High (Hushed) Esteem
Canadians are proud of their armed forces, of the outstanding service the forces are providing in Afghanistan, determined to have a hand in the securing of a decent future for the people of that forever embattled country. Canadians have always been proud of their servicemen and women. The Canadian forces have had a long and distinguished record in the history of contemporary world battles against fascistic and brutally autocratic regimes that sought to enslave populations within and without their borders.
But Canada also has a deep and abiding shame related to the manner in which one portion of their armed services represented this country in the early 1990s in Somalia. Dispatched to try to bring some semblance of order and safety to the Somalian people suffering through a brutal civil war, it would appear that no attention whatever was given to the need to ensure that Canadians had some understanding of the culture and history of the country, and that they were there to help.
Colonel Serge Labbe was tasked to lead Canada's 1992-1993 mission to Somalia. At the time he was highly regarded as a capable and up-and-coming figure in the Canadian Forces. Unfortunately, the Canadian Airborne Regiment, once a highly-regarded and well-trained troupe, had fallen into disrepute as a result of serious disciplinary problems, acknowledged to have been a problem before their mission in Somalia - and continuing throughout their deployment there.
During the mission, in a war-torn country where the population was facing starvation, on several occasions Somalis had been lured into the Canadian camp with the promise of food and water, and when they attempted to retrieve the bait to have them illegally enter the Canadian camp, they were fatally shot. And a young Somali, 16-year-old Shidane Arone, became a play-puppet for brutally racist paratroopers seeking to allay their boredom by creating some excitement.
They tortured the young man, whose cries of agony were heard by others, but not responded to, as he was dying, calling out "Kanada!" in agonized disbelief that those respected Canadians whom he honoured and who were sent to help protect them from the atrocities being meted out by Somalian militants, would be the death of him. It was also rumoured that Somalis had been killed "execution-style" by a Canadian soldier.
A Canadian military surgeon, horrified by what he understood to have occurred, raised an alarm, and demanded an enquiry. The result was that the federal government announced a public enquiry to enlighten themselves and the country at large about what exactly had occurred in that Canadian military compound in war-ravaged Somalia. The enquiry was a civilian one, to ensure that no military bias once it became clear that a cover-up had already been undertaken - by Colonel Labbe, among others.
An initial military enquiry was accused by the surgeon, Dr. Barry Armstrong, of having organized a cover-up of the dreadful occurrences, leaving the Canadian minister of defence no option but to call a civilian-led enquiry. All the military who were questioned, from the leading general to the actual witnesses offered pallid excuses found unpalatable by the commission of enquiry. And allegations were made that the lead officer, Serge Labbe, had encouraged his men to brutalize and murder Somalians.
He was never charged in connection with any of the incidents the commission was looking into, and strenuously denied ever having encouraged his men to have acted illegally and inhumanely. Despite which, the Somalia enquiry reached the conclusion that then-Colonel Labbe had exercised poor and inappropriate leadership. He had, they concluded, failed to ensure Canadian troops under his command were properly trained and aware of the Geneva Conventions.
In short, he failed dismally in his duty as a commander. His career, however, was obviously not over. And the Liberal Chretien government decided to close down the commission of enquiry prematurely, as the results were proving to be increasingly embarrassing both to the government and to the armed services. And despite the dreadful shame of Canadians in realizing that a contingent of their armed services had disgraced the entire force, Colonel Labbe felt the operation had been a "highly satisfactory" deployment.
Amazingly enough, he career did not suffer, other than that he was passed over for promotion on a number of occasions. He was assigned a key position at NATO, and in the mission in Afghanistan. He worked closely with General Hillier, latterly the much-admired and highly respected Chief of the Defence Staff, now retired. And they obviously found they had much in common, in their close working relationship. So much so that General Hillier promoted his colleague.
A result of which the soldier who had failed so abysmally as a leader in Somalia - as to have been condemned in his commanding role there - has quietly been promoted to the rank of brigadier general. To be retroactive - no less - to 2000. He will, therefore, be eligible for a huge whack of back-pay, all of which will reflect very handsomely on the outcome of his pension on his imminent retirement.
Before himself retiring, a review had been ordered by General Hillier into Colonel Labbe's file. On the basis that there "may have been an oversight in the years following 1998", according to an email from the Defence Department. What was once indefensible has become a defensible oversight. "The rationale for the promotion was based on an overall assessment of performance of the individual in his rank, relative to that of his peers."
