Canadian Cover Up?
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04 January 2010
(Unfortunately, this news comes as I wait to board a flight from Hong Kong to the United States. It must be written quickly and without editing.)
A reporter at Canwest News Service emailed Saturday asking for information on the four Canadian soldiers and the journalist who were killed on December 30 in Afghanistan. I supplied a portion of the unpublicized information, and the reporter emailed Sunday that the Canadian military is “trying to suppress our telling of your information.”
The reporter also wrote, “While the Canadian military confirmed to me much of the information you provided, they are trying to prevent us from publishing it, saying it would breach our agency's embedding agreement.”
There is nothing classified or sensitive about the information supplied to Canwest. This smells of a classic cover-up that has nothing to do with winning or losing the war, but more likely something to do with saving embarrassment.
Some information provided to Canwest:
According to my sources, the attack happened during late afternoon on 30th. At least some of the Canadian soldiers had been dismounted doing an “engagement patrol” in district 2 of Kandahar. The soldiers and Canadian reporter Michelle Lang were in the area of the district center and the Dand district border. On the way out (apparently) a LAV (armored vehicle) was hit by the bomb on route “Molson,” flipping the LAV.
Four apparently died on scene. Sgt. Kirk Taylor apparently died at KAF or on the way to KAF (Kandahar Airfield). Five wounded were flown to Germany. One soldier was apparently thought to be dead, but was pulled from the wreckage about three hours after the blast and may have started showing signs of life during helicopter flight.
The five Canadians were killed with about 500lbs of explosives, apparently made from fertilizer, buried under route Molson in Kandahar. A wire approximately 150m long was used to command detonate the bomb using a radio receiver. The radio receiver was outside the ECM bubble.
For more discussion, please see.
Insofar as the apparent censorship attempts by the Canadian military, any censorship of non-classified information is fraught with peril. Both the British and U.S. military have at times done the same, leading to non-productive confrontations for everyone involved. To whit, regarding American stonewalling: CENSORING IRAQ
Immediately after that dispatch, General Petraeus emailed to me. When the matter was brought to his attention, the matter was solved. The censorship stopped. His openess with the media – good, bad, or ugly – has been incredibly productive for everyone. Of course there are lumps involved. Everyone gets lumps in this fight. The upshot is that media overwhelmingly trusts General Petraeus, as do I.
Then came the British, to whit: BULLSHIT BOB
Many of the British officers know that censorship is counterproductive, but they’ve still got too many monkeys in the cockpit to fly straight. Many Americans are under British command in Afghanistan, and so British censorship in Afghanistan becomes American business, just as any censorship by us is rightfully British business.
Though I have been around British enough to trust and admire their fighting abilities and moral compass, censorship from MoD is steaming toward severe confrontations during 2010. The MoD is not of high IQ; British soldiers are something to brag about. British troops are national treasures and should be in the news every day, yet their MoD is dumbed-down and is not tough enough to handle the media.
According to my communications from inside the Canwest News Service camp, Canwest feels censored and realizes the Canadian military is covering up the situation in Kandahar.
Today, U.S. troops are under Canadian leadership, so any hint of Canadian censorship suddenly and jarringly makes Canadian business in Afghanistan into U.S. business. With U.S. blood under Canadian command, the Canadian military is on limits. U.S. families and citizens have a right to know who is leading their troops. This is very serious. In this war, especially in southern Afghanistan, the British have a right to know what’s going on with the U.S. and Canadians. The Canadians and U.S. have that same right, as do other partners.
Access is a two way street. The Canadians can freely give access and gain a chance to tell their side of the unfolding stories, or they can deny access and access will be taken without terms.
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Comments
Annie and Neatie
Michael, you're absolutely correct about censorship. Unless there's a compelling reason to secure opsec or operational information, then the article you've got above must not be censored.
During WWII, it took over 2-weeks to the Navy and Marine brass to realize that withholding the casualty reports from Tarawa didn't make sense. Initially, they'd been shocked by the large numbers on that miserable island and finally came to the understanding that America needed to know what price was being paid by its sons and husbands.
Isolationist? Is that why we're in about a dozen military operations worldwide and a member of almost every international organization in existence?
