Army Guy

Terrorist laws are atleast 10 years old, fight as a merc is as far as i can remember 30 40 years, fighting as a canadian citzen , in another foreign nations war as a non combantant has always been illigal.

If you had read any of the Omar transcripts it was his mother that asked him to become a sucide bomber, to increase the value of the families name, instead both boys turned down the offer to become bombers, and elected to instead take the training. Lets not forget his father was killed in a raid when he was 12, leaving his mother as the head of the family, not sure your familar with the culture but females control nothing, even when they are the sole surviving parent, that would have fallen to the eldest son... Yes lets throw around a bit of inter national law....inter national law states the youngest any military can recruit is 17 years of age with consent of parents, and the Age for Combat is 18 years old....That fact has been dismissed, no one in the Taliban organization has been charged with recruiting child soldiers, Omars mother has not been charged with anything....That being said Omar was captured as a terrorists which are not protected under the genva convention, or inter national law...he was charged with the murder of a US soldier, no other war crimes were filed....such as being a terrorist, etc etc etc.... You calling it bullshit, does not change the facts. again Omar states in his transcripts he was left alone dozens, without supervision....he was a trusted terrorist....by his own choice... No i was not, i was asked to go by our nation to do a job , that was to kill taliban and terrorists that were surpressing the people of Afghan , funney here is a canadian in a foreign land surpressing an entirely different culture and you want compasion....there are thousands like him over there waiting to control the people of Afghan, not even afghanis and we are weeping over a boy who's luck run out....actually he is lucky to be alive...as the desert is full of guys like Omar buried in shallow graves in a foreign land....ya i cry every nightfor those poor bastards....not really...i do live with my share of ghosts, but i do not regret any of my actions in Afghan. No i volunteered to go over, once there i was there for the duration, unless wounded or killed.... You'll have to make up your mind which laws do you want to apply, how about all of them, he is Canadian, so lets start there, it is again'st the law to fight in another nations war, as a merc or free lance soldier, or a terrorist....and yet he was not charged by Canada....He was charged for the murder of a serving US soldier, asked there by the country of Afghanistan.....and yet here we are still weeping ovr a boy we say has suffered enough....once a week i vist a widow of a comrad killed in an IED blast planted by one of Omars merry men....i take his son out biking, or camping telling him stories of his father exploits....once a month i drive down to ontario to vist a buddy who lost both legs in the same blast.....Those are the guys i show compasion to, not the enemy...never will i change my mind on this topic. to me when i see Omar at 15 i see a combatant , nothing more....

I disagree, every time those commercials come on for save a child, from this and that around the globe , canadians open their wallets and send money....i think in general they do care, but i do think it has limits....

There is still lots that you can do to prepare. before you purchase a condo, ask if the building has a back up genertor, for heat and electricity , get a good Propane BBQ if you have a balcony to cook on, stock up on can goods, have some extra fresh water on hand, small stash of cash, extra blankets, cell phone, small things that could save your life.... those type of things, remember if the roads are closed due to weather, then supplies are not getting into cities, the average city has enough supplies to last about 48 hours only ie food. water, fuel....,if supplies do not come in, then your looking at another problem, people do weird things when forced outside their comfort zone... if your away then make sure someone is checking your place, there are companies that provide that service. Check local conditions before you travel back home so your not forced into a disaster situation.... If your 80 years old, make sure you have someone check on you, again their are companies that provide that service...waiting for the government to do these things is not a good stratagy. people in the outskirts of the city do this as a daily routine....most of the problems come from people who live in the city, who don't know the first thing about basic survival....And i'm not including slaying rabits, building a lean-to, just the basics.

So i take it as long as it has no effect on our hockey, pogy checks, we are good to go. And yet you've spent most of your time blogging about Israels crimes...So events in other nations do concern you, your just not for any direct action or polictical inter vention again'st said states. Much like we did in Rwanda, 1000's died because we sat and watched.

