weaponeer

I agree, however; Those countries with starving children have a responsibility too. Everyone blames the USA because it is easy, you do not have to take responsibility. As for folks without healtcare in the US, I lived there for 4 years. Most people do not have healtcare because they choose not to. They say they cannot afford it, but they drive a new SUV. They have medicare in the States, like we do, for the poor. But yes, they do spend a lot on their military, perhaps too much. I was stationed on a USAF base in Oklahoma, they had more planes there than Canada has in it's whole Air Force, more planes than Air Canada flies. They have reserve & national guard units everywhere, it's a lot. They have realized this, and if you look at the BRAC website, they are trying to downsize, close some facilities....

Obviously you have no idea what your talking about. The US Military is the best equipped on earth, and the best trained, there's no bluff. They have had trouble in Iraq & Afghanistan only because they refrained from unleashing that power on civilians. An all out war between the US military & the Iranian militray would be over before it started. Remeber what happened to Iraq in 1991. Have a clue before you comment about things you do not know about.....

They most likely have not worked out which company is getting what maint contract. We needed these planes 10 years ago, so there will be follow on issues.

I think that perhaps the USA's patience is running out. If Musharff is weakened, perhaps they may go in, at the very least covert with Spec Ops guiding in airstrikes. My point is that if you go to war, you go to win. If you believe that something is so important that you are willing to spend the lives of your troops then you have to win. Anything else is nonsense!!

Good to see, it's about time......

What people have to understand here, is the Taliban. Who & what are they?? They were created by the Pakistani Intel Service, the ISI. They were created to bring stability to Afghanistan after the Soviets pulled out and left the place a disaster. remember, after the Russinas pulled out an civil war broke out between all the factions that fought the Soviets. Pakistan did not want this going on on their border. Pakistan's main enemy is India on their east, they wanted a stable border on their west. The talibs are a proxy army of Pakistan much like Hezbulah is a proxy army Iran. There is no accident that they have sanctuary in the tribal regions of Pakistan.. Pakistan is a nuclear power, they have the worlds fourth largest army, they could aggressivly clear the place out if they really wanted to. Yes, they have fought the talibs in the tribal regions, perhaps they have lost control of parts of their proxy army, perhaps they sacrifice a talib unit or two for the media, this I do not know. The porblems in Afghanistan can be fixed with aggressive actions. NATO needs to hit the talibs and hit them hard, very hard. That means going into Pakistan and clearing them out whether Pakistan likes it or not. I have believed all along Pakistan was the problem, milking this to get $$ out of the west. I have done two tours over there, and my opinion is that it is not worth the life of even 1 Canadian, American or NATO soldier. If we are serious about the talibs, then our only mission should be combat!! Find them and aggressivly kill them wherever they are. Reconstruction is NOT a military function, we are warriors. Use the warriors to clear the talibs & AQ, make the place safe for the UN, NGO's & Afghan gov't to come in and fix things. If we are serious about Afghanistan, we need to go in to Pakistan and hit them hard where they live. If we do not, it means we are not serious, and we should get out.

Here we go, the myth of the "US military industrial complex" again. Yes , the USA military that freed millions from Hiltler's grip, saved the world from Communisim and are standing up to the Islamic nuts of the world. They have fought and died for the safety & freedom of millions. The "US military industrial complex" has kept the democracies of the world free. Socialist hate the US, because the US defeated them in the Cold War. The world voted with it's feet, and socialism failed!!! Yes, the "US military industrial complex" destroyed the socialist empire, and thank God for that!! I would hate them too if I were a socialist!!

Canada is part of NATO. If NATO elects to go in, than we have to be there, to contribute. It would not be a desicion made lightly by NATO. As a military officer I can give my personel opinion, but many would not like it.

The USA is only a bully and Empire in the eyes of Leftards!! They have never forgiven the USA for winning the cold war and defeating socialism. I can think of billions of people who live in freedom today because of what the Americans have done for them. They are a force for good. You don't see anyone lined up to immagrate out of the USA, they want in by the millions!!! If the USA withdrew from the world there would be no one to stand up to the N Koreas & Irags of the world. Good job USA, and I hope they put Iran in it's place soon!!!

