HALIFAX – Military members in the nation’s capital are being asked not to wear their uniforms traveling to and from their places of work, a directive that is being criticized by a Halifax foreign policy expert.
Ken Hansen is a resident research fellow at Dalhousie University’s Centre for Foreign Policy Studies.
He said the decision, made the in aftermath of the Parliament Hill shooting that left Cpl. Nathan Cirillo dead, sends the wrong message.
READ MORE: Cpl. Nathan Cirillo killed in Ottawa remembered as ‘proud soldier’
“To force the entire military to make a very hugely symbolic concession like that, it’s a terrible, terrible mistake for the government to make,” Hansen said.
“It affects the psyche of the people and of the military itself. It undermines confidence.”
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Hansen, who is a former Navy commander, calls the uniform directive “a moral victory for the attacker”.
“It makes the people feel like the military is powerless.”
“It’s a symbolic victory for the extremists, to get your military to back down, to show they have little confidence in the ability to protect themselves and security forces to protect them,” Hansen said.
Expert questions security at Parliament Hill, Ottawa police
Hansen was also vocal about how Ottawa police admitted to being surprised by the attack.
READ MORE: Ottawa shooting timeline: 10 hours of terror
“This is a terrible excuse and unacceptable in my view,” Hansen said.
“By their own admission, they had elevated the security threat assessment. They had been alerted to the fact that ISIS had encouraged people in North America to attack government offices, government people using cars, knives and guns. This was well known.”
“The fact they were caught off guard is inexcusable.”
He also has concerns about how far the shooter was able to get inside Parliament Hill.
READ MORE: Ottawa gunman Zehab-Bibeau was headed to Syria: RCMP
“The security forces were effective, mostly by good luck than good planning,” he said.
“They didn’t even know how many attackers had entered the building. Do they not have video surveillance where they can go back and count the number of people coming in with weapons?”
“It’s just appalling to me how badly prepared the security apparatus is and how inefficient it was.”
Attack was ‘symbolic’
Hansen also questioned why Cirillo, who carried a gun that had no ammunition, was essentially defenseless.
“You can’t put people out on exposed positions like that. I mean you couldn’t find a more symbolic place than the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier,” he said.
“It was extremely symbolic and attack and kill a soldier and demonstrate their powerlessness to resist. It’s all about moral symbolic victories.”
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