A fascinating, must read article

[Montgomery Burns]

It's long but most will be hooked and will read the entire article.

*Note: Macleans erred/typoed in regards to the date of this article. It is brand new - May 15, 2006, not May 15, 2005.

[August1991]

It is a long but good read about the Canadian snipers in Afghanistan whose skills were appreciated by the US military but not our own. (MB, please no more mystery titles. You could have given at least a hint.)

I liked the following quotes:

Persecuted instead of praised, they fell victim to what many still believe was a witch hunt driven by jealousy and political correctness.

You can build a hundred bridges and rob a bank, but you'll never be known as a bridge builder. You'll be known as a bank robber.

(This is largely true of bureaucracy and politics. One "Oh shit" equals a thousand "attaboys".)

IMV, the real sin is the time all these investigations have taken. It is debilitating to wait. Whether it is Air India or the case of these five snipers, Canadian bureaucrats are so fearful of making a mistake that they eventually commit the mistake of irrelevance. If the 9/11 Commission had been Canadian, the hearings would just now be getting underway and the final report would still be 10 years into the future.

Justice delayed is justice denied.

[Montgomery Burns]

Additionally, it seems that the military was fearful of a possible military scandal like that Somalian boy getting beaten to death years back.

[PocketRocket]

Good article, MONTY, and welcome back. It's always much less interesting (and infuriating lol) around here without you.

This reminds me of when they disbanded the AIRBORNE regiment.

Canada's best, dismantled because of the actions of a very few, and the scandal that ensued.

I've been pissed off about that since it happened.

One of the few things about Canada of which I am ashamed is the treatment of our military personel by over-sensitive, bleeding-heart, tut-tutting, finger-wagging, chair-warmers, none of whom have contributed anything to the betterment of our country, let alone ever had the guts to enlist and volunteer to defend Canada.

I said this at the time of the Airborne incident; "Unless you have the guts to put on a uniform and put yourself in harm's way to defend your country, you have no right to judge those who do."

Castigating fine soldiers for the sake of political expediency. Feh.

Parasites :angry:

[Michael Hardner]

IMV, the real sin is the time all these investigations have taken. It is debilitating to wait. Whether it is Air India or the case of these five snipers, Canadian bureaucrats are so fearful of making a mistake that they eventually commit the mistake of irrelevance. If the 9/11 Commission had been Canadian, the hearings would just now be getting underway and the final report would still be 10 years into the future.

On the mark, Auguste.

If our current PM can find a way to de-politicize more of our day-to-day government operations, he will see a double-benefit. 1 ) It takes less energy to run things if you don't have to worry about the press at every single turn. 2 ) Less politics in CDN government operations means less bad news.