Canada says NO to the USA!

[Dithers]

It must have worked....

http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/03/19/a_canadian_global_gag_rule

But no, I mean lots of other me-too behavior like scolding China on "human rights".

Again, United States is the clear leader in that department.

[bush_cheney2004]

Again, United States is the clear leader in that department.

Don't worry, I'm sure that Canada is the leader in something!

[Dithers]

Don't worry, I'm sure that Canada is the leader in something!

Hockey for the win!

Is it just me, or is Harper's belly expanding once again? He was on the right track for a while there.

Edited April 4, 2010 by Dithers

[Topaz]

Hockey for the win!

Is it just me, or is Harper's belly expanding once again? He was on the right track for a while there.

Could it be the beer he won in a bet? Remember when Clements was the Minister of Health and bring back in fitness for the country. If you look at the Tories, they have the most over weight people and I wonder how many are diabetic and don't know it???

[eyeball]

All of this is valid. Our allies in NATO have no honored their end of the alliances, which makes me question the relevence of NATO as anything other than a potential firewall against an surging Russia. It is clear that Most of European NATO is unwilling to define interests beyond their Eastern frontier.

I take this more as an indication that Europeans have come to recognize the inherent folly of projecting their force around the globe as if it owned the place.

Finally.

We should take a cue.

[bush_cheney2004]

I take this more as an indication that Europeans have come to recognize the inherent folly of projecting their force around the globe as if it owned the place.

They recognized that long before NATO came along. That would include the likes of Spain, Portugal, Holland, Germany, France, and Russia. God Save the Queen(s)!

We should take a cue.

You mean like starting small...say...with Haiti?

[Kissinger]

Heh, yes, Great Britain certainly gave up their leading position because the inherent folly of their ways dawned upon them in a moment of clarity.

It certainly had nothing to do with a century long decline, shrinking economy and irrelevant armed forces.

[Army Guy]

The decision wasn't only about being cheaper. There are helicopters there now, but the reality is, you still have to be on the ground. You can't work from the air.

Well, with all respect, it isn't only the lack of helicopters that contributed to deaths. We have them now, and people are still dying, because they have to be on the ground. It made sense in the past to cut defence and all other aspects of the budget because we had huge deficits and couldn't afford the levels of spending. Now we can, and we can rebuild...until some day when we again need to cut. Political considerations aren't unimportant.

With all respect, this argument only makes sense in the short-sighted world of politics. A country the size of Canada will always have need for big lift capability of a helicopter like the chinook. The decision to give them up for a period exceeding a decade was big mistake, and having to wait for new ones is just one consequence. Ultimately, it was some of our troops who really covered the cost by unnecessarily sacrificing life and limb.

For what it matters i think Dizzy's theory is right on the money, for a couple of reasons, The lack of any roto assets did infact reflect on the death toll, you don't have to be a rocket sciencetist to figure out more road traffic will increase the IED threat...Deaths have been down by a huge margin since our current roto assets hit the ground....It should be noted that during our orginal order of CH-47F helos, the US offered to give us a prioty buy on used CH=47D models, we declined and stated we would wait....thats after the military briefing the government , screaming at the government that these machines would save lives....the following year we ended up buying those Ch-47D anyways....And the proof of all that is reduced cas figures...Helo's save lives...but then again what is a soldier worth?

As for working from the Air, we are doing it all the time, chinooks give us the speed and mobility we lacked, it puts troops in any grid square at any time, with surprise....it gives us another tool in the box, and for soldiers in combat we need all the tools you can get...

[Born Free]

Don't worry, I'm sure that Canada is the leader in something!

Yep! IQ's.