Hillier: The General Does Not Debate
by C. L. Cook
Canada's Numero Uno military man, shoot from the lip Rick Hillier mounted a pre-emptive attack on those parliamentarians with the temerity to voice doubt over the course the country has taken in Afghanistan.

 

In fact Hillier says those expressions are in essence aiding the "Taliban" and could be proving the impetus for the spate of suicide attacks mounted against Canadian soldiers over the last several weeks.

Hillier's logic is not exactly new; the Bush administration has used the same argument to silence debate on its disastrous Iraq project for years. The success of the American model for silencing debate is tough to argue; though the U.S. is the biggest and deadliest operator in Afghanistan yet, the collusion between the Bush administration, opposition democrats, and the corporate media has rendered the "other occupation" politically invisible, a never mentioned non-event.

And so Hillier would apparently have it in Canada too. Speaking in Ottawa today at a meeting of defence industry advocates known collectively as the Conference of Defence Associations, General Hillier offered M.P.'s his marching orders, saying;

• "We are, in the eyes of the Taliban, in a window of extreme vulnerability. The longer we go without that clarity, with the issue in doubt, the more the Taliban will target us as a perceived weak link."

If the general is to be understood, he's saying the practice of democratic debate is a hindrance to "The Mission," and Afghani fighters, witnessing what was ostensibly on offer to them in the form of a fully functioning democracy, will take comfort in our "confusion" and be emboldened to mount more attacks against Canadians.

So, to forestall further attacks we need only cease debate and send the Parliament home for the duration. Presumably, we can leave the running of the nation's foreign policy in the capable hands of General Rick and his Southern Alliance buddies. That'll show those Taliban what's what.

And lest any legislator miss the meaning behind his not so nuanced message, Hillier stresses the motion to extend for two years Canada's war fighting role in and around Kandahar, heart of the resistance, is really an up or down vote on "supporting the troops." Hillier went on to suggest the upcoming vote is more than liberal or conservative politics, but a matter of patriotism.

 

New Democrat Party defence critic, Dawn Black attacked Hillier, charging his statements came close to "contempt of Parliament," saying;

• "I think that Gen. Hillier's comments today are really out of line for a Canadian military officer. It appears to be an attempt to inject some fear and some intimidation into the democratic debate here in Canada."

Adding;

• "He infers that maybe some of this recent horrible violence and suicide attacks are related to debate or discussion that has happened here in Canada . . . good grief."

This week past in Canada, the party in government and its titular opponents in the House agreed to agree: Canada's soldiers, and billions more from the treasury need be devoted to a further two year upping of "commitment" to Afghanistan, pledging to extend military action, this time until mid-2011, and promising full withdrawal from Kandahar by December of that year. The cozy arrangement comes just days ahead of scheduled "debate" on a government motion of support for the extension in Parliament.

It's a debate overdue and demanded as much by the clear majority of Canadians who never supported what both the current government and opposition has dubbed 'The Mission,' as by erstwhile "mission" supporters who fail to see the benefit to either Afghanis or Canadians following the country's six year experience so far in Afghanistan.

 

In fact, most Canadians see the situation in-country as a worsening one, but the "cooperation" between the two major parties has limited the scope of the debate, making it largely a sham exercise.  

Majority public opinion, ignored now by the Tory government as it was by their predecessor Liberals when prime minister Jean Chretien first opened the door to Canada's military role in far off Afghanistan back in 2001, was touted as a Tory soft spot that could prove a trigger for a non-confidence vote in the House against the minority Conservatives; with both parties now determined to the same course, there is little chance Canadians will see an election fought over the on-going occupation and its attendant costs to taxpayers.

It is left now to the NDP and Bloc Quebecois, both calling for Canada's immediate withdrawal from Afghanistan, to be the voice for disengangement within Parliament, while a growing constituency of Canadians harbouring anti-war sentiment search for a political home for their aspirations outside either the governing Conservative party, or the "opposition" Liberals.

 

 

 

Amir Attaran, Canada Research Chair in Law, Population Health and Global Development Policy at the University of Ottawa writes in the Feb. 21, 2008 issue of the Globe and Mail takes a look at the faithful attendees to General Hillier's pronouncements from the Conference of Defence Associations. - lex

 

• "Take the Conference of Defence Associations, a think tank that got $500,000 from DND last year. That money comes not with strings, but with an entire leash. A current DND policy reads that to receive money, CDA must "support activities that give evidence of contributing to Canada's national policies." Apparently, if CDA's activities were neutral and unbiased, or even-handedly supported and questioned government policy, DND would refuse to pay!

• "Attendees at CDA's annual conference, which begins today, will hear speeches by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Defence Minister Peter MacKay and MP Laurie Hawn, a retired lieutenant-colonel. Curiously for an organization that calls itself "non-partisan," no opposition politicians will speak. Chief of the Defence Staff Rick Hillier will lecture, as will NATO's military head, General Ray Henault. The agenda includes a session titled "Contemporary Security Concerns" -- a discussion on Russia and Iran."

You can find Attaran's complete article here.

 

Amir Attaran, Canada Research Chair in Law, Population Health and Global Development Policy at the University of Ottawa is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and not by DND.
 

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