Politics: What's New?
Just to be clear: I'm a fan of the Canadian military, and I'm glad to see spending increased there. I think Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor is way off in his evaluation of what he can do for $5.3 billion over five years (increased personnel, new planes and new icebreakers? Hmm...), but he's new at the job, so he gets a bit of slack. Mostly, I'm just hoping for an increase in basic pay for the troops, get the Sikorskys paid for, and properly fund the DART, perhaps even creating a second one for larger/multiple emergencies.
What I do not want to see, at all, in any way, shape or form, is a reopening of the missile defence system talks. The very inspiration for this blog (and it's first post on Jan 21st last year) was the utter stupidity of a spectacularly failed idiological boondoggle. Nothing in the year since has impressed me to change my mind.
The US could still be looking to Canada to make up for the $5 billion cut from their missile defence plan - if talks do resume on this grand delusion that was Reagan's personal wet dream, then we had best keep an awfully close eye on where the Defence Minister puts his newly acquired money.
Our forces have had more than enough friendly fire from the Boys in Blue on battlefields; to have it happen in our boardrooms would be an obscenity.
What I do not want to see, at all, in any way, shape or form, is a reopening of the missile defence system talks. The very inspiration for this blog (and it's first post on Jan 21st last year) was the utter stupidity of a spectacularly failed idiological boondoggle. Nothing in the year since has impressed me to change my mind.
The US could still be looking to Canada to make up for the $5 billion cut from their missile defence plan - if talks do resume on this grand delusion that was Reagan's personal wet dream, then we had best keep an awfully close eye on where the Defence Minister puts his newly acquired money.
Our forces have had more than enough friendly fire from the Boys in Blue on battlefields; to have it happen in our boardrooms would be an obscenity.
Labels: Politics
3 Comments:
Glad to see you're maintaining a sensible position on this.
I guess it should come as no surprise that O'Connor would have no personal problems with BMD since he lobbied DND on behalf of several aerospace firms which could be in on the gravy train.
Gordon O'Connor: Fine with Star Wars bmd
Equipping the armed forces with the tools they need to defend the country is one thing, throwing money into a pit is another.
Two factors to consider with BMD
The first, as you point out, is that it is a pipedream.
The second is that, like phony port security issue, it is just as likely to be outsourced so that all the cash shovelled down the missile silo can be laundered back to the good folks like those that control the Carlyle Group.
Seem far fetched?
Maybe.
But, then again, why is the Port of Vancouver barricaded 24/7 and why are we paying the UAE folks to run it?
____
details at my place if you want to have a look.
Polunatic:
I think the majority of the country is quite proud that we have a DART, and were tremendously embarrassed when we found out during the tsunami what budget the thing was running on!
I view the military here as being primarily used elsewhere (thankfully), but available as auxillary assistance in times of domestic trouble. Even so, they are brutally underpaid and underfunded for the tasks asked of them.
Gaz:
I noticed that post at your site: VERY interesting! I wonder if the story is going to gain any traction in the MSM, or it wil do a quick fade? Soon find out!
Post a Comment
<< Home