"Harper had best beware The Big Cod in military matters"

From the Halifax Chronically Horrid:

LAST WEEK, there was a full-scale tempest in a tiny teapot on Parliament Hill as the Conservative government tried to explain some serious contradictions in its policy on Afghan detainees. It was discovered that some 10 weeks earlier, Canadian soldiers had ceased handing over prisoners to the Afghan National Directorate of Security in Kandahar. Allegations of torture were made at the time, but nobody thought to mention this major shift in our national policy.

As reporters and opposition critics demanded an explanation, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s office decided to blame the mess on the top brass. Harper’s spokeswoman Sandra Buckler fingered the military as the culprit in not keeping its political masters informed. As Gen. Rick Hillier, chief of defence staff, was "down south" on leave at the time, staff probably thought the whole thing would blow over before the general returned.

Somehow word got to Hillier at his unidentified beach resort and within minutes, the phone rang in Harper’s office. Nobody knows for sure what was said, or to whom, but shortly thereafter, Buckler issued a retraction. One version of events has Hillier, clad in Hawaiian shirt, Bermuda shorts and sandals, feverishly pumping quarters into the payphone in the lobby of a Club Med resort.

Hillier had bypassed his own minister, gone straight to his accuser, grabbed a vulnerable body part with both hands and squeezed until Harper cried uncle.

Link

I'm not greatly fond of Hillier, but I DO like this! :evilgrin:

It sounds like they were lying with the truth. They said they hadn't had a phone conversation, but neglected to mention that Hillier talked to Buckler (assuming that is what Taylor is implying in this account).

...and tore him a whole new one. This is a good thing. :evilgrin:

Interesting if true. These people are usually careful not to outright lie. Outright lying seems like desperation on Harper's part. I suppose that's a good thing.

He keeps up the pressure. Discuss the real issue. He seems to have decided to keep on the pressure.

Kandahar means combat, Hillier says
The Canadian Press

February 1, 2008 at 11:08 AM EST

OTTAWA — Canadian soldiers cannot avoid combat if they are to remain in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar, the chief of defence staff said Friday.

General Rick Hillier ruled out any possibility that troops could remain in the volatile region and perform strictly humanitarian and reconstruction duties.

“Certainly if you're in Kandahar you're going to be in combat operations,” Gen. Hillier told reporters after delivering a speech at an Arctic conference.

“If you're there, you're going to be in the middle of a firefight some way or another.”

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080201.wafghhill0201/BNStory/Afghanistan/

Don't be duped into thinking that there is any disagreement between Harper and Hillier on anything consequential. Their "disagreements" look more like PR exercises that actually help both of them politically. The media fall for it every time.

- B