virtualpender
09-24-2002, 10:24 PM
http://report.ca/archive/report/20020527/p25i020527f.html
A Princess Pat's soldier faces a court martial for dishonouring a dead Afghan
. . . In what may be the first case of its kind, a Canadian sniper with the 3rd Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry faces court martial for just such an alleged incident in Afghanistan. Master Corporal Arron Perry was sent home to CFB Edmonton last month, after being accused of misconduct under the National Defence Act. He allegedly participated in the creation of a war trophy--a staged photograph of a dead al-Quaeda soldier, propped up with a cigarette in his mouth, and a sign on his chest that read "F--- terrorism."
Coincidentally, Master Corp. Perry was one of five Canadian soldiers who had just been recommended for the Bronze Star by U.S. General Warren Edwards, deputy-commanding general of coalition land forces in Afghanistan, for saving the lives of American soldiers. The soldier was arrested by Canadian authorities after that mission and has been on desk duty since April.
In an interview with the Edmonton Journal last month, Master Corp. Perry, 30, said, "I'm not saying I did any of it, but I support it." He maintained American soldiers also took photos--of Afghan corpses with photos of firefighters killed in the September 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. The sniper has elected to be tried by court martial, instead of pleading guilty to lesser charges.
There are accounts throughout history of soldiers mocking or mutilating bodies of the enemy (see accompanying story), but not in Canada. Don Ethell, a retired Canadian Forces colonel who served with Princess Patricia's troops in 14 peacekeeping tours, said Canadian troops have no history of taking human war trophies. "Canadian soldiers don't degrade the bodies of enemy soldiers," he stressed, adding he fears this country's troops are being Americanized. "That's what differentiates us from other armies. We are from a civilized country and from a humane society, and we as Canadians don't do that."
The colonel appears to be correct. Paul Buteaux, professor of strategic studies at the University of Manitoba, says that while trophy taking is as old as war itself, Canadian soldiers--notwithstanding their impressive war records--have little history of mutilating or interfering with enemy dead. Carl Christie, an air force historian at the University of Winnipeg, agrees Canadians have been much more civilized than most in conducting war.
Prof. Buteaux says the charges against Master Corp. Perry likely represent the first time any army has prosecuted one of its own for such an act. "In war, you're not supposed to keep a diary or photographs at all," the professor explains. "But most armies turn a blind eye to it, unless it's particularly outrageous. German binoculars, belts, buckles, badges, and sidearms were often kept as souvenirs by soldiers in World War II. Had propping up a dead body and taking a photo of it occurred, as I'm sure it did in World War I and the Korean War, it would be distasteful, but hardly prosecuted."
As for the question of the Americanization of Canadian troops, Robert Buzzanco, professor of military history at the University of Houston and author of the book Masters of War: Military Dissent and Politics in the Vietnam Era, believes Americans have a "more brutal" culture and, therefore, are more willing to revel in the harsh realities of war than Canadians. "Our soldiers cut the ears off the enemy and made necklaces out of them," he points out. "Accounts of soldiers defacing the dead are littered throughout American history. In the U.S, this is accepted warfare. We have a very macho culture."
But attitudes may be changing. Merrel Clubb, professor emeritus of English at the University of Montana who served as a naval officer in the Second World War, thinks the younger generation has forgotten war is fierce and vicious. "My generation burned, bombed, and otherwise destroyed the lives of countless, often innocent, people caught up in a total war all over the world," he says. "We destroyed hospitals, killed and mistreated civilians, tossed hand grenades into houses and cellars--just in case--where civilians as well as soldiers might be hiding."
Desmond Morton, military historian at McGill University, maintains Canadians would be "disgusted" by such behaviour. "It's not something a soldier would want to boast about or record," he says. Ben Greenhous, 71, a retired national defence officer, agrees. "I know of Canadians killing prisoners, but not about them messing around with bodies," he says. "It's a matter of discipline. There persists some macho idea that defiling a corpse is somehow a brave thing to do. But inflicting indignities on the dead doesn't help you win the war."
