There is much to be admired in General Rick Hillier. Canada's Chief of the Defence Staff has restored morale in what was a savagely underfunded military. With sometimes disarming candour, he has ably fought for the Canadian Forces' needs both publicly and behind closed doors, standing up to his political masters where necessary. His statement last fall that it would "take 10 years or so" for Afghanistan to be able to meet its own security needs may have been at odds with the government's messaging, but it was an honest effort to level with Canadians about the state of the mission. But even Gen. Hillier must adhere to a chain of command - something he appeared to lose sight of last week.
In his speech before the Conference of Defence Associations, Gen. Hillier crossed the line between military official and politician as he never had before. It may have been acceptable for him to articulate that it was in the interests of Canadian troops for Parliament to reach a quick decision on their future in Afghanistan. In noting that the Taliban recognized "a window of extreme vulnerability" as politicians debated the mission, he at least drew upon his expertise of the conflict to convey useful information. But there was nothing useful or appropriate about his call for MPs to unanimously pass a motion expressing support for Canadian troops - a gesture he called "the least our soldiers could expect."
It is a discouraging prospect that our soldiers are so hypersensitive that they require the expressed support of every single Bloc Québécois and New Democratic MP in order to do their jobs. But even in that unlikely scenario, military officials have no business telling political parties how they should be voting. Nor should Gen. Hillier be implicitly suggesting that those parliamentarians who oppose the mission's extension don't support the troops - an offensive misinterpretation of their sincere (if wrong-headed) view that it is in the soldiers' best interests to bring them home.
In a democratic country, generals are not permitted to bully elected representatives. If Gen. Hillier wishes to make use of the public support he has accrued to influence Parliament's decisions, he should resign his post and run for office. Until then, he should remember that he answers to the government - not the other way around. Defence Minister Peter MacKay, who opened yesterday's debate on the motion to extend the mission in Kandahar to 2011, should haul Gen. Hillier onto the carpet and remind him of the crucial distinction between their
respective roles.