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JTF2 rules left all but Eggleton out of loop
Tuesday, February 19
By DANIEL LEBLANC
Globe and Mail
Ottawa — A secret document written last November named Defence Minister Art Eggleton as the only civilian eligible for regular briefings on the actions of Canada‘s special military forces in Afghanistan, a senior source has told The Globe and Mail.
The document also gave Mr. Eggleton the right to relay information on the actions of the Joint Task Force 2 to the Prime Minister only when Mr. Eggleton deemed it relevant.
The note was signed by the Defence Minister, his deputy minister and the top military officer in the country shortly before the commando team left Canada late last year to join the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan, the source said.
The document highlights the level of secrecy surrounding the operations of the JTF2 in Afghanistan. It also helps explain why Mr. Eggleton did not inform Prime Minister Jean Chrétien for eight days after the crack troops had captured three prisoners at a time when the treatment of prisoners from the conflict was the subject of much debate.
But it also raises questions about who at the top levels of the federal government is being told about Canada‘s military actions.
Opposition critics say that Ottawa releases only dribs of information on the JTF2 when it suits its public-relations needs, and hides any information that would be damaging.
"Sometimes, secrecy becomes deceit," Canadian Alliance MP Brian Pallister said.
Procedures have not changed since the memo was written.
The Privy Council Office, which includes some of the top security experts in the government, receives briefings on the operations of Canada‘s 2,500 regular troops in and around Afghanistan, but not on the JTF2‘s more sensitive and dangerous mission in the area.
Canadian Commodore Jean-Pierre Thiffault, who oversees Operation Apollo, Canada‘s military contribution to the war, out of coalition headquarters in Florida, is not regularly briefed on the JTF2 either, a source said.
Mr. Chrétien was embarrassed last month when it was revealed that he had been kept in the dark about the fact that JTF2 members had captured prisoners and handed them over to U.S. forces.
... Continued
Tuesday, February 19
By DANIEL LEBLANC
Globe and Mail
Ottawa — A secret document written last November named Defence Minister Art Eggleton as the only civilian eligible for regular briefings on the actions of Canada‘s special military forces in Afghanistan, a senior source has told The Globe and Mail.
The document also gave Mr. Eggleton the right to relay information on the actions of the Joint Task Force 2 to the Prime Minister only when Mr. Eggleton deemed it relevant.
The note was signed by the Defence Minister, his deputy minister and the top military officer in the country shortly before the commando team left Canada late last year to join the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan, the source said.
The document highlights the level of secrecy surrounding the operations of the JTF2 in Afghanistan. It also helps explain why Mr. Eggleton did not inform Prime Minister Jean Chrétien for eight days after the crack troops had captured three prisoners at a time when the treatment of prisoners from the conflict was the subject of much debate.
But it also raises questions about who at the top levels of the federal government is being told about Canada‘s military actions.
Opposition critics say that Ottawa releases only dribs of information on the JTF2 when it suits its public-relations needs, and hides any information that would be damaging.
"Sometimes, secrecy becomes deceit," Canadian Alliance MP Brian Pallister said.
Procedures have not changed since the memo was written.
The Privy Council Office, which includes some of the top security experts in the government, receives briefings on the operations of Canada‘s 2,500 regular troops in and around Afghanistan, but not on the JTF2‘s more sensitive and dangerous mission in the area.
Canadian Commodore Jean-Pierre Thiffault, who oversees Operation Apollo, Canada‘s military contribution to the war, out of coalition headquarters in Florida, is not regularly briefed on the JTF2 either, a source said.
Mr. Chrétien was embarrassed last month when it was revealed that he had been kept in the dark about the fact that JTF2 members had captured prisoners and handed them over to U.S. forces.
... Continued