"John Locke" wrote in message
om...
Canada's military is, and has been for over a decade, in a state of
disarray. This is largely due to two facts. The first is the Trudeau
government, which preached quasi-socialist values and viewed the
Soviet Union not as an aggressor, but rather as the victim of American
agression. Trudeau managed to spit on the Army, Air Force, and Navy on
both sides of the border.

No, I suspect the real truth is that Trudeau decided that if there was ever
a war between NATO and the Warsaw Pact it would swiftly go nuclear and we'd
all be dead. So he didn't see the point in large expenditures on the
military.

But there is also a larger societal power at play. For some reason in
the last 50 years, Canadians have begun to believe that their soldier
should be more social worker than hardened killer. Peacekeeping is a
noble enterprise, but it must be remembered that it requires the peace
to be kept. How effective was peacekeeping in Rwanda in 1994.

It would have been effective if the UN biggies had been willing to pony up
the forces needed to stop the massacres. They weren't.

A Conservative government under Stephen Harper must revitalize not
only the numbers and equipment of the Canadian forces, but also
clearly state what we want out of our forces.

But it appears so far they won't. They'll just throw money at things so
they can say, "See, we're spending more. See, we bought some cool new toys
so we'll look cool like the other guys." In reality a major defense review
is needed.

tim gueguen 101867