Alot of people have a hard time understanding the culture he was submeged in at 10 years of age he is considered an adult, a man, hence why he is sent to a training camp, to learn his craft as a terrorist....I get it he is a canadian citizen, and we don't consider anyone to be an adult until 16 years of age, but that was not the culture he was brought up in.... Omar had free will at age 10, according to his culture, at the age of 15 he was on his own, making his own way in life , yes he had someone looking after his interests, life in AL Quaeda is alot tougher than most know, makes the hells angles look like boy scouts...but he was his own man making life decisions for a long time. regardless of his age... Did he know right form wrong sure he did, did he know he was a canadian citizen sure he did, did he know that Canada was part of the coalition forces sure he did, he made a choice to take up arms and fight for a terrorist group, that he knew exactly what they did and their exploits and he did it freely... He had plenty of chances to just up and leave on his own, to atleast get out of the fighting , and away from his gang of merry men...instead he makes vidio's bragging how many Americans he is going to kill and how much money he'll get doing it... I'm sorry for not having any compasion for him, but i spent 3 tours over there , most of that time i spent wondering when i was going to get blown up, seen to many comrads die the same way...Here in Canada we have sentenced minors adult sentences for serious crimes, and no one has picked up their banner to have them released....

This is what we are concerned with, that he has lived a bizare existence, and your wondering if he is going to be a productive member of society....He is a harden terrorist, what is it that you think he is going to do when he gets out...And what of the US Army Medic he has killed, what of his family, or the other Coalition forces that he may have killed with IED's or mines, what of them...instead you worried about the terrorist. I hope he remains in jail for a long time.

I can only speak about what happen in our area in 98, DND had assisted the RCMP in knocking on every door to ensure everything was good to go, we left flyers on what to do and how to prepare, we provided generators, heat sources to old age homes, set up heat centers, to feed, and heat those that were effected....but resources are very hard to come by, and DND could only do so much, it is important to prepare.

Your right it is one of the many jobs our nations military does for this nation, provided it is authorized by the federal government. And your provincial government is willing to foot the bill, unless of course it has something to do with defending the nation which is free to all citizens......thats what your paying taxes for.... As for the remark " Not to go invade some country that never attacked Canada" we both know that our military does not decide were and when we go to war, you'll have to take that up with our federal government... Those that do not prepare, are going to pay a price. It is every Canadian responsability to be prepared,perhaps it comes with living in a northern enviroment,or as a father, parent , home owner, i can assure you i'm prepared, as are alot of canadians.... You have that responability to ensure you atleast can provide the basics to your family, if you fail in that then perhaps your family should be looking at punting your sorry ass to the curb.....,Army did not come to my house in the ICE Storm of 98, as i was away, my wife was left home alone with the kids, fueling our generator, feeding our kids.....And if i had not prepared thats exactly what my wife would have done, kicked my ass to the curb..... Those that are going to sit around and wait for our government to solve all your issues, are going to wait a long time...And those that really need it are going to pay a steeper price, your not 19 years old any more time to grow up, when has our government done anything fast, never....prepare your self, save your family some grief....The Time the Army spent on cutting fire wood could have been spent helping the power companies repair the power lines....or helping those 80 year olds survive....Not helping someone who wanted a tax rebate of 10 free sticks of wood a day....when they lived in a forested area of the city.

Perhaps one could ask the question did Sadam and his nut bar regime need to be replaced or destroyed. and at what cost do we draw the line in the sand for this task one trillion, 10 ,20 trillion. Or do we just destroy his regime, and move on like we did in Lybia. If the cost is to much then do we "as in the rest of the world" just let them go about bussiness as usual hoping the problem just goes away, letting them do as they see fit to anyone in the region, let alone their own people. Iraq was a nation made up of dozens of factions all vying for power and control, held together by shear fear with Sadam regime....take the fear away and now all these factions have an axe to grind, all vying for power and are willing to be violent to the extreme to get a piece of it.....And while that is not just a problem in the middle east , but world wide many say it is a big part of middle eastern culture...some would say they thrive on being controled by dictatorship. And yet we all want to place the blame at the feet of the west....when this problem is large enough for everyone to own a piece of. Take the factions for one , very few have opted to take the peaceful solution, instead resorting to extreme violence...The Middle eastern region, what has the middle eastern coalition done to help solve this problem, or do they want it solved, as most of their countries are ripe for the same thing, dictatorships falling and democracy raising....who is suppling all the wpns and ammo for these guys to use, who is letting their country men go and fight...Why has the UN not taken a bigger role in making peace.... So to answer your question does the west need to own there share of the problem, Yes, but so do alot of people , to include the Iraqi people who will be still fighting long after the US pulls it's troops from Iraq.

