Why isn't Harper standing-up for a Canadian soldier?

I don't know how this story has flown under the radar for so long, but it really shouldn't. Last week, the report of a Canadian military inquiry investigating the death of a Canadian peacekeeper, Major Paeta Hess-Von Kruedener, during the summer 2006 Israel/Lebanon war, was released:

In a report released Friday, the board of inquiry into the death of Major Paeta Hess-Von Kruedener said it found no evidence that anyone from the United Nations or Canadian Forces should shoulder any of the blame - that the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) as a whole is responsible.

More on the incident itself:

The 43-year-old soldier from Kingston, Ont., and three other peacekeepers under UN command died in the bombing on the night of July 25. Fighting between Israeli and Hezbollah forces had broken out earlier in the month and the UN post, located about 10 kilometres from the Israeli, Lebanese and Syrian borders, was right in the thick of it.

That’s disturbing enough. But more disturbing is the lack of cooperation from the Israeli military with the investigation, and the apparent unwillingness of the Harper government to press them on it:

The report notes that the IDF did not fully co-operate with the Canadian inquiry and denied access to documents and people involved in the event. It suggests that if the board had the access it requested, it might have been able to assign blame to an individual within the IDF.

The board also couldn't resolve the unanswered question of why Israeli air force jets continued their attacks despite warnings that UN personnel were in the area.

I’m not going to buy into the theory floated by some, including the widow and Kofi Annan, that the UN outpost was deliberately target. That’s hard to believe. I don’t think the IDF had any nefarious intent, but clearly there was a breakdown of communications, and it had deadly consequences.

The report found no failure of communication on the UN side and said the IDF "has failed to explain why the attack was not halted."

According to the board's evidence, there was enough time for the information to get to the appropriate IDF authorities and "had the IDF side of the liaison network been functioning effectively, the incident could have been prevented."

This matter has not been resolved satisfactorily. Stephen Harper needs to telephone the Israeli Prime Minister immediately, and demand full cooperation from the IDF so the truth in this matter can be known. Major Hess-Von Kruedener deserves that much.

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