And about "information like the detonator being outside ECM range probably not best publicized". That's just BS, how can an enemy activity like that ever be OpSec? They are doing it, so it's not a secret to them. OpSec is about denying the enemy operational information, but there can't be many cases where enemy activity would come under OpSec, since they are doing it, so they know about it. Assuming otherwise is underestimating the enemy, which is always very dangerous.
Why does every Canadian get so defensive every time an American raises the least bit of criticism against anything in Canada? Grow up!
@Terry: According to a Canadian reporter from CanWest News Service, the DND _is_ trying to keep them from reporting certain facts. If all you want is the body count (which is all you mention) then just stick to the dumbed down news channels, there's lots of them around.
@GGower: Again, it was a Canadian reporter from CanWest News Service that brought this to Mr. Yon's attention. Respect for the troops is to not let anyone cover up anything.
...and yes I do understand that the govenrment hides stuff sometimes.
Besides...it is well known that US casulties are hidden as much as possible. At least they were under Bush.
As for Canada's population being isolationist...my god the American public's isolationism regarding the outside world tends to be what get us into these messes. I give you Iraq as ample evidence of that. Canada was first into help Britain in WW1 and II, they were in Korea with the UN and they were one of the first to step up to this fight in Afghanistan. Long before you or others were there. In WWII, a million Canadian soldiers faught for what was right. Considering that the country only had 11 million people, it was quite a sacrifice. In reality, Canadians have never made much noise about their war records. We don't make movies or allow soldiers to carry video cameras into combat...they just get the job done and move on.
As for you Mike, well you've made it clear that the Canadian military and government have rejected you for imbedding and you're not happy about it. It's that simple. I don't know why they are keeping you out, but I guess it might have something to do with the size of our military and the effort and resources required to protect your ass while in the field. In this particular instance, a reporter from Canada who was imbedded was killed. Again...I fail to see the sensorship.
And by the way, just like other news organizations around the free world, Canwest Global should not be considered unbiast. They've supported the Liberal party in Canada for years and are looking for any dirt they can find on the Conservatives.
A knowledge of history is essential to be avoid making the same mistakes made in the past, but that was then. Canada is a socialist country that will so be over flowing with Muslim's and all the problems that culture brings with it. Canada has lost it's independence and become a European (America disdaining) satellite.
The Canadian Military has been down sizing for years now and can't even protect their own fishery much less their nation.
So hearing that they are covering up losses is no surprise.
Is Mr Hansen correct about what was supposed to be censored from the reports? Whether yes or no, would you confirm exactly what was supposedly covered up? Because it's not a coverup of their deaths as Mr Anderson mistakenly believes.
Ever since the Conservative Party formed its first minority government, Canada's MSM have been covering our war dead in detail, supposedly out of respect and concern for the troops whereas I suspect their newfound concern for the military comes from a desire to embarrass the government. Anyone making a claim that this was trying to coverup or downplay the four military deaths and the journalist's is badly mistaken.
"According to my communications from inside the Canwest News Service camp, Canwest feels censored and realizes the Canadian military is covering up the situation in Kandahar"
and I'd urge every Canadian citizen to question it, again whether it's as stated or not. Let them (you're government) know you require to be informed properly and fully.
What would it take to start a program to where experienced Anbar Tribal Leaders could come to Afghanistan and advise the local Tribes on resisting the Taliban?
I just read this story about the Taliban overplaying their hand in Shinkay.
http://afghanistan.blogs.cnn.com/2010/01/04/what-does-winning-look-like-in-afghanistan/
The Taliban murdered a tribal leader and member of the Shura. The town rallied against the Taliban and now they are on the run. It reminded me of the early days of the Anbar Awakening - when unbelievable stories surfaced of small towns across Anbar ejecting their Al Qaida opressors.
I would be willing to contribute for their travel and expenses. I apologize if you have already written about this idea.
Greg
Mapson, you are correct in your statements, but it's not Mike's fault the taliban do or don't know anything... he does a very very good job of following procedures, releasing pertinent information but not releasing intel that would be beneficial to the enemy; he'll leave that to CNN and FOX.
Mr. Yon is a former Green Beret, so I think he knows what should be OpSec and what shouldn't. What's your credentials for knowing differently?
Well Bob, where you you boys in 1914, where were you in 1939? We were there. Where were you at Kap-Yong when you buggered off and left us to face the Chinese alone? We stopped them cold and you slunk back offering us many thanks. We don't need you for our protection Bob, when you invaded Canada in 1775, in 1812, in 1866 we sent you home barefoot and empty handed. So Bob, we don't need you. And yes, after ten years of waiting for you fellows to take your thumbs out of your backsides and deal with Islam in the Afghan landfill is a little to god damned long. Canada destroyed 53 German divisions in one hundred days on the western front from August till November 1918. We have always fought to win, not hold Muslim nutsacks and hand out kissed korans. Our patience with your grand strategy of hugging Muslims for a hundred years has worn out our patience. There is still two years left in our tour, so how about beating the sons of bitches instead of having tea with them?
What bothers me most is this right-left politization of the war. Like it or not, we are all in it against a common enemy and should be supporting our governments in the fight. To do less is, in my mind, providing aid and comfort the enemy and there is a word for that.
There will be another day when a predator will succeed, or a Canadian, or British, or American or Afghan soldier will draw a bead on one of those terrorists. No ones trying to get anything going. We're all trying to stop terrorists, with the possible of Eric holder, Janet Napalitano, "O" and a number or duderheaded senators and representatives .
We've always had isolationists, we also always had snipers, goes with our countries. We need both, we require both to keep us thinking about what we are about. Step back take a breath. Re-focus, its a religious war of terror, its going to be very long and very nasty.
Regball6
I was responding to Bobs view of Canadians. Of course America is the major strength in the war on WTF? And they have no idea of what they are fighting or how to defeat it. When you stand on that ground you wind up where we are today. As to "victory" in Iraq...that fades with each passing moment. You cannot win with Muslims at your side and whispering in your ears. The institutions of America are infiltrated top to bottom with trust worthy Muslims directing your actions. The big kabui dance in the afghan landfill is just a glittery expensive distraction from the real Muslim incursions into our halls of learning, government and neighbourhoods. Its the long war because no one wants to face the enemy.
http://www.thunderrun.us/2010/01/from-front-01042010.html
Michael C
Canadians acting like their military history is anything special are hilarious.
You won a few battles. America was, is and will be fully responsible for winning the war. Come 2011, we'll still be fighting... where will YOU be?
http://toyoufromfailinghands.blogspot.com/
For US forces at Kandahar (and how the Canadian media are ignoring them) see this post:
"Afstan: Typical Canadian reporting--balderflippingd ash, Part 2"
http://toyoufromfailinghands.blogspot.com/2010/01/afstan-typical-canadian-reporting.html
Mark
Ottawa
"The Torch"
"Afstan: Typical Canadian reporting--balderflippingd ash, Part 2"
Mark
Ottawa
The ignorance and the dumb ass flag waving is beyond lame, then again maybe you're tying to be ironic.
Victory in Iraq, staying in Afghanistan after 2011, fight on to the end, USA!, USA! Who are you trying to kid?
The US has been in Afghanistan for over eight years and Iraq for almost seven, and yet to some on this thread victory is just around the corner. Really?
This chest thumping and flag waving does not cover the fact that the US - as powerful as it is - is not winning this or any war lately.
Granted, you're very good at dropping bombs on brown people - a talent like no other - but that's not boots on the ground is it?
And yes Canada should be taken to task if they tried to cover this up, but no one here trying to argue the US doesn't do this as well right?
These comments are typical of certain US residents who assume they're two types of people in this world - Americans and those who want to be Americans.
Canada has a proud military history and has more then carried their weight not only in Afghanistan, but in The Boer War, WWI, WWII, Korea, especially in relation to our population, which is ten times less then the US. We're not comparing apples to apples here.
True we're not as gung ho as the Americans but hey, it's a different country, just because we're not aping your military culture does not mean we're wrong.
What we do share is the population of both countries just want to get the hell out Afghanistan as soon as we complete our commitments despite what some of our more uber patriotic posters may have to say.
I could go on but I'm sure a few of you are already late for your John Birch Society meetings.
