The
Canadian Airborne Regiment
QUOTE
The Canadian
Airborne Regiment was a
Canadian Forces formation created on April 8, 1968. It was not an
administrative
regiment
in the commonly accepted British Commonwealth sense, but rather a tactical
formation manned from other regiments and branches. It was disbanded in 1995
after the
Somalia Affair.
UNQUOTE
The moral of that one is don't do it or
don't leave any evidence behind.
Somalia Affair ex Wiki
QUOTE
The
Somalia Affair was a 1993 military
scandal
later dubbed "Canada's national shame". It peaked with the brutal beating
death of a Somali teenager at the hands of two Canadian soldiers
participating in humanitarian efforts in
Somalia.
The crime, documented by grisly photos, shocked the Canadian public and
brought to light internal problems in the Canadian Airborne Regiment.
Military leadership came into sharp rebuke after a
CBC reporter received altered documents, leading to allegations of a
cover up.
Eventually a public inquiry was called. Despite being controversially cut short by the government, the Somalia Inquiry cited problems in the leadership of the Canadian Forces. The affair led to the disbanding of Canada's elite Canadian Airborne Regiment, greatly damaged the morale of the Canadian Forces, and marring the domestic and international reputation of Canadian soldiers. It also led to the immediate reduction of Canadian military spending by nearly 25% from the time of the killing to the inquiry.
It has been compared to "a Canadian
version of...the
Pentagon Papers", or
My Lai, but critics noted that while My Lai had occurred in a hostile
environment where American soldiers were being killed by an invisible enemy
every day, the Canadian troops in Somalia had not suffered any casualties or
extreme stress, and the only provocation that Canadians faced was petty
theft from their base.
UNQUOTE
It wasn't pretty. The Wiki has censored
these two pictures.
