Military was following 'legal orders' to try to rescue Afghan Sikhs, Gen. Eyre says

[blackbird]

This is a surprising revelation, but I guess we shouldn't be too surprised with what the Liberal government under Trudeau has been doing.  New shocking revelations seem to come out regularly.  After all Trudeau's gang has been sending billions of dollars all over the world for various causes.  Money is of no concern.  Putting people with a foreign religion in charge of a major government department with this kind of result should come as no surprise.  What is next?

"  

OTTAWA — The Canadian Armed Forces was following "legal orders" when it tried to rescue a group of Afghan Sikhs during the fall of Kabul three years ago, Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre said.

Eyre's comment came as former defence minister Harjit Sajjan explained his decision to intervene on behalf of a group of around 200 Afghan Sikhs who were trapped along with thousands of others in August 2021.

Sajjan said in a statement that he passed along information through "appropriate" channels that he had been given about the group's whereabouts and that doing so was in line with government policy to help vulnerable groups on the ground in Afghanistan.

Sajjan said he did not instruct the forces to prioritize this group above Canadians or Afghan interpreters, who aided Canadian soldiers during previous operations.

In an interview with The Canadian Press, Eyre said the military was following "legal orders" when it made an effort to specifically help the group of Afghan Sikhs."

Military was following 'legal orders' to try to rescue Afghan Sikhs, Gen. Eyre says (msn.com)

 

 

 

[blackbird]

"Utter BS": Sajjan responds to allegations he instructed Canadian special forces to rescue Afghan Sikhs | Watch (msn.com)

[ExFlyer]

What is your beef? Are you blaming the Military for something??

The Military is subservient to the government. They have to do what they are told.

What is your problem with this??

 

[eyeball]

On 6/30/2024 at 12:01 PM, ExFlyer said:

What is your beef? Are you blaming the Military for something??

The Military is subservient to the government. They have to do what they are told.

What is your problem with this??

He seems to think the military is subservient to a Sikh who ordered it to act on behalf of other Sikhs.

Presumably he'd be fine with this if we were talking about Christians.

[blackbird]

7 hours ago, eyeball said:

Presumably he'd be fine with this if we were talking about Christians.

"In 2021, Harjit Sajjan, a Sikh Canadian, was the Minister of National Defence of Canada. That was a turbulent time when the US and its allies were rushing to exit Afghanistan amid a Taliban takeover of the war-ravaged country. Harjit Sajjan instructed the Canadian Armed Forces to prioritise the rescue of 225 Afghan Sikhs and allocated resources meant for Canadians to them, according to a news report.This is claimed to have affected the evacuation of those on the priority list for Canada.

According to a recent report by Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail, Harjit Sajjan, then Canada's defence minister, used the resources allocated to Canadian citizens and Afghans linked to Canada and used them to help Afghan Sikhs. He even ordered that the Afghan Sikhs be rescued first."

"However, the Globe and Mail report, citing three officials of Canadian forces, refutes Sajjan's claims, and shows he ordered the airlifting of the over 200 Afghan Sikhs, prioritising them over Canadians or those linked to Canada."

Rescue Afghan Sikhs first: Row over Canada ex-minister Harjit Sajjan's order (msn.com)

According to the allegations, Sajjan is accused of prioritizing resources meant for Canadian citizens and Afghans linked to Canada and using the resources to help Afghan Sikhs who had no connection to Canada or Canada's mission in Afghanistan.

Edited July 2, 2024 by blackbird

[ExFlyer]

59 minutes ago, blackbird said:

"In 2021, Harjit Sajjan, a Sikh Canadian, was the Minister of National Defence of Canada. That was a turbulent time when the US and its allies were rushing to exit Afghanistan amid a Taliban takeover of the war-ravaged country. Harjit Sajjan instructed the Canadian Armed Forces to prioritise the rescue of 225 Afghan Sikhs and allocated resources meant for Canadians to them, according to a news report.This is claimed to have affected the evacuation of those on the priority list for Canada.

