So Who Does Make Policy?

Doug Sanders has an interesting opinion piece in today's Globe & Mail on the evolution of Canadian foreign policy that is well worth the read. There was one aside, however, that caught my eye and that I think is worth direct comment. As Sanders tells it

Prime Minister Stephen Harper had just been elected into an Afghan war whose approach had been engineered by then chief of the defence staff Rick Hillier. By deploying a large force to the most dangerous corner of Afghanistan, he believed he could create an image – and possibly also a reality – of military strength and competence.

Mr. Harper, recognizing that Canada itself faced a declining image in the world, appears to have decided to extend this technique into the broader realms of foreign policy.

This would suggest that one of Canada's leading columnists and the paper that he works for believe that, and are untroubled by the belief, that General Hillier largely shaped a policy of unprecedented military intervention. We are not some tinpot Latin American dictatorship. Our generals, however well meaning, do not make policy. Our elected representatives do. While we honour the service of our armed forces, we do not put them in charge.

This is not a minor point. Control of the policy process by elected representatives and civilian control of the military are foundation stones of democracy. Mr. Sanders should know better.