I agree, But i don't think that is what the numbers are showing.....so what are the numbers showing us, how many repeat offenses are commited, does our rehab system work. The reason i ask is, the last time i checked repeat offenses out numbered every thing....

You can call it what ever you like, however it is still a court of law and has served the world for decades, nobody seemed to mind when we hung the NAZI chain of command after they were found guilty....Young Mr Khadar, was fighting in a war which he had no bussiness, he was not a citizen of Afghan but rather a Canadian. That fact is against the genva convention, inter national law, along with Canadian law. To top it all off he had aligned himself with a terrorist group, in which he was active in many things that were war crimes...it is not just the US that is calling him a terrorist, but most the free world as well, including Canada. Some say he was a child soldier, and should be treated as one, the whole child soldier thing came about in africa where armies kidnaped children to fight their wars,and has been twisted to suit this case here, however that was not the intention of the UN agreement. Young mr Khadar was not kidnaped, but took part in this war on his own free will. The terrorist clause is a new onwe and still has not been clarified, or atleast a clear defination come out of the UN. that been said Canada's defination is clear, and so is the law, the genva convention and inter national law...he is guilty and now he has to do the time for his crimes. He is and will always be just a terrorist. the same group of terrorist that have taken over 160 Canadian lives.

Kevin O"leary is on the side of money...liberal, or conservative he does not care as long as there is money...

Don't get me wrong, this is a DND thing , for the most part however i think the last decision to be made is done with the government or atleast minister level, so their hands are not entirily clean. Another part of our procurement that is broken...Regional offsets are a major factor in all our buys, and for some of them i agree but it should not be a controling factor. I get it that everyone has their hands out, but in the end what should matter the most, is it ensuring we feed as many Canadian as possiable, or get the best equipment for our money....a good example of this is our ship building....nice to have the jobs here in Canada, but when is it time to fish or cut bait....when we can purchase these ships off some where else for cheaper.... I'm not sure any more, what i do know is at some piont someone is going to have make the tough choices....Under the Cons they made the public know to maintain our current level of military forces it would take 1 to 200 bil dollars over a 20 year period.....the longer this is put off the larger the costs are going to get larger much larger thats a fact....until it is no longer feasable to have a military..... this "this year is not good for us" does not work....And this looks like the direction in which we are heading correct me if i'm wrong... everyone is saying we can not afford these expenditures at this time, OK i get it "no funding", but when someone asks when they will have the funding to make military purchases....Nobody will say with certainity....we are left with two options we either pay now, or later....or shut er down ....each option has it's good and bad pionts....i think it is time to discuss the options and take a stance....provide the leadership that we say is required to run this nation....In my opinion..... ..

I have a question, is it fiscal reality,Is our country in dire needs, in a recesion or is it trying to get spending under control as a build up to an election. because both are very different reasons for slashing everything to the bones....The reason i ask is the last time i checked Canada was doing well, in fact it was on the top of the pile....

Thats quit a reach back in time....If your ref to the Avro....and a major assumption that it would have boosted the economy.... I'd like to know how purchaseing 65 planes is going to wreck our economy, when Canadian industry has already recored profits off the F-35 and there is no contract signed yet.... I think this is more about pulling things out of that 1/4 inch speaker you have.

The cuts backs are every where, for cleaners of military buildings, Snow removal, rental budgets, training budgets, you name it it it's all been cut back, and next year this fiscal year, it is going to get crazy, 61 percent of units budgets are cut....which translate into very little training time....A thing they promised they would not do....well they done it. If there is a dollar out there it's being looked at.... US Army has got tons of good equipment for sale or at fire sales, MRAP's was one of them, we actually had a few in Afghan on loan...great pieces of gear.....ours are still coming, that project can't be cancelled the vehs are starting to come of the production line....yea TPAV project.....we finally ready for our last battle.....Most NATO countries have kit for sale....all we have to do is ask....why we do not is beyond me.... I get that alot, the last nation to attack us was the US, in the 1800's....and since that day the US government has been spending US tax dollars in our defense....living next to the largest super power has it's benifits....and as Canadians we are free loaders, hey if it is free sign me the F*** up....that has been our nations calling for the last 50 years .....But we have a different history, we have always been there to offer our help, despite the cost to our citizens...Boar war, WWI, WWII, Korea, through out the cold war, or most of it any ways....that is in our make up as well . And we use to pride ourselfs in that ........Now Canadians are happy in the fact the world and ourselfs joke about our nations military condition. and they would not even blink if our navy was reduced to 2 NFLDS in a row boat armed with shotguns....makes you think...

