"He has lifted a page from the Bush book and borrowed the Bush modus operandi"

[Dee]

I just knew this day was coming . . .

Conservative government bars images of Canadian soldiers' caskets

OTTAWA (CP) - The Conservative government has taken steps to keep the public from seeing images of flag-draped coffins when fallen soldiers are returned home from Afghanistan.

For the first time since the Afghan mission began, the government will shut down an Ontario airfield when the remains of four soldiers killed over the weekend are returned Tuesday. Government officials said the new directive is permanent.

It echoes a policy attempted by the Bush administration. Concerns that a stream of images of coffins draped in the Stars and Stripes would diminish public support for the Iraq war prompted the White House to impose a publication ban.

With Canadian public opinion evenly divided on the Afghan mission, it appears the federal government may have similar political concerns.

The move comes after Canada suffered its worst one-day combat loss since the Korean war, when four soldiers were killed last weekend in a roadside explosion.

Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor insisted politics had nothing to do with closing the Trenton air base for Tuesday's return ceremony.

"I have made the most appropriate decision during this most emotional time for the families," O'Connor said.

"The repatriation of our fallen soldiers back to Canada is a private and solemn event between the families and the Canadian Forces."

Senior government officials said the decision to restrict access to CFB Trenton was O'Connor's.

But other government sources said the edict came directly from Prime Minister Stephen Harper's office, and that defence brass were ordered to keep the media at bay.

Canada's death toll in Afghanistan has reached 16 since 2002, and Conservative government officials fear the mounting casualties could present a political problem.

The government took a pounding from the opposition Monday for ending the Liberals' recent practice of lowering Parliament Hill flags when soldiers are killed.

Liberals called the move "callous." And they said the decision to restrict viewing of soldiers' caskets was unprecedented for a Canadian prime minister.

"He has lifted a page from the Bush book and borrowed the Bush modus operandi," said Liberal defence critic Ujjal Dosanjh.

"Dare I say president Harper is following in the footsteps of President Bush?

"(He wants the tragedy) out of sight, so that possibly it might remain out of mind."

MP Robert Thibault, who supports the Afghan mission, said an increasing body count is no reason to stop lowering the Peace Tower flag or shield Canadians from the human cost of the conflict.

But Conservative MP Brian Pallister said the situation in Afghanistan has changed, and so must the government response.

Canadian soldiers are "closer to the action" that at any time in recent years, he said, and the impact of casualties returning home must be taken into account.

"That really is the challenge in this: how do you give credit and honour those who made a sacrifice, on the one hand, without hyping the fear of more casualties in the future in the minds of Canadians?"

On the weekend, retired major general Lewis MacKenzie predicted "an adjustment in the political reaction" given the increasingly likelihood of more frequent casualties.

"You don't have to have the entire symbolic leadership of the forces and the nation for the fatalities coming back," said MacKenzie, a one-time federal Progressive Conservative candidate.

"I don't know how you scale back the media," he added.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/25042006/2/national-conservative-government-bars-images-canadian-soldiers-caskets.html

Shame on you Harper. You're a bloody disgrace. :mad:

[Randy & Betty in Pa]

All gave some... Some gave all, now the policies of our nations is to sneak our fallen back??? To me thats a disgrace. These soldiers left their homes with pride to fulfill an obligation based on what they we were told was the cause. I think no amount of honor is to much for our fallen, despite the fact that I don't believe that we should be there in the first place.. Still these soldiers fell while under orders and need to be recognized as heros that made the supreme sacrifice as did their families.... Our fallen need to be returned not as a photo-op to justify a war that makes no sense but instead to acknowledge the valor of these individuals. The Gold Star families deserve no less...

Best to all... prayers and best wishes to those that have lost friends or loved ones...

R. from Pa

[hoops]

god knows the truth...goodness knows governtment never tells it

[Dee]

Canadian soldiers are "closer to the action" that at any time in recent years, he said, and the impact of casualties returning home must be taken into account.

