Army Guy

It's the only thing i know how to do, is soldier....

Thank you for your support, And yes the military is a tool in which our government implememnts our foreign policy, after diplomacy fails. Like any dept within the government each has a task assigned to it, Such as the RCMP which have law and order. That does not mean it's members opinions should be discounted in any debate. If anything i believe it would be constructive. We are after all Canadians citizens as well and have opinions of our own. The real question our government should have asked is Can Canadians be counted to hold on to the support ? That answer was a big NO.....The country was split on this, Canadian soldiers had the opinion that we could make a difference, for the first time in a long time this conflict was not about oil, or resources of any kind, but rather righting a wrong , and giving the people of Afghanistan some hope of peace.... Canadian citizens gave up on all of that, the war dragged on, they quickly lost interest and went on with their lifes, with that lost interest our soldiers felt the effects, much needed equipment was not purchased in time, that time would come at a cost, the cost of our soldiers lives....Soldiers quickly developed the opinion that this was our war,not the Canadian citizens... we would try to make a difference without the citizens of Canada....we wanted to finsh the job that the citizens gave us, it is who we are,what we trained for... second place is for lossers....Hence why we were so reluctant to come home.... What was the main goal of the fighting over there ? well it changed over time, but our first goal was to destroy terrorist elements within the country, that was done, their main base of operations were pushed into neiboring countries, such as Pakistan....Destroy any other threat that prevented us from accomplishing the first, that was the taliban, also pushed into neiboring countries.... You can't eradicate an idea, there will always be that one person who will tell others....so there will always be an AQ or Taliban...armed intervention will however make their job and that process very difficult....Also remeber it is very easy to terrorize a large group of people with very little effort....and it can happen any where in the world...So the orginal plan was not to destroy everything about the AQ and Taliban but to remove them from AFghanisatn....and we did that.... The people of Afghanistan have had more than 40 years of constant conflict...the want peace, the want security to raise a family and provide for them....And they will find that in any corner they can...But they know what they don't want, they don't want the taliban back,they don't want extremism... Their laws and traditions may seem foreign to you,on the extreme side, but that is part of their culture, and takes time to change....we did not just wake up one morning and decide to let women vote....it took time to change....We did not go over there to change them into Canadians, we went over to rebuild their nation with their vision....not ours...we are talking about a nation that after 30 years of war did not have to much in the way of infra structure....so a well for drinking water is a big thing over there....Canadian soldiers built thousands, along with major highways so they could get trade goods in and out with little effort...we built a hydro electrical dam to provide electricity...we built irrgation ditches so they could grow crops,....Our soldiers built out of their own pockets a hospital, firehall, along with fire trucks and ambs....the list is endless, every tour had a project, or two....on top of the regular stuff.... Maybe the Canadian people do think it was a huge failure, maybe it is just me that thinks that our efforts changed lifes for the good, maybe it just me clinging onto the hope that all our blood sweat and tears were not for nothing...maybe i don't want the sacrifice of so many good men and women be for not..... During my second tour we had stopped along a wall that had some shade, to eat lunch, the kids had already gathered "they knew the boys would share their meals"...a small girl about 8 or 10 sat down beside me, she had no hands, you see the taliban had cut them off because her father sent her to school, i later found out that they had also killed her father in front of her....dispite lossing so much....she thanked me...she had said without our precence she would not be able to go to school....She thanked me, WOW...here is a 8 to 10 year old setting the example for future generations, she has lost her father, her hands and she thanked me a foreigner....thats when i decided that if she could give so much of herself, why could i not give up something.....my time, alittle sweat, some blood....if not for anything else but to let her go to school.... But by then Canadians had grown tired of the whole Afghan mess, they did'nt have to do anything except perhaps 20 to 30 dollars of their tax dollars would keep me and the thousands of Canadian troops in the area so the girls could go to school.....it would piss me off that the average Canadian could not do that.... I get that the whole afghanistan thing was more than girls going to school....their are thousands of stories just like mine that motivated soldiers....The average soldier of the time has done 3 or more tours, they have volunteered each one of those times....the have risked it all...the question Canadians have to ask is why?

