DART Team Spin Doctoring

Today in the Globe and mail Elissa Goldberg, a director of humanitarian affairs in the Department of Foreign Affairs, is quoted as saying that the 200 member Canadian Forces Disaster Assistance Relief Team (DART) is not being deployed because it isn't needed. She says that DART isn't normally deployed within the first 72 hours. "It is more of a medium term intervention,"Ms Goldberg said.

Not according to the Department of National Defence (DND) web site it isn't. Refresh your memory by rereading my post of yesterday, The Holy Paperwork of Antioch. The DND says Dart is something different. In addition to my quotes from the site yesterday, the site says that DART is supposed to be:

ready to deploy quickly to conduct emergency relief operations for up to 40 days, the DART can bridge the gap until members of the international community arrive to provide long-term help.

If that doesn't sound like a first responder, I don't know what does. According to DND, the team is supposed to get there before the NGO's arrive on scene. We are not being told the truth on the DART team by government spokepersons. Shame on them.

How many will die in the next few weeks because our Liberal government has completely neglected its obligations to the people of Canada to provide and maintain a well equipped, deployable military service?

If you don't care about those poor unfortunates in Asia (and if you don't care, your heart is stone), then give some thought to having these neglectful incompetents in charge of disaster relief when a catastrophe strikes right here in Canada.