A thumping good read (as the Brits say): Bullets, Bureaucrats...

...and the Politics of War, the subtitle of General (ret'd) Rick Hillier's memoir, A Soldier First:

I recently finished it (almost a page turner, great help from Chris Wattie). But I rather wish the former CDS had written three distinct books:

-Soldiers, politicians and bureaucrats--and Canadians (what the memoirs are really focused on)

-The future roles, configuration and equipment requirements of the Canadian Forces (dealt with in a scattered and passing fashion in the memoirs)

-Problems of multi-national military operations (ditto comment just above).

The last two might be serious, and much needed, monographs. One hopes Gen. Hillier may still produce something along those lines.

It is also stunningly clear that Gen. Hillier was much more impressed by former Prime Minister Paul Martin and Minister of National Defence Bill Graham than he was by their successors' government:

-Martin, Graham and I got along superbly, right from the start...[p. 325]

-My relationship with Paul Martin was, I thought, exceptional. [p. 346]

-...A key part...was the incredible relationship that we had with Prime Minister Martin, first and foremost, his cabinet, and, most importantly, the Department of National Defence.

-Bill Graham was confident, incredibly smart, and sage...[p. 352]

On the other hand nothing so, er glowing, about the next government, certainly not Prime Minister Harper:

-Despite all the rumours around Ottawa about how much we hated each other, Gord [O'Connor, MND] and I got along and worked well together, most of the time. [p. 395]

-The [Conservative] staffers wanted me to change the way I was doing the job of Chief of the Defence Staff and I was determined not to let that happen. [p. 404]

I'm amazed the media have not highlighted that aspect. Maybe most of them didn't read the book very closely. More on the memoir here, here , here (Damian), and here (video).