Dion, the stupidity of that man is really something. The whole place is a combat zone. Everyone is in a combat role, leaving your base is a combat role. The ONLY thing we should be doing is combat!!! Nation building is BS, it is not a military role. The reality of the CF will soon catch up here. I believe the army ground troops will be out in Feb 2009. All three army regiments have rotated through several times, they are tired and burned out. I think you will see a CF18 squadron go to Khandahar in Feb 2009. The role will most likely change to air combat, close air support to NATO forces and a small army airfield security unit.

We are a quasi Socialist country. Socialist countries do not look too good. I see many similarities between Canada and what I saw in Eastern Europe in the early '90s. We pay huge amounts of taxes, and see very little for it. And the point of a large country with a small population also plays a huge role. You want to clean the place up, reduce taxation, attract business, create good jobs, keep the unions out so we do not stiffle creativity and the workers do not price themselves out of a job, invest in infastructure. In other words change the priorities of the government from a social safety net to lets all get to work!!! You cannot tell me there is no work to be done in Canada.

NO many Canadians do not share your views. Canadians are smart people, when you explain it to them, give them the facts they get it. I am tired of idiots who have never been to Afganistan, tell me why we are there. I have done two 6 month tours there, have you??? Real men pick up weapons and defend their wives, children, parents and those they hold dear. They will fight to protect their country, their land their homes. That is what real men do!!! We are not in Afganistan on offensive operations, we are not there to conqour them, to make them part of our Empire, to enslave their people and rape their resources. We are there because of 9-11. We are there because world governments have failed for years to deal with radical Islam. 9-11 was an attack on the free world, the fact it happend in NYC is of no consequense. If it has been in Paris, Berlin, Ottawa or Brisbane, the result would have been the same. We are in Afghanistan to hunt down and destroy the tailbs & AQ, to prevent the place from being used as a base of operations for terrorism. Had the talibs handed over the AQ they had, this would not have happened. Humans are animals, preditory animals!! Like Lions or Leopards we compete for food, resources etc, that is where war comes from. War is a reality of the human experience!! It will never go away no more than cancer, crime or AIDS will. Nobody likes those things!!! Rational peoples know this fact and take actions to midagate it, that is why we have a military. We have a military to defend our land, our people and our friends around the world. We in the military are asked to do evil things, bad things at times in order to do good. My grandfathers both served in WW2, and both had to do some aweful things to free the world from Hitler. They took responsibility, they did their duty, as we do now. They had to make deals with the devils, as do we today. Sombody has to take responsibility, somebody has to make the very hard decisions that need to be made, to do the very hard and cruel things that sometimes need to be done. And then, those people, like my grandfathers, have to live with what they had to do. Those are the people I respect. You see, we are all CO when it come to war, but some take responsibility and step up!! The USA is not a bully, not an Empire. They are a force for good in this world, they are the people who have fought and freed billions around this world. They are a superpower, and with that they have responsibilities in the world that we and other nations do not do not. We are supposed to have International Law, who the hell enforces that?? Where would we be if the USA was not a superpower, or withdrew from the world. Then what??

"A TRUELY HONOURABLE military" So you are say we in the CF are not honourable!! You wonder why I say get a clue!! I work with people every day, have been to and in shitholes you can't imagine with some of the most honourable people in the world. People who have done things for this country that you all will never know.....

Maybe you should get at least half a clue before you comment!!

Hi jdobb, hope you had a good holiday, Actually I think they would have sold if we asked. I my experience with NORAD I have seen many things the US has offered us. They seriously want our help with regard to continental defence. If Canadian subs were patrolling the arctic, they would not have too, it frees up their resources. A sub base in the Canadian arctic would send a huge statement out to the world that it is ours!!! 6 patrol boats will not do it, they are a waste of $$ I feel. Now 6 ice breaking frigates... better option, more $$ but worth I think.. Another huge issue with Canadian subs you have to consider is what we gain access too. As sub operators, we have access to US & NATO sub intel, as well as sub operations. In short we know what is where sub wise. If you are not in the sub club, you do not get that info, allied or not, your blocked as it is "need to know only" info.

