Mon, March 23, 2009
Fox News mocks military
Outrage after panel rips war effort
Click for story, and to take part in our reader forum
By KATHLEEN HARRIS AND ALTHIA RAJ, NATIONAL BUREAU
As Canadians mourn the loss of four more fallen soldiers in Afghanistan, a videotaped segment of an American TV talk show where panelists mock Canadian soldiers as slackers is making the rounds on the Internet.
The five-minute segment, which aired recently on Fox News late-night program Red Eye with Greg Gutfeld and later posted on YouTube.com, features American panelists suggesting Canadian soldiers need time off for "manicures and pedicures."
The item aired after Gen. Andrew Leslie, the Canadian Forces Chief of Land Staff, told a Senate committee the military would need a one-year break from operations after the mission in Afghanistan winds down in 2011.
"The Canadian military wants to take a breather to do some yoga, paint landscapes, run on the beach in gorgeous white capri pants," Gutfeld said with a sneer.
UNAWARE OF MISSION
Another panelist Doug Benson said he was unaware Canadian troops were on the ground in Afghanistan.
"I didn't even know they were in the war. I thought that's where you go if you don't want to fight -- you go chill in Canada," he said.
The segment has been posted online (www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcJn5XlbSFk) by an outraged Canadian who titled it "How to Lose Friends and Alienate Countries."
Fox News was not immediately available for comment.
Ottawa-based Conservative commentator Geoff Norquay called the segment "insulting and beneath contempt."
"In a week when we lost four more brave soldiers, Canada deserves better from this so-called news network," he said. "I really wish I subscribed to Fox News so I could cancel it."
Steve Staples, director of the Ottawa-based Rideau Institute, called it a "shameful display" to laugh it up at the expense of families who have lost loved ones.
"The dismissal of Canadian efforts in Afghanistan simply rubs salt in the wounds of Canadian families whose sons and daughters have been injured or killed in the war."
'STEREOTYPES'
Liberal MP and defence critic Denis Coderre urged Canadians to write to Fox News to protest the panel and said Canada should raise the issue with U.S. President Barack Obama.
"What's a disgrace is that a lot of people are watching this and it is promoting stereotypes," he said.
Calling Canada's military "the best little army in the world," retired Gen. Lewis MacKenzie lambasted the American panelists as "distasteful" and showing an "appalling ignorance."
The bodies of the four fallen Canadian soldiers will be repatriated to Canada today, three days after their deaths in two separate bomb arracks in Afghanistan. Flag-draped caskets of Master Cpl. Scott Vernelli, 28, Cpl. Tyler Crooks, 24, Trooper Jack Bouthillier, 20, and Trooper Corey Joseph Hayes, 22, will arrive at CFB Trenton for a repatriation ceremony.
KATHLEEN.HARRIS@SUNMEDIA.CA
Fox News mocks military
Outrage after panel rips war effort
Click for story, and to take part in our reader forum
By KATHLEEN HARRIS AND ALTHIA RAJ, NATIONAL BUREAU
As Canadians mourn the loss of four more fallen soldiers in Afghanistan, a videotaped segment of an American TV talk show where panelists mock Canadian soldiers as slackers is making the rounds on the Internet.
The five-minute segment, which aired recently on Fox News late-night program Red Eye with Greg Gutfeld and later posted on YouTube.com, features American panelists suggesting Canadian soldiers need time off for "manicures and pedicures."
The item aired after Gen. Andrew Leslie, the Canadian Forces Chief of Land Staff, told a Senate committee the military would need a one-year break from operations after the mission in Afghanistan winds down in 2011.
"The Canadian military wants to take a breather to do some yoga, paint landscapes, run on the beach in gorgeous white capri pants," Gutfeld said with a sneer.
UNAWARE OF MISSION
Another panelist Doug Benson said he was unaware Canadian troops were on the ground in Afghanistan.
"I didn't even know they were in the war. I thought that's where you go if you don't want to fight -- you go chill in Canada," he said.
The segment has been posted online (www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcJn5XlbSFk) by an outraged Canadian who titled it "How to Lose Friends and Alienate Countries."
Fox News was not immediately available for comment.
Ottawa-based Conservative commentator Geoff Norquay called the segment "insulting and beneath contempt."
"In a week when we lost four more brave soldiers, Canada deserves better from this so-called news network," he said. "I really wish I subscribed to Fox News so I could cancel it."
Steve Staples, director of the Ottawa-based Rideau Institute, called it a "shameful display" to laugh it up at the expense of families who have lost loved ones.
"The dismissal of Canadian efforts in Afghanistan simply rubs salt in the wounds of Canadian families whose sons and daughters have been injured or killed in the war."
'STEREOTYPES'
Liberal MP and defence critic Denis Coderre urged Canadians to write to Fox News to protest the panel and said Canada should raise the issue with U.S. President Barack Obama.
"What's a disgrace is that a lot of people are watching this and it is promoting stereotypes," he said.
Calling Canada's military "the best little army in the world," retired Gen. Lewis MacKenzie lambasted the American panelists as "distasteful" and showing an "appalling ignorance."
The bodies of the four fallen Canadian soldiers will be repatriated to Canada today, three days after their deaths in two separate bomb arracks in Afghanistan. Flag-draped caskets of Master Cpl. Scott Vernelli, 28, Cpl. Tyler Crooks, 24, Trooper Jack Bouthillier, 20, and Trooper Corey Joseph Hayes, 22, will arrive at CFB Trenton for a repatriation ceremony.
KATHLEEN.HARRIS@SUNMEDIA.CA
