Significant Incident: Canada's Army, the Airborne, and the Murder in Somalia

David A. Lenarcic is an assistant professor of history at Wilfrid
Laurier University.

How and why soldiers in the Canadian Airborne Regiment came to be
involved in the murder of a Somali youth during a peacekeeping mission
is the question David Bercuson seeks to answer in this immensely
readable and engrossing book. As he makes abundantly clear, the current
malaise afflicting the Canadian military extends far beyond the Somali
affair.

Employing a wide range of sources, including personal interviews,
Bercuson identifies the factors that have contributed to the crisis
confronting the Canadian Army today: persistent slashing of the defence
budget, excessive bureaucratization of the Department of National
Defence, a “cover your ass”/“don’t make waves” attitude among
many officers, and the military’s failure to adapt to societal changes
while simultaneously maintaining soldierly virtues—a failure that has
resulted in the triumph of the “soldier–manager” over the
“soldier–warrior.” In Bercuson’s view, the solution to the
military’s “crisis of values” lies in “the restoration of
preparation for war fighting and combat at the centre of the army’s
existence.”

Readers in search of answers to the key questions surrounding the
Somalia inquiry need look no further than this book. At the same time,
it offers a brilliant exposition of what is fundamentally wrong with
much of our attitude toward Canada’s professional soldiers, the vast
majority of whom, Bercuson reminds us, want nothing more than to serve
their country with honor and integrity.