According to a recent report by Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail, Harjit Sajjan, then Canada's defence minister, used the resources allocated to Canadian citizens and Afghans linked to Canada and used them to help Afghan Sikhs. He even ordered that the Afghan Sikhs be rescued first."

"However, the Globe and Mail report, citing three officials of Canadian forces, refutes Sajjan's claims, and shows he ordered the airlifting of the over 200 Afghan Sikhs, prioritising them over Canadians or those linked to Canada."

Rescue Afghan Sikhs first: Row over Canada ex-minister Harjit Sajjan's order (msn.com)

According to the allegations, Sajjan is accused of prioritizing resources meant for Canadian citizens and Afghans linked to Canada and using the resources to help Afghan Sikhs who had no connection to Canada or Canada's mission in Afghanistan.

So, you finally realize the military was doing what it was told to do, as it always does.

You do nio complain about the Canadian Christians or jews or other religions being evacuated.

You F'n hypocrite!!!

[Queenmandy85]

On 6/28/2024 at 11:45 AM, blackbird said:

Putting people with a foreign religion

Sikhism is no more foreign than Christianity. Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Hinduism, Judaism, and Zoroasterism are all very new arrivals to Canada. People have worshipped God in hundreds of different ways in Canada in the last 5000 years. My dad went to work in Butedale in 1925 and his supervisor was a Sikh who had lived in BC for years. God doesn't give a tinker's curse what religion you are, as long as live your life as God wants. Be a good person.

[blackbird]

42 minutes ago, Queenmandy85 said:

Sikhism is no more foreign than Christianity. Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Hinduism, Judaism, and Zoroasterism are all very new arrivals to Canada. People have worshipped God in hundreds of different ways in Canada in the last 5000 years. My dad went to work in Butedale in 1925 and his supervisor was a Sikh who had lived in BC for years. God doesn't give a tinker's curse what religion you are, as long as live your life as God wants. Be a good person.

Aside from your haywire comments on religion, you missed the main point entirely.  This was not a question of rescuing one religion over another.   The Canadian mission was to get Canadians and those who worked for the Canadians Forces in Afghanistan out of the danger of the Taliban.  The resources Canada sent there were not for the purpose of rescuing people from other countries that had nothing to do with Canada's military mission there.

This has nothing to do with picking one religion over another.

""However, the Globe and Mail report, citing three officials of Canadian forces, refutes Sajjan's claims, and shows he ordered the airlifting of the over 200 Afghan Sikhs, prioritising them over Canadians or those linked to Canada."

These 200 Afghan Sikhs had nothing to do with Canada's mission there.  They were apparently given priority over Canadians and those who worked for Canada there because they were Sikhs.

The mission was for the purpose of rescuing Canadians and those linked to Canada, not rescuing people of other nationalities that had nothing to do with Canada being there.

 

Edited July 3, 2024 by blackbird

[Army Guy]

18 hours ago, eyeball said:

He seems to think the military is subservient to a Sikh who ordered it to act on behalf of other Sikhs.

Presumably he'd be fine with this if we were talking about Christians.

I think the minister of national defense used his position to make this mission possible, and is now trying to say he did not order the military just passed the info down the chain of command...

He should know as being ex military himself the military does not interrupted requests from the top, they                              ( military)determine if those orders are legal, then carry them out...like what happened in this case...why would he pass this info down if he did not want it actioned...i mean there was maybe 200 different organizations , religions, races on the ground all needing rescue...but his info chose a specific group and info on their whereabouts....

He has gotten himself into hot water, the military did what they were asked to do...

[blackbird]

1 hour ago, Queenmandy85 said:

Sikhism is no more foreign than Christianity. Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Hinduism, Judaism, and Zoroasterism are all very new arrivals to Canada. People have worshipped God in hundreds of different ways in Canada in the last 5000 years. My dad went to work in Butedale in 1925 and his supervisor was a Sikh who had lived in BC for years. God doesn't give a tinker's curse what religion you are, as long as live your life as God wants. Be a good person.

