When You Cover Yours, Please Leave Theirs Out Of It

When Canada changed its policy to provide that that our military would no longer turn over prisoners to the the Afghans, the government neglected to tell anybody. I guess it must have been on a 'need to know' basis. And Canadians, apparently, didn't need to know.

To add insult to injury, when the truth was outed ten weeks later, the Prime Minister's Office deicded to blame the mess on military. They had failed to keep their political masters informed, said he. Although General Rick Hillier was on leave at the time and somewhere 'down south', that didn't mean that Harper was safe in his little white lie.

Apparently word quickly made it to the General, who called the Prime Minister direct-like. Although nobody knows for sure what was said, or to whom, Harper's spokeswoman issued a retraction.

Hillier had bypassed his own minister, gone straight to his accuser, grabbed a vulnerable body part with both hands and squeezed until Harper cried uncle. And that’s why the troops love this guy. The soldiers nicknamed him The Big Cod because, regardless of his faults, he’s an unrepentant fighter, fully prepared to throw his weight around in Ottawa.

Uh huh. Next time you attempt to cover your a**, sir, please do not attempt to do so at the expense of our military. You might just find that yours get bitten.

Cross-posted at The Flight Deck