- Reaction score
- 4,331
- Points
- 1,260
The spokesperson mentioned "propaganda" as a reason for not announcing exactly how many injured there are from AFG. Don't know what else she said to the reporter that didn't make it into the piece, but wouldn't OPSEC from a "how many are left on the ground?" point of view be more of a reason? Not to mention needing permission of ALL the wounded, since you'd be sharing personal, medical information to a certain extent.
From anyone who's been there/done that, how much of a propaganda issue are the injured in country?
Shared in accordance with the "fair dealing" provisions, Section 29, of the Copyright Act - http://www.cb-cda.gc.ca/info/act-e.html#rid-33409
Wounded troops get under wraps
Mike Blanchfield, Ottawa Citizen, 21 Oct 06
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=63e7c2cd-8590-4af5-af32-2dde9128125d
The Canadian Forces will not reveal the exact number of soldiers wounded in specific incidents in Afglhanistan, to prevent their Taliban enemies from using the information as "propaganda" against them, a military spokeswoman said yesterday.
The Forces did disclose that 210 Canadian soldiers have been injured in Afghanistan since 2002, with 190 of the casualties this year. Of the 190 wounded, 65 had to be medically evacuated back to Canada.
So far this year, 34 Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have been killed in Afghanistan, as the troops battle a new Taliban insurgency in the war-torn country's southern provinces.
In all, 42 Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have been killed in Afghanistan since troops first began deploying there in the winter of 2002; half of those deaths have come since August.
The Forces decided in early September to begin withholding the number of Canadian troops injured in specific incidents to prevent the Taliban from using the information against the NATO coalition, said senior Forces spokeswoman, Cmdr. Denise Laviolette.
"The only thing we're not doing anymore is giving specific numbers of injured for specific incidents," she said in an interview yesterday.
"That is because, obviously, if we have an incident where 25 guys are hurt or five guys are hurt and it goes public, then the other side can use that as favourable propaganda for their purposes.
"So we're giving overall numbers, but we're no longer giving specific incident numbers."
Liberal defence critic Ujjal Dosanjh said that rationale is an insult to the intelligence of Canadians, who have a right to know what their troops are facing in Afghanistan.
He said it follows the pattern of secrecy the new Conservative government has adopted toward the Afghanistan mission, beginning in the spring with a decision to ban television cameras from the homecoming of flag-draped caskets of dead soldiers.
"This government is into hiding things from Canadians," said Mr. Dosanjh. "This is essentially to keep Canadians in the dark as to how many people are being impacted, physically or otherwise, with
these battles in Afghanistan."
The new strategy began Sept. 3, the second day of heavy fighting in Operation Medusa, when four Canadian soldiers were killed in the major NATO offensive. The news release from the Defence department about the deaths said only that "a number of Canadian soldiers" had been injured.
The last time wounded troops were named in any great number was on March 2, when six soldiers were identified by name as suffering injuries.
That change in policy came two weeks after Prime Minister Stephen Harper flew to Kandahar and visited Canadian troops stationed there.
Etienne Allard, spokesman for Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor, said he was not aware of any political edict that forbids the military from releasing the names of wounded troops.
Cmdr. Laviolette, who is the chief spokeswoman for the military's personnel branch, said the decision to publicly identify a returning wounded soldier is left with the family. Since March, two wounded soldiers have been named in military news releases.
"If they come back, often time they're named, but if they don't come back we don't name them," she said.
Cmdr. Laviolette speculated that with the rising number of wounded, it might simply be too unwieldy to name all soldiers involved. "It would kind of look weird to list a whole slew," she said.
From anyone who's been there/done that, how much of a propaganda issue are the injured in country?
Shared in accordance with the "fair dealing" provisions, Section 29, of the Copyright Act - http://www.cb-cda.gc.ca/info/act-e.html#rid-33409
Wounded troops get under wraps
Mike Blanchfield, Ottawa Citizen, 21 Oct 06
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=63e7c2cd-8590-4af5-af32-2dde9128125d
The Canadian Forces will not reveal the exact number of soldiers wounded in specific incidents in Afglhanistan, to prevent their Taliban enemies from using the information as "propaganda" against them, a military spokeswoman said yesterday.
The Forces did disclose that 210 Canadian soldiers have been injured in Afghanistan since 2002, with 190 of the casualties this year. Of the 190 wounded, 65 had to be medically evacuated back to Canada.
So far this year, 34 Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have been killed in Afghanistan, as the troops battle a new Taliban insurgency in the war-torn country's southern provinces.
In all, 42 Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have been killed in Afghanistan since troops first began deploying there in the winter of 2002; half of those deaths have come since August.
The Forces decided in early September to begin withholding the number of Canadian troops injured in specific incidents to prevent the Taliban from using the information against the NATO coalition, said senior Forces spokeswoman, Cmdr. Denise Laviolette.
"The only thing we're not doing anymore is giving specific numbers of injured for specific incidents," she said in an interview yesterday.
"That is because, obviously, if we have an incident where 25 guys are hurt or five guys are hurt and it goes public, then the other side can use that as favourable propaganda for their purposes.
"So we're giving overall numbers, but we're no longer giving specific incident numbers."
Liberal defence critic Ujjal Dosanjh said that rationale is an insult to the intelligence of Canadians, who have a right to know what their troops are facing in Afghanistan.
He said it follows the pattern of secrecy the new Conservative government has adopted toward the Afghanistan mission, beginning in the spring with a decision to ban television cameras from the homecoming of flag-draped caskets of dead soldiers.
"This government is into hiding things from Canadians," said Mr. Dosanjh. "This is essentially to keep Canadians in the dark as to how many people are being impacted, physically or otherwise, with
these battles in Afghanistan."
The new strategy began Sept. 3, the second day of heavy fighting in Operation Medusa, when four Canadian soldiers were killed in the major NATO offensive. The news release from the Defence department about the deaths said only that "a number of Canadian soldiers" had been injured.
The last time wounded troops were named in any great number was on March 2, when six soldiers were identified by name as suffering injuries.
That change in policy came two weeks after Prime Minister Stephen Harper flew to Kandahar and visited Canadian troops stationed there.
Etienne Allard, spokesman for Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor, said he was not aware of any political edict that forbids the military from releasing the names of wounded troops.
Cmdr. Laviolette, who is the chief spokeswoman for the military's personnel branch, said the decision to publicly identify a returning wounded soldier is left with the family. Since March, two wounded soldiers have been named in military news releases.
"If they come back, often time they're named, but if they don't come back we don't name them," she said.
Cmdr. Laviolette speculated that with the rising number of wounded, it might simply be too unwieldy to name all soldiers involved. "It would kind of look weird to list a whole slew," she said.