It appears you commented after reading other ignorant comments attacking me rather than reading the OP.  The OP was not about one religion versus another.

[blackbird]

10 hours ago, ExFlyer said:

So, you finally realize the military was doing what it was told to do, as it always does.

You do nio complain about the Canadian Christians or jews or other religions being evacuated.

You F'n hypocrite!!!

The article or OP was not about rescuing one religion over another.  It was Saijan allegedly ordering the rescue of 200 people who were not part of the plan to evacuate Canadians and those who helped Canadians in Afghanistan.  Obviously he was doing it because they were Sikhs.

[CdnFox]

4 minutes ago, blackbird said:

The article or OP was not about rescuing one religion over another.  It was Saijan allegedly ordering the rescue of 200 people who were not part of the plan to evacuate Canadians and those who helped Canadians in Afghanistan.  Obviously he was doing it because they were Sikhs.

Now you know I am the first person in the entire universe to criticize the liberals or any of their minions activities whenever appropriate.

But I think in times of war things can be extremely confusing, information can be going both ways and the situation can be changing rapidly, and I think that sometimes there isn't a lot of time for thought and if you see an opportunity to do something you just do it. You don't consider it in the context of the larger picture.

It kind of sounds like that's what happened here. Not so much hey let's not get our guys out as much as hey I don't know what the heck is going on but I know these guys are here and we can get them, go right now.

I'm sure if they had months to plan for everything they might have done things differently, but that was a hectic, scary, fluid, dangerous situation. I'm sure they wish they could have gotten everybody out.

I think this one has to get chalked up to the fog of war.

[eyeball]

2 hours ago, Army Guy said:

He has gotten himself into hot water, the military did what they were asked to do...

Okay but this still wouldn't be an issue if it only involved Christians.

[blackbird]

3 hours ago, eyeball said:

Okay but this still wouldn't be an issue if it only involved Christians.

Sadly, this seems too hard for you to understand.  The Canadian mission was to give Canadians and Afghans who worked for Canadians the highest priority for evacuation from Afghanistan.   The reports say Sajjan interfered with that priority and directed that 200 non-Canadians, who happened to be Sikhs, be brought out ahead of the Canadians and those who helped Canadians.

The 200 Sikhs had nothing to do with Canada's mission there during the previous conflict.  It appears Sajjan may have been lobbied by a Sikh organization in Canada to bring them out ahead of the Canadians and those who helped Canadian Forces in Afghanistan during the war.

There was nothing in the news report about choosing between bringing Christians or Sikhs out.  That was not the issue at all.  It is something you are inventing to try to smear Christians as usual.

[Army Guy]

12 hours ago, eyeball said:

Okay but this still wouldn't be an issue if it only involved Christians.

except there was no christians, was there, he tasked an already overtasked spec ops group to rescue a group specified by the Minister of National defense when they could have been rescuing other Canadians or those that helped Canadians during the conflict...instead the minister choose one group over another,...and has no other answer for his decision except to lie ....typical liberal response to anything that does not go as plan...Why the liberals picked him over Leslie for MDND is beyond me.

[jatt47]

https://thehub.ca/2024/07/04/richard-shimooka-canadas-shameful-betrayal-of-our-afghan-partners-goes-beyond-sajjans-specific-actions/

The planning was based on directives issued by IRCC, namely Public Policy 23 (this was for current locally engaged staff and Canadian citizens) and Public Policy 24 (for former locally engaged staff). It did not include the Afghan Sikhs and Hindus or any other refugees. Collectively this was known as Operation AEGIS, Canada’s evacuation mission in Kabul, coordinated by IRCC and Global GAC and supported by the CAF, that essentially ran from August 4 to 26, 2021.