Yes it must. Canadians ought to be allowed to see the tragic results of this horrid war, and not have our heads buried in the sand for us. The men and women who put their necks on the line deserve better. To the casualties of war, this is just disrespectful and dishonourable.

This new Conservative government stinks, like all things rotten on the inside do. Harper adopting Bush's policies of denying reality make me want to puke. I have never felt so ashamed of any Canadian prime minister in my lifetime.

[Dee]

MPs, soldiers' families criticize Tory media ban on return of dead

OTTAWA (CP) - Prime Minister Stephen Harper dismissed accusations Tuesday that he's using the power of his office to conceal Canada's mounting military casualties from the public spotlight.

His decision to bar journalists from covering the homecoming of soldiers killed in Afghanistan has earned the scorn of military brass, the families of fallen soldiers and even some of his own MPs. Opposition parties accused Harper of trying to avoid bad press in the face of an escalating conflict in Afghanistan that many Canadians oppose.

Liberal Leader Bill Graham said many people believe the government is trying to deflect public attention from the Afghan mission.

"We should not be hiding these things," Graham said. "Canadians are proud of their soldiers. They want to express their respect."

NDP Leader Jack Layton asked: "Will the prime minister tell us what he's trying to hide?"

But Harper was unbowed. He said the media can cover the soldiers' caskets being transported out of Afghanistan but the homecoming will belong only to the families.

"It is not about photo-ops and media coverage," Harper told the House of Commons.

"It is about what is in the best interests of the families."

The unprecedented shutdown of a military airfield Tuesday for the arrival of four dead soldiers has drawn fire from all sides - including some military families touched by tragedy in Afghanistan.

The father of the late Sgt. Marcel Leger said the public participation in his son's homecoming in 2002 was something he will cherish forever.

"It was a Canadian thing. It was something we wanted to show all Canadians - what the cost of their liberty is," Richard Leger said.

"It's still heartwarming to (remember) the people's faces. People were lined up on the 401, in 2002, all the way from Trenton to Toronto.

"They wanted to be there. They had to be there. I was told that often. . . and those are the things I carry with me all my life."

The father of one of the fallen soldiers being repatriated Tuesday is criticizing the government over another controversial decision - to stop lowering the flags on Parliament Hill to half mast when a soldier is killed in combat.

On April 7, Lincoln Dinning wrote a letter to Harper asking him to reconsider the flag decision. The matter took a tragically personal turn two weeks later when Dinning's son, Cpl. Matthew Dinning, was killed in the line of duty.

The grandmother of Pte. Richard Green, who was killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan four year ago, also wants to see flags lowered.

The Liberals introduced a motion to that effect in the House of Commons on Tuesday.

It asks: "That this House direct - in order to show respect and honour to Canadian Forces and other Canadian government personnel who are killed while serving in overseas peacekeeping, peacemaking or humanitarian missions - that the flag on the Peace Tower be lowered to half-staff for one day as a remembrance of their important service to Canada and Canadians."

At least two Tory MPs came out swinging against their own government.

Ontario MP Garth Turner said he's been "besieged" by angry phone calls from constituents about the caskets and the government's new flag policy.

He said callers panned the move as disrespectful to the fallen soldiers and to regular Canadians who feel they're being shut out of an event of national mourning.

"Right now (the calls are) probably running 30 to 1 (against the government)," Turner said.

"There's a great deal of concern, confusion and uncertainty about why the government has adopted the position that it has."

Eastern Ontario Tory MP Daryl Cramp, whose riding neighbours the Trenton military base where the soldiers will be returned, said media should have been allowed in for Tuesday's event.

"I think it's just unfortunate personally," he said.

"Whatever the decisions are, I'm not totally aware of them and obviously I'm not in concert with them."

O'Connor acknowledged that he didn't consult the families about the media ban, but added that he tried to produce a consistent policy to preserve their moment of private grief.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/25042006/2/national-mps-soldiers-families-criticize-tory-media-ban-return-dead.html

But Harper was unbowed. Gee, sounds an awful lot like that other creepy leader South of our border.

Ghaaa!