Funney that the majority of Canadians approved this very mission...They knew what we were going to do, we as a nation were going to force the taliban to their knees and destroy AQ means of making war....We as a nation knew that on day one....we were sending our troops into combat....There was no talk off cleaning up anything....we were supporting an allied, living up to our defensive agreements....we signed on to the War on Terror....no questions asked...people by the thousands showed up to wave goodbye, show their support.... At the very least answer this question, with all Canada has to offer why not help the people of Afghanistan have a chance at peace.

I spent 3 long tours in Afghanistan, alot of blood,sweat,tears were left behind...Did i think it was worth it. Yes i do, every minute i was there....don't get me wrong there were sometimes i questioned the WHY was i here....those moments were normally on the tarmac as we escorted another comrad's flag drapped coffin onto a herc for the long journey home...I would gladly do it all over again...Remember it was not Canada's soldiers that gave up on Afghanistan, it was her people.... Canadians can question the WHY anytime they want...But to call the mission a complete failure thats Bullshit.....Answer these questions .....Is Al Quida living and training and operating within Afghanistan...Or for that matter is the Taliban still in control of Afghanistan....Then ask your self this how many major reconstruction projects did Canada take on and complete, how many thousands of smaller projects did we do....do you think that these projects had any impact? The People of Afghanistan want peace, a place to raise their families, a place they can get work....and they are ready to talk to anyone that can supply those answers.... Perhaps we should take the question to the Afghanistan people.

I think Waldo has hit the nail right on the head, we need our federal government to lay out what it is willing to give up to Quebec before the vote....for serveral reasons, to let Quebecors know exactly what they are getting into. I think most of them think this is going to be cast a vote and things will continue as per normal..... I think the ROC are sick and tired of Quebec holding us hostage....it's time for the Hostages to speak... There has to be a thousand papers and documentaries out there discussing the topic,one side sees doom and gloom for both sides the other the PQ thinks it is all going to be roses..... the PQ thinks they will get everything they want, that includes there present borders, meaning that the Atlantic provinces will be cut off from everything..they want to use our dollar plus have a seat on the bank of Canada to ensure there interwests are looked after, they want NLFD electrical power,the list goes on and on....what needs to be announced is what we are will to give up and what comprosmises Quebec is going to have to make. So the voters in Quebec are playing on a level palying field before casting their votes only to find out later that is not the case....

I think Derek already covered these questions in detail.... I'm not a navy expert but as in all our other purchases, alot of things drive up the price.... Our own purcurement policies have alot to do with it, designed to install price sticker shock to the public...like the need to add on how much will it take to operate over a fix period (over 25 years or more) ....how much fuel will cost to operate, crews wages, price of AMMO,etc etc items that are already taken in to account by DND OEM budget.....It is a way to control how many is purchased.... The need to have it built in Canada, in this case building ships of these sizes and with the tech involved in ship yards that have not done so in years....cost of labor another factor...how much does a canadian worker make compared to a south Korean...The cost of rebuiding our ship building capabilites comes at a cost....perhaps that cost should have been an entirely different project..... Nothing will change in the way we buy things.....until our policies and proceedures of purchasing are changed....in my personal opinion we need to take out the politics portion altogether. We need to concentrate on what is most important, getting the biggest bang for our buck.... DND needs to create a purchasing program for each element, and the team stick to a project until completion...Purchasing Maj equipment needs to be a separate trade within the forces...and that team needs to work directly with PWSG for the entire life of the project....