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A Princess Pat's soldier faces a court martial for dishonouring a dead Afghan
. . . In what may be the first case of its kind, a Canadian sniper with the 3rd Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry faces court martial for just such an alleged incident in Afghanistan. Master Corporal Arron Perry was sent home to CFB Edmonton last month, after being accused of misconduct under the National Defence Act. He allegedly participated in the creation of a war trophy--a staged photograph of a dead al-Quaeda soldier, propped up with a cigarette in his mouth, and a sign on his chest that read "F--- terrorism."
Coincidentally, Master Corp. Perry was one of five Canadian soldiers who had just been recommended for the Bronze Star by U.S. General Warren Edwards, deputy-commanding general of coalition land forces in Afghanistan, for saving the lives of American soldiers. The soldier was arrested by Canadian authorities after that mission and has been on desk duty since April.
In an interview with the Edmonton Journal last month, Master Corp. Perry, 30, said, "I'm not saying I did any of it, but I support it." He maintained American soldiers also took photos--of Afghan corpses with photos of firefighters killed in the September 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. The sniper has elected to be tried by court martial, instead of pleading guilty to lesser charges.
There are accounts throughout history of soldiers mocking or mutilating bodies of the enemy (see accompanying story), but not in Canada. Don Ethell, a retired Canadian Forces colonel who served with Princess Patricia's troops in 14 peacekeeping tours, said Canadian troops have no history of taking human war trophies. "Canadian soldiers don't degrade the bodies of enemy soldiers," he stressed, adding he fears this country's troops are being Americanized. "That's what differentiates us from other armies. We are from a civilized country and from a humane society, and we as Canadians don't do that."
The colonel appears to be correct. Paul Buteaux, professor of strategic studies at the University of Manitoba, says that while trophy taking is as old as war itself, Canadian soldiers--notwithstanding their impressive war records--have little history of mutilating or interfering with enemy dead. Carl Christie, an air force historian at the University of Winnipeg, agrees Canadians have been much more civilized than most in conducting war.
Prof. Buteaux says the charges against Master Corp. Perry likely represent the first time any army has prosecuted one of its own for such an act. "In war, you're not supposed to keep a diary or photographs at all," the professor explains. "But most armies turn a blind eye to it, unless it's particularly outrageous. German binoculars, belts, buckles, badges, and sidearms were often kept as souvenirs by soldiers in World War II. Had propping up a dead body and taking a photo of it occurred, as I'm sure it did in World War I and the Korean War, it would be distasteful, but hardly prosecuted."
As for the question of the Americanization of Canadian troops, Robert Buzzanco, professor of military history at the University of Houston and author of the book Masters of War: Military Dissent and Politics in the Vietnam Era, believes Americans have a "more brutal" culture and, therefore, are more willing to revel in the harsh realities of war than Canadians. "Our soldiers cut the ears off the enemy and made necklaces out of them," he points out. "Accounts of soldiers defacing the dead are littered throughout American history. In the U.S, this is accepted warfare. We have a very macho culture."
But attitudes may be changing. Merrel Clubb, professor emeritus of English at the University of Montana who served as a naval officer in the Second World War, thinks the younger generation has forgotten war is fierce and vicious. "My generation burned, bombed, and otherwise destroyed the lives of countless, often innocent, people caught up in a total war all over the world," he says. "We destroyed hospitals, killed and mistreated civilians, tossed hand grenades into houses and cellars--just in case--where civilians as well as soldiers might be hiding."
Desmond Morton, military historian at McGill University, maintains Canadians would be "disgusted" by such behaviour. "It's not something a soldier would want to boast about or record," he says. Ben Greenhous, 71, a retired national defence officer, agrees. "I know of Canadians killing prisoners, but not about them messing around with bodies," he says. "It's a matter of discipline. There persists some macho idea that defiling a corpse is somehow a brave thing to do. But inflicting indignities on the dead doesn't help you win the war."
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