MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – 1 July 12

• First off, Happy Canada Day!  Here’s what the PM has to say (video).
• And Whazzup for Canada Day, at least in Vancouver?  “Vancouver’s StopWar activists will be out in force to protest the glorification of war on Canada Day. In a bulletin sent out to its supporters, StopWar maintains that the country’s birthday celebrations “have been strongly co-opted over the years by the Harper government’s pursuit of militarism and the presence of the Canadian Armed Forces”. “This is just one of the ways in which the social justice and antiwar values held dearly by so many Canadians are being dismantled,” the group stated. This year, StopWar is urging people to “fight back against this militarized ‘War and Austerity’ vision”. “Wear your Red Squares, bring your pots and pans and musical instruments,” StopWar declared. “Let’s dance and march for ‘Peace and Prosperity’, universal education and democracy.” The activists plan to meet at noon on Canada Day at the Waves Coffee House (1198 West Pender Street) near Harbour Green Park. From there, they will go to the Canadian Armed Forces display to offer “alternative views to violence & war-making”.”
• F-35 Tug o’ War  Wanted:  Someone to check out the assumptions behind the F-35 process
• Ooopsie ….  “A subsidiary of U.S. defense contractor United Technologies Corporation, or UTC, pleaded guilty Thursday to criminal charges of selling China hardware to help it build a military attack helicopter. The Justice Department charged UTC’s Canadian subsidiary, Pratt & Whitney Canada, with selling China hardware for its Z-10 attack helicopter, violating the Arms Export Control Act. United Technologies, its U.S.-based subsidiary Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation, and Pratt & Whitney Canada agreed to pay more than $75 million as part of a settlement to the U.S. government. Part of the fine was for making false statements to U.S. officials. The contractors said they thought they were helping China build a civilian helicopter ….” – more from the FBI here, and from other mainstream media here.
• Kenya  “A group of Somali militants who kidnapped four international aid workers, including at least one Canadian, during an attack on a refugee camp in Kenya may have crossed the border into Somalia, Kenyan police and military officials said Saturday. The four aid workers were kidnapped on Friday when militants ambushed a Norwegian Refugee Council convoy and killed a Kenyan driver, officials said. The Norwegian group has not identified the nationalities of the kidnapped workers. But a security official with the case said that two of them are from Canada, one from the Philippines and one from Norway. One of the Canadian passport holders is of Pakistani origin, the security official said. A spokesman for Foreign Affairs in Ottawa declined to comment on the report, saying Canada’s top priority was “the safety and security of the citizens.” “We are pursuing all appropriate channels to seek further information and are in close contact with Kenyan authorities,” Jean-Bruno Villeneuve said in an email to The Canadian Press. “We will not comment or release any information which may compromise these efforts.” ….”
• Sudan  “Canada has urged Sudan to “immediately halt all violence” aimed at stifling anti-government protests in the east African nation. “Canada is concerned by the response of security forces to protests that have escalated in Khartoum and other cities in Sudan over the last 10 days,” Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said in a statement Friday. “We condemn the arrests of bloggers, journalists and political activists that have taken place over the last week and call for their immediate release. “We impress upon the government the importance of carrying out a genuine and inclusive reform process that addresses the true needs and interests of the Sudanese people.” Sudanese police used tear gas and batons on Friday to disperse hundreds of anti-austerity protesters chanting, “Freedom, freedom,” and demanding the resignation of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir’s government ….”
• Way Up North  What our northern neighbours are up to in their Northern Fleet (via the Naval Open Source Intelligence blog)  “Fourteen years after the Kursk disaster, Russia’s Northern Fleet will soon have a new multi-purpose rescue vessel. Currently under construction by the Admiralty Shipyards in Saint Petersburg, the “Igor Belousov” will be able to help out wrecked submarines and engage in complex search operations, as well as take part in military actions. Equipped with a landing pad for helicopters, vacuum chambers, under-water equipment able to operate on 700 meter depths, and an advanced deepwater diving complex, the vessel will also carry advanced weaponry, thereby constituting a formidable, multi-purpose warship ….”
