Did you know Canada has troops in Africa?

This headline at the Globe and Mail caught my eye this morning; Canadian Peacekeepers plot strategy to defend Congolese city from rebels. Say what? We have peacekeepers in the DRP? (Democratic Republic of Congo, not to be confused with Dan’s Republic of Congo, named after Dan Gertler, which operates in the same general neighborhood.) Who knew? I didn’t, and I pride myself on keeping up with all the latest developments in Canada’s global battle for freedom and democracy. Geoffrey York moseys along for 14 meandering paragraphs before we meet the nine (9) Canadian officers working with the UN mission there. “In their staff officer positions…CAF members are playing a key role…” Of course they are! They are bringing Canada’s key strengths to the battle against the M23 rebels, including “leading joint planning sessions.” I assume this means sorting out who brings the weed and who brings the rolling papers, because if it means much more than that, the Congolese are truly screwed. Who in their right mind would expect the Canadian military, who have a decades long track record of failing to plan the timely replacement of everything from Sea Kings to frigates to submarines to fighter jets, to come up with a timely and effective plan to stymie the M23 rebels? What have these people been smoking? And if that’s not embarrassing enough, York drops another truth bomb a few paragraphs along. “Despite the small size of the Canadian contingent in Congo, it is the second largest of Canada’s handful of remaining units in UN peacekeeping forces.” Lester Pearson must be spinning in his grave.