Our subs are heavily tasked, although only 1 at a time. The sub force is designed to only have 1 combat ready sub at a time, we only have 4. Subs are a great asset, you can use them for many missions, more so now that nukes have been removed from most (not all) us SSBNs. For Canada they are good to support spec ops (and they do), to control and monitor sub-surface activity in our waters. Subs are a psychological weapon, they are almost impossible to find and cause great concern to naval commanders. 1982 Falklands war, the RN was so concerned about the threat from two Argentinian subs they neglected their air defence plan. The sub threat opened up the door for the Air Force to strike. What we should have done is purchased some new subs from the USA. With those, we could operate under the pack ice up north.

It was a military decision, and given our equipment situation the correct one. Had past governments (Tory & Lib) as well as piss poor military leadership in days gone by, been better, we would not be in this situation. Nice to hear from you jdobb.

Hillier did not nix the idea of sending CF18 & helos to Afghanistan. We only have 79 CF18s, and they are currently undergoing a mid life upgrade, getting new computers, radars etc... The fleet of Cf18 was being upgraded and still having to maintain NORAD alert, there were not enough to send any to Afghanstan. The first upgraded jets will be online this Feb, perhaps then you will see they go. As for helos, the CF has none to send. The Sea Kings are death traps, the new search & rescue helos are not for combat, and our griffons are not military helos, you cannot send them into a combat zone. The only real option the AF had left were some C130's....

http://www.sfu.ca/casr/ Here's another good link. Look at the bottom topic, Modest Proposals, you will see a link about armed Grifs, good read.....

The UH-1 is the military designation for the Bell 204. Mostly the same helo, however the military version has some different features such as, UHF radios, armour plating in key areas, reinforced floors for weapons mounts, as well as some system redundancies for operating in combat zones. The CF Griffons are actually civil B412s painted green. There is a military version of the B412 called the Griffon, but we do not use them, just the name. That is the reason they are not in Afghanistan. The AF has a project to upgrade some of our helos to "REAL" Griffon status, with armour, weapons mounts etc... They are going to be called escort helos.

You can be a conscientious objector because you live in a free and democratic country that allows you to be. Real men have fought and died fighting histories monsters to give you this freedom. We should destroy the Canadian economy to prove a point?? We should throw thousands out of work to spite others?? We should get rid of our military and scoff that those that do not?? We can do this because we have "vital" natural resources that the world will need?? The world will lay down their arms, stop wars because they need our maple syrup??? Are you F$#KED?? How about the world "will come and take what they want from us because we have no way to stop them"!!!! They will rape our resources becasue we can not do anything about it. What's next, you going to stop screwing your wife to prove a point?? Deny her the pleasure of your conscientious objector manhood until all wars end?? Don't be surprised if she starts "working late" each night!!!

If we were smart, we would have bought 4 Virginia class subs from the US. We could have arranged to tack on 4 subs to the overall USN order, saving time & $$. But this is Canada.......

No, anti-sub destroyers do not exist, they are a myth. It is the ships helo that detects and kills a sub. The best and usually only way to kill a sub is with another sub, this is what my navy friends tell me, but what would they know:) You have to get out of the cold war mantaliy of subs!! Subs do much more these days, much more than they ever did in the cold war. Anti-shipping, anti-sub ops are still there, add on recon, spec ops, troop insertion, intel gathering etc... They are busy people..... Surface ships are good for fighting other ships, shooting on land targets, supporting anti-sub ops and as anti-air platforms. Our navy ships do anti-air Ok, but they have sub-standard radars for this.

http://www.airforce.forces.gc.ca/site/news...007_10/01_e.asp Here is a good article on current AF priorities....

Actually the routine monthly & yearly checks are done by Air Force techs. The day to day maint is done by the Air Firce. Civy maint only comes into play for DLIR, Depot Level Inspect & Repair, after some many hundreds of hours of use. A new C130J will be in service for 4 -5 years before it would require DLIR. CAE in Edmonton used to do maint on the C130's also, not sure if they are still in on it. If we really wanted to save $$ we would simply let the US contractor due the maint, cheaper option by far. Canadian aerospace companied cannot compete with the US one because we do not have a military aerospace industry in Canada. No Canadain company makes military aircraft, they make civilian ones we paint grey and call military (DH8, Griffon helo, CL61 etc...). With the C17s doing most of the strat airlift, the C130Js will be used for the tactical airlift, this will reduce maint as we are using them for what they were designed for. Our present Herc fleet was driven into the ground by miss use, as is the case with our CP140 Aurora fleet.