Army Guy

There has always been a French/ English discourse....with two standards, one for Quebec and one for the rest of Canada. perhaps if both languages were given equal billing, then maybe we would have more wiliness to learn it....In New Brunswick they had a program where students were required to do 1/2 a year in English and 1/2 year in French in all subjects. The program failed and now they have gone back to just one French class up until grade 9, where there is no requirement for any French.

It's not perspective but fact, the current Syrian government is another Sadam in sheeps clothing with the bulk of Syrians not supporting him or his clowns. The new Iraqi government is made up mostly of the majority Shia religion, for many reasons the Sunnis had already proved that they could not govern, at least not without using terror and fear to keep their subjects in line. The SHIA sect makes up the majority of Iraqi citizens, whom were oppressed by the Sunnis....Was there going to be conflict, no doubt there was, but never even close to what Sadam and his Sunnis goons had accomplished.... Given a choice making the new government out of the majority of the Iraqis would seem to be the right choice.....if you were from Shia sect.....and the Sunni sect rejected this proposal right out of the gates, and made it almost impossible for the current government to accomplish anything. This is not an US made issue this was an issue solely created by the Sunni's....and the years of mistreatment of other sects within Iraq. ISIS does not represent all Sunnis, you can not paint them all with the same brush, does ISIL have support from some of the Sunni sect , Yes they do, but it is not a majority. They have been many Muslim , Sunni sect Imans that have spoken publicly about how they do not support ISIS , and have condemned their actions as going again'st Islam.....Also remember ISIS does not tolerate any discourse with any of their policies or religious interputations, and have killed anyone that does not tow the party line, Sunni or Shia, western, eastern it does not matter.... When I read your post it seems like your suggesting that the Sunnis are only interested in creating a sunni homeland, and yet they are involved in Syria, Libya, Nigeria, and Afghanistan....that's quit a homeland....where does it stop.....and does the world just take it on the chin, decide to sit down with these nut bars and redraw the middle eastern map.....what of the middle eastern countries that don't want they're borders redrawn.... Why should the civilized world even bother to sit down with these guys....I mean , what they are currently doing goes against inter national law, the Genva convention, and most nations with the UN....So why do we shed tears for these guys, because they want a homeland, they don't want to be ruled by Shia.....last time I looked their is an already established process to get all of that..... and if we let bullies do what ever they want, to whom ever they want.....where does it stop.....Can I arm myself and declare my own nation within Canada., No because we have laws and rules about such behavior.... If they want to have the bombs stop dropping they have to act according to the laws, and accords laided down by the rest of the world.... Your statement has a lot of holes in it....first off every nation around the globe has soldiers in fact thousands of Canadian soldiers retire or quit our forces every year, less than .025% percent find employment in Soldiering.....and they are not entitled to Unemployment insurance , you either have a meager pension, or a return of contributions from said pension plan....how do they do it I wonder....Well sir they get off their asses and find work where they can.... The bulk of Iraq's soldiers are conscripts forced into the military, on top of that lets not forget that the bulk of Iraq's population is made up from Shia religious sect and there fore made up the bulk of the old Iraqi army......with the exception of Iraq's Republican Guard who numbers you gave were between 60 and 70,000....I wonder how many of them survived the last invasion, I bet not that number.....So you want to believe that the survivors took up arms in 2003 and are still alive today.....how many would have been wounded, not able to soldier, how many still wanted to fight....it would be my guess that today there would be a small fraction still fighting today....replaced by a much younger Iraqi who has been seduced with the promises of virgins and glory in his heavens....while on earth he is paid some wages, given slaves to keep him comfortable, all the prostitutes he wants, a home,food, and fuel.....plus the chance to prove himself on the battle field.....a very powerful motivator if your poor, or out of work....

It is NOT primarily made up of Iraqi ex military personal, the bulk of it's members are made up of Sunni Iraqi kids promised the world , wages, slaves, prostitutes, fuel, food, and fuel...and all the killing they want to do.....foreign Muslims make up the rest of the numbers, UN est at over 30,000. Yes Uncle Sam left a lot of equipment to the new Iraqi army, who in turn lost it on the battle field...Id say most of it has been destroyed or rendered broken by now....One could hardly blame the US for that....

