OTTAWA—From badass to beating a retreat.Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan is offering some clarification around his claim that he was the “architect” of the biggest Canadian military offensive against the Taliban in Afghanistan.Sajjan came into the defence post in 2015 boasting impeccable credentials: time in the military and tours of duty in Afghanistan, all reinforced by a photo showing him in uniform, sporting sleek sunglasses, that earned him the moniker “badass.”But now Sajjan seems to have overreached in a war story, telling an audience in New Delhi, India, earlier this week that he was the “architect” of Operation Medusa, the Canadian offensive in 2006 to push out Taliban fighters from the districts around Kandahar.“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 in his speech.“I was very proud to be on the main assault of the force,” he said in the speech, which can be found on YouTube.It doesn’t appear that the comments were a slip of the tongue.The reference to being the architect of Operation Medusa was contained in the prepared text. The two-week operation in September 2006 claimed Canadian lives, but is credited with reducing the Taliban’s hold around Kandahar.Yet Sajjan’s version of events, first reported by the National Post, stirred anger in military circles from those who thought the former soldier had overstated his role.One military officer told the Post it was a “bald-faced lie.” That forced a statement from the defence minister, who is now anxious to share the credit for Operation Medusa with “Canadian, American and Afghan soldiers.“Every military operation our Forces undertook in Afghanistan, including Operation Medusa, re ...
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