Defence minister apologizes for ‘architect’ claim

OTTAWA — Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan offered a full apology to his former comrades-in-arms on Saturday, after claiming to have been the “architect” of Canada’s largest battle in Afghanistan.

The mea culpa, posted to Facebook, followed what some had seen as a half-hearted apology by Sajjan on Friday for comments he made in a speech earlier this month to a think tank in India.

“On my first deployment to Kandahar in 2006, I was kind of thrown in an unforeseen situation and became the architect of an operation called Operation Medusa, where we removed about 1,500 fighters, Taliban fighters, off the battlefield,” Sajjan said during his speech in Delhi on April 18.

Those comments, which were not improvised but part of a prepared speech for the event at the Indian think-tank Observer Research Foundation, reportedly sparked grumblings among some Afghan veterans.

The National Post, which first reported on Sajjan’s speech, quoted several current and former soldiers who noted that Operation Medusa was actually planned and executed by then-major-general David Fraser, who at the time was responsible for all NATO forces in southern Afghanistan.

Sajjan was a major with the Canadian Forces in Afghanistan during Operation Medusa, and received a special commendation for “his understanding of counterinsurgency tactics,” which helped the operation.

But the minister himself has acknowledged that Fraser and his command team were responsible for the operation’s success, which saw hundreds of Taliban fighters killed or captured over a two-week period.

The minister initially expressed “regret” for overstating his role in the operation after video of his speech in India emerged last week, but he went farther in Saturday’s Facebook post.

“I made a mistake in describing my role. I wish to retract that description and apologize for it. I am truly sorry,” Sajjan wrote, before addressing his former comrades directly.

“While I am proud of the role I played during my deployments to Afghanistan, my comments were in no way intended to diminish the roles of my former superiors and fellow soldiers. To them I offer my sincere apologies.”

Sajjan did not say why he overstated his role in Operation Medusa, which also saw 12 Canadian soldiers killed in what remains the bloodiest operation for the Canadian Armed Forces since Korea.

The minister is expected to face pointed questions about his comments in India when members of Parliament return from a two-week break on Monday.