You make them sound like they are a legitimate organization, recognized by the UN, or by other Middle eastern countries, or even Iraq's official government. But they are not are they....The fact is they are recognized within the UN, and every nation within it as a Terrorist organization....An organization that uses terror for a political proposes.... Now some nations leaders are reclassifying ISIL, Drash what ever you want to call them as nothing more than rogue army as they don't fit into all the slots other terrorist organizations fit into, or how other nations have decided to counter ISIL aspirations of a new home land unlike how they dealt or destroyed with other terrorist groups...Forcing a new change of tactics which are evolving slowly.... they have limited political power, a clear chain of command within their government and military. In the end they are a threat to world security, security of the middle east, and nothing more than a rogue terrorist group... Not sure if your trying to misinform the rest of the crowd here or just don't know, While a good deal of ISIL higher chain of command are made up of EX Iraqi members, there is still a high number of foreign fighters , with some estimates of over 30,000 by the UN , which released a report calling ISIL a polishing ground for most extremists who have joined not because of some made up fallacy of making a new homeland, but rather the thrill, the experience, and to be part of something bigger than they ever dreamed about.....The fact they are not paid, but given allowances for housing, food, and fuel....means it is clear they are not doing it for the money, but something else.... Pointing the finger at Uncle Sam for handing out pink slips, sending them home to find other employment, I hope that's not your excuse for all these guys flocking over to ISIL is it....Know your enemy is that not what you where preaching.... The fact that Sadam and his bunch of bullies ruled Iraq with an Iron fist where Sunnis, so we are clear the Minority in IRAQ with only 35 % of the total population , while the Shia make up over 65 % of the population....So while in power under the Sadam regime and the Sunni henchmen killed thousand s upon thousands of Shia Iraqis ....After Sadam was disposed off, do you really think they were going to hand the keys to the kingdom back to the Sunni's...Shia Muslims took control of the country and their policies are not popular with the Sunni's, who are used to get their own way....or killing those that opposed them....Ya really nice guys....So yes ISIL does have limited support of some Sunni areas, because of the dislike of the Shia government..... But that does not represent the majority of Sunnis or Shia population, nor does it give them the numbers to demand a separate nation or a region of their own....In the real world we have rules and laws and processes to make that happen , taking up arms and forcing it to happen is well illegal in the eyes of the rest of the civilized world....we did not see Quebec use suicide bombers or terrorist attacks to get there separation....No....they followed the rule of law....So the civilized world stood up and said this is not right, and started dropping bombs, on ISIL targets....that's what happens when you take up arms and deify the rest of the world....and start killing whom ever you feel the need to.....It makes me puke that your post comes across with some empathy for these murders, like we should some how feel sorry for them, I mean shit they have lived their all their lives, and now they are told they can't kill their fellow countrymen because of race, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, have the same extremist views of Islam, etc, etc ...And these guys some how deserve some big crocodile tears of mercy..... If it is what we should do then lets make it easier for them to do....lets solve all our problems with violence....I like your new truck big guy, I'll be coming over with my new shot gun to take it later....maybe next time it is your house , your wife and kids....because that is the civilized thing to do....

Maybe you can explain why F-117 were so successful in initial raids over Bagdad, the worlds most heavily defended airspace at the time, without a single loss...ask the pilots if stealth did not help....And If speed and alt was all that mattered why not send in F-15 at 2.5 mach and 60,000 alt ....Shit even a 22 cal rifle can take down a fighter, or a 10 dollar lazer....Stealth gives you another tool for pilots to defeat the enemy....it's not the end all to be all, just another tool....but you can't use it if you don't have it...

