[Gator13]

I don't know the details. Like you, I'm just an average person who has a minimal and incomplete understanding of the situation. I don't play amateur war analyst.

It's up to intelligence, diplomats, and national leaders to work these details out. But I want to see them at least trying diplomacy and negotiation.

What bothers me is that I've never seen them trying. Hopefully they are secretly working on it behind the scenes.

But I thought I heard Russia say, more than once, that they want NATO to stop expanding into countries that border Russia. And NATO seems to be doing exactly the opposite, which doesn't seem like de-escalation at all.

There was a lot of coverage in the news about negotiations. There were several sessions between Ukraine & Russia. (in Belarus after Russia started the war & France before Russia started the war) Leaders from France, Germany and a few other countries have had talks with Putin and he has ignored their pleas and continued attacks on civilians in the Ukraine. There's no talking peace with a lunatic.

Putin annexed/attacked Crimea in 2014 and has now been threatening nuclear war. There is no denying Putin thought he could roll into the Ukraine and take it over with minimal resistance. Do you sit back with your hands in your pockets and let him continue?

We live in a free world because many people gave their lives defending that freedom. How many today would be willing to do the same?

 

[Gator13]

Yes too many, yes it's a problem, yes they have many problems to deal with.
One in particular is that traditional warfighting culture isn't wildly compatible with mainstream civilian culture, and we don't quite know how to deal with that.
Alcohol abuse is a HUGE issue, but "work hard, play hard" is real, and if your life depends on the work hard half, do you really care about how much they drink off duty?

But that being said, I do believe you're talking about handfuls of people, over decades, vs hundreds or thousands of senior officers who don't appear to have committed these crimes.

Additionally I don't think it's unusual for highly successful people to have a particular drive. Often they want sex, drugs, money, or power.

AlwaysMissingTheBoat's comments are spot on.

Don't make excuses or condone their actions. Canada's military is well under 100.000 so we sure don't have hundreds of thousands of senior officers. Most would agree that we are only hearing about a small fraction of what is taking place. It's disgusting that this continues to happen and nothing is done about it.

 

[Gator13]

.......
As far as your claim that 'nothing is done about it', that is simply untrue.
They're working on it, they simply don't know how to solve the problem.

They don't know how to solve this problem in other parts of society either. Please advise where in society today there are no sex offenders, and the investigation is fair and equitable to both parties (the accused and the accuser)
It's a tough problem.
We want to empower victims, but you have to look at the impact even provably false accusations have had on the accused to understand how tough this balance is.

Yes, FFS, I can read. They're working on it? Really?

Report after report and most of the recommendations are ignored. The latest report by Louise Arbour confirms that. Hers is the fourth report.

There has been resistance to change and to give civilian authorities jurisdiction over sexual misconduct.

About 25% of the women serving in the Canadian military said they had been sexually assaulted during their military careers, according to our government census. That is pretty damn sad. Sounds like more than more than a handful.

What other part of society that is a fair comparison to the Canadian Armed Forces has a similar problem?

 

[Gator13]

It's time to push for solutions and not resist changes and throw up road blocks in an effort to keep things the same. There are an abundance of recommendations in the various reports.

The Canadian Armed Forces: Duty with Honour

Most would agree that an institution like the CAF should be held to a far higher standard and not be statistically compared to the Canadian population at large.

 

[Gator13]

Is there any evidence of this?
How many of those were actually raped?

It was a government report and it stated "sexual assault".

 

[Gator13]

Another article:

Canada’s Military, Where Sexual Misconduct Went to the Top, Looks for a New Path

A report by a former Supreme Court justice released Monday offers recommendations to turn around pervasive sexual assault and harassment.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Gator13]

There has been 4 reports with a pile of recommendations. The military needs to be willing to change and actually action the recommendations. The latest report identifies this as an issue.

 

[Gator13]

Inaction will not fix the problem. Nor will excuses.

There are thousands of senior officers to come up with solutions and implement them.

 

[Gator13]

More negative news for the Canadian Military. What a mess.

Anger grows as Canadian military officers rally around general accused of sexual assault

Retired Lt. Gen. Trevor Cadieu has been accused of raping a female student at a military college in 1994. He has denied wrongdoing.

www.google.com

 

[Gator13]

No, but no matter the charges, you should be able to have friends and coworkers testify as to your character.

So, you think it is fine for the following Senior Officials to let their opinion be known on social media? This while their own military police are conducting an investigation and have laid charges. You don't think this would influence the investigation? Archaic thinking is why the situation is so bad.

"Chorley’s comment was “liked” by 15 serving military officers and National Defence employees, including senior chaplain Lt. Col. Marc Torchinsky, Col. Ryan Smith, chief of staff at 4th Canadian Division, Lt. Col. Keith Reichert of the judge advocate general’s office, public affairs officer Dan Thomas, force development director Col. Scott Gillingham, Lt. Col. Clay Rook and Philipe Leclerc, a National Defence strategic advisor, among others."

 

[Gator13]

If the accusation is allowed to be public the defence should also be allowed to be public.

Of course he can defend himself. (Hopefully he is innocent) The point is that the Senior Officers & Officials have a responsibility to the military police, the defendant and the complainant if he or she is a member of the CAF. They should not influence the process through social media. They can certainly be called as witnesses at a trial.

It may, but this holds for ANY investigation.
That is why the investigative branch for serious crimes should be separate and distinct from the chain of command.

But it isn't. That reinforces why senior officers & officials have a responsibility to not influence the process.

Archaic thinking that we should address the problems and conflict of interests?

I'd like to point out that this EXACT SAME problem exists in the civilian world, extending to the highest levels.
Trudeau and his dad both used their influence to protect friends/family from criminal consequences.

Your example of Trudeau & his dad using their influence is exactly the point and the problem. It is wrong and a blatant misuse of power.

The CAF needs leadership that will adopt and action change. It is time to restore the reputation and image of the CAF and provide a proper work environment for the overwhelming majority of CAF members.