On a per capita basis I think it is special. Considering we only were 11 million in 1945 we did well. 3rd largest Navy. 4th largest Air Force.
"Come 2011, we'll still be fighting... where will YOU be?"
At home, wishing some of you well. And hoping Obama hasn't destroyed your country and invited even more terrorist attacks iniode the USA with his weakness.
I am concerned about triage between theater and evac. I saw one young veteran on Outdoor Channel who said he woke up in a body bag. How often has this happened?
We have two possible interpretations : Either we are witnessing miraculous recoveries, or we are misreading signs of life/death. Eliminate human error as much as possible in order to bring home as many live troops as possible.
Our sons, daughters, husbands, wives, fathers and mothers are 'over there' and that is not likely to change in the near future. Let us lean hard on our elected officials to fund and support the military with improved technology and training...and it needs to be seen where the boots hit the sand. I'm sick of profiteers lining their pockets with gold while our troops are short of brass and lead.
Michael Holloway
Toronto
My Longer answer: The coalition should communicate to the Tliban the idea that when casualties go too high, the alternative to staying is to pulverize Afghanistan back to thetone-age and cut it off from civilization. No flights. No trains. No roads through the passes.
We should threaten to do to Afghanistan what we did to Serbia.
As for Canadas contribution: We had our own beach at D-Day. Don't denigrate us! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juno_Beach
Nice, but I'm sure you think the Israelis get extra points for trying harder then we do. I'd report you to your delightful Human Rights Tribunals for this piece of hate speech, but I'm sure there's a special dispensation excusing hate speech directed at American sand Israelis.
BTW, the same friend says they could not get around if it were not for the Canadian helicopters...VIVA MOLSON AIR!
I note your caveat that your story was "written quickly and without editing". Perhaps in the future you should take the time to get informed about a story before publishing it. Suggesting that there's some sort of a "cover up" after more than 2,000 media stories have already been published about it worldwide is simply stupid.
I sincerely hope that the quality of your reporting improves. Publishing unsubstantiated rumours is not the sort of conduct that engenders trust and encourages people to support your work.
When i first read it i got that a journalist had contacted Michael about info-Michael gives it to him-then the journalist says he is getting pressure not to print. I then get that Michael has had similar issues in the past from several different governments including his own. You insinuating that a Government wouldn't and doesn't cover things up is naive. It is done everyday, everywhere, by all governments to one degree or another.
oh yeah and as far as the quality of reporting, go back and suck on the fumes of the main stream media a little more. Everyone here knows Michael tells it like he sees it. We may not always agree or like what he is saying but the quality of his work has never been an issue, to me anyway.
Gil
And that, my Canadian friend, is exactly the problem. I could very well be in Afghanistan in 2011, taking up some of your country's slack. I would be honored to fight alongside Canadian soldiers and I hope Prime Minister Harper will show the smallest fraction of Obama's strength and determination by continuing to lend us a hand in the decisive hour of this war.
My brother has been to Afghanistan 4 times now.You 'may' be going sometime in the future.He volunteered all four times. I could ask, why aren't you there now? Don't denigrate our armed forces.We have held the line, in many cases, until your country can get its act together to come help. Even then, it was reluctantly(thi nk both world conflicts).
Perhaps we would not even be having this conversation if Afghanistan had been resourced to even one tenth the level that Iraq was, in terms of troops and equipment. We could have pissing contests all day long, but the fact remains that Canada's armed forces burnt out in the nearly ten years it took America to refocus on Afghanistan and commit more resources.
We have a fairly small armed forces, and the refit will come as a welcome respite.Do not mistake that as running away.We will be back into the fight soon enough, somewhere in the world.
"Massive explosion killed Canadian journalist, four soldiers in Afghanistan, military says
IED 'deliberately' placed in a tunnel dug under road"
http://www.canada.com/news/Massive+explosion+killed+Canadian+journalist+four+soldiers+Afghanistan+military+says/2405242/story.html
Mark
Ottawa
Mark
Ottawa
I just saw that you were detained by our wonderfully trained and highly competent TSA. What a joke and unfortunately we're all stuck with it. Glad you made it back safely though. TSA is pretty much the same word as idiot.
http://biggovernment.com/2010/01/05/exclusive-interview-military-blogger-michael-yon-detained-by-tsa-in-seattle-airport/#more-55762
The idea of the Canadian armed forces being burnt out on your deployment tempo, which is a fraction of the American one, is ridiculous. The Canadian armed forces are not burned out, they are being ordered into a disgraceful retreat by a political leadership that has missed the bus. Talking about needing to "refit" is a poor excuse when American forces have been "refitting" on the battlefield for years now.
