On Guard for Thee

A recent post at Jim Reed’s blog reminded me that I have some unfinished business with my MP, Gary Goodyear (Cambridge). In 2006, I sent an angry e-mail asking why our government simply accepted the death of Major Kruedener, when he had clearly been murdered by the Israeli Defence Force along with the other UN soldiers in the observation post. His reply was mostly a re-statement of the government’s message about the incident, which was not surprising.

However, the Board of Inquiry report regarding the incident was released recently, and it shows how full of falsehoods the party line was. Here are some of the more egregious ones from Goodyear’s e-mail.

As a member of the military (11^th field regiment), I am sure you are well aware that accidents happen, especially in combat… Israel has made it clear they did not intend to hit the UN post. Even when allies are working together friendly fire accidents do happen as recent and past events in Afghanistan illustrate.

(Mr Goodyear misunderstood — I am a former member, not a currently serving member.) The BOI findings clearly show that the Israeli Defence Force indeed knew what it was doing, and that the soldiers in UN post had protested their actions repeatedly (including to an Israeli liaison officer) before they were killed.

The BOI also found that four direct hits were made on the post, including the GPS-guided bomb that destroyed the bost. The post was well-marked and known to both sides in the conflict. It seemed intellectually dishonest in 2006 to claim that it was a mistake; to continue to do so now would be an utter lie.

I fail to see how the Prime Minister Harper could have demanded an apology that was already offered.

The Prime Minister, if he truly supported the troops, would have lodged a formal protest with the Israeli government. In addition, the “deep regret” offered by Ehud Olmert did not extend to cooperating with the Canadian BOI’s investigation, and I believe I’m correct in saying that Israel has done no public investigation of its own. I fail to see how a Canadian government could consider that sufficient if they truly cared about their troops.

it is questionable why UN troops were still on the ground.

The BOI findings described that they were preparing to evacuate the compound at next light, at 7:00 the next morning. They were killed before they were able to do so. They were on a legitimate mission in a well-known and well-marked compound.

Furthermore, the BOI mentioned no Hezbollah activity in the area when the rescue and recovery team arrived at the destroyed post, and the UN observers reported no Hezbollah attacks or aggression towards the post. The only danger to the UN soldiers seems, in fact, to have been the IDF.

Our Prime Minister has been the most supportive Prime Minister our nation has seen. He was not dismissing the sacrifice of Maj. Paeta Derek Hess-von Kruedener… This government is unwavering in its support for our troops.

Besides being obvious political twaddle, the falsehoods that the government laboured under at the time show that it cared more about its political agenda than its own troops. I am first and formost for our troops, and my sympathy or antipathy for a government falls far behind that. The words and actions (or lack of action) by Mr Harper and his MPs in 2006 were shameful, simply shameful.

I don’t think it’s worth sending a reply to Mr Goodyear; I do think it’s worth at least pointing out the falsehood and duplicity of the government in this incident.

Thoughts here.

Pictures here.

Little more to say just now.

On Guard for Thee: Canadian Peacekeeping Missions is now available at Indigo. Bookland Press, my publisher, was recently accepted into the Literary Press Group, which has led to better sales and distribution.

Check it out here — and if you’ve read it, please give it a quick review! Thanks.

I’ve said since we first deployed to Afghanistan in strength that the real cost of this war would be paid not now, but for the next twenty years, as veterans with mental injuries struggle to readjust to civilian life. The relatively low number of physical casualties is a relief to me and to many other Canadians; the looming spectre of widespread PTSD with insufficient government support for the injured soldiers, however, is a very real fear.

The CBC report notes:

The number of former soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress has more than tripled since Canada first deployed troops to Afghanistan, according to new figures released by Veterans Affairs Canada.

. . .
Of the 10,252 Veterans Affairs clients with a psychiatric condition, 63 per cent have a post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD condition, said a briefing note prepared for Thompson last summer.

“Over the past five years, the number of clients with a psychiatric condition has tripled, increasing from 3,501 to 10,252; the number of clients with a PTSD condition has more than tripled, increasing from 1,802 to 6,504 as of March 31, 2007.”

