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Seasoned Vet
 
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Only Canada pays compensation for crashes with Afghani cars
Policy under review after driver deliberately stopped his family's car in front of an armoured vehicle
Cristin Schmitz
CanWest News Service
CAMP JULIEN, Kabul -- Canadian peacekeepers are among the most professional and decent military forces in Afghanistan -- but are they being too nice?
Of the 31 nations contributing to the Kabul Multinational Brigade, Canada appears to be the only one to pay compensation when its military vehicles are to blame for car accidents with local Afghans.
"We are the only country that I am aware that pays claims," confirmed Captain Dave Sinclair, a lawyer with the Judge Advocate General's office at Camp Julien.
But after several recent incidents, Sinclair is re-evaluating the policy, due to concerns that paying even minimal compensation to the abjectly poor Afghans may encourage a rash of deliberate accidents with Canadian troops -- endangering both Canadian and Afghan lives.
A few weeks ago, Sinclair denied a claim for damages by an obviously destitute Afghan man, who had several children in the backseat of his ramshackle car when he purposely cut off a Canadian armoured vehicle.
"It was a hard choice because it's easy to say: 'These people have nothing ... what's 500 bucks?' " Sinclair recalled. "The guy had scraped up the side of one of our vehicles, then went directly in front and jammed on the brakes. You are looking at a 20-ton vehicle going 45 kilometres an hour, and this guy purposely pulls in front and stops dead."
The Canadian Forces' practice of paying compensation is anathema to the German military, which also patrols daily in the burgeoning capital.
"I can't understand why the Canadians pay for their accidents," said German Master Warrant Officer Ralf Knuttel, as he recently tried to steer his hulking armoured vehicle safely through streets teeming with beggars, donkey carts and tens of thousands of dilapidated cars.
In that chaos, Steinberg's German "monster" truck ended up accidentally crunching the back of one of the city's ubiquitous yellow and white taxicabs. Far from stopping to investigate and trade licence numbers, Knuttel frantically screamed "Go! Move! Go!" at the Afghan driver, who just stared back reproachfully.
For the Germans, manoeuvring their military vehicles through the mayhem of Kabul traffic is a serious security issue.
Devastated last June when an explosives-laden taxi rammed one of their buses, killing four peacekeepers and wounding 29, German soldiers who collide with local vehicles do not stop or pay. "We pay for our damages, and they pay for theirs," Knuttel explained.
That approach may seem harsh, but Germany and other nations that are part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) see it as promoting their own soldiers' survival.
The Germans are especially wary of passersby clamping "sticky bombs" under their vehicles.
But Canada, which cherishes its image as a just society, has exported the Canadian way of dealing with car accidents to a country with no recent memory of the rule of law.
In some ways, Canada's approach is about doing the right thing. "If you got into an accident with a Canadian military vehicle at home that was at fault, wouldn't you expect to be paid?" asked one soldier who investigates Canadian traffic accidents in Kabul.
The policy also bolsters the Canadian Forces' "hearts and minds" campaign in Afghanistan, which holds that helping Afghans and treating them fairly is an effective strategy for protecting Canadian soldiers.
For Canada, the issue is ultimately about security, not money. Since Operation Athena, the military mission to Afghanistan that began Aug. 7, there have been 117 motor vehicle accidents involving Canada's 1,800 soldiers in Kabul.
Canadian investigators called 57 of those accidents "preventable" -- and many of them were not the military's fault. Of the 20 claims for compensation that Afghans have made so far, Sinclair said he has denied five. The settlements are generally between $100 US and $400 US.
© Copyright 2003 Vancouver Sun
Make The Voices Stop!
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Trooper
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quote:
Originally posted by paracowboy
The Canadian Forces' practice of paying compensation is anathema to the German military...
... whos government sure made the US pay for any and all damages caused by US forces in Germany. Losers.
I think if you're being occupied or protected that should be payment enough, barring gross negligence.
"You knew the job was dangerous when you took it, Fred." --Superchicken
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Regular Joe
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I like Germany's approach. I say we use it....... in Germany!
   <rgr>
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Seasoned Vet
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quote:
Originally posted by cyclone13
I like Germany's approach. I say we use it....... in Germany!
Roger That!!!!!!!!!!
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Regular Joe
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Last Login: 12/29/2003 5:29 AM
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[ ][][][LOL] Typical for Germans.....
"Polish soldier fights for freedom of other nations, but dies only for Poland" - Gen Stanislaw Maczek (1892 - 1994)
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