MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – 17 May 12
- Afghanistan The latest tally of wounded (April 2002 through 31 Dec 11), according to a written response to a question from an MP: 635 “wounded in action”, 1412 “non-battle related injuries”
- Here’s a chance to listen to Canada’s first ROCK (Representative of Canada in Kandahar) Elissa Golberg “imagine what role the military can play in complex crises” as part of an online discussion organized by the Canadian International Council - the topic of this morning’s (11am Eastern) discussion: “the role the Canadian military can play in disaster relief operations abroad.”
- Where’s the Chair of the Veterans Review and Appeal Board Been Travelling? Check out the discussion over at Army.ca, where some folks seem…. underwhelmed by the Chair’s travel itinerary of late.
- “Researchers studying the brains of soldiers exposed to blast injuries have found evidence of a degenerative disease also detected in athletes who have suffered repeated blows to the head, raising a worrisome prospect for thousands of combat veterans. Scientists from the United States and England say brain tissue in four American military members showed signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, a progressive disease normally linked to repetitive concussions. The condition has been identified in more than a dozen professional football players who have died after suffering multiple concussions …. Patric Stanton, a cell biologist at the New York Medical College, said the international team of scientists found telltale signs of the disease in veterans exposed to even just one blast from an improvised explosive device …. Col. Rakesh Jetly, a senior Canadian Forces psychiatrist, said he had read the Boston University report and was awaiting further details on the research. He added that the Canadian Forces has created a special panel on managing brain injuries in the military. “The Canadian Forces Health Services is constantly studying evidence-based research related to blast exposure and seeking ways to improve care to personnel suffering from brain injuries,” he said in an emailed statement ….” You have to pay to access the entire paper, but here’s the journal abstract and here’s the University’s news release on the study.
- “The Canadian Youth Business Foundation (CYBF) is pleased to be working with the Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) chapter at Memorial University in Newfoundland to help Canadian Forces members transition to civilian life by launching and sustaining successful businesses. Uniquely Canadian, The Prince’s Operation Entrepreneur is an exclusive national program for transitioning or transitioned Canadian Forces members interested in becoming entrepreneurs. It offers them entrepreneurial education and business planning support, access to start-up and growth financing, specialized business mentoring, the opportunity to attend entrepreneurship boot camp and networking and community support. The Prince’s Operation Entrepreneur program is supported by Prince’s Charities Canada, the Department of National Defence (DND), Veteran Affairs Canada (VAC), and Advancing Canadian Entrepreneurship (ACE). The program was created and built upon the foundation of the CYBF’s 16 years of experience in mentoring and financing new entrepreneurs and the “Based in Business” educational boot camp offered by SIFE Memorial ….”
- Q) When is the first official mention of a project to convert Leopard tanks into armoured engineer vehicles not really an “announcement”? A) When it’s a “Backgrounder” that doesn’t include 1) a Ministerial quote or 2) any dollar amounts. You can also see the CF Info-machine announcement Backgrounder here if the link above doesn’t work.
- Looks like Goose Bay isn’t getting its promised battalion of troops or unmanned aerial vehicle unit anytime soon – here’s the 2006 letter from Stephen Harper promising this (PDF), some discussion here and here on this over at Army.ca, and here’s part of a written response to an MP’s question on that very issue (PDF) from this story from CBC.ca: “…. (Defence Minister Peter) MacKay confirmed “there are currently no plans” to establish a 650-member battalion at 5 Wing. As for the unmanned aerial vehicle squadron in Goose Bay, there is nothing firm on the horizon for that either. “As part of the [defence strategy], there will be a surveillance ‘system of systems’ that will be comprised of sensors, unmanned vehicles and satellites that will keep Canada’s maritime approaches safe and secure, including in the Arctic,” MacKay’s response notes ….”
- F-35 Tug o’ War (1) No sign of the obtained documents mentioned in this Canadian Press story being shared yet, so no word on what else might be in them. “The Harper government called in the RCMP to investigate a politically embarrassing story involving the decision to sole-source the purchase of the F-35 stealth fighter, claiming it was a breach of national security, The Canadian Press has learned. The Mounties conducted a five-month review into an alleged leak of cabinet documents under the Security of Information Act, recently used to charge a naval intelligence officer in an apparent spy case. Records obtained under the Access to Information Act show investigators had doubts almost from the outset in July 2010 that any laws were broken in the Globe and Mail story. The story revealed angst within government about possible alienation from Washington if a competition was held to replace the air force’s CF-18s. Still, the review pressed ahead and drew in one of the RCMP’s four Integrated National Security Enforcement Teams, whose job it is to chase terrorism threats. It was shut down in December 2010 for lack of evidence ….”
