Dear Roger,
My name is Schacel Despres, and I am also a student of Mr. Theriaults World Issues class. Before I ask my question, I would like to convey my sincerest gratitude for our opportunity to be able to talk with you. On behalf of everyone is the World Issues Class, thank you.
My question is; Do your beliefs and instincts ever cause you to question your orders, or question your over all mission? Do you ever feel that you’re doing the wrong thing or that you’re not doing enough due to the orders that are given to you?
1 comment:
Hi Schacel – Thanks for your question and I suppose I can say that I have been given, taking and giving “orders” for most of my adult life. I have had two (2) major career jobs. The first was with the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) for 33 years and the other has been with the United Nations as a UN Security Officer going towards 13 years. As in other answers I feel that I should give a bit of background as this has influenced greatly the answers.
You ask whether I have ever “Questioned my Orders?”
Again the answer would be a resounding YES.
BUT - There is a difference between “Questioning an Order” and “Disobeying a Lawful Order”?
To that statement I would have to answer a resounding NO with an explanation.
I have spoken of growing up in the ‘60s during the time of the Hippies but also of the Viet Nam War. We must remember that Canada had not declared itself at war with any enemy since WWII and the Korean Observer Mission. (You can see the American version of Korea by watching TV reruns of MASH?” Remember that this is a TV Serial – not Real Life.
Therefore my Service has been mostly during Canadian Peacetime. However, also as stated the Viet Nam war did affect all of us serving Military. We had USA Draft Dodgers coming into Canada to escape going to War and we met them in Germany during our Tour of Duty with NATO.
I must admit that since I thought that I was a Weekend Hippy and a Peacenik and although not fully convinced about either side – I was leaning toward a “stoppage” of the War?
However, no matter how you looked at it – the Nam War was initiated and sanctioned by the legitimate Government of the USA. Therefore people in their Military had to follow “Lawful Orders”. Not all were that “honorable”? I will direct you to the Trial of a certain Captain of the US Army who was tried for crimes as a result of the Mei Lai village massacre. I will also direct you to look into the background stories of our own Military and their actions during their Service in Somalia at a later time. These were also brought to Justice for going far beyond their Rules of Engagement and/or giving orders that were less than “Lawful”.
But let me go back to my story. Although not attending Peace Marches or Burning the American Flag, emotionally I was thinking that the War was wrong and that it should stop. I was leaning towards people who like Cassius Clay (later Muhammad Ali the Boxer) were getting away from the Draft by claiming to be “Conscienscious Objectors”.
Here is where I had to start being an Adult and determine exactly what my “personal beliefs” were and not just relevant to the Viet Nam War. I had to dig deep to make the decision:
If I am really committed to Peace and am against War how can I continue to serve in a Military Environment?
What will happen if I am asked to go to War by the Canadian Government (People) or as you would put it asked to obey what I considered to be an “Unlawful Order”?
I think this is where I really started to “Grow Up”. Be responsible for my own decisions?
You can guess that since I stayed for 33 years I decided to put my life in perspective.
The Military although based on an entire system of discipline does not expect its soldiers to “blindly follow orders”. People often confuse discipline with “brainwashing”. Nothing can be further from the truth. In this training/discipline they do provide you with the guidelines and direction to be able to make a moral and conscious decision on the use of Force as it applies to “Lawful Orders”.
When an Order is given it must be followed. Most of the time there is no time on the Battlefield to start thinking too deeply about the firefight that you are engaged in. You must do your job as not only your life but the lives of those in your Unit depend on it.
However everyone is aware that should they give an Unlawful Order, even in the heat of battle, then not only are they subject to the Military Code of Courts’ Martial but also are subject to the Supreme Court of Canada.
If I had been given an Unlawful Command and had I disobeyed it, I would have recourse to defend myself to the full extent of the Law.
Fortunately I was never placed under such a situation.
I have been in other situations where I have thought that the actions requested of UN Staff were placing them in hazardous situations.
I had the opportunity to disagree on a number of occasions with our Hierarchy. Once we came to an agreement on the mitigating measures we could adopt to make our Staff safer, the Missions did continue.
As some final words to the first part of your question I can happily state that because of the nature of my work over the years whereby I had been given a fair amount of “autonomy” to make major decisions I can in all honesty tell you that I have been very fortunate that “I can sleep very well at night without any remorse of conscience”.
As for the second part of the question I only repeat the above – no I have not thought that I was doing the “wrong thing”. This is not to suggest that I have not made mistakes? Fortunately the mistakes did not result in the loss of life.
Part three (3) of your question did ask whether I believe that we are doing enough and if not is that a result of the orders that have been given?
The conditions under which Humans are living in around the world in not having enough to eat or sufficient clothes to keep them warm is a humongous task.
I don’t think that we will ever do enough to eradicate this although we are trying hard. However, that failure will not have come as a result of any orders that I will be given or those that I will give myself.
Thanks for your question and maintain that sharp interest.
Roger Arsenault 15 January 2009
Post a Comment