Yes you are, your current statement says as much, and your justification is what exactly ? You state an extra 20 bil seems excessive to bring us in line with 2 % of GDP.....and yet we spend over 27 bil on immigration every year and nobody blinks an eye at that amount.... Nobody in Canada wants a large military, what they want is one that could do all of it's tasks with ease, one that is equipped properly, one that looks after it's vets and members who have sacrificed so much for this nation..... Currently our ARMY is the largest element in the forces, it is made up of 3 very under manned Brigades....;lacking in so much equipment it is a joke....recent history has clearly spelled this out for all Canadians to see.... DND has said in the media on many occasions that the maximum rotation it could field long term was just over 3500 people....WOW....3500 men and women.... ICE storm, not a huge event , but when DND responded it took all 3 under manned brigades to bring all the resources to bear and solve the crises and it was not enough, that numbers also includes a large contribution from the reserve world... Winnipeg floods, also took all 3 army brigades, reserve units, many airforce and NAVY pers....and it was not enough....the fact was more than 75 % of the forces was in one city at one time..... Anything bigger than these two events will quickly over whelm our forces capabilities to respond and make a difference....What does that mean...it means Canadians will not get the help they need when they need it, it means there could be loss of life.... The Army is the rich cousin compared to all the other elements....and it's in poor shape....12 ships is not enough to patrol one of the largest coastlines in the world, plus maintain all it's NATO and US defense agreements.... SO history has shown us we can not preform light combat duties for any length of time, nor can we effectively respond to anything larger than the ICE storm or Winnipeg floods.....That has got to ring some bells with some one.... Not to mention all the leasons we have forgotten from the rest of the Combat operations or wars we have fought...How many lives were lost because we were not ready, how many times have we said never again....and yet here we are, in a world that is not any safer than it was in 1937....

Yes and you mentioned different SAR agencies.....and yet when something difficult comes around how many of those agancies get called out....Say like the rescue in the artic, where Sar techs jumped into the frozen water to rescue someone on a piece of floating ice.....Or the weather is so bad that only military aircraft fly....Don't get me wrong I have repect for anyone that puts their lives on the line to save others....But we could hardly say that DND's SAR techs can be out done by other organizations in regards to training, equipment, resources available.....I mean how many could pull off a rescue attempt some 50 kms from alert, at the fringes of our northern borders... If your looking for excuses to down size the Military, or to underfund it then fine, stand up and just do it.....Instead governments have been stabbing our military in the backs for generations, with small cuts here and there, to where we are today, on life support....Politicians are afraid to look its military members in the eyes and tell them what they are really thinking....and shut down our military.....because they don't want to fund it properly.

Your right it is not a civilian organization, it is a Military organization controlled by our government. The same way the RCMP are controlled by our government. Both are trained in riot control. The only difference is the military does not have powers of arrest...They do however have powers to detain, Until RCMP members arrive to make an arrest.... The military has handled many civilian unrest problems within our nation, including Prison riots, OKA riots, FLQ crisis...It has also been the lead organization in providing security for things like the games in BC, G-4 summits etc..... It has even taken control of the Kingston max security pen while it rioted and the guards went on strike....It has done many things that it does not specialize in but has always been there when they are called upon.

Hows that....DND trains on civil unrest / riots all the time...again OKA comes to mind, when clearing the bridge and the town of protesters. Was done with shields, batons, CS gas, and rifles....So what makes it legitimate ?

Yes they were misinformed, 2 RCR Gagetown, was told to send up a list of non wpns such as NVG's Night vision goggles, thermal devices and scopes, and some comms equipment , RCMP pick all this up and returned it later the same week. We also sent up a few LAV's with drivers and crew commanders to provide armored transport , but they were not used.... We did not send up any wpns as the police officers did not have any training on them at the time...they have since trained on the C-7/8 at CFB Gagetown.

Military did provide RCMP with equipment during the Moncton incident, such as NVG, thermal scopes, and types of coms....it could not hand over wpns they were not qualified on....but then again DND did train them on the C-8 after the incident, along with training all their train the trainers.... Would FLQ crises, OKA along with anti terrorist operations be classified as a civil disturbance....all it takes for the police to request federal assistance....

That's the answer, other organizations could do the same thing.....Name one anyone.....and then answer this why would you fund another agency to do the same thing ...if one already exists.....and we can't fund it properly.....so now we would have 2 agencys with out the right equipment or tools....Is this you making shit up, Is this some liberal agenda.....it goes along way to show some of us there is a lot of bias again'st the military and properly funding it.....