- F-35 Tug o’ War (2) Yet ANOTHER worry (for some, anyway) “And then there was the software. Already, the F-35 program has been singled out as a target for international hackers and now a former vice-chairman of the U.S. military Joint Cheifs of Staff is raising the issue again. Marine Gen. James “Hoss” Cartwright told the Joint Warfighting Conference that he fears the F-35 could prove to be as vulnerable to enemy hackers as older Humvees were to roadside bombs, according to a report from AOL Defense. “We built the F-35 with absolutely no protection for it from a cyber standpoint,” he said, adding that there ought to be a switch that can shut off the aircraft’s electronic transmission functions in case enemies access them. Cartwright’s words come only months after Chinese hackers broke into computers owned by UK defence manufacturer BAE in an attempt to steal details about the F-35’s design and electronic systems ….” – more from blogger/info curator Mark Collins on this worry
- F-35 Tug o’ War (3) Meanwhile, an American analyst wonders if the Chinese will see as much angst over the development of their own next generation fighter.
- Taliban Propaganda Watch Taliban web page calls for protests leading up to NATO leaders’ meeting in Chicago (links to non-terrorist site)
- “Four members of the Royal Canadian Navy will be given the opportunity to avoid having a criminal record for impersonating police. The Crown has agreed to refer the charge against the sailors to the province’s adult diversion program, a Dartmouth provincial court judge was told Wednesday. If the young men accept responsibility for their actions and meet the terms of a contract to be drawn up by a probation officer, the charge will be withdrawn by the prosecution. The four men were charged after someone in a car pulled in behind a vehicle that was parked on Bissett Road in Cole Harbour on March 25 at about 1 a.m. and activated blue and red flashing lights on the dash and a siren. After the fake police car pulled away without anyone getting out, the people in the other vehicle called 911. A few minutes later, RCMP stopped a Dodge Avenger matching the description of the suspicious car and arrested the four occupants for posing as police ….”
- PM: No need to worry about doing business with that big Chinese telecom “Mr. Thomas Mulcair (Leader of the Opposition, NDP): Mr. Speaker, earlier today, the Minister of Public Safety stood by a Conservative decision to roll out the red carpet for a Chinese company called Huawei. Huawei will be allowed to buy up key telecommunications assets in Canada, despite the fact that the United States and Australia have blocked it from major telecom projects due to serious national security concerns. The United States and Australia are two of our closest allies. They still see the risk. Why did the Prime Minister choose to ignore their warnings? Right Hon. Stephen Harper (Prime Minister, CPC): Mr. Speaker, the leader of the NDP is speaking of some contractual relationships between some Canadian companies and foreign companies. The particular concerns that he raised in fact have been addressed. Those concerns have been examined and those concerns have been addressed in our mind. I would remind the leader of the NDP that we do not take dictates on security from the United States.”
- A piece of Canadian underwater military history is closer to having a permanent home near London, Ontario “The Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of National Defence, has signed an agreement that will allow the Elgin Military Museum in St. Thomas, Ontario, to take possession of one of the Royal Canadian Navy’s decommissioned submarines – the former HMCS Ojibwa – for permanent, public display. HMCS Ojibwa is an Oberon-class submarine, commissioned in 1965 and removed from operational service in 1998. Ojibwa was one of three Oberon-class diesel-electric submarines acquired in the 1960s by the RCN; the others being Onandaga and Okanagan. A fourth Oberon-class submarine, Olympus, was acquired in 1989 to serve as a stationary training vessel in Halifax …. The museum will fund the physical transfer of the 90-metre Ojibwa from Halifax Harbour, Nova Scotia, to a site at Port Burwell, Ontario, and Ojibwa’s establishment as a museum open to the public.” More from the museum’s home page on the project here (including their news release), from hometown media here and here – also, a bit more of the history of the hunt for a home for HMCS Ojibwa here (via Army.ca)
- “Swaths of academics and historians have descended upon the Greek island of Thasos to investigate newfound airplane wreckage on the side of a mountain. But it is a local amateur sleuth who may be the closest to solving a 95-year-old mystery involving the disappearance of a Canadian First World War pilot. Details on the life of Flight Lieutenant Warner Hutchins Peberdy are largely confined to a graduation photograph from the Curtiss Aviation School in Toronto and a series of scrawled records locked in the British National Archives. Mr. Peberdy left the British Airfield in the village of Prinos on an ill-fated reconnaissance mission in January 1917 and has since been considered missing in action, presumed dead in the Aegean Sea ….”