Our militaries current state you be lucky to last a week, again'st any other country in the world, as for the US, i give us 48 hours at best...A few Airbourne landings, a couple of Amp landings, a dozen or so cross border entrances...Ya i'd say 48 hrs and Canadian citizens would be flying the red white and blue, singing oh say can you see.....but that is exactly the way Canadians want it.... The men and women of our Military can only do so much with what we as citizens give them.... As for using the same strategy as the Russians, we don't have hidden tanks, or masses of equipment hidden away some where to defeat anyone....perhaps if our split apart and used small unit hit and run tactics, but you really under estamate the US capabilities...and over est ours....by about 1000 times.... Your talking about a nation that has perhaps 80 leo A4 tanks, and maybe 40 Leo II A4 tanks, LAV III IFV that are worn out, F-18 that are older than most NATO aircraft flying today, and only 80 of those....a small hande full of frigs on each coast....we might have a chance if botswana attacked....

The Army been told to brace for lean times, starting with the new fiscal year. and it does not look good for any Amry major purchases, such as the new truck fleet, tracked IFV etc.... I get the cashing in on the peace dividends, but if you look at those NATO nations that are cutting back, they already have a modern military and are not facing rust out on it's fleet. Canada has to many outstanding projects to be cashing in anything. If anything we should be looking at taking avantage of these cash outs to upgrade via buying used.... Canada has the second highest paid military in the world. we all get that wages is the problem, perhaps rolling back wages some what is the answer. I mean a basic Cpl making well over 50 k a year, not to meantion what a CWO makes...Bring back some of other programs to off set it, like reduce PMQ rent, or reducing some of the other expenses, sea pay/ field pay/ flight pay, that sort of thing....Right now i make close to 800 a month extra on field pay, might be in the field 3 or 4 times a year. You've hit it on the head, Defense has never won elelctions here in Canada, maybe it's time that W-5 does a documentary on the military....get Canadian interested in defense, and what it brings to the table....instead of waiting for soldier to die before we purchase something... Chesty Puller, what a legend, what a warrior,indeed a colorful character, even looks like warrior, built like a tank, hard as shi* as we say....Marine corps has always been the service of choice these type of men....I got to reading a few other books on US Marines... Worked with few in Afghan tough lot, professional, Steal (or should i say aquire through other means) anything and everything....but that also goes for the US army....had to place guards on everything when these guys were in camp, and it did'nt matter what it was, from toilet seats, to bath room doors they took it all....the only thing they had lots of was wpns, bullets, and MRE's....they trade their own grandmothers for fresh food....i found that alittle funney, as Canadians we have the exact opposite problem, lack of wpns, bullets, but lots of food..... Not sure i could handle being a Marine, on a cramped ship, bouncing around on the ocean....no wonder these guys fight like dogs when they hit the beach, they don't want to get back on those damn ships....

I disagree, why would the coalition stayed 8 years if not for the Iraqis people and to try and build something better....I mean they had the option, get rid of Sadam, dismantle his regime, then leave the country in ruins, saving trillions... There is always the possiablities of things going terriable wrong, look at post germany, it was not a picnik there either, and yet over time things changed....sectarian blood shed, who knew it would turn out the way it did....and yet is this the fault of the invasions, this problem dated back years, and was held together with hockey tape and a dictator that put to death anyone who opposed him....now thats what i call a much better option.... Terrorist violence , it is like the plague ,in the middle east, it's every where....like the saying go's craet the conditions and they will come....even if you take all the precautions...I guess it is easy to piont fingers and say" your Screwed" you created all this.....then in the other hand say Sadam was a bad man, someone should do something before he does something stupid...Has it been a tradegy yes it has, the only ones that can fix it is the people themselfs....