I find it way to amusing, actually not amusing but concerning that BC's simple question could not be answered, .....instead alot of the posters here find the question to difficult to answer, and like most Canadians when confused or cornered revert back to one of their basic Canadian rights given to them by our charter " Bash Americans when ever they can".... But then again we had also the same problem when asked what makes a Canadian, or what are Canadian values.....it turned into a bash American thread as well..... Does the Canadian dream stop at owning your own home , and piece of land.....if it does then i think the dream is alive and well, with a majority of Canadians owning one, shit today you'd be hard press to not find 2 cars in the driveway, sometimes a boat, ATV or Sled, god knows how many other toys hidden from view, inside those homes how many TV's, DVD players, stainless steel app, would you find..... the source that was provided took the reader on a trip that everyone wanted to believe.....and yet reality says something different.... But i think the Canadian dream is more than owning a house, i think it is about having access to free medical care, it's about living in a free country that even a single person can make changes, it's about having access to good paying jobs to provide for your family....it's about living in a country that has a safe enviroment to raise children. It's about having access to an abundance of food , resources, entertainment,education and a high standard of living....It's about having acess to a welfare and unemployment system for when your down on your luck....Really when you think about we have a system for everything, every problem Canadians are afflicted with,drug and achole related depression the list goes on, much to long but you get the idea.... The Canadian dream is about having peace of mind so you can sit down in your lazy boy chair, watch the NHL hockey game on your wide screen TV, and take your electronic devices with you to the bath room just so you don't miss any of the game....with a small beer fridge right next to your lazy boy so you can enjoy your favorite Canadian beer, with your 2.5 children and dog, and cat.....and 3 gold fish, and a hampster....all while your wife prepares snacks for everyone that could feed a small african village of 50....

Yes , the US should of separated young mr Khadr from the main stream prisoners, he should have been charged way earlier than he was, on the other hand maybe they should have been just declared combatants and held as POW's until the conflict ended.... A drone strike is just another wpn sys, only this one is fired by a UAV, and puts no soldiers lifes in danger to use it....if it is shot down it does not have the same effect as dragging a dead soldiers body down the street.....thats why it's so popular....Once you are declared a hostile, be it legal or illigal combatant any Coalition soldier is free to engage, at any time any where .... the convention does not say NO civilian cas, it says to limit them.... hence the word colateral damage sound cold..War is cold.......war is controled by mr murphy and his law, what can go wrong will go wrong....war is about death and destruction, to inflict as much upon your enemy as possiable so that he sues for peace.....war is guided by some laws, the rest is guided by the men and women thrown together in a life and death struggle..... So a wedding party what is the differece between that or a birthday party, a trip to the market, getting off school...Why are we surprised at that....maybe everyone should spend a couple of days in a war zone, smell the smells, taste the smells, see the death, touch the destruction , hear the screams...........we all should be forced to study war and it's effects....maybe we would think twice on doing it..... I think the legal people call that "extrajudicial execution, Soldiers call another day at the office....and if your going to invite a bad guy to your wedding make sure it's in a bunker....

I'm not sure about other government depts, But upon retirement each member is entitled to one final move, be it next door, or across the nation. where you may be getting confused is travel allowance, and the first 500 km of travel does not count thats on the member to pay, after that your entitled to x amount per Km, plus meals and lodgings.... The military does not move anyone just 40 KM's, a member can take many postings with in the same area or city if you will, such as Ottawa, has hundrds of positions that one could bounce around at...but you are only entiled to that one move....If a member decides he made the wrong chioce or wants to move to a different neiborhood then that move is on his dime...The military only covers the intial move....That is if it is a normal posting.....Again retirement is a different ball of wax....and just one more note....alot of members that do retire stay in the neiborhoods they have lived in, and waive the last move...So this is not as big as one would think... Not sure why but some are forgetting, Generals are responsable to hold meetings, dinner parties, etc in their homes, and purchase home that can handle these functions.....when he retired there is no need to do these functions any more , why not downsize get his wifes dream home, in this case was 10 mins away...I'm not a big liberal fan either but the Gen has done nothing wrong...