- War of 1812 “The Grande Parade and Military Tattoo on June 23, 2012 will be one of the largest 1812 Bicentennial celebrations in North America, and General Rick Hillier will be there to salute the passing procession as the Honourary Parade Marshal. General Hillier is the Former Chief of the Defence Staff for the Canadian Forces, the highest rank in the Canadian Forces. He held this position from February 2005 until his retirement in July 2008 after a 35-year long career in the Canadian Forces. This June, General Hillier will commemorate the War of 1812 as the Honourary Parade Marshal at the largest 1812 Bicentennial parade in North America. The parade will take place in Fort Erie, ON, on the ground that was once the most contested site in North America during the War of 1812 ….”
Taliban calling for protests pre-NATO meeting in Chicago
Usual disclaimer – don’t click on a Taliban page link if you don’t want the Taliban’s webmeisters getting your information. Sharing this with you for information’s sake =/= agreement or endorsement of the message.
If the realities are not accepted, the Chicago Conference will be another failure - Screen capture of statement at non-terrorist site
Wednesday, 16 May 2012 15:09
It is decided that on 20th and 21st dates of the current month the twenty-fifth meeting of the NATO member countries is going to be held in Chicago, USA. According to the reports besides the 28 member countries, 60 more countries will also participate and among other issues, the issue of Afghanistan will also be discussed. It is said that the meeting will be held behind closed doors and the public will be kept away from the conference.
The reality is that there are 140,000 troops of NATO and America is present inside Afghanistan even now. Moreover 300,000 people of national army and police working as their stooges are also there. But they are a total failure in front of the national and Islamic resistance. The reason is quite obvious. Armies can fight armies but cannot fight nations.
The biggest mistake of the invaders is that they construe the national and Islamic movement (resistance) as terrorism just for their malicious objectives. As long as the invaders do not accept the ground realities in Afghanistan and do not acknowledge the natural rights of the Afghan nation, the Afghan issue can neither be solved by the strategic co-operation nor by the NATO meetings. A lasting occupation means a lasting resistance.
If they really do hold up human rights and justice, they should include the end of the occupation, the trial of the those troops who violated human rights, halting violations of the sanctities of Afghan Muslim nation including the indiscriminate massacre of the innocent Afghans and the cruelties of the warlords in their agenda. They should give the right of full freedom to the Afghan nation. If they neglect all these issues and support the colonial plans of America, then all the slogans of supporting human rights and justice are all white lies and their destiny will not differ than those whose imperialism was wiped out from this soil and who have now become only the memories of the past.
In last April a joint survey of CBS and the New York Times showed that 69% Americans are against the war in Afghanistan and they consider it a useless, meaningless and an un-winnable war.
In the beginning the white house officials wanted to justify the illegal invasion of Afghanistan under the title of the so called war on terrorism and on the other side to deceive the Afghans by the democracy, freedom and human rights; but their deeds showed that these invaders are the biggest violators of the basic human rights. In the past ten years, the life of the ordinary Afghans has worsened both economically and security wise. 40% population of the country is living under the poverty line. Electricity is brought from a neighboring country with such a huge amount which would have been sufficient for the construction of a dam inside the country.
Similarly 80% of the funds collected under the name of Afghanistan go back into the pockets and bank accounts of these invaders, NGOs and the warlords. The press says that this corruption has now even entered the UN offices and millions of dollars have been embezzled.
The colonial game of the Americans is a total failure in Afghanistan. We call upon the nation of America and the NATO member countries to arrange large scale protests prior to the Chicago conference. Similarly we request the politicians and writers of the world having free conscience to disclose the atrocities of the Americans and their allied forces inside Afghanistan and to support the Afghans morally in their just demand.
We consider it the duty of every human being for having a peaceful world and insuring justice.
TALIBAN PROPAGANDA WATCH – 132250UTC May 12
NOTE: Do NOT click on a link to the Taliban’s or other terrorist web pages if you don’t want the webmasters to see your computer’s IP number. This material is from web pages and forums carrying statements attributed to the Taliban, Taliban spokespersons or supporters of the Taliban, or analysis thereof. Posting of this material neither confirms nor endorses any of its content – it is shared for information only. When material translated into English is not available, Google Translate is used to translate the original – this is only a machine translation, NOT an official one.
