MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – September 18, 2012
- Afghanistan (1) Former OMLT’eer Bruce Ralston on the latest out of Afghanistan “US suspends joint operations with Afghan army in wake of recent green-on-blues. Militarily significant? Not as much as you’d think. But yeah… the mutual hatred and misunderstanding is clearly now at such intolerable levels it’s difficult to see any way back even to where we were 3 years ago ….” - more on the suspension of US-AFG ops here and here.
- Afghanistan (2) Meanwhile, Government of Canada Info-machine shares pix of Canada’s Ambassador running the Terry Fox run.
- HMCS Regina good to go at its new task (as of about 3+ weeks ago) “On 22 August 2012, Commander Jason Boyd of HMCS Regina reported to Commodore Mukhtar Khan of the Pakistani Navy, then Commander of Combined Task Force 150, that HMCS Regina had arrived in her area of responsibility and was ready to start work. This message marked the end of the frigate’s transit from Esquimalt, B.C. to the Arabian Sea, and the beginning of the operational phase of her mission ….”
- “The military ombudsman says National Defence has not hired enough psychiatrists and other mental-health professionals to deal with a cresting tide of post-traumatic stress cases. Pierre Daigle released a report Monday that challenges many of the reassurances the Harper government has given about the treatment of soldiers returning from the Afghan war. He said there is a big gap between what the system can deliver and what it actually does for troops who’ve witnessed horrors overseas, and for their families. “This gap is primarily the result of a chronic inability to achieve, or come close to achieving, the established manning level of the mental-health function,” said the 99-page report, tabled Monday just as Parliament resumed after its summer recess ….” – a bit more in the ‘Budman’s news release on the report here, and from media here.
- “The Canadian Forces launched its annual national Search and Rescue exercise (SAREX) in Val-d’Or, Quebec (Sunday). The exercise will continue until September 22. SAREX 2012 brings together Search and Rescue (SAR) units from across Canada in a challenging setting to test participants and maintain medical, search, rescue, parachute accuracy skills and to engage in team spirit. In addition, the exercise will serve as an opportunity to train or upgrade qualifications of pilots, flight engineers, search and rescue technicians, load masters, air combat systems officers and maintenance personnel ….” – a photo of the Commander-in-Chief dropping by to visit the troops here.
- Canada’s navy also taking part in big exercise near Florida “It’s the largest gathering of naval firepower in Key West since 1974. Ships from Brazil, Canada, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, the United Kingdom and the U.S. are training together in a realistic tactical environment featuring undersea warfare, maritime interdiction operations, air defense and amphibious operations. “The purpose of UNITAS, which is Latin for ‘unity,’ is to bring these countries together, put them through some various maritime scenarios and exercises once they get out to sea to figure out how they can better work together towards a common mission or a common goal,” said Captain Patrick Lefere, commanding officer at Naval Air Station Key West ….”
- “An abandoned military base has some of the most valuable and unused land in Winnipeg, but an ongoing court challenge is keeping the future of the Kapyong Barracks site uncertain. The barracks, which used to house members of the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, have been sitting empty for more than eight years, after the Canadian Forces declared the site surplus. Today, there are obvious signs of deterioration on the 90-hectare site, including mould and peeling lead paint inside some the vacant buildings, water in the basement of at least one building and hundreds of squirrel holes outside. “I don’t think it’s good for the neighbourhood,” said Joe Chilelli, who lives nearby. “You see all the grass, and the buildings are just left there, barren.” But since 2008, a court challenge has been holding up any development on the land where the base sits. Six First Nations have been fighting with the federal government, arguing that a treaty signed in 1871 gave them first right of refusal on any land Ottawa declares surplus. “They are willing to wait a couple more years, for sure, in order to get their promise fulfilled,” says Norman Boudreau, a lawyer representing the Sandy Bay First Nation ….”
- “The Chief of the Defence Staff, General Walt Natynczyk, joined his NATO counterparts this past weekend at NATO’s Military Committee Conference in Sibiu, Romania. The Conference provided NATO’s 28 Chiefs of Defence with the opportunity to reflect on the progress made since the May 2012 Chicago Summit and to develop a collective view on emerging issues in preparation for the meeting of NATO’s Defence Ministers planned for later this fall ….”
- War of 1812 DND Info-machine cranks out raft o’ Backgrounders on various battle honours: Chateauguay, Crysler Farm, Lacolle River (Québec), Maumee (aka Miami), Niagara and Queenston.
- This just in: jet fighter beats high-end cars in race. ” “Highway to the Danger Zone” played over the loudspeakers, setting the mood as the exotic cars took their positions and the Hornet prepared for wheels up. Expectations were high as crowds gathered along the runway and surrounded the big screen televisions. The roar of the CF-18 mixed with the rumble of the exotic cars; the ultimate performance showdown was on. It was no contest. The CF-18 Hornet, piloted by Major Marco Raaijmakers, Deputy Commanding Officer of 409 Tactical Fighter Squadron, handily beat all three exotic cars. During the race, one car reached 380 km/hr—the fastest a car has gone on the runway ….”
- No sign of the obtained documents, so no word on what else is in them “Canada’s top spy has rejected a call from a federal watchdog for more scrutiny of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service’s human rights record. In a newly declassified memo, CSIS director Dick Fadden dismisses the Canadian Human Rights Commission’s recommendation that national security agencies do more to ensure they are not taking part in racial profiling or other objectionable practices. “I am confident in the service’s existing human rights policies and procedures, as well as our accountability and review structures,” Fadden says in the January 2012 memo to Public Safety Minister Vic Toews. “We have taken aggressive proactive steps to prevent discrimination and profiling in the service, and our investigation and reporting are pursued to protect Canadians and not out of any discriminatory bias.” The memo — initially classified secret — was provided to The Canadian Press by Mike Larsen, a criminology instructor at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in British Columbia, who obtained it under the Access to Information Act ….” - more here.
- Khadr Boy As if Iran’s official government news agency reaaaaaaaly cares about human rights, right? “The Guantanamo Bay penal colony is notorious as a venue where the human rights of those captive there are periodically violated. This is why Canadians have taken a keen interest in the plight of Canadian citizen Omar Khadr who at age 15 was kidnapped at gunpoint from Afghanistan by US troops and spirited off to the notorious torture site. “Critics accuse the Harper government of dragging its heals and failing to ensure the return of the child soldier to Canada in an expeditious fashion.” The mainstream media in Canada claim, invariably without data or evidence, that Canadians are divided over whether or not Khadr should be repatriated to Canada. So Press TV took to the streets of Calgary to gauge the public’s opinion ….”
