soldiers

By Mary Louise Roberts

The former soldier survived an axe attack in Afghanistan, now he’s defying the limits of science in his recovery

Gen. Walter Natynczyk comments on Col. Pat Stogran’s previously stated concerns.

Peter MacKay, responding to opposition questions, October 19. I will note that when it comes to Bloc members, I wish they would spend just as much time standing up and protecting the interests of Canadian soldiers as they do for the vigour they seem to have for Taliban prisoners … The member has now asked, I believe, nine or ten questions on the Military Police Complaints Commission. I only wish he would bring that type of enthusiasm to support the men and women of the Canadian Forces.

The Star expands on what Hillier’s memoir says about the debate over what the public could and should see of the flag-draped coffins of Canadian soldiers returning from Afghanistan.

In his new memoir, General Rick Hillier, former chief of defence staff, reportedly discusses the return of bodies from Afghanistan and his insistence that ceremonies for the deceased be public.

Peter MacKay ventures that Canadian troops will be in Afghanistan after 2011.

I’m not convinced Michel Vastel’s is the consensus view in Quebec about Gen. Rick Hillier (or the war in Afghanistan, for that matter). But it’s worth pointing out Vastel may have been the first to write a scathing review of Hillier’s run as defence chief, all while his colleagues in the English press were busy fantasizing about the departing general’s jockstrap: