What gives with David Pugliese of the Ottawa Citizen?
First, he discovered the "Hillier Youth"; now it's the Canadian SS:
Soldiers fear JTF2 to get Nazi name
Defence minister's proposed new moniker for elite unit can be shortened to 'SS'
posted by Mark, Ottawa at 9:25 a.m.
7 Comments:
AwaWiYe: The Pug does procurement too:
"C-130J selected for Air Force"
http://toyoufromfailinghands.blogspot.com/2006/11/c-130j-selected-for-air-force.html
Mark
Ottawa
Whatever his motives, Mark deliberately misleads on this serious issue. Here's what's happening for those who justs skimmed Mark's ridiculous headline. Gordon O'Connor, Canada's minister of national defence, has come up with a boneheaded idea to name JTF2 the First Special Service Regiment. The JTF2 boys are not at all happy with this, having busted their butts over the years to build up signfiicant name recognition in the worldwide SOF community. They voted a while ago not to change the JTF2 name and they're still happy with it. There's also the little public relations problem with the new name (First Special Service Regiment) and the abreviated form, 1st SS Regiment. So people sympathetic to JTF2's problem used this journalist to get the message out and hopefully turn the heat up on O'Connor to back down from his idea to change the unit's name. There's nothing like a blaring headline in the capital city's newspaper to get a politician's attention. So that's the real story, despite the negative aspects that Mark is hinting at here. Read the story before you fall for Mark's misleading BS. It's actually supportive of JTF2's desire not to change its name. Or for a more learned debate go to army.ca. You'll see most people favor keeping the JTF2 name.
And Mark, these guys are over in Afghanistan fighting for you and all Canadians. They don't need people like you back home trying to undercut them. Here's hoping that article in the Citizen works and turns up the heat on the politicians to back down on the name change.
Emery, whatever Pugliese's motives, he does the CF a disservice by putting their name in the same sentence with the Nazi SS.
I understand the desire to keep the JTF2 name they've invested so much effort in. In fact, I agree with them - it ain't broke, no fix required.
But the problem with using a journalist to send a message to a politician is that the rest of the Canadian public doesn't get the same message.
Good tactical is not always good strategic.
Emery: I fully sympathize with troops wanting to keep the JTF 2 name and with their trying to get the message out. What I cannot stand is journalism that screams the "Nazi" lead when that is only a small part of the story and could have been mentioned in the body of the story as one/one possible concern. One ridiculous headline deserved another.
The comment thread at Army.ca is
http://forums.army.ca/forums/index.php/topic,54768.0.html
and I have been following it.
As you well know, the last thing I would wish to do is undercut our forces.
Mark
Ottawa
Mark, your explanation is weak. Your posts on this article are indeed misleading. Instead of even addressing/highlighting the issue of the JTF2 name change you instead focused on the headline...not one of your posts addresses the real issue outlined in this story.... and in turn, you undercut what we're trying to do for the unit.
And to Babbling Brooks...I don't even think you read the story. It is not the journalist who is linking the CF to the SS. He is reporting on concerns inside the CF that this new name may one day be misinterpreted (with the SS acronym) and used against the unit. And he is also reporting on the desire within the unit to keep the JTF2 name. To claim otherwise is to mislead.
And I found your statement about not using journalists to send messages to be extremely naive. What do you think our Public Affairs folks are doing with Christie Blatchford. Christie has been givn information on the PRT and told about our concerns that the PRT aspect of the Afghan op is being misrepresented and bang, we get a great article on the PRT.Christie is told about our concerns about that idiotic John Doyle story and voila, there is a story crapping on Doyle. Info ops means working with journalists. Kudos to our PAFOs for realizing that.
Emery, I think you're being unduly critical here. And because you're focused on JTF2's desire to keep their name, in my opinion, you're missing the bigger picture.
Firstly, I did indeed read the article in its entirety. You may believe the real story is about how the unit wants to keep their name. But that's not how it comes across from the article - otherwise the headline would read "Soldiers fear years of developing JTF2 image to be wasted on pointless name change." Instead it links JTF2 to the Nazis - exactly the thing you say you're concerned about. If the idea was to avoid that linkage by preventing the name change, your tactics backfired.
Secondly, I don't have a problem with the CF publicizing itself properly and engaging the media in a focused way. But if you think this article was a positive example of that, you're mistaken on a couple of different levels.
The CF members that brought this to Pugliese's attention tried to use the press to get the attention of a politician. But to do that, you need to go through the public - did anyone consider what effect this "message" had on them? I can guarantee you Joe Canuck couldn't give a flying french seal what our most elite soldiering unit calls itself. But now, if he thinks of it at all, it will be alongside the Nazis. In other words, even if you achieve your primary goal of keeping the JTF2 moniker, what were the secondary effects of your decision on public opinion? Did you even consider them?
Beyond that, the soldiers who chose to go to the press instead of pushing back hard through the proper channels were going about it the wrong way. PAffO's can engage the media because that's their authorized mandate, in support of the CF's goals. This, on the other hand, was some disgruntled subordinates deliberately doing an end run on their chain of command.
Emery, if you're in a command position, how would you like it if your soldiers went to some reporter if they didn't like one of your decisions? How does a military work if that's the way things get done?
JTF2 doesn't need a name change - you and I agree on that. But on the rest of it, I think you're out to lunch.
If no-one thought the US Secret Service name was worth changing I don't think "SS" is necessarily universally off limits but in the spirit of avoiding dubious names can I suggest adopting the practice of fellow commonwealth members?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Air_Service_of_New_Zealand
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Special_Air_Service_Regiment
Post a Comment
<< Home