As for Canadians "holding the line" - go ask the Polish if anyone held the line for them. We at least were not in a position to do so. I also seem to recall that the American contribution to Afghanistan has always been at least as large as the rest of NATO combined, sinking the idea that Euro-NATO has somehow been manning the barricades in Afghanistan without a serious American commitment.
As for myself? I swore to serve my country and I go where my orders take me - Americans do not have the luxury of volunteering for deployments. I wish to remain civil, so I'll leave it there. Maybe you should ask your brother for his opinion on the subject instead of fronting your government's party line - I dare say you might learn something.
As for Canadian Censorship - that is nothing but pure BS and typical American hyperbole - the US and the Brits have tried to silence SOME things Mike wrote about, but the Canadian Military has NOT done the same, and the Canadian Media has excellently covered the war in AFG for 8 yrs. Some of the embed reports surpass anything from the American MSM embed reports. not to mention the coverage of the repatriation ceremonies. Canadians have no problem allowing media coverage honoring those who died in the line of duty.. Our media has always been respectful and Ive not seen any cases of the media politicizing the ceremony.
As for some of the comments made by SOME people on this page----sadly in the years I spent living in the US - I found plenty of people who exhibited arrogance wrapped in ignorance when it comes to all things Canadian..and most things globally. Somethings never change.
God Bless ALL the troops!
All the coalition do their share. And as Michael says: the war in Afghan has truly begun. That is not because of the Brits or Canadians. It is due to the US not taking that theater seriously (politically) until after Iraq quieted down. --USMC (Ret)
Here's my near-worthless, but perhaps different perspective:
I see no journalistic purpose to having included the apparent length of the wire to the detonator, unless there had been an implication made by the Canadian authorities that the distance had been greater, and that had implied that they were providing greater force protection to their personnel than was actually the case. Had the authorities attempted to mislead the public, then this would have been important information to include, especially as the jihadists clearly knew how long the wire was.
Similarly, I see no journalistic purpose to include the approximate size of the explosive, unless the authorities had implied it was much larger. I see no journalistic purpose to include the type of vehicle the personnel had (apparently) been in, unless the authorities had implied they were protecting their personnel with a MRAP.
I guess I'm inclined to agree with our Canadian cousins that were upset with the publication of information that added little, if anything, useful for the public's awareness, especially if even one tiny bit of that information may have been of any use to our common enemy. Perhaps, many months from now, when things may have changed, these might be interesting details to learn. At this time, there is only one group of people that might benefit from knowing what vehicle is vulnerable, to what sized explosive, remotely detonated from what distance. I would not consider keeping that information out of the press (especially this soon, before any changes may have been made), to be censorship.
It is my strong belief that the Christian world has a very difficult time in comprehending the severity of the Islamic siren.
I have recently finished a very good book that deals with our first responder strike team that was sent to Afghanistan a few short weeks following 911 - It, along with a great deal of other literature and blogs I have investigated, gives a powerfully base of for understanding the conflict there, who the Afghanistan people are, what they are up against, what we are up against, and ultimately who we are.
[Note: url removed by webmaster}
I think a huge problem with the current generations that are living in America is a failure to understand "terror", origins, motivations, goals, and its advocates.
The advocates of Islam are telling us very specific things.
The onus is on the Muslim nation to police its advocates and terrorist appendages.
Just because we do not wish to believe what they are saying, does not make what they are saying less true.
On the other hand- I personally DO NOT encourage leaving the war in Afghanistan, we just need a stronger political resolve to better fund the war.
As far as "volunteering" for deployments, this means someone ACTIVELY SOUGHT deployment. The idea that regular force soldiers can randomly pick and choose their tours is false, for us "volunteering" means that someone actively pursued a deployment when their unit could have replaced them with another available soldier.
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