And while we all think it is a no brainer....how many people let their food spoil in the first place....and your right it's not rocket science. It's common sense...... I was deployed on the last Ice Strom, around the Manitick Ont area....i saw to many people standing around waiting for the government to sort things out, to lazy or not having enough common sense to figure simple things out by themselfs....like people with wood stoves linning up for hours to get the 10 sticks of wood the Army had cut up...I'd ask alot of them if they owned a chain saw, most said no, I'd tell them the Army was cutting down downed trees next to the power lines into 4 ft lengths along most of the road ways , leaving them there for anyone that wanted them.....To much work they'd say....I'll just wait in line The best example i got, people owned homes that depended on sump pumps to keep their basements dry, power goes out basement floods....I'd tell them how to hook up a small 2 K generator to power up the sump pump, most times i'd get sounds pretty complicated to me, i'll just claim it on my insurance.....or wait for the army to come around and provide a mobile gen to help me.... Don't get me wrong there were alot of people who were prepared, or did not mind the additional work ...but most were not, nor did they do anything about their situation.....

It would be a much easier pill to swallow if that was the plan , that we were building the military up to face the new threat in the Pacific, but it does not look like that. I may not know much about the Airforce or the Navy but their programs are being cut as well, just look at the amount of new frigates we are getting, those numbers are already being slashed , and we have not even got a contract signed yet. don't get me started on AOP's....I'm all for the Navy to have the spot light for the next 10 years....but it does not look good for any element. I refuse to give any credence to economic truths in this country, that the defict needs to be addressed or we will face ruin as a country....i think and this is my personal opinion its pre election hipe...I do give the Cons the credit they deserve that they have done more for the Military than any other party in the last 20 years....not that ,it was hard to do...but they did take some action....that action is and this is my fear going to be reversed, if we start focusing on one element at a time.... As for containing the Chinese, your right if we can not contain them on the oceans, we are certainily going to be eating rice for the next 100 years. but we can not do that by just concentrating on Naval forces, we will always have a need for boots on the ground, be it light Infantry, or Amphib Inf, or Mech Inf.

Massive cuts are being fielded all across DND, we have seen hints of this in the media already, purchase programs being cut,or canceled....Within DND we are being told that 2014 will be an interesting one, as DND trys to fund programs that it desparately needs, it is willing to do anything to make this happen. We have already been told that the Military is going to go through a restructing phase, to re balence it's forces.... army will be down sized by a huge amount, while the Navy and airforce will grow somewhat larger than they are today... Before Dec the Army was given a heads up, that it will be reducing it's B veh fleet ( wheeled logistical vehs) by 50 % serviceable and unserviceable vehs ,these vehs will be parked forever, scavaged for parts until DND changes it mind, It should be noted that the ARMY already suffers from the lack of lift as it phasing the MLVW fleet from the records, and no replacement on the books as it was one of the projects to be canceled..... they also announced that they are Looking at the A veh fleet (fighting vehs) which one or how many has not been determined just yet... We have also been told that budgets for all Army units will be slashed by a huge amount, media sources have said by more than 61% in the new fiscal year....going to be a couple of tough years...i just hope it does not wipe out everything we have gained since the liberals left power. if it does DND will be a shell of it self, one that is just going to cost to much money to repair more than Canadians can ever swallow....perhaps it might be time to hang up the boots, maybe find a real job....

This is my opinion, i think alot of PTSD can be treated over time, by that i mean 4 to 6 years...i know of alot of cases that have served on the battle field with honor, Those that did not come forward and decided to live with it.... Alot of trades can serve any where for that matter, out of trade postings, such as the schools if their case is not that bad, or RSM assistant, there is plenty of low stress postings that could give these guys the time the need, to recover...I know mental health repeatily says it is a recoverable sickness, i'm just not sure to what piont. or what event would cause a relapse or if that is possiable..... Currently up to a full 15 to 20 % of our current numbers have medical issues/ restrictions those include mental health problems...that's a huge chunk taken of the top and 65 k it is that big of a number to start with. pehaps the CF should not count these guys in there effective strength, making them the exception. Derek , I'm on the fence on this...I know what has to be done to protect DND's final personal counts. But on the over hand some of these guys i've shared the same battlefield with, and are brothers in arms.

I hear you there, use to start her training at 0430 AM , nothing like a good morning jog in minus 20 to build some character, or hear her character.....What MOC ....No fickin way would i want her to be infantry, don't get me wrong i love the corp but that does not mean i want my daughter to be one of them.....not in this life time, She's an Admin clerk in Pet, bad enough shes married a RCD guy...