Yesterday Walt asked, in all innocence, if the Canadian Ministry of "National Defence" had stopped publishing news of casualties, short of death, of the Afghan war. Today Canadian Press reports that, indeed, had quietly ceased releasing such statistics a few months ago.
The official excuse is not that knowing the extent of our losses would alarm and inflame voters, but that the military commanders don't want the Taliban to know how effective their attacks are...or are not. We're not going to help them keep score, you see.
Who do you suppose gave the order to keep this information under the collective beret? My guess it's none other than the feckless Minister, Peter MacHackey. I also guess we'll never know for sure. Such is the cloak of control and secrecy that shrouds Ottawa under the Harper regime.
Your blog piece Suspicions Confirmed was right on in "that knowing the extend of our losses would alarm and inflame voters." However I give little credence that another reason is to help the Talibans keep score. That is nonsense.
ReplyDeleteThey want the fact that our men are deployed overseas to be in the background and not front page news so you can almost forget that it is happening. If you heard or read anything about the U.S. media, they have had their marching orders for years not to televise the repatriating at airports, nor any funeral coverage. The media then has to look for other stories, such as the Quebec vote on Muslim garb to be front page.
Thank God for the Olympics. The Art of Distraction at work....