Smallc : This is your quote is it not....there is also very new equipment ......The entire transport fleet is not new....there are only 2 types that have been purchased within the last 10 years not bad 2 out of 5.... Well shit that makes them new.....the first one was commission in 1996, over 20 years of age....still does not make them new.....no amount of upgrades make them new..... You said new.....if they are so new then why are we having a replacement pissing contest, and while they are upto date with other F-18 B and C models....but they don't compare to anything of gen 4.5 or above Hence the modern context....Such as Euro fighter, or F-15S, or F-18E or F....they are not new...... Yes we purchased new to US tanks What I meant was they were new to us (Canada) purchasing second hand off the Dutch... Your right there is now a mix, we have 20 leo IIA6M in the fleet, these tanks were originally leant to us from the Germany government to use in Afghanistan. Still 2 generations behind the latest german tanks....and are the same ones used or returned in Afghanistan, can you say used hard put away wet....., X 20 leo A4 were sent back to Germany to be modified back to A6M standards....The majority of our tank fleet is still A4, and still 4 generations behind the latest designs..... But hey lets put this into context we brought our Leo IC4 tanks to Afghanistan, which were only 10 full generations behind at the time the Leo II6M, to which instead of buying new Leo II 6M , because at the time our nation was in combat and soldiers were dying .... we borrowed 20 of them from Germany, and then purchased the remainder of our current fleet second hand of the Dutch.....only to have them sit in a warehouse for 4 years before they could be used in Canada.....So there is a history of cheaping out.....And with all that does not mean they are new.... You mean to say there is nothing old on the bottom half of the veh.....the top half has not been modified or updated at all same optics, same FCS, same gun, same everything..... the bottom half has a v shaped hull, new suspension, new tires and rims, new troop seats,..more weight due to additional under belly armour....no additional armour to the top or sides.... Saying we were the launch customer is retarded.....of course we were a launch customer, one that sole sourced this project because it was all we could afford....who does that cut a veh in half and call it a new veh.....but the final slap in the face is that the Saudi's order the same veh , with a twist it is all new.....top and bottom....it was tested, all the problems ironed out , with does not have any of the problems we have..... Yes the entire shell is available.....made from top shells that could not be used or vehs that were in bad shape and could not be modified .... TAPV, well according to Textron there is no production delays, it is all funding....sorry try again.... Yes a lot of militaries have problems.....not to the degree we have....but at what point do we draw a line in the sand and someone takes notice....

Well it does happen, actually in Sask right now there are petitions being signed to stop a white anti gay speaker from speaking to a crowd....then what of the protests about bill cosby vist....So they do happen..... http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/anti-gay-speaker-from-u-s-vows-to-speak-in-saskatchewan-1.2595034

Yes OKA was a long time ago, and yes the QPP did try and resolve it themselves, it was after an failed assault by QPP tactics squad ended with one dead swat officer and several wounded that a request went in to the military....The Airbourne regt and 2 RCR responded along with Self propelled arty and several tanks and Twin Heuys that the situation ended with no loss of life.... But what of the other aid to civil power cases where DND has provided assistance to the Canadian public because no other agency or dept could respond. Like the ICE storm, or Winnipeg floods....where most of the army had to be deployed, along with hundred from the Air force and Navy... Not to mention all the forest fires, and other smaller floods, missing persons, SAR that DND provides on a daily basis....all of this is all forgotten during budget times, or requests for equipment....Lets not forget the latest , while the liberals get all the credit for going to get those 25,000 refugees, it would not have happened without our military and its support....yes there was a few immigration, RCMP officers there but the bulk of that mission was handled by our military..... Now if our government leaders would stop deploying our troops to every shit hole in the world we would not need equipment....But that is not going to happen.....