If that is so, then the Canadian public might begin to worry about the general level of responsible leadership attaining in the ranking hierarchy of the Canadian Armed Forces.
But Canada also has a deep and abiding shame related to the manner in which one portion of their armed services represented this country in the early 1990s in Somalia. Dispatched to try to bring some semblance of order and safety to the Somalian people suffering through a brutal civil war, it would appear that no attention whatever was given to the need to ensure that Canadians had some understanding of the culture and history of the country, and that they were there to help.
Colonel Serge Labbe was tasked to lead Canada's 1992-1993 mission to Somalia. At the time he was highly regarded as a capable and up-and-coming figure in the Canadian Forces. Unfortunately, the Canadian Airborne Regiment, once a highly-regarded and well-trained troupe, had fallen into disrepute as a result of serious disciplinary problems, acknowledged to have been a problem before their mission in Somalia - and continuing throughout their deployment there.
During the mission, in a war-torn country where the population was facing starvation, on several occasions Somalis had been lured into the Canadian camp with the promise of food and water, and when they attempted to retrieve the bait to have them illegally enter the Canadian camp, they were fatally shot. And a young Somali, 16-year-old Shidane Arone, became a play-puppet for brutally racist paratroopers seeking to allay their boredom by creating some excitement.
They tortured the young man, whose cries of agony were heard by others, but not responded to, as he was dying, calling out "Kanada!" in agonized disbelief that those respected Canadians whom he honoured and who were sent to help protect them from the atrocities being meted out by Somalian militants, would be the death of him. It was also rumoured that Somalis had been killed "execution-style" by a Canadian soldier.
A Canadian military surgeon, horrified by what he understood to have occurred, raised an alarm, and demanded an enquiry. The result was that the federal government announced a public enquiry to enlighten themselves and the country at large about what exactly had occurred in that Canadian military compound in war-ravaged Somalia. The enquiry was a civilian one, to ensure that no military bias once it became clear that a cover-up had already been undertaken - by Colonel Labbe, among others.
An initial military enquiry was accused by the surgeon, Dr. Barry Armstrong, of having organized a cover-up of the dreadful occurrences, leaving the Canadian minister of defence no option but to call a civilian-led enquiry. All the military who were questioned, from the leading general to the actual witnesses offered pallid excuses found unpalatable by the commission of enquiry. And allegations were made that the lead officer, Serge Labbe, had encouraged his men to brutalize and murder Somalians.
He was never charged in connection with any of the incidents the commission was looking into, and strenuously denied ever having encouraged his men to have acted illegally and inhumanely. Despite which, the Somalia enquiry reached the conclusion that then-Colonel Labbe had exercised poor and inappropriate leadership. He had, they concluded, failed to ensure Canadian troops under his command were properly trained and aware of the Geneva Conventions.
In short, he failed dismally in his duty as a commander. His career, however, was obviously not over. And the Liberal Chretien government decided to close down the commission of enquiry prematurely, as the results were proving to be increasingly embarrassing both to the government and to the armed services. And despite the dreadful shame of Canadians in realizing that a contingent of their armed services had disgraced the entire force, Colonel Labbe felt the operation had been a "highly satisfactory" deployment.
Amazingly enough, he career did not suffer, other than that he was passed over for promotion on a number of occasions. He was assigned a key position at NATO, and in the mission in Afghanistan. He worked closely with General Hillier, latterly the much-admired and highly respected Chief of the Defence Staff, now retired. And they obviously found they had much in common, in their close working relationship. So much so that General Hillier promoted his colleague.
A result of which the soldier who had failed so abysmally as a leader in Somalia - as to have been condemned in his commanding role there - has quietly been promoted to the rank of brigadier general. To be retroactive - no less - to 2000. He will, therefore, be eligible for a huge whack of back-pay, all of which will reflect very handsomely on the outcome of his pension on his imminent retirement.
Before himself retiring, a review had been ordered by General Hillier into Colonel Labbe's file. On the basis that there "may have been an oversight in the years following 1998", according to an email from the Defence Department. What was once indefensible has become a defensible oversight. "The rationale for the promotion was based on an overall assessment of performance of the individual in his rank, relative to that of his peers."
If that is so, then the Canadian public might begin to worry about the general level of responsible leadership attaining in the ranking hierarchy of the Canadian Armed Forces.
posted by Pieface | 6:35 PM
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