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VeteranVoice.info
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Cruel,
Inhuman and Degrading Treatment
Perry Grey
Chief Editor VeteranVoice.info
(VVi)
VVi 18 Jul 2017 pd
The government may be
appalled by the treatment of Omar Khadr at Guantanamo Bay; however,
it seems completely oblivious to the harsh conditions to which
Veterans are exposed in many hazardous work places, not counting
foreign deployments. The military is often a dumping ground for bad
equipment and bad territory.
Equipment has to last far
beyond its optimum life span (Sea King helicopters) or requires
constant repair (Victoria class submarines - Stephen Saunders,
editor of Jane's Fighting Ships, argued that "there is something
inherently wrong with the class of submarines"). DND required 14
years to upgrade CF-18 fighters after the Gulf War (1991) despite
considering the need essential because of budgetary constraints.
Some of the equipment was provided by the lowest bidder and
resulted in many of the health issues discussed below.
Over
one billion grams of Agent Orange, Agent Purple and Agent White were
sprayed on CFB Gagetown and surrounding communities from 1956 to
1984. Thousands of civilians and military personnel became sick and
were/are dying from being poisoned by the carcinogenic toxins.
When the government reluctantly settled with some of the
victims, the compensation was pitiful compared to Omar Khadr. The
government was very unwilling to disclose information and its own
involvement in the use of these hazardous chemicals.
Hundreds
of thousands of Canadians may have been affected by these chemicals
because Gagetown is a major training base, and the Trans-Canada
Highway passes through the base. It may never be known how many
victims there are, and the government probably never wants too much
scrutiny.
The current deputy minister of VAC, Walt Natynczyk,
is well aware of the typical medical conditions that Veterans may
develop because of the normal working conditions and environments.
Whether it is hearing loss because of loud noise and explosions or
chronic back ache from sitting in non-ergonomic seats, there is a
long list of complaints. He has publicly acknowledged and in fact
has experienced some of these problems.
Yet VAC has
regularly denied compensation.
VAC has the money to be more
generous. In fact, it returned over $1 billion between 2005 and
2013. The money was not used because senior management received
bonus pay for being “financially responsible”.
Of note, the
deputy minister receives over $400,000 in pay and bonuses. Does this
person really need a few extra thousand so that billions can be
denied to Veterans?
Every government advertises how much
money it will “lavish” on the CAF and Veterans, but much of this is
never spent or poorly spent. The current government will spend $6
billion on Veterans and billions more on the CAF…only if it wins the
2019 election. The government reduced the DND budgets by $8.4
billion until after 2020, so VAC may also be subject to similar
clawbacks.
Meanwhile senior managers will be given bonuses as
long as they do not spend all of the money still in the budgets.
In fact, one of the reasons that the Service Income Security
Insurance Plan (SISIP) was established was to supplement financial
benefits provided by VAC. For many Veterans, it was viewed as a way
for the government to shirk its responsibilities to properly
compensate Veterans. VAC is notorious for lowballing many claims for
illnesses, injuries and wounds suffered by Veterans. VAC believes
that a range of 20-30% is satisfactory even for serious medical
conditions.
For Canadians unaware of SISIP, military
personnel must contribute to the plan if they wish to benefit from
it, and participation is compulsory. Even then the government was
stingy with compensation, which is why there was a class action law
suit begun. The government considered SISIP and VAC benefits as the
same and limited payment to a total of 75% of a Veteran’s salary.
The government wasted millions fighting Veterans before it
grudgingly settled.
Unlike Omar Khadr’s settlement, SISIP and
VAC benefits are often taxable.
The CAF is one of the few
militarises in the world required to pay for its own disability
insurance. And even then, Veterans had to sue because of clawbacks.
With regards to foreign service, the potential hazards increase
significantly. The typical peacekeeping mission, which the
government likes so much, is often not so tranquil. There are
numerous health risks from disease, climate and environment. There
is often a hostile population, which does not abide by the rules of
war or the Geneva Convention.
Omar Khadr was a child soldier
in Afghanistan. He is an example of one of the modern horrors of
war; exploitation of children. Canadian Veterans have faced child
soldiers in Somalia, Rwanda, Afghanistan and other countries. They
often do not wear uniforms so that the only possible way to identify
them as enemy combatants is to witness them committing a warlike
act, such as throwing a grenade.
The biggest problem that
Veterans face is the complex rules of engagement that must be obeyed
before taking any action. There are two primary international rules
of engagement manuals that are internationally available: NATO ROE
Manual MC 362-1; and the San Remo Rules of Engagement Handbook.
There is even a formal course to study the second. To fully
understand rules of engagement and the laws of war requires much
more training than the average soldier, professional or
non-professional, is likely to have in a combat situation.
Here is a scenario for the politicians and lawyers to consider. A
Canadian soldier has to make a critical decision while distracted by
the side effects of Mefloquine and other drugs, and also tired
because of lack of sleep, food and water, and the constant stress of
being in a hostile workplace, and the question is can this soldier
be expected to make a reasonable decision. Remember that Mefloquine
can cause headache, ringing in your ears, dizziness, loss of
balance, problems with coordination, anxiety, depression, paranoia,
hallucinations, or thoughts about suicide or hurting yourself.
The real world answer is yes. But this is not reasonable based
on the Khadr case. He provided information when subjected to legally
recognised torture (sleep depredation), while the Canadian soldier
was just subjected to something other than torture. So sleep
depredation plus combat stress plus hunger plus bad drugs is not
torture, but sleep depredation is in a US military detention
facility.
Why should any Canadian Veteran be held to a higher
standard?
Unfortunately, the government expects nothing less.
And also expects its military and paramilitary personnel to fill
many roles for which they are not always fully qualified to perform
with the above mentioned equipment and in hazardous environments.
A Veteran has probably served as or with part-time aid,
humanitarian, and social workers, medical assistances, therapists,
parents, diplomats, and many more. Heck even Toronto wanted the CAF
to supplement snow removal crews!
While doing so, the Veteran
is expected to be very responsible, experience social separation
from family and friends, lose basic human rights and freedoms, and
most importantly do not embarrass Canada. The problem with being a
jack of all trades is that you are master of none.
The big
difference between domestic and foreign service is that the second
may be tax exempt. The government keeps waffling on what monies are
tax free as was noted during a recent period of indecision involving
CAF personnel serving in operations against ISIS.
A Veteran
making the minimum from VAC financial benefits without any military
pension would have to live for over 233 years to earn what allegedly
will be paid to Omar Khadr ($10.5 million/$45,000). Of course, tax
deductions will significantly increase this timespan.
Where
is the equality?
Perry Gray is a
Regular Force veteran, serving as the Chief Editor of VVi. Perry has
been with VVi for 15 years. |
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