Tag: Sarajevo

So, the United Nations has officially requested Canada provide helicopter support to its floundering “peacekeeping” mission in Mali. You see, the UN never makes a formal public request for support from a country that is turned down. Once the modest pledge had finally been announced, the subsequent public political pronouncements contributed even more to embarrassing our country at home and abroad. Now I come to the crux of the matter: risk. In any sane planning process involving deployments into hostile territory, the first question that needs to be answered is, “What is the aim of the mission we are about to join?” The second question must be, “What is the chance of success?” When those two questions are answered in a positive, satisfactory manner, then planning for the Mali mission should continue. Regarding the chance of success, the predicted end to the Canadian mission is our own self-declared end date of one year – no matter how serious the situation is on the ground or in the air at the time. In fact, it’s a dog’s breakfast discovered after he’s been sick. The compelling and illustrative fact is that none of them want or will agree to operate under UN command and control, realizing that the UN is experiencing serious challenges in leading its own force of 16,000. Before Canada deploys to Mali, let’s be told what the actual objective is. If it was to be the protection of a small geographical populated area under threat, then fine, deploy Canadian boots on the ground to do so.