Dion accuses cabinet minister of security breach, calls for resignation

Dion accuses cabinet minister of security breach, calls for resignation
Last Updated: Wednesday, January 16, 2008 | 3:11 PM ET
CBC News

Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion has called for the resignation of a Tory cabinet minister, claiming she endangered his life by announcing his plan to visit a provincial reconstruction team in Kandahar.

Speaking to reporters in Quebec, Dion said Helena Guergis, secretary of state of foreign affairs and international trade, made a serious breach of security in a statement she released to the media about his trip with Deputy Leader Michael Ignatieff.

Dion, who just returned from Afghanistan, also wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, demanding she be removed from her post.

"In publicly revealing in advance the itinerary of the delegation in Afghanistan, Ms. Guergis violated the news blackout put in place for our protection, jeopardizing the security of the Afghan and Canadian military and civilian officials who welcomed and accompanied us during our trip," Dion wrote.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/01/16/dion-afghanistan.html

Wonder?

If there was a breach of security, under all the new legislation that exists, who may lay a charge?

She definitely revealed information that she shouldn't have, to score political points. At a minimum, she should apologize.

When the war is over, then politicians can safely go into war zones.

Until that time, it just looks like a photo op or a PR stunt.

Did you ever hear a story about Mackenzie King or Robert Borden touring the battlefields of France with photographers and journalists??

No, of course not.

Politicians in war zones are like Kangaroos in the Arctic - they don't belong there.

I recall reading Churchill's history of the second world war, where he described trans-Atlantic journeys to see FDR. That usually involved either a ship or something called a "flying boat". The journeys sounded pretty arduous.

Apparently, Mackenzie King actually did visit the troops:

"King was extremely unpopular among Canadian servicemen and women during the war, who were pro conscription. His appearances at Canadian Army installations in Britain (and, after 6 June 1944, in continental Europe) were invariably greeted with boos and catcalls. When he was defeated after the war in his Prince Albert riding, the servicemen's vote was considered instrumental, and a sign was placed outside the town, similar to those that had been erected in The Netherlands, reading, "This Town Liberated by the Canadian Army.""

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Lyon_Mackenzie_King

Photo-ops are much more carefully staged these days, apparently.

but all these visits ARE simply PR stunts. The troops don't want to see Stephane Dion, fer chrissakes. In fact their visit probably eats into time they could otherwise be preparing for a mission, resting or emailing their families.

My dad was in WWII. The only visitor he found interesting was Montgomery (1st Canadian Division was with British Fifth Army in Italy). I don't think he would have cared much about Mackenzie King (mind you, dad was a CCFer).