Whatever disgrace, if any, befalls the Canadian Forces as a result of the torture meted out to Afghans we detained and handed over to their nation's security service, lies not with the troops but exclusively with their supposed commanders. It's not the privates and corporals and sergeants but the majors, colonels and generals who need to be held to account and, not surprisingly, they're doing everything they can to dodge this one.
Today we heard from the remarkably outspoken backpeddler, Lt.-Col. Douglas Boot. The Colonel's position was clear - it wasn't his job to investigate whether the detainees we handed over to Afghan security types were being tortured. Were they being tortured, possibly - okay sure, but that wasn't any business of the Canadians.
Colonel Boot told the Canadian Military Police Complaints Commission that he had it really rough as Provost Marshal at the Canadian Expeditionary Force headquarters. He wasn't goofing off like those other slackers out drawing sniper fire or trolling for IEDs. No siree, he was fighting the war from his desk and - war is hell. Why at times his paper load got so bad it was "unrelenting" and "psychotic." Yes, those were his words to describe the torturous conditions at his office at headquarters.
The sniveling dipshit finished his testimony by suggesting that maybe the situation wasn't as bad "as some people would hope to think." I'm sorry. I really hate this word but Colonel Boot is an unmitigated asshole.
yes siree!
ReplyDeleteI learned that the role of a soldier was to serve his country and countrymen, not to insult them with snide suggestions that they "hope to think" there's widespread involvement in torture.
ReplyDeleteI "would hope to think" that our political and military leadership were sufficiently principled to ensure that this sort of thing didn't happen or to intervene forcefully to stop it when notified it was occuring.
I think the attitude shown by Col. Boot demonstrates why we need to prosecute those responsible for allowing this. There needs to be a real, top-level attitude adjustment before we let these people again lead our soldiers into the field.