Note that these numbers apply only to soldiers who are no longer serving. The many veterans who continue to serve their country — some of whom are in their second rotation to Kandahar — are still not accounted for. Nor are the many veterans whose PTSD symptoms manifest later in life.

I hope that we, as a country, are willing to pay the price — for the rest of these soldiers’ lives – for our adventure in Afghanistan.

On Guard for Thee got a review in the Kitchener-Waterloo Record today:

Cambridge writer Matthew Bin wants us to have a better grasp of the work being done by Canadian Armed Forces troops overseas.In some ways, his book is like an oral history of our country’s recent overseas peacekeeping efforts.

The contributors describe, in their own words, what they went through — the good, bad and ugly, plus the very funny — going back to 1990 in world hot spots that include Afghanistan, Bosnia, Cambodia, Central African Republic, the Golan Heights, Haiti, Kosovo, Qatar, Rwanda, Somalia, Sri Lanka and the former Yugoslavia.

The rest of the review is in the form of a Q&A with me. Strictly speaking, it isn’t a review, I suppose; however, the books editor Jon Fear was very positive (both in the article and in our communications) and I’ve no doubt the review will be very positive exposure for the book.

The full article is here.

Finally — it can be told.

The much-anticipated celebrity endorsement was from none other than Don Cherry, one of Canada’s Ten Greatest Canadians.

The head of Bookland Press, Robert Morgan, was visiting CBC Sports for something to do with Bookland’s Celebrating Canadian Athletes series, and he put a copy of On Guard for Thee in Don’s hands. Don read the book, loved it, and sent Robert an autographed photo.

You can see a full-sized version here.

So there you have it! A celebrity endorsement. If Don loved the book, then you might too! Order it here if you haven’t already.

The Government of Ontario announced today that it will extend health coverage to military families immediately when they move from another province to Ontario. Previously, those families were not covered for their first 90 days of residence in Ontario.

The article is here.

This is a good move by the Ontario government. Presumably the 90-day waiting period is designed to keep people from “moving” to another province for a day, getting health care they want, and then “moving” back to their original province. However, military families’ movements are typically documented well enough that any such abuse would not be likely.

In addition, military families do not always have a choice about where they live, and may not have complete control over their schedule when they are forced to move. When we, as a nation, ask families to uproot themselves to suit the whims of one of our institutions, it only makes sense that we make the move as painless as possible.

Unfortunately, the federal government is not as sensitive to the needs of its soldiers and their families.

A great write-up today in the Cambridge Times:

http://cambridgetimes.ca/printarticle/108664

The print article is even better. Colour pics, an excerpt from the book, and a skybox on the cover of the paper. Great article — thanks to Melissa Hancock for an excellent article.

Also tonight, I was interviewed for a web radio show on ThatRadio by host Jay Stoyan (a.k.a. TorontoJay), the spokesman for the Wounded Warrior fund. This was at a great Wounded Warrior benefit event at Gallery Streetsville in Mississauga. (I lived in Streetsville for a while back in the 90s, so it was great to go back to the town again — I really like that area.)

Anyhow, some good media coverage today in advance of the big events coming up this weekend. Hope to see you at one of them.

I’ve just received word that a prominent Canadian — household name prominent — has read and loved On Guard for Thee. Although I can’t go into details now, I will have a memento from said Canadian on Sunday at the launch, so come on by and check it out! You won’t be disappointed.

If anyone wants to guess at who it is, go ahead and do so in the comments. I’ll say that he’s been on various TV shows in the last year, including the one that made him a household name, and the one that cemented his prominence as a Canadian… no confirmation till Sunday though!

My interview with Rogers Daytime (Waterloo Region) on November 9 is below.

I thought it was a good interview (though I haven’t re-watched it so I could have made a complete ass of myself). The host asked some good questions and was very interested in the book.

I also appeared on Saturday the 24th on CTV Southwestern Ontario’s current events show, “The Final Round”. It didn’t have anything to do with the book other than giving me a chance to plug it. Thanks, CTV!