Protection and medical treatment

Another day, another detainee story in the Globe & Mail. Like this is the most important aspect of a multi-billion dollar effort involving tens of thousands of individuals over the span of half a decade so far to bring some measure of progress to a country so benighted that dramatic, order-of-magnitude improvements in any area of that society are hardly noticeable to Western eyes.

*sigh*

At least this story, by Gloria Galloway, seems a bit more fair-minded than previous pieces by other writers. It details the disappearance of a detainee turned over on the battlefield to the ANA, but it also notes a couple of important and telling points about how Canadian soldiers are conducting themselves in this struggle:

Hours later, "the ANA had lost contact with one of the detainees," a Canadian military captain says in a situation report included in documents obtained under Access to Information legislation.

The Canadian force "has re-taken control of the two remaining detainees and intends to have them interviewed at KAF as soon as possible," the report says.

It is not clear why the Canadians took back the two men. That could have been their plan all along, they could have acted out of frustration over the loss of the third prisoner, or they could have decided it was the best way to keep the men safe.

My wild-assed guess? They took the other two detainees back into custody either to protect them, or to make sure they didn't escape to fight Canadians another day. Maybe both. I also like the fact that Ms. Galloway mentions that Canadians have intervened on detainees' behalf previously:

The deadly battle came one month after it was reported that Canadian soldiers had twice intervened to prevent the summary execution of Taliban suspects that they had captured on operations with the Afghan army.

Speaking of protecting captured enemies, note the attempt to provide sophisticated medical treatment to one grievously wounded Taliban fighter:

The documents say that the prisoner who eventually died at Kandahar Air Field was discovered unconscious and with minimal vital signs by Canadian soldiers. Two other dead Taliban lay nearby.

The Canadians decided that, despite the gunshot wounds and shrapnel injuries to his head and neck, they would transport him to the air base for treatment and to eventually be interrogated.

The medical staff at the Kandahar military hospital, where he arrived about six hours after being found in the field, put him into a drug-induced coma to prevent him from experiencing extreme pain should he regain consciousness. He died three days later.

I doubt the induced coma was simply to alleviate pain, since that technique is commonly used to treat brain injuries and improve the chances of recovery - just ask Cpl Jeff Bailey.

But the fact that we invested time and money to provide advanced medical care to a man who short hours ago was trying his best to kill Canadians, is indicative of our morality in this mission.

Like any individual or organization, the CF doesn't always do things right. But I can say with confidence that it always tries to. We should be proud of them for that, at least.