Murphy's F'ing Law

If I were a Canadian soldier going on HLTA, and I heard this story, you can bet I'd make sure my travel plans kept me well clear of Dubai. How the hell do you explain to your family you've been thrown in jail for four years for the heinous crime of soldiering downwind?

Update: Bert Tatham's brother comments over at my other blog:

I'll ring in. I'm his brother. He was there working on a contract through the US state dept. He was leading a team of Afghan nationals to help farmers find other crops to grow in place of Poppy. Not eradication.

He was carrying 2 year old, dried and previously lanced poppy flowers as artifacts from his work there. 0 narcotic value. In hindsight a bad idea of course.

He was on occasion called by the Afghan police to witness the burning of confiscated drugs. These burns were very noxious as one can imagine. Hash is everywhere there and passed about freely and often shows up in food even. He is baffled as to how the small chunk got on him but not hard to imagine as a mistake. He laundered his clothes very carefully prior to leaving.

...

I would also add that he regularly briefed and advised Canadian forces brass on the "bad guy" activity in the region.

so yes, he is one of our boys. [Babbler's emphasis]

We need people like Bert Tatham, people who are willing to do a tough job at great personal risk to themselves, if we're ever to succeed in Afghanistan.

How the hell are we going to attract and keep those people if we cut them loose to spend four years in a foreign jail - for not being diligent enough with their paperwork and laundry?