of the 20th and 21st centuries, proferred by Canada's own Minister of National Defense, and reported by Allan Woods of thestar.com (previous post).
Oxford dictionary : one definition of a joke- ridiculous circumstances
Referring to Allan Woods ' report, Canadian soldiers have been explicitly ordered to stop or report incidents of Afghan soldiers or interpreters raping young boys. That excludes any other personnel of any nationality-it also excludes-rape of any girls or any adults or animals. I suppose that any Canadian soldiers who might be inclined to participate in such activities will wait until they are back home. One can report until one is blue in the face- and be following orders. Doesn't mean anything changes. Reporting doesn't stop abuse. Our Canadian laws require citizens to report abuse. Big deal. Not worth your time- or maybe- it makes the reporter feel that "something" will be done.
Next, it seems that MacKay stated that there was no evidence to support allegations that senior officers have turned a blind eye to the abuse. Well- of course they have-if they didn't WITNESS the events themselves-they are not (apparently) under orders to report !
MacKay continues in the carefully worded palliative statement- that- like all Canadians everywhere - the soldiers are required to . . . . ."do the right thing, to prevent, to pre-empt. to intervene." This blandness he terms an - expectation. Ohhh- but Peter- didn't your mama tell you, that the road to hell is paved with good intentions and expectations ???? We all know what happens to - - -expectations - -don't we ????
Next we are informed by Mr.Woods - following earlier reports --that soldiers who WERE reporting abuses, were told to not interfere. I absolutely believe that. How can anyone expect Canadian soldiers of any rank , to "stop" sexual abuses in another country- in a war; when (for example) father/daughter rape is reported in Canada - and nothing happens - unless, as is frequently the case, the sexual victims are given in custody to live with their rapist.
"There is no evidence . . . .and . . .we require strict adherence to the local rule of law" , MacKay told reporters. There you go- all taken care of- it is someone else's responsibility. Pass the buck often enough and you lose your money.(your children)
However, the real corker comes at the end of Mr.Woods' article. "I can tell you as a former Crown prosecutor that any sexual abuse against children will not be tolerated", (in which century or on what planet ? Mr. MacKay ????????)
Is this crass ignorance, unimaginable stupidity or vile maliciousness ? Can we not just deal with reality ? That we are eons away from properly addressing this scourge of sexual abuse. That we cannot even "clean our own nest" . That every year thousands of hapless sexual abuse victims are sent to live with their abusers.
And- Mr.MacKay worked in criminal and FAMILY LAW and also as a Crown prosecutor in youth .provincial and Supreme courts, before entering politics.
What a cruel and vicious joke. My condolences to all the present and future survivors out there.
