The CF and Colonel Russ Williams: "What drivel"/Video Upperdate

Further to this post,

Somehow programmed to kill? Murder, rape and our media

excerpts from a piece by Maj.-Gen. (ret'd) Lewis MacKenzie in the Globe and Mail:

Canadian coverage of the military has failed to pass muster
Reporters have made erroneous conclusions from the case of Colonel Russell Williams

Rarely has Canadian news coverage of a high-profile criminal case offered so much misleading speculation and so many erroneous conclusions as in the charges against Colonel Russell Williams. The following assertions are offered as evidence....

COLONEL WAS ‘ON TRACK' TO LEAD THE AIR FORCE

Oh? Col. Williams's promotion to the rank of colonel in 2009 at 46 did not put him in the same league as officers who will reach the rank of lieutenant-general and command Canada's air force. If he was 39 or 40, the odds would be more in his favour. To use a military metaphor, he was on a fast train – but not the express...

PART OF THE ‘ELITE'

What drivel. What constitutes this “elite”? Is there some secret society I was not invited to while serving? Was there some secret handshake I was not aware of? The leaders of the Canadian Forces meet every morning at National Defence Headquarters. Col. Williams was not invited.

A GENERAL'S ‘RESPONSIBILITY'

During an interview with Canada's top soldier, General Walter Natynczyk, a national television reporter [CBC] asked whether, given that he had placed Col. Williams in charge in Trenton, he had any words for the families of the victims. Midway through his compassionate response, the reporter asked, “Do you feel responsible?”

The question's innuendo was barely camouflaged – do you feel responsible for the murders and the assaults? That question was the second “body blow” taken by Gen. Natynczyk in the past few days and was contemptible. To his credit, the Chief of the Defence Staff pointed out that he is responsible for more than 90,000 military personnel, regular and reserve. He avoided directly answering the question, which he should never have been asked.

Considering their current high profile and well-earned respect both at home and abroad, our young men and women in uniform deserve better treatment than some in the news media have been dishing out.

A case in point, from Michael Den Tandt in the Ottawa Sun:

...
This man was not simply a senior officer. He commanded 8 Wing and CFB Trenton. There is no more important job in the CF, other than perhaps running Task Force Afghanistan, or being chief of defence staff...

Here's a lengthy topic thread at Milnet.ca.

Update: Norman Spector brings us...

...
-A great moment in Canadian journalism

Col. Williams tied to Bernardo

They were pals...

Upperdate: Video here of the CBC's Susan Ormiston--the reporter referred to by Maj.-Gen. MacKenzie--interviewing the CDS.