“Canadians assume that there are no dead in peacekeeping and that is why they like it.” - Jack Granatstein
Jack Granatstein is a self-proclaimed military historian who seems to think he can read the minds of Canadians.
He recently passed along the above gratuitous insult to the people of this country by purporting to explain why Canadians favour peacekeeping over war.
Granatsein stated – or mistated – that Canadians prefer peacekeeping because they think that there are fewer casualties. He implies the Canadian people…from whom our soldiers are drawn, by the way…are a lot of cowardly shirkers with their heads in the sand.
Granatstein ought to know better and the Canadian public deserve an apology.
Granatstein should understand that we’re not stupid. We know that there are casualties associated with the business of peacekeeping.
It could just be, however, that we recognize…as a People…that problems are not solved by fighting wars.
It could just be, Mr. Granatstein, that on the whole…Canadians are people of conscience.
The Granatstein quote appeared in a piece published yesterday on the CBC website… www.cbc.ca The title of the piece was itself a slap at peacekeeping:
“Lest we forget the cost of peacekeeping”
The article appears at a time of increased Canadian casualties in Afghanistan and increased public skepticism about that war. It makes a subtle effort to compare the process of peacekeeping, to what we have been doing in South Asia. It’s a kind of advertisement for the military industrial community.
Right off the bat – in the first 4 paragraphs – we get the point that the author a Mr. Robert Smol is attempting to make.
Smol compares apples with oranges by making the point that peacekeeping is every bit as dangerous as a full-scale, aggressive combat war. There is not even a nod to the higher moral values involved in peacekeeping.
When read carefully, it becomes crystal clear that both Granatstein and Smol are apologists for war and CBC is complicit by not publishing the other side of the story.
Smol closes his article with the following…
Looking at the larger picture, at least 122 Canadian peacekeepers have died while on UN assignment somewhere since 1956. The number would be much higher, of course, if we counted those who died during training or related exercises.
By comparison, 124 Canadian soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan between April 2002 and July 2009 (an average of 1.4 deaths a month).
Inexplicably Smol reduces the loss of lives of our soldiers to cold hard statistics.
Also, Smol fails to point out that at least four of our soldiers in Afghanistan were killed by American planes and that at least one Canadian Peacekeeper was murdered by the military of a close ally.
And of course he doesn’t mention the death of a Canadian diplomat in the Afghan war. The full article is available at the link below.
Granatstein will not be happy until Canadians are dying in numbers similar to Ypres and Ortona. Guys like him aren’t capable of empathy; they just get off on talking about blood and carnage.
Shame indeed.
It saddens me.
Why even mention peacekeeping?
but cbc posters remain deluded.They disagree vehemently…
lord anthony wrote:Posted 2009/07/15
at 1:39 PM ET
Canada blew off its peacekeeping creds by joining Bush Sr. in Desert Storm. We are now at the beck and call of the US-dominated military machine wherever it goes and those with investments in it are likin’ it a lot.
“Suitcase” Mulroney committed Canada in ’92 as warriors without consulting Cabinet as I recall.
Once you’ve thrown our good peacekeeping name away, it doesn’t matter which colour of hat you wear, does it.
1Agree 14DisagreePolicy Report abuse
Granatstein likes Canadians being involved in American wars because they tend to be wars on Muslims. From Wiki: “In 2003, he supported Canada’s involvement in the Iraq War. He defended his position in Whose War?, which was published in 2007. In this book, Granatstein sharply critiqued Lloyd Axworthy’s foreign policy while praising positions adopted by Stephen Harper.” He is also a supporter of Israel and he is, not surprisingly, doing what is expected of him – get support for weakening Israel’s enemies because Israel is all that matters. So what about Canadian or American lives.
If Smol is going to compare numbers in an effort to justify war rather than peacekeeping he might want to choose something other than a 50 year to 15 month comparison.
If Canadians do indeed prefer peacekeeping because fewer soldiers die then Smol’s comparison makes that argument.
Maybe I missed something.
Dare I use the term “trickle down” to refer to this Phenomenon? Those who land the position of leader on a grand scale (president, prime minister etc.) seem to regard human life as nothing more than a resource even though they cry crocodile tears at solemn memorials. No one is immune. Most of us would likely agree that basic humanity be a requirement for the leadership of human beings but in the mind of a leader the concern is more about optics and votes. It stands to reason that this stone cold attitude is going to be reflected in those who analyze and glorify war.
You missed nothing.
Granatstein is well-known for his love of currying favour with dedicated warmongers and Smol is evidence of thet.
I like the 50-year-comparison….although it should probably be 50-year- 8 year comparison.
However for both Smol and Mr. G. these niceties are irrelevant.
Incidentally, folks…the ever-self-admiring Mr. Granatstein didn’t have the wherewithal to comment on the post piblicly…so he sent me this email…….You’re entitled to your opinions, but I did wonder about the tag “self-proclaimed” military historian. I didn’t write the piece, Smol did, so it’s his proclamation unless you have evidence to the contrary. And by the way, how many books must one write before becoming a real military historian? I expect I have satisfied most people’s criteria, maybe even yours.
Jack Granatstein
The answer Jack… is that you have to write good books.
I suppose that’s where “fools rush in where angels fear to tread…” like Mr. G-force there.
I have become deeply suspicious these days of anyone who calls him/herself a military historian.
What about Give Peace a Chance?
Only those of the paranoid and investment world would argue militaristically against that.
What about a slaughtered civilian women and children historian?
Must be openings there, a sparsely populated field of reportage.
Disclaimer: I’ve been advised Canadian troops in Afghanistan aren’t peacekeepers. It’s something to do with the colour of their berets.
This is evidence that Bush, Cheney and Rove have succeeded far beyond our worst dreams. Even after their disgraced exit they continue to divide people who would prefer to be civilised yet view debate as a suspicious activity.
Like ordinary Canadians.
Support our troops!
46% of Canadians do just that.
They don’t speak for the majority.
Did anyone happen to see that “worth a thousand words” picture of General Natynczyk’s impersonation of the Slim Pickin’s ride on the nuclear warhead while at the Calgary Stampede? This posturing makes me hurl, as this man oversaw 35,000 troops in Iraq after attending a U.S. Military College. Perhaps, for his good service they will let him ride the first bomb into Iran. Just how integrated have we become, regarding the Military and how many deals have they made behind our backs. I feel betrayed by the leaders of this Country. By both the Liberals and the Conservatives.
Garth… agree totally.
I can’t help but think there are layers of people beneath the government we see…people who act in secret to profit from policies. When war becomes as profitable as it is today, we are going to see more of it.
How can we find that sherry??