I hope that his career will remain intact; however, I doubt that it will be so. I suspect that the Canadian forces will lose a good officer. Roxy
The main problem with this case is the absence of battle experience of the panel who are - in the main - logistic and admin types - the defendant has never spoken in his own defence and will probably serve time in jail - although the temperature of many Canadians is rising over the decision and feel that he should go free - although that means the end of his career - which is a pity as we need all the experienced officers we can find these days especially in such a thankless situation which as I recall also defeated the mighty Russian Arms.. Cheers
Tom Along the same lines, I just saw the move "Restrepo". The Afghan is an incontrovertible individual. The chances of winning them over to a Western based culture is slim, nil and zero.
The verdict is now in. Canadian soldier who shot unarmed Taliban avoids jail term - The Globe and Mail A shame that we are about to lose a good officer. Capt. Semrau also served in the British Army. From across the pond...and no cheers today
UPDATE > Captain Semrau will be tossed from the Canadian Forces. Disgraced soldier's sentence includes loss of rank, medals, severance pay - The Globe and Mail The article is not clear on whether Capt. Semrau will also lose awards earned during his time with the British Army. Any thoughts on this?
This is a disgraceful verdict - he has been demoted to second Lt. with the opportunity of staying in the Army - that is nonsense as he will be in purgatory as it is in all his records - and he will stay at that rank forever so his only chance is to leave them to get on with it - not that they can win - the British are on the fifth round there with 2 won and 2 lost - and looks like another loss coming up- the Russina crept our after losing - we shall be doing the same - why we bothered is beyond me as these people have been living the same life for 3000 years - and not about to change - just Orange the poppy fields and let them grow cabbages..why this hasn't been done already is also beyond me... Cheers
Canada doesn’t send monsters into combat. Our soldiers are not bloodthirsty killers eager to “off” as many enemy as possible. They are as intelligent, thoroughly trained and compassionate as any soldiers in the world. Read more: Lorne Gunter: The honour of Capt. Semrau | Full Comment | National Post Cough 'Bullshit' Cough Having served under a Canadian SSM in Bosnia my opinion of him without doubt was a total knob (As was most of the British troops who came into contact with him at Banja Luka) who thought he was John Wayne in the Green Berets or something and wanted to go out and kill 'Skip Rats' (What he called the local poplus). I'm sure the ones I served with would make good soldiers if they stopped trying to be like American soliders. The only pleasurable experience I had with him was when I took the Squadron for circuit training one day and made him throw up.
Drew; While I understand your frustration I do NOT think your comment is a fitting one in this thread.
Why? I read the first bit of the article and from personal experience no that is not true and gave up on the rest of the article like I do when I read a headline in the Daily Mail or the Daily Mirror et all.
Oh sorry it gets better, I just read the second paragraph: We should be proud of men such as Capt. Robert Semrau — even if it is true, as prosecutors allege, that he killed a fatally wounded Taliban captive on the battlefield to put the man out of his misery.
Drew - For more than a year I fought alongside the 2nd Infantry Brigade of the 1st Canadian Division through many battles and skirmishes all through the Italian campaign and found no one better to stand alongside in action. That said - I doubt that they have changed all that much and in respect of your comments I am sorry but I do consider the source -andfind yourwords extremely ignorant and distasteful. Inasmuch as Gerry Chester fought also alongside the Canadians in the Liri Valley - no doubt he will share my view of them.
Drew; I didn't intend to sound harsh, so sorry about that. I meant something along this line: People are upset about the verdict and somebody writes something that is not 100% true for everyone. You and I know that one can find knobs (had to google that) in any army anywhere. In this serious setting I found your comment inappropriate. If we want to discuss unpleasant foreign troops around the globe, lets's start another thread. I'll go first!
Having read all the articles they appear to be a mix of biased, bad reporting with spelling mistakes and lacking any consistent detail as to what happened. However the following made sense to me The judge, Lieutenant-Colonel Jean-Guy Perron, told the 36-year-old captain that he had failed in his role as a military leader and as an “ambassador of Canadian values.” The Forces code of conduct says soldiers must offer aid to wounded enemies that do not pose a threat. “How can we expect our soldiers to follow the laws of war if their officers do not? How can we expect the Afghan National Army to follow the laws of war if the officers mentoring them do not?” Lt.-Col. Perron said.
Drew - For more than a year I fought alongside the 2nd Infantry Brigade of the 1st Canadian Division through many battles and skirmishes all through the Italian campaign and found no one better to stand alongside in action. That said - I doubt that they have changed all that much and in respect of your comments I am sorry but I do consider the source -andfind yourwords extremely ignorant and distasteful. Inasmuch as Gerry Chester fought also alongside the Canadians in the Liri Valley - no doubt he will share my view of them. Tom That was nearly 70 years ago and as you keep reminding us Tom, times have changed for the worse according to you and todays generation is nothing like yours. Or does that not count in this instant? Ps I served with them 5 years ago, so I'm probably a bit more upto date than you are Tom with Canaadian soldiers on operational tours. Cheers Andy
Drew; I didn't intend to sound harsh, so sorry about that. I meant something along this line: People are upset about the verdict and somebody writes something that is not 100% true for everyone. You and I know that one can find kobs (had to google that) in any army anywhere. In this serious setting I found your comment inappropriate. If we want to discuss unpleasant foreign troops around the globe, lets's start another thread. I'll go first! See post 33
Drew; I didn't intend to sound harsh, so sorry about that. I meant something along this line: People are upset about the verdict and somebody writes something that is not 100% true for everyone. You and I know that one can find kobs (had to google that) in any army anywhere. In this serious setting I found your comment inappropriate. If we want to discuss unpleasant foreign troops around the globe, lets's start another thread. I'll go first! I believe it to be true that there are good and bad in every walk of life. I have no military service, but many years in the Civilian Police and certainly found this to be true with many of officers that I came into contact with. It was no different in the Toolroom where I worked for the better part of nine years before becoming a copper. It's called a cross section of society. Regards Tom
Thanks Tom, That is my point, I mentioned one bell end I served with to disprove what I quoted in the news article. I have not attacked the whole Canadian Military.
I appreciate that the man made the wrong decision. It is easy, probably too easy, for anybody with a resting pulse behind our comfy desks to see that, in retrospect. What upsets me is that it's not enough for the jury to conclude that he exercised bad jufgement. They seem to make little or no allowance for the fact that at the time he was under extreme pressure. They are taking their point too far, ruining his career and placing him in disgrace for ever.
Drew - you are not attacking the whole Canadian Military ? - yet you call me out for not having current experience with them - make up your mind as you seem to be crawling back somewhere - I do believe that the present generation will never achieve parity with mine as they have little respect for anyone or anything, and they all seem to know more than anyone else !