By transport fleet I assume your talking about transport aircraft. And i'm assume you mean the two recent purchases of C-130J and C-17. The only thing the Cons did right....the rest of the fleet was purchased in the 90's or 80's....not so new..... Like the C-130H model purchased in (1996) which we have 9 C-130J Model Purchased in 2010 which we have 17 C-17 Model purchased in 2007 which we have 5 Airbus Purchased in 1992 Which we have 3 and 2 MRRT Challanger Purchased in 1982 Which we have 4 Frigate Since we only have one type of frigate, they are not new, they have been upgraded, but not new First ship laid down in 1987 and commissioned in 1992, with the last ship laid down in 1995 and commissioned 1996.... The CF-18 is not new , it was been upgraded on it's second upgrade but you can update anything it does not mean it's new or can compare with any modern fighter.... Tank force....Yes we purchased new to US tanks , most people call them used, but we purchased the Leo IIA4 to be honest Germany announced they will be upgrading their tanks force, to Leo IIA7Plus tanks...that's only 4 generations behind but not new....anything but new.... The new LAV veh....well it's not new either....they took our old LAV III cut the bottoms off, kept the tops and welded them back together to create the new LAV 6.0....this was done because funding was clawed back to purchase new vehs....so instead we recycled our old ones....This project was a dogs breakfast, the CF was receiving vehs off the line , but they had not even been tested....it was a test as you go project....(worse project the cons ever did) the new vehs did not solve any issues with the old ones had, in fact created dozens of more...DND will eat this project forever....they are not new...they are a maintence nightmare, eat brakes, (1000 KM per wheel) x 8 wheels per veh, same as tires, although they were only getting a couple 100 klicks per tire, they have solved that with ones that last a couple thousand....or maybe one exercise...ANy way garbage....with most sitting under tarps because DND can not afford to drive and maintain them... .Not enough LAV's to outfit each mechanized Infantry BN, most Bn's only have one companies worth of these vehs....to be fair some Bns do have 2 companies worth....there are 3 rifle companies per BN..... You failed to mention the new TAPV veh it has been placed on hold, this veh was to make numbers in Mechanized Infantry Bns....but has not been fully delivered... Combine this all with No logistical vehs to haul troops, supplies or fuel the army could not deploy if it wanted to.... The regular forces have been forced to strip what little equipment the reserves had to sort of make up the short falls....but it is a losing battle.....and we wonder why the reserves or their state has made the media....who knew....Thjats what happens when you starve the mother ship it eats it's young first.... No problem here move along , DND is just a money sucking beast....I wonder if the Canadian public knew just how bad DND was would we be getting any support....

No it is not....hard to believe, that just now for some reason the numbers don't add up, they have not added up since previous liberal governments started this project after all people freaked out at the 9 bil price tag....imagine what 100 aircraft would have been costed out to........they still did not add up in Harper reign of terror, Today the liberals figured it out......But for the wrong reasons....or maybe they figured it out for their agenda.... SO what now will this be enough to sole source more aircraft.....operating 2 aircraft is going to be even more costly than operating one, plus we will need more of both types.....cha ching..... Liberals still have a chance to correct all this dog breakfast....Have an open competition and finish this once and for all.....I personal don't care who wins, as long as it is fair, and is the best choice for the military.....By sole sourceing this like harper wanted will only put this whole project in jeopardy, and prolong this whole pile of dog shit we call F-18 replacement project.

SO we dismiss the article as being BC hype, because it now has no merit.....or is it because the article has merit we just don't want to here it from BC....Or is it that it does not fit into the liberal agenda.....

I would as well, however if you can not support the Army because it is the cheapest, how can you equip and operate the Navy and Airforce....with todays current budget....you know the one you say should not be increased..... How much writing has to be on the wall for Canadians to clearly see todays budget levels are not enough....for what little we have.....3 very under manned Army brigades, 77 fighting aircraft, and how many ships again (operational ships), not in refit, not burnt out , not damage in accidents....how can we put out to sea today to defend one of the largest shore lines in the world.... I can see where all the evidence would clearly spell out our military needs to be leaner......what ever that means in liberal speak...

He also comments that the upgrade has already started, Imagine that....Contacts are already in place and the actual life expectance numbers will be 2025.....But how could that be "a project of this magnitude" which has been covered in detail from start, Why would the Government keep this from the public? Why would they mislead us into thinking that the CF-18 was only good until 2021.... Now they release a part two, trying to substantiate a sole purchase contract, when in fact our F-18 will be operational until 2025 once this Project upgrade is finished. The time line issue has been solved now, Now they state 65 aircraft is not enough..."this is world breaking news" made available to previous liberal and conservative governments.....They had set out how many aircraft the Military would receive funding for.....And now 65 is not enough this gets better everyday.....can't wait until next week....