Yes there is alot of Computer intel, for example cell phome monitoring is done by capturing all cell phone calls in a area, or country the computer listens for certain key words, and compares voice recongition if picked up that info gets checked out by a human operator....if it is a priorty piece of intel that number gets flagged, and monitored until it dies.... i would bet a years wages that a strike would not be done unless that target was on the phone...I would also bet that this would not be the only piece of intel hard ware to be used, Sat imaging could confirm if target is the one they are looking for, or assets on the ground could do the same thing ...i don't think they just blast off a few missles see who we got..... ..if they had dumped it the human operator would know "hey can you pick up some milk on the way home.....vice some coded talk about terrorist things....besides the people who tossed it would then be picked up once again by computer....it can happen quite fast...dump it use another phone from approx the same loction, remember there is also vioce recongition that can pick up users on any phone., clean phones are becoming a thing of the past ....Tech has come along way....Is the system 100 % infalable , NO....but i don't think some computer is launching missles willy nilly.

I think there is some confusion here, maybe including myself now. How can you enforce a nation to uphold this convention if they have not signed on to it. Hence why i agreed with Jacee, the example Overthere posts gives the impression that the states parties have signed onto this convention... A nation could be part of the conflict but did not sign on to that convention.

I wonder what you have to do to become a suspected terrorist ? ...what is the guide lines that the US has set ? ...maybe this policy is a good one, until we know what and how these suspected terrorist are selected i'll reserve judgement.... targeting known Terrorist i'm all for it bring down the rain.....

And i was just commenting on that going to school or living in a coutry for a few years does not give him any legal connection to it....., does he have a Afghanis citizenship, or was he a guest in their country.....And he paid them back by joining a terrorist group that help surpressed them....and it seems your OK with that ? I'm not making excuses for other governments here i don't agree with all our foreign policies or that of other nations. This debate is about Omar and his crimes.....his choices and actions. You have claimed that you have served in the military, my question to you is where, and did you serve in Afghanistan.

It's not a fine line, it's black and white, your correct Parties means parties to the convention, however in para 10 it explains that non state actors or guerrilla forces are forbiden ....Omar belong to a terrorist group, which has no state, There has been no movement on charging any of the Khadrs with any crimes, including his mother sole surviving parent. There is bills on the cabinet floor that adress some of the problems but your right they do not go far enough. Omar will be out when he is finished is term, and like so many of his kind will be back in the future....and we'll all be asking WTF did'nt see that coming....

Not sure it is incompetence, it's not a perk but nessicary for all military members, from Pte to CDS. Those members have to move when ordered, during their carear they may have to move every 6 to 8 years, as you get up the food chain, these guys move every 2 to 3 years.... Upon retirement they are reponsiable to move you back to the place you joined at...that being said you are not forced to return exactly where you joined , during a carear you may have found a spot you really like....how it is based is they take where you are now, how much it would cost to move you back to your home town, and that is the max you can claim....keep in mind they will pay your realitor fees, lawyers fees, and other fees even if you stay in the same city.... As a General he makes a good wage and could afford a million dollar home....but this is rare in the forces...taking this away is not the solution....but would place a burden on the majority of members..you can't offer it to the selected few, to be fair it must be offered to all.

What does that have to do with anything, I went to school in germany, france, england...i've lived in all across the globe, that however does not give me the right to terrorize anyone from that nation or pick up arms and fight again'st the government of the time.... Give me a break ? he was fighting with a terror organization, opressing people in Afghan....you can't have it both ways on one hand you say he is Canadian and should be entitled to all his rights and freedoms that every Canadian has....on the other hand you said he lived in Afghan for a short period of time entitles him to what exactly ? ....According to any convention he was a non combatant.....until he decided to pick up arms and fight along side a terrorist group now he is an illigal combatant .... I think you should read Canadian law in regards to fighting in aother nations wars as an illigal combatant...maybe even read the convention about combatants and terrorists......

My piont was gitmo holds but a small fration of the prisoners caught and housed....And i totally agree with you we have Omar right where we want all terrorist behind bars....and we should be making more of an effort to put the rest behind bars as well.

