The Somalia Deployment

[AngusThermopyle]

I've noticed a lot of references to the Somalia affair on these forums. Invariably the tone seems to be one of painting the entire mission as a failure based on the actions (primarily) of two individuals. This perception can be laid sqarely at the feet of the media who, as the nature of their buisness dictates, focussed attention on the incident and no other aspect of the mission. As a result I've found that people everywhere, not just in Canada, are unaware of the actual work Canada did accomplish over there.

No mention is made of the fact that Canada was the only nation present to actually accomplish the stated goals of their mission. Further to that a great deal was accomplished in the reconstruction of wells, hospitals, schools and even in some cases churches. Food supplies and medicine were delivered and distributed and medical assistance was rendered to a great many, friend and foe alike. Less tangible results were of a more informal nature, stuff like the guys saving rations then handing them out to the kids whilst on patrol.

In short, all the good that was done was destroyed by the media reporting of this attrocity and the subsequent ignoring of the good works done. It is not the fault of the average person that they do not know what actually happened, after all when fed onlty negative information people will naturally formulate negative views. As one who was in Somalia at the time of this incident I find it upsetting that all the good work done by all the good people present there is discounted because of the actions of two individuals. Thus the reason for me bringing this up.

A good place to start if one wants a less biased and more balanced picture would be this site, its a lengthy read but well worth it as its from the perspective of one of the "non-command" guys who were over there and as such has no reason to cover his ass or hide the facts. It would make for better discussion and debate if more people knew the facts and not just what the media decides is more news worthy.

A Soldiers Story

[Army Guy]

Nice catch i hav'nt seen that site for a while...but i think as far as the public is concerned this dog will always have fleas.

[AngusThermopyle]

but i think as far as the public is concerned this dog will always have fleas.

I agree, the shame is not only that this happened but that it has in effect wiped the slate clean as far as the good work that was done is concerned. I remember when this all blew up, the media went into a feeding frenzy. The scandal was only the beggining, after that came the "hazing" scandal, the primary reason I have no respect for reporters, I've seen first hand how they edit and slant points of view in order to create the impression they want.

For instance, I saw video they showed of the crossing the line ceremony, I've participated in five of them. They're a lot of fun, basically a big game of hide and seek where the previously initiated have to hunt down the uninitiated and present them to Neptunes court, even Trudeau had participated in at least one of them. After the court ceremony, involving dunking people in cold water, music and making them eat a "pill" made of the worst stuff the cooks could find it progresses into a BBQ and party, innocent fun and a good way for the guys to blow off steam after being at sea for a while. Watching the footage on the news it didn't even look like the same thing after they were done editting it. It more closely resembled a bunch of depraved barbarians than sailors performing an ancient ritual of the sea that everyone enjoys.

Not that it was the same thing in Somalia but the media's one sidedness was very blatant. a lot of good people did a lot of good work there yet Canadians will never know this as no one ever bothered to report it. The entire problem was primarily caused by a drastic failure of command and the actions of two depraved individuals that this failure empowered. As I said, Canada was the only nation there that achieved its stated goals, yet nobody knows this, and most likely never will, speaking in broad terms anyway.

Of course the whole situation was only made worse by Chretiens bone head move when he disbanded the Airborne. This only served to cement the impression in the publics mind that the troops were the real problem and divert attention away from the actual problem, one of command that went very far up the chain.

Edited November 4, 2008 by AngusThermopyle