While the CF is authorized to a maximum strength of 100,000 it will "never" get there, it currently does not have the budget to maintain those numbers , nor the infra structure to house them, give them a place to work etc... nor does it have the equipment necessary to equipped them. It's current budget is not enough to carry our the training necessary for annual training requirements... The equipment side of the house is even worse for the ARMY which is the forces primary element, meaning it has the most spent on it....Army currently has no logistical veh fleet to speak of, meaning no army trucks a problem that has plague the army for 4 years now. Most of it's current fleet LSVW, MLVW, HLVW are sitting in compounds awaiting to be sold off as scrap, they are currently not road worthy with the exception of about 20 % of the fleet.... Trucks are not sexy, but without them it is imposable for the army to move....funding for this project wes clawed back by the liberal government...but to be fair...under Harpers government they to ignored this massive problem. the army has in some cases rented school busses to move troops around the training areas....or has rented trucks that are not designed for an off road environment....Has parked IFV and Tanks because it could not afford the fuel to move them. We could go on and on about every veh or piece of equipment in current inventory....but you have the idea....So why do we need to spend more than .08 % of GDP on our military....well training, equipment, would be good reasons....The expansion of our military has been on the books for years, 3 Army brigades has been proven not enough to accommodate an extended mission of only 3500 troops...Yes our military has done it, but at the cost to it's soldiers... Army is now facing the massive retirement of it's baby boomer generation, over the last couple of years recruitment has not kept up with retirement numbers and will only get much worse over the next several years....when I retired the average age for the army was 38 yrs old and is climbing every year....think about that when the average age of a recruit is 20 years old....Members can serve until they are 60 years of age, ...in an effort to keep it's experienced soldiers. I retired at age 52 , because I could no longer keep up with the younger crowd...I could not imagine being 60.... Our Armed forces are in very bad shape, and the only thing that will save them is funding, or at least someone able to put in the effort to do that....it is on life support as we speak....It is cheaper to bury our soldiers than to give them the right tools for the job.....

I included all numbers including homicide, suicide, accidents, to remove any doubts from the doubters....in 2015 almost 33,000 people have died in the US from all gun related incidents, The fact there are 108 mil US gun owners that represents less than 1 percent of gun owners have any issues with there firearms, less than 1 % have used them in any crime or homicide....And those 1 % that did , the majority used Hand guns....not AR-15 or high powered rifles, assault rifles etc...as was address earlier..... even with gun related injuries added in it will not bring the numbers any higher than 1 % of all gun owners.... Another point is that most of the Homicides where carried out by criminals, who don't care about gun laws or their restrictions.....that they prefer illegal firearms purchased or traded through the under ground. SO regardless of what control measures are put in place it will not stop homicides carried out by criminals...it will however punish those responsible gun owners you know the other 99 % of gun owners.... No, Comparative references like cars are relevant they are tools just as cars are tools, and when misused they cause death.

And they are currently spending on defense? This years budget is almost 32 bil, and while they're army and airforce componets there Naval resources are much larger, go figure for an island nation....

Squirrel !!!!, yes blame it on gun violence, high powered wpns, and second amendment rights..... I will admit I do not have fire arms in my procession, I do not hunt, nor go to the range for shits and giggles....I got my fix through the military. There are 323 million Americans , of which 1/3 own one or more wpns, or 108 million Americans that own fire arms.... 33,000 deaths related to firearms last year....of which only 8500 were homicides the rest are attributed to suicides, accidents, etc.... you do the math... What percentage of American gun owners use their wpns that cause death ? Deaths by auto mobile still rank the leading cause of deaths within the us....But no ban, nor talk about ban or even calling it a health issue.... Most US gun owners are reasonable gun owners.....But yet like those who say we can not paint all Muslims with the same brush....that argument does not apply for gun owners or their guns.....all AR-15's are bad, evil....All high capacity mags are bad, evil.....and yet how many of these gun deaths were attributed to either....most were carried out by hand guns.....but no ban no health warning on these either.....

You mean idiots influence other idiots using Islam as their main means of influence.....