The wrath of Jihad ‘Al Farooq Operation’ launched in Afghanistan (screen capture at Google Docs)
Sunday, 13 May 2012 01:48
In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.
Al Farooq operation is the name of the country-wide Islamic Emirate’s offensive this year. A year has passed since the launch of Al Badr operation which still terrorizes the hearts and souls of the Kuffar invaders. Al Badr was an operation that kept the world media engaged with shocking news of courageous efforts against the occupying forces.
Al Badr operation of course could not totally avenge the cruelty, genocide, disgrace and other acts of wildness directed against our people, however, it was a wave of joy for all those that have suffered from those brutalities. It was a message from the heirs of all the martyrs and the homeless that went back to the west with the dead bodies of the Jewish troops. May they put these messages on their tombstones.
As we all know the occupying enemy is facing a disastrous defeat. This year’s ‘Al Farooq Military operation’ has been launched to counter all of their conspiracies; and so far we have inflicted considerable damage to these enemies across the country especially in the capital Kabul. Now, the enemy is trying all its tricks to bring rift between the Mujahideen and the general public. They are dedicated to conceal their defeat and pave their way to eventual withdrawal.
Now that the New Year’s operation ‘Al Farooq’ has been launched, thousands of martyrdom lovers and those who want to gain the exalted title of ‘Ghazi’ will draw into the ranks of the Mujahideen. We will soon observe that ‘Al Farooq’ will replace ‘Al Badr’ as the message of fear and terror and will deprive them of their sleep. We believe this because the start of the operation this year indicates how successful it will be over the course of the year.
The coward father of the crusaders and Zionists ‘Obama’ came to Afghanistan in the dark of the night to sign a shameful pact with his local servant. On the same night Al Farooq operation was launched which targeted the American base of ‘Green Village’ in the capital Kabul, sending an alarming message to the Zionist president of America. Hearing this, the American crusader was not able to stick on the ground and left Afghanistan in the dark similar to the way he had entered. If a single strike against the so-called green village of the crusader army can force their leader to flee our homeland so soon, then let’s imagine how long will it take to terrorize their paid foot soldiers. When faced with the true Mujahideen who are ready to sacrifice their lives for their Deen, no crusader will be able to stay for long on the ground.
Inshallah, we will soon see the scattering of this Jewish alliance and soon the occupying forces will withdraw from our country. As the name ‘Al Farooq’ literally suggests, it is the operation that will show the world the difference (or farq) between ‘Haq’ (truth) and ‘Batil’ (Lie). The mass civilian population of Afghanistan have also come to the conclusion that the western occupiers are nothing but intruders who have been crossing lines in the areas of traditional, religious and cultural norms. They have now understood that the more they keep silent against these tyrannies the more such intrusions will increase and in fact such a silence can cause the unlimited wrath of Allah Almighty. With the launch of Al Farooq operation, we should know that a country wide armed resistance will take place and with Allah’s help and people’s support, the Islamic Emirate under the leadership of the Mujahideen will be revived. Such a move will be nothing but the interpretation of this holy verse:
(….)
Truth has arrived, and Falsehood perished: for Falsehood is (by its nature) bound to perish.
With Allah’s help, the sons of Islam and Afghanistan have infiltrated the ranks of the army and the police and are impatiently waiting for their opportunity to kill as many crusaders as possible and quench their thirst for the blood of the enemy. Last year as well, as part of ‘Al Badr’ operation, the sacrifice of a courageous and faithful brother who had infiltrated the Afghan army led to the death of 17 French invader soldiers. Following that attack, the French unilaterally decided to bring out their troops from Afghanistan. This French decision nevertheless terrorized all the other satanic allies as well.
The invaders should be made aware that the names of these operations are not merely accidental rather they have a special meaning and interpretation. With every success, the truthfulness of these names appears before all the faithful ones. The people of Afghanistan and the rest of the world should look forward to the spontaneous attacks of the lion-hearts of the Islamic Emirate. They should see how many more coffins of filthy soldiers will be transported back to their homelands. How many crusader mothers will never see their sons again and how many more of the filthy night partners will lose their dreams!
Indeed the Muslims are looking forward to their heroes to destroy and humiliate their enemies; destroy their check posts, barracks and bases. The satanic plans of the crusaders will be countered by the brave moves of the Mujahideen and inshallah the flag of the Kufr will be brought down and the Islamic flag will be hoisted back in the holy land. Ameen