We're paying attention this time
Friendly fire tragedy has electrified the nation, but will Ottawa take notice?
In a curious way, the four Canadian soldiers
killed by "friendly fire" in Afghanistan have done more to make the country
aware of what soldiers face than any victory would.
Usually it's ho-hum
when soldiers get killed on "peacekeeping" missions - mines, enemy fire,
accidental shootings.
An item in the news and quickly forgotten. Over
100 such deaths since 1956.
The fact 12 Canadian soldiers were hit by an
F-16's bomb while on a night training exercise near Kandahar has electrified the
nation, and provoked contradictory responses much of it emotional and
nonsensical.
In death, the four soldiers may help our military in a way
they never would, had this tragic incident not happened.
In no way does
this diminish the sorrow and hurt of what happened, but it dramatizes what our
soldiers face and has touched the soul of the country.
Right now, the
ones reflecting the greatest dignity, courage, pride and understanding, mixed
with sorrow, are the families of the slain soldiers. They are an inspiration to
all of us.
Take the reaction of Marley Leger, the high school sweetheart
and now the widow of Sgt. Marc Leger. "I have no anger with regard to what
happened," she's quoted as saying. "Whether Marc died due to hostile fire, or
friendly fire, or a car accident, it was time to go. And there's no hostility
towards the Americans or the American pilot. None whatever."
She is some
lady. Her composure and outlook are what many aspire to, but few match.
Meaningless but emotional polls show many want the Americans to pay
compensation if found negligent, and the pilot of the F-16 to stand trial.
Others think Canada should quit Afghanistan. Fewer than 50% of those
polled view such incidents as an inevitable hazard of war - which, of course,
they are.
INQUIRY'S FOR SHOW
The Canadian inquiry headed
by retired General Maurice Baril seems mostly for show - to prove we care.
Defence Minister Art Eggleton's assurances that there'll be no cover-up
are unnecessary, and merely imply that in past inquiries there have been
cover-ups.
Not since WWII have the deaths of Canadian soldiers been so
honoured. Not Korea, nor those killed in peacekeeping incidents - a fact that
understandably bugs retired peacekeeping general, Lew MacKenzie.
Some
reaction, while well-intended, makes little sense. In the Sun, columnist Earl
McRae pays tribute to our soldiers and adds: "Why the hell were our Canadian
soldiers on the ground engaged in live fire practice in a zone of war and
skittish sensibilities? Surely to God they were not there to hone their killing
skills in this dangerous area by practising, they were there to implement what
they'd already practised. You go to war not to practise, you go to war to fight
the battle."
Oh Earl! Soldiers are always training and honing their
skills - and live ammunition is essential for such training. Blank ammunition is
pretend stuff, not real battle training.
Canada's WWI triumph at Vimy
Ridge was largely due to "practising" and rehearsing the actual assault.
INEXPERIENCE?
The F-16 pilot who thought he was under
fire when he dropped the bomb may have been inexperienced and thought tracer
rounds ricocheting into the air meant he was under attack.
Without
drawing parallels, the first time my platoon (of Princess Pats) was in action in
Korea from a position known as the Hook, my guys firing into the no-man's-land
valley were convinced their ricocheting tracers was fire being returned at them.
Artillery was called down and all night a gun battle ensued with an
earthen dyke. At dawn I took a patrol out to investigate. Nothing. A mistake. My
platoon thought their own tracers were enemy fire.
Maybe something
similar got the F-16 pilot jumpy. Poor guy, what he did to Canadian allies will
haunt him the rest of his life, even though people like Marley Leger hold no
grudge.
If these first, unnecessary casualties help Canadians and our
hypocritical government better appreciate our military, perhaps the tragedy will
not have been in vain.
Letters to the editor should be sent to [EMAIL PROTECTED].
THE END
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