Lewis MacKenzie

For the Virginia politician, see Lewis McKenzie.

File:Mission to Fontinalis Closing Ceremonies 17.jpg

Major-General Lewis Wharton MacKenzie, CM, CMM, MSC and bar, O.Ont, CD (born April 30, 1940) is a retired Canadian general, author and media commentator. MacKenzie is most famous for establishing and commanding Sector Sarajevo as part of the United Nations Protection Force UNPROFOR in Yugoslavia in 1992.

MacKenzie was born in Truro, Nova Scotia the son of Eugene MacKenzie and Shirley nee Wharton and raised in nearby Princeport. He is named after his great uncle, Liverpool, Nova Scotia schooner captain Lewis Wharton. MacKenzie's forefather Israel Wharton fought as a United Empire Loyalist in the American Revolutionary War, taking part in the Battle of Waxhaws. Israel subsequently settled in the Liverpool area.

Military career

MacKenzie enlisted with The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada and was commissioned in 1960. He served his first peacekeeping tour in the Gaza Strip in 1963, returning for a second tour in 1964, and then served with the UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus the following year. He was promoted to Major in 1971.

MacKenzie retired from the Canadian Forces in 1993, after a 35 year career.

Views on the war in Bosnia

MacKenzie's views on the Srebrenica massacre are controversial. He has written:

Evidence given at The Hague war crimes tribunal casts serious doubt on the figure of "up to" 8,000 Bosnian Muslims massacred. That figure includes "up to" 5,000 who have been classified as missing. More than 2,000 bodies have been recovered in and around Srebrenica, and they include victims of the three years of intense fighting in the area. The math just doesn't support the scale of 8,000 killed.

He also disputes the categorization of the massacre as genocide by saying:

It's a distasteful point, but it has to be said that, if you're committing genocide, you don't let the women go since they are key to perpetuating the very group you are trying to eliminate. Many of the men and boys were executed and buried in mass graves.

More importantly he has disputed that Srebrenica ever was an UN Safe area and said that it was never demilitarized, which had been a condition when the Serb side agreed not to take Srebrenica:

It didn't take long for the Bosnian Muslims to realize that the UN was in no position to live up to its promise to "protect" Srebrenica. With some help from outsiders, they began to infiltrate thousands of fighters and weapons into the safe haven. As the Bosnian Muslim fighters became better equipped and trained, they started to venture outside Srebrenica, burning Serb villages and killing their occupants before quickly withdrawing to the security provided by the UN's safe haven. These attacks reached a crescendo in 1994 and carried on into early 1995 after the Canadian infantry company that had been there for a year was replaced by a larger Dutch contingent.

Controversy

The 2000 book The Lion, the Fox, and the Eagle by Carol Off criticizes MacKenzie's role in Bosnia, suggesting he was willfully ignorant of the Bosnian political situation and was manipulated into being a vehicle of pro-Serb propaganda.

Newsday reporter Roy Gutman--whose credibility was strongly attacked by Peter Brock, who denies Srebrenica genocide --has claimed that MacKenzie has received $15,000 from a Serb lobby group in USA for speeches in support of Serbian causes. On other side, MacKenzie said that he customarily receives up to $10,000 per appearance, and that he "wouldn't be surprised" if SerbNet (Serbian American National Information Network) paid that rate through his agent. About that statement, an anonymous UN official said, "We quite frankly are displeased with his lack of judgment."

Retirement activities

MacKenzie is reportedly a lifelong automobile racing enthusiast. According to an article in the September 23, 2007 Victoria Times Colonist, he is an enthusiastic, skilled, and competitive race car driver having won the 2007 Diamond Class Ontario championship for formula fords at the age of 67 .

Politics

In the 1997 federal election, MacKenzie was Progressive Conservative candidate for Parliament for the central Ontario riding of Parry Sound—Muskoka. Tory leader Jean Charest suggested that if their party won power, MacKenzie would become Deputy Prime Minister. The Tories improved their standing and regained official party status, though MacKenzie finished second to Liberal incumbent Andy Mitchell.

Media

MacKenzie is frequently sought by Canadian broadcast media as a security and military affairs commentator.

In 2005, following the appointment of former Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire as a Liberal senator, MacKenzie wrote an editorial in the Globe and Mail entitled "Roméo, Roméo, wherefore art thou partisan?" arguing that Dallaire had compromised his previous stance by endorsing the Liberal Party's position on intervention in Sudan.

MacKenzie raced with Rick Mercer on CBC's The Mercer Report in the January 20, 2009 episode which ended in a "tie". Mercer was driving a car with winter tires, while MacKenzie was driving a car with all-season radials, on an icy track.

Writing

MacKenzie is the author of two books:

• Peacekeeper: Road to Sarajevo

• Soldiers Made Me Look Good: A Life in the Shadow of War

Honours

MacKenzie is a recipient of the Vimy Award, which recognizes a Canadian who has made a significant and outstanding contribution to the defence and security of our nation and the preservation of our democratic values.

In 2006, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada.