O’Connor Heading for the Door?
| 8/6/2007 | Posted by Patti under Canadian Politics |
Rumour has it that Gordon O’Connor, the lameduck Canadian Defence Minister is due to be shuffled out the door. That move is long overdue. How the guy made it to Brigadier-General during his days in the military is beyond me. Although, I suspect that his biggest gaffe as Minister of Defence is that he forgets he doesn’t command the troops and has failed to consult with the Chief of Defence General Rick Hillier. He likely needs to remember that ego doesn’t a minister make.
Steven Staples at Ceasefire Insider asks if O’Connor goes do the generals win? While he agrees that O’Connor should have been gone, he thinks now is not the time. He perceives the recent ‘difference’ between O’Connor and Hillier as the generals undermining parliament by openly trying to influence Canadian policy. Knowing that the military and Hillier in particular is not Staples favourite people provides understanding of his perspective to a point.
When you’re someone like Hillier — straight up, shoot from the hip type of person — someone like O’Connor could be enough to drive you to drink. For the most part, O’Connor does a great job of talking considering he appears to have his head straight up his butt most of the time. It’s a wonder we can make out the words. The only bigger joke we could have as a Defence Minister would be Stockwell Day.
I’ll use for example O’Connor’s claims that the Canadian troops would have trained and have field ready up to five battalions of Afghan National Army troops in short order. Anyone with a small measure of intelligence could see that hot air being blasted around on that one. Hell, Canada couldn’t readily train and equip five battalions of troops as fast as O’Connor was making out would happen. We have money, infrastructure and training facilities. Afghanistan has all that to finish putting into place.
Hillier countered O’Connor more to put a realistic perspective on the subject. I can’t say I blamed him, to have said nothing would have implied agreement to a standard that his troops would have been held to. So, any guess who would have been on the hotseat in a year’s time when O’Connor’s expectations weren’t met and the media started asking questions? Assuming O’Connor was still around, it wouldn’t be him.
What doesn’t make sense to me is why O’Connor doesn’t wise up enough to make sure he sits down with Hillier, find out what is actually happening on the ground and then take the knowledge to make himself look like he knows what he’s talking about. He’d step on fewer political landmines and give Hillier less room to speak for himself. OH I forgot, there is this BIG EGO in the way.
Staples also reproduced in his piece a Globe & Mail editorial of August 3rd written by Eugene Lang, chief of staff to two Liberal defence ministers. Now, there is a person who has what neither Staples nor I have, past experience close to the workings of the ministry and the Chief of Defense Staff. His piece makes for an interesting read.
He points out that there has been differences between Chief of Defense Staff and ministers before. He also points out that they have been dealt with behind closed doors and without acrimony. To accomplish that means there was a discussion in which mutual respect through leaving of egos at the door took place. What a novel idea!
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