Normal and Retirement postings: Once a member of the military or RCMP decides they are going to retire or gets told they are posted they are entitled to a complete move paid by tax payers, this was set up to normally get member back to his home town or the place they signed up at....so if he joined in NFLD and decided to retire in BC they will pay up to the amount it would cost them to move him to NFLD, The member is on the hook if it costs more. There are no rules regarding where a member retires at....nor should there be... In the Generals case he purchased a home within city limits , in the course of the Generals duties he would have to entertain alot,be it military staff, civilian staff, foreign military vistors, politicians, you name it..... so the type of home would reflect that, He is a general in the CF, so he'd have to have a home approved for security proto calls , So location may or may not be his choice, other considerations are also taken into account...in the end yes he has a butiful house that may or may not be what the wife wants, more suited to his job requirements than hers.... So he is retiring, the military give this option to all soldiers,regardless to how far they move or where the move.... kind of thanks for coming out....Now as with anything the government pays for there is strict rules, some are tax free , most are not, anyone that has moved knows that it cost alot, when paying for the little things, like condiments from the frig, window coverings, rugs and mats, new propane tanks, any flameable items you have, or the long list movers will not move at any time,each member is only allow to ship one veh, if your wife is not in the military ,it's on your dime, to drive it along with all the fuel, own a boat or atv you can move one trailer, any more on your dime.....So additional costs do add up... To off set some of these costs Government pays out a free months wages....which are taxed...they pay out miliage to move one veh and trailer, barely covers gas you spend, they do give you a food allowance for the move days only...trust me you not eating steak...its burgers for everyone....a few other little things the cover it barely covers your move.... The also cover realtor fees, lawyers fees and some other costs that you may occur in the selling of your home, Now sometimes the military will not give you any time to sell your home, i've seen guys being told you got a week, i want you across the country in 7 days....this is why military wifes rock, the member goes to the new Job, his wife takes care of the whole move along with the kids etc.... while the man will sometimes secure new quaters if he can find them, until he does the family stays put....And if you own a home you may be forced into 2 mortages....I've done this serval times, eat lots of kraft dinner to make it work.... Since the governments/ DND decision to tear down hundrds of PMQ's there is not much of a selection left, those that are left, are being renting for the same rate as on the economy...Say a 1200 sq foot home rented for 1200 bucks a month in your city then that is what your PMQ rent is based on, only it was built in the early 50's....I once had a PMQ that we could not burn candles in the living room because the draft from the windows blew them out....today PMQ's are getting better but still have a long way to go to make it to the levels of what is available on civy street. Keep in mind DND does not get any of the rent in return, that goes back to government coffers. So 76,000 sould alot but as someone has already explained most of that went in realtor fees....Not many members own a milion dollar plus home so these expenditures are rare.

Are you saying that there is no organization that could see to these aligations, the UN, another western country, wiki leaks, shit there has to be someone .....Is there proof that these aligations took place,

That would be a perfect example, however why have no charges been laid or why has their been no investigation that produced evidence .

Your blowing smoke here.... Illigal combatants has been in the convention dating back to WWI...so it was not an american retooling for the war.... The Taliban should have thought about that before they went out on a limb to protect Bin Ladin and his merry men....As for not having a real army, well over 100,000 .....thats not a real army ?, thats almost twice that of the Canadian military....with tanks and stuff as well.... Most of those Civilians were foreigners ....The regular people of Afghan were elated to have the taliban gone....Once the interm government was est, they asked the coalition to stay and help restore power back to the government..... Omar was a Canadian , with no ties to Afghan at all, he joined a terrorist group, not the Afghan army, he was fighting to opress the people of Afghan....Why can't you see that ????

Just a question how many prisoners did gitmo hold at any one time, ? or was gitmo the prison that US forces kept the special guys of interest....i would not say that they're were no innocent prisoners in gitmo but the odds are probably like winning the lotto.

Well for that to be true first we would have to see which conventions, or for that matter Inter national law is being broken by Canada. I mean you must have serveral examples if you made a statement as the above one.

Would you say Omars terrorist sex tape was not proof of intent, and skill. that and of course US military reports that confirm US forces did infact have IED strike in that very place that omar said they planted his IED's.

Except in the question to which i responded....so my question to you is... Is Canada in breach of that genva convention regarding the use of child soldiers ? or is it following it to the letter.