalf of serving soldiers and veterans than any predecessor in living memory.
Refreshingly, McCallum knew right from wrong and did something about it. Now McCallum is gone, even from veterans affairs. Pity. He's revenue minister, whatever that means.
The thing about Graham in defence, is that he seems to have neither interest nor a clue about soldiering.
He's a rather dainty fellow for the rough trade of soldiering.
It's hard to visualize Graham visiting troops in the field, or munching on hard rations.
He seems more a wine-and-canapes guy.
Kind of precious.
Soldiers aren't likely to identify with his rather effete personality.
Oh, he'll try to be one of the boys on occasion, and generally will guffaw on cue, but the troops will roll their eyeballs and wonder what they've done to deserve this.
Once again, the army gets a kick in the groin.