• Afghanistan (1)  Military Police Complaints Commission:  MP’s OK with prisoner handling (but there were problems with the process)  “…. While the Commission found that the complaints against the eight individual Military Police subjects were unsubstantiated, it identified serious problems regarding reporting, accountability and information sharing in the Military Police, and made recommendations to improve the work of policing when MPs are deployed on missions. The Commission also made two recommendations designed to remove serious obstacles related to document disclosure and witness access during Public Interest Hearings conducted by the Commission. “While the Commission has dismissed the complaint against eight individual senior Military Police officers, we have made a number of recommendations that we believe will improve the quality of policing services delivered by the Military Police,” said Commission Chairperson Glenn Stannard ….” - more here.
• Afghanistan (2)  “The ground for the Aghanistan Repatriation Memorial was dedicated on May 31 at Bain Park, Trenton, Ont., and construction began June 18 with a sod-turning ceremony. The memorial is scheduled for completion before Remembrance Day. The Trenton city park is located directly off the Highway of Heroes that leads from Trenton to Toronto (Highway 401); it overlooks the Bay of Quinte not far from 8 Wing Trenton ….” - more on the monument here.
• “Canadians aren’t allowed to know what a Russian aircrew did spy with its little eye in two observation flights over the country this week. One Russian flight from Canadian Forces Base Trenton in Ontario flew south, while the other flew to the west, but the military won’t say what installations or facilities were photographed. A National Defence spokesman says, under the 20-year-old Treaty on Open Skies, flight plan details are a “national prerogative” of the Russian and Canadian governments and cannot be disclosed ….”
• So, what’re the politicians up to?
• “Minister MacKay Cuts the Ribbon on Military Training Centre in Jamaica” last week
• “Members of the media and the public are invited to attend a Government of Canada commemorative ceremony marking the 96th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme at the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial in France” today
• “Senator Norm Doyle to Honour the 1st Newfoundland Regiment at Ceremony in St. John’s” today
• “MP Scott Armstrong to Unveil Forgotten Heroes Monument in Bass River” Nova Scotia today
• “Member of Parliament Dean Del Mastro to Announce Funding in Township of Asphodel-Norwood, Ontario” today
• “Media Advisory: Parliamentary Secretary Chris Alexander to Present the Major Banting Military Trauma Research Chair” on July 3
• ‘On behalf of the Honourable Steven Blaney, Minister of Veterans Affairs, the Honourable Peter Penashue, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and the Honourable Peter Van Loan, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Member of Parliament for York–Simcoe, will make a funding announcement“ at St. George’s, Newfoundland July 3
• New Boss in Army of Ontario  “Command of Land Force Central Area (LFCA), the Ontario-focused subordinate command of the Canadian Army was formally changed at a military ceremony at the Denison Armoury in Toronto on Thursday, June 28, 2012. Brigadier-General Fred Lewis handed over to Brigadier-General Omer Lavoie and it was presided over by the Commander of the Canadian Army Lieutenant-General Peter Devlin, CMM, MSC, CD ….”
• “A video glorifying Taliban attacks in Afghanistan and the slaughter of Canadian soldiers disappeared from YouTube and other sites Friday, mere hours after QMI Agency began questioning taxpayer subsidies for the francophone rapper who made it. “The enemy approaches,” rapper Manu Militari declared in the video. “I recognize Canada’s colours.” Later he says, “In a few seconds they’ll understand how much I hate them.” The rapper has said he tried to “humanize” Islamists by presenting a sympathetic view of Taliban fighters detonating a roadside bomb and killing Canadians. Manu Militari says a “disproportionate” response to the video convinced him to remove it from the Internet, though on Friday afternoon his website continued to promote its official September 11 release …. Between 2008 and 2013, Manu Militari will have received $110,000 in grants for various projects from MusicAction – a francophone arts-promoting body that gets 75% of its $8 million annual budget from taxpayers through Heritage Canada. Private media companies like Cogeco and Astral Media cover the rest of its budget ….”
• “The decision of the Harper government to close the Office of the Inspector General of CSIS and end its 28-year history opens a new and challenging chapter for the process of keeping watch over the Canadian security and intelligence community. It’s hard to be optimistic that this change will be for the better ….”
• Leftist re-write of Canada’s role in the Russian Civil War  “Between 1918 and 1920, the fledgling workers’ state in Soviet Russia was engaged in a life and death struggle against a series of counter-revolutionary “White” armies backed by expeditionary forces marshalled by fourteen states that had fought as part of the British-French-US-led “Allies” in the First World War and which landed forces in Baku, Murmansk, Archangel and Vladivostok. Among the belligerents was Canada ….” - more on how things went for the workers in the USSR here.