 

Initially, Operation AEGIS’s evacuation effort was narrowly focused on those Afghans outlined in Public Policies 23 and 24 and did not include other refugees. However, the situation shifted on August 13, when Prime Minister Trudeau announced that his government would facilitate the resettlement of 20,000 vulnerable Afghans into Canada. While this effort was distinct from Operation AEGIS, it affected the evacuation nonetheless, both in scope and scale.

Within a week of the prime minister’s statement, the operation’s focus widened to incorporate all at-risk refugees, and it gained a new name: Operation SAFE HAVEN. 

----

Sikhs aren't going anywhere - Canada brought in 30,000 Afghan Muslims.

It's taken in plenty of Syrians, Ukranians etc.

You can handle a few million more Indians. 

[blackbird]

This CBC news item gives a lot of detail about this issue:

"Then-defence minister Harjit Sajjan relayed information to the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) about how to rescue Sikhs in Afghanistan while troops were trying to get Canadians out of Kabul as it was falling to the Taliban in August of 2021.

Sajjan said in a media statement Thursday that, as minister, he "did not order" Canadian Special Operations Forces to rescue Sikhs in Kabul.

He said Sikhs in Afghanistan were not given priority over Canadians and other groups that Canada was intent on rescuing from a country that had just fallen to a group listed as a terrorist entity under Canadian law.

Sajjan confirmed he did relay information to the armed forces provided to him by a Canadian Sikh group — a non-governmental organization (NGO) that was encouraging the Canadian government to rescue Afghan Sikhs and resettle them in this country.

He said he provided the information "through the appropriate chain of command to assist the group of Afghan Sikhs who had been determined eligible for evacuation."

"I relayed whatever information the NGO provided about the location and status of these Sikhs to the chain of command for it to use as it saw fit, in line with its operational plan on the ground in Afghanistan."

The Globe and Mail published a different interpretation of those events on Thursday.

Related video: Sikh charity refutes claims against Sajjan (CityNews)

The paper, citing unnamed sources, said that Sajjan, who currently serves as the minister for emergency preparedness, "instructed Canadian special forces to rescue about 225 Afghan Sikhs" — members of a religious minority in Afghanistan — who were "not considered an operational priority for the Canadian military as they had no link to Canada."

The military's stated priority during the evacuation was to support Canadian citizens, permanent residents and their immediate family members, as well as vulnerable Afghans who had assisted Canada during its military operation in the country.

The government also identified other groups, including Afghan religious minorities and members of LGBTQ community, as potential evacuees to be resettled.

After interpreting Sajjan's communications about the Afghan Sikhs as an order from the minister to rescue them, Canadian special forces tried to track the Sikhs down and bring them to the airport to be flown out to safety, the paper reported.

The Globe and Mail said some of its military sources felt "Sajjan was out of line in pressing Canadian special forces to rescue the Afghan Sikhs" because the operation involved "intense planning and it meant fewer soldiers were available to screen people awaiting the last flights out of Kabul."

Hundreds of people gather, some holding documents, near an evacuation control checkpoint on the perimeter of the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan on Aug. 26, 2021. (Wali Sabawoon/Associated Press)© Provided by cbc.ca

The Globe and Mail says it was told by military sources the mission to rescue the Sikhs was a "logistical nightmare" that happened as Canadian forces were "trying to hurry and process people through who have Canadian passports."

Speaking to reporters at an unrelated announcement in B.C., Sajjan said the Globe and Mail's story was "utter BS."

He said it was approved government policy to try to evacuate Afghan Sikhs.

"All effort was done to carry this out, to get as many people out as possible," he said.

Asked if he understood his comments to the military to be a direct order to rescue Sikhs, Sajjan referred reporters to his written media statement.

When reporters asked if he intervened to try to help Canadians or any other vulnerable or religious groups get out of Kabul as the Taliban seized control, Sajjan again referred to the written statement. The statement does not address that matter.

