The Somalia Affair

Barely two weeks later, sixteen-year-old Shidane Abukar Arone is tortured to death. Dozens of Canadian soldiers look on or know of the torture.

The March 1993 beating to death of a young Somali in Canadian Airborne Regiment custody led to establishment of an independent inquiry into the conduct of the Canadian Forces peacekeeping mission to Somalia, December 1992 to June 1993. This report details the background and conduct of the inquiry and presents its findings. Matters examined included the chain of command system in the Canadian Forces, leadership, discipline, operations, and actions and decisions of the Canadian Forces and the Dept. of National Defence in respect of the Somalia operation; and specific matters relating to pre-deployment, in-theatre, and post-theatre phases of the operation, such as the suitability and operational readiness of the Canadian Airborne Regiment for the peacekeeping operation, the composition and organization of the Somalia task force, the effect of cultural differences on the conduct of operations, attitudes of all ranks toward conduct of operations, and the manner in which the task force conducted its mission and tasks in theatre and responses to the operational, disciplinary, and administrative problems encountered, including allegations of cover-up and destruction of evidence. Volume 1 reviews the background to the inquiry and the report, concluding with description of the events and actions in Somalia that defined the issues warranting investigation. Volume 2 focuses on military operations and conduct, including leadership, training, discipline, rules of engagement, and operational readiness. Volume 3 is devoted to a case study of the mission planning process for the Somalia deployment. Volume 4 presents findings with respect to individual misconduct on the part of Canadian Forces officers. Volume 5 contains additional findings on important topics such as military justice, the role of the military in Canadian society and its civilian control, and the disclosure of documents, and includes a thorough analysis of the March 1993 incident. This final volume also includes a summary of the recommendations found throughout the report as well as appendices of background information.

From its earliest moments the operation went awry. The soldiers, with some notable exceptions, did their best. But ill-prepared and rudderless, they fell inevitably into the mire that became the Somalia debacle. As a result, a proud legacy was dishonoured. This document presents the Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Deployment of Canadian Forces to Somalia. It precisely focuses on the lessons of the Somalia Affair.

Grant Dawson's analysis of political, diplomatic, and military decision making avoids a narrow focus on the shocking offences of a few Canadian soldiers, deftly investigating the broader context of the deployment in Somalia. He shows how media pressure, government optimism about the United Nations, and the Canadian traditions of multilateralism and peacekeeping all helped to determine the level, length, and tenor of the country's operations. His findings will undoubtedly play a seminal role in informing scholarly debate about this important period in Canadian diplomacy and military engagement.

Their entries include concise biographies from James Wolfe to Louis Riel to Rick Hillier; key military-political issues like the conscription crises, war finance, and Canada-US relations; lesser-known conflicts such as the Pig War and the Aroostook War; and more recent issues facing the Canadian Forces, including sexual harassment and post-traumatic stress disorder. We see Canada through an international lens as a war fighter and a peacekeeper-and as a participant in some darker moments.

This study proceeds from the proposition that the deployment of Canadian Forces in Somalia and the events that occurred there have something to tell Canadians about the nature of the policy choices facing the federal government in sustaining effective and relevant armed forces in the 1990s and beyond. The study focus is on developments in the domestic and international environment which are affecting the demands for, and on, the armed forces of the industrialized democracies; the experience in employing armed forces in the new environment; and on the lessons being learned and issues for policy. Study themes relate specifically to peace and stability operations, their place in the strategic scheme, their dynamics, significance, and implications. The study begins by reviewing changed international strategic conditions following the Cold War era and the experience of Canada and other democracies in responding to the new conditions. Lessons learned and policy issues are then discussed, and a chapter on the home front aims to identify societal changes and developments in national attitudes, policies, and legislation germane to raising, organizing, and deploying armed forces and to maintaining both military effectiveness in the new conditions and understanding and support for defence. The final chapter reviews and assesses lessons learned from new peacekeeping operations and from the Somalia experience, suggesting areas and issues for further study.