[R-G] Our military has its own agenda

[Anthony Fenton]

Copyright 2007 Nanaimo Daily News
All Rights Reserved
Nanaimo Daily News (British Columbia)

August 28, 2007 Tuesday
Final Edition

SECTION: OPINION; Pg. A6

LENGTH: 436 words

HEADLINE: Our military has its own agenda

BYLINE: The Daily News

BODY:


The public relations machine must have been cranking away when the  
military decided to launch an investigation against a Nanaimo doctor  
for writing about his experience tending to a dying Canadian soldier  
in Afghanistan.

The Department of National Defence recently announced that Dr. Kevin  
Patterson faces potential court-martial proceedings after the article  
"raised some concerns" within the military.

"It contains some things we wouldn't expect to see in an article that  
was released to the public," a Canadian Forces Legal Services  
spokesman told the Daily News last week.

The 7,000-word article appeared in Mother Jones magazine, a U.S.- 
based, independent, non-profit publication known for its progressive,  
left-wing politics -- not exactly where the Canadian military would  
expect to see an article about their mission.

Very few Canadians will bother to pick up Mother Jones to read the  
graphic account of Nova Scotia soldier Kevin Megeny's gruesome death,  
and even fewer will manage to plow through the massive article in  
order to reach the mention of Megeney, which occurs about 5,000 words  
in.

The military knows this and they also know most Canadians will hear  
about this story from newspaper articles.

Instead of giving Canadians the opportunity to think about why a  
medical doctor, on contract with the military, would be writing an  
article for an anti-war U.S. magazine, they appear to have launched  
an investigation so we can become suspicious about what Patterson did  
wrong.

This makes him look like the bad guy.

But Patterson doesn't seem to be a bad guy. He mobilized a bunch of  
other talented professionals to travel halfway around the world to  
help our troops.

Although Patterson admitted to the Globe and Mail that he "had an  
idea" that he would write about his time in Afghanistan, this makes  
him somewhat self-serving, not bad.

Helping out the military's cause are Megeney's extended family, who  
are also close to Defence Minister Peter MacKay.

"He breached doctor-patient confidentiality," George Megeney, the  
soldier's uncle, told the Globe and Mail. "It was very unethical of  
him."

Ethical or not, Patterson's article shows just how gruesome war is.

"Litres of clotted blood fall out of his chest in one gelatinous  
heap," Patterson wrote. "Megeney's entire blood volume has fallen out  
on the floor."

This side of the story is important for voters and taxpayers to hear  
in this controversial war.

Unfortunately, the military, with what appears to be a self-serving  
agenda, seems to prefer to distract Canadians through nifty public  
relations and threaten people who dare to speak out of line or  
without approval.