When asked if it was appropriate to intervene at all in the rescue mission, Sajjan said it's the job of the defence minister to "execute the government policies of the day."

Sajjan suggested that his actions are only now being construed as improper because he's a Sikh.

Sajjan said he wouldn't be getting questions about his efforts to help Afghan Sikhs "if I wasn't wearing a turban."

Sajjan said something similar in his media statement: "I can only surmise that if I did not wear a turban, no one would question whether my actions were appropriate."

That sentiment was echoed by the World Sikh Organization, an advocacy group.

"Allegations that Minister Harjit Sajjan acted inappropriately are unfounded and appear to be influenced by bias against his Sikh identity," the group said in a media statement.

The WSO said it wasn't just Liberals who were trying to secure safe passage for Sikhs.

The organization said a group of 25 Canadian MPs, including Conservative, NDP and Green members, wrote to then-Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino in July 2020 — a year before the fall of Kabul — calling for a special program for Afghan Sikh and Hindu refugees so that they could be brought to safety in Canada."

For the complete article:

Sajjan says he relayed information on rescuing Sikhs in Afghanistan during chaotic fall of Kabul (msn.com)

 

Edited July 5, 2024 by blackbird

[jatt47]

😔

Hey, stop interrupting my flame war. 

[blackbird]

"

The shocking response by Emergency Preparedness Minister Harjit Sajjan to revelations he prioritized the evacuation of Indian Sikhs before the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban leaves one question: Why is he still in cabinet?

The Globe and Mail revealed recently that, as defence minister, Sajjan told Canadian special forces to prioritize the rescue of about 225 Afghan Sikhs as Kabul fell and Canada and its allies scrambled to get its personnel out of harm’s way.

This country abandoned its citizens, plus scores of translators and other Afghans who had worked with our armed forces and were therefore at risk of reprisals from the Taliban. Meanwhile, precious resources were used to evacuate foreign nationals.

Sajjan acknowledged this week that he received information about them from a Canadian Sikh organization. The Globe also reported the director of that group donated to Sajjan’s riding association at about the same time as the evacuation.

And the unparliamentary response from a minister of the Crown? He called the reporting “Utter B.S.” and suggested it was motivated by “racism.”

Ah, yes. The “r” response. When caught in an embarrassing situation by a news outlet, discredit the source and question their motives.

This is the go-to response of Justin Trudeau’s government. It was the knee-jerk reaction when news broke of impropriety in the SNC/Lavalin scandal.

Trudeau denied any wrongdoing: “The allegations in the Globe story this morning are false,” he insisted. “Neither the current nor the previous attorney general was ever directed by me nor anyone in my office to take a decision in this matter.” We all know how that ended.

He suggested that questions about Chinese meddling in the Don Valley North nomination race of MP Han Dong were “anti-Asian racism.”

Faced with these new and outrageous allegations, Trudeau’s government points the finger of blame at everyone but themselves, insisting (a) it’s fake news or (b) it’s racism.

These reports detail a betrayal of Canadians and our friends overseas, who should reasonably have expected to be evacuated from Kabul. They were abandoned while this country’s military helped foreign nationals. At a time when foreign interference in our elections is top of everyone’s mind, Trudeau has no option but to ask for Sajjan’s resignation — or fire him."

EDITORIAL: Feds play blame game once again (msn.com)

[WestCanMan]

All that 'legal' means in that context is that the order came from our PMO, not just Sajjan himself, and it's no surprise that la Turd is pandering to a minority religion again.

Using the same Trudeau logic as in Syria, where our gov't prioritized getting muslims out of Syria and into Canada "because muslims in Syria were killing Christians and Yazidis", it would only make sense to prioritize getting Sikhs out of Afghanistan and into Canada if it was the Sikhs who were committing genocide against other people there, but that obviously wasn't the case. 

Can't we just send Trudeau to those places? I think he should go to Ukraine and lead a charge against the Russians. Tell him that he's not allowed to stop until he gets to Moscow.