To add insult to injury, when the truth was outed ten weeks later, the Prime Minister's Office deicded to blame the mess on military. They had failed to keep their political masters informed, said he. Although General Rick Hillier was on leave at the time and somewhere 'down south', that didn't mean that Harper was safe in his little white lie.
Apparently word quickly made it to the General, who called the Prime Minister direct-like. Although nobody knows for sure what was said, or to whom, Harper's spokeswoman issued a retraction.
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. And that’s why the troops love this guy. The soldiers nicknamed him The Big Cod because, regardless of his faults, he’s an unrepentant fighter, fully prepared to throw his weight around in Ottawa.Uh huh. Next time you attempt to cover your a**, sir, please do not attempt to do so at the expense of our military. You might just find that yours get bitten.
Cross-posted at The Flight Deck
4 comments:
So Michelle, I gotta ask you. Since you've confessed to a more liberal leaning thought process in the past - and meaning not to be antagonistic here - would you have felt the same way about the same story 2 or 3 years ago.
Or, like many of the rest of us, have you fully drunk the KoolAid that is Lex???
:-)
That said, tis jealous I am. Our Generals could never get away with that. They'd be blackballed before you could blink - which is a damned shame. In this, I like the Canadian way so much better.
It's a good question, Kris.
There are some places where I clearly see a new leaning in my thinking from being at Lex's. Just the other day I was either reading or blogging something (forget which) and noticed that. But not in this case.
For one thing, I've never had much use for politicians so I have even less use for them covering their behinds by attempting to blame their actions or inactions on others. And no, I never would have appreciated our soldiers (no matter how high up the chain of command) being "blamed" for something they had no part of. After all, it's government that sets policy.
I'm not so sure about the Canadian way, though. I don't know what the fallout for this particular move of the General's might be but he has already rattled a few cages and definitely rubbed the politicians the wrong way. Witness this. Although I think I recall reading that the government had backpedaled somewhat on this, can't remember why now though. Personally, I think he is the perfect man to have in charge for our mission in Afghanistan.
The fact that your government backpedaled at all is just nothing short of amazing.
From one recovering liberal to another!!!
I'm not quite sure that I'm a recovering liberal, Kris. Not yet anyway. I have NEVER voted Conservative in my life (although I seriously considered it in the last election but am glad that I managed to keep my sanity at the last moment) and probably never will.
I just like to think of myself as a more middle of the road type (albeit with a definite pull to helping those less fortunate) who shakes her head in disbelief at the antics of those on both sides.
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