MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – October 1, 2012
- “An independent analysis has concluded the waves of federal budget cuts washing over National Defence will run deeper and likely be more painful than advertised by the Harper government. The report tallies up the cumulative effect of a series of initiatives and estimates as much as $2.5 billion is expected to be carved out of defence by 2015. The research paper, written for the Centre for Security and Defence Studies at Carleton University, is believed to be the first comprehensive snapshot of the impact of the federal government’s two-tracked deficit reduction plans. It warns that accounting changes and a reluctance to cut troops and capabilities means budget savings will have to be found elsewhere ….”
- Khadr Boy (1) Ya think? “For the first time in 10 years and three months, Omar Khadr’s fate rests outside the hands of politicians and military personnel. Toronto-born Mr. Khadr left Guantanamo Bay’s detention centre in the pre-dawn hours of Saturday morning via U.S. military aircraft. He set foot on Canadian soil just over three hours later …. “He’s very happy. He is relieved. This is obviously a huge day for him,” said Brydie Bethell, one of Mr. Khadr’s lawyers, who spoke with him after he arrived Saturday. “There’s no question that the wait has been extremely painful for him, but he’s dreamt of this moment for a very long time – for over a decade.” ….”
- Khadr Boy (2a) “Darlene Cushman’s son is not coming home no matter what political deals are worked out. Trooper Darryl Caswell already had his repatriation. But his was in a box. In fact Saturday’s secret homecoming of the murderous, convicted terrorist/boy soldier brought on the opposite of happy for the mom of one of Canada’s 158 fallen soldiers in the war in Afghanistan. It brings it all back. “He is very, very happy to be home,” Omar Khadr’s lawyer John Norris said Saturday. Isn’t that nice for him. Forgive Cushman if she doesn’t pop the cork on a bottle of champagne to celebrate this weekend’s big news. “It’s a very sad day,” said Cushman whose “wonderful son” was killed in 2007 by a road side bomb like the ones the Khadr family has been accused of planting in Afghanistan. “It’s re-hurting all us parents and families all over again.” The irony is sick ….”
- Khadr Boy (2b) “…. These critics of U.S. action expend not a scintilla of concern for the widow and now fatherless children of Christopher Speer, the murdered medic (and the blinded U.S. soldier goes totally unmentioned). Somehow Khadr has become the only victim — as if Canadians should be able to travel the world, kill U.S. soldiers or anyone who merits killing, and suffer no consequences (particularly if they do so under the age of 18) ….”
- Khadr Boy (3) And a reminder if you think he should be tried for treason “Federal Justice Minister and Attorney General Rob Nicholson says the question of laying charges of treason against Omar Khadr is a provincial and police matter. The issue was raised after Public Safety Minister Vic Toews announced last week that he had received an American request to transfer the Canadian-born convicted terrorist and murderer to Canadian custody. “We cannot comment on specific cases,” said Julie Di Mambro, spokeswoman for Nicholson. “In Canada, the decision to lay and pursue Criminal Code charges rests with police and provincial Crown attorneys.” ….”
- Khadr Boy (4a) Funny way of saying “we’re just following the law” …. “Ottawa was feeling the heat from Washington to repatriate convicted terrorist Omar Khadr. In a frank admission Sunday, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said the federal government was being pressured to green-light Khadr’s return. “Yes. Obviously Omar Khadr is a Canadian citizen, obviously the Americans are closing down the prison, wanting to send him back. Under Canadian law we’re pretty obliged to take him,” he said when asked about the issue on CTV’s Question Period. “He’s a Canadian citizen, he has a right to come back. We didn’t have much of a choice and he’s back.” ….”
- Khadr Boy (4b) “…. One key sticking point was optics. Every other nation that had brought its citizens from Guantanamo – including Britain, Australia and Saudi Arabia – had sent aircraft to the U.S. naval base in Cuba where the former George W. Bush administration had created an offshore Caribbean gulag in an effort to keep detainees outside of the protections of the U.S. Constitution. “Your side balked [and said] no military jet with a Maple Leaf on its tail was taking Omar home,” is how one U.S. official described Canada’s position. It was an issue that – according to a Canadian official – eventually wound up on the agenda for high-level talks, and U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta agreed. In the end, it was a U.S. Air Force jet that flew Mr. Khadr to Canada early Saturday ….”
- Khadr Boy (5) “For the Conservatives, Omar Khadr was an opportunity. Now he’s just a problem. Mr. Khadr has finally returned to Canada, to serve out the remainder of his sentence for crimes committed against the United States in Afghanistan. Stephen Harper’s Conservative government had done everything in its legal power, short of a diplomatic breach with the U.S. government, to keep him interned at Guantanamo Bay, America’s problem ….”
- Khadr Boy (6a) And the “let ‘im out” editorials begin …. “…. Rather than try to build a case that Khadr now needs to spend six more years behind bars, Canadian officials should come up with a plan to help Khadr rehabilitate himself, and ring down the curtain on this infamous spectacle.”
- Khadr Boy (6b) “…. Much as it pains me to say this, there is no purpose to be served by keeping Omar in closed custody even one more year except the desire for vengeance and that’s not what our society is about. A decade in Guantanamo has exacted its pound of flesh with no thought-correcting adjustments to show for it, as Omar’s own words make abundantly clear. Simultaneous with a vigorous rehabilitation program — and I have strong doubts that any moral instruction or psychological reset will alter Omar’s far-gone disposition — he should still begin receiving escorted passes immediately ….”
- Phillippines “The military is taking seriously the security warnings issued by four countries including the United States (US) but stressed that the information that served as basis for the advisories did not come from its troops. Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesman Col. Arnulfo Burgos Jr. said they have stepped up their intelligence-gathering efforts even if no imminent threat against foreign nationals has been detected. “We can assure the people that we took these (advisories) very seriously and our performance in fulfilling our mandate to the people will continue. We will even exhaust all measures in order to make sure that all are safe here in the Philippines,” Burgos told reporters Monday. “What we did is to further intensify our intelligence gathering,” he added …. Burgos said it is outside the military’s responsibility to ask the US, the United Kingdom (UK), Australia and Canada to lift their advisories. He also declined to comment when asked whether the security advisories issued by the four countries were fair ….” Here’s the latest warning from Canada’s foreign affairs folks.
- Iran (1) “Canada will not publicly set “red lines” that Iran must not cross if it wants to avoid a war over its nuclear program, rebuffing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s call to back him on issuing an ultimatum. Prime Minister Stephen Harper met face to face with Mr. Netanyahu in New York on Friday morning, but it was a rare occasion when Mr. Harper did not offer the political support that his Israeli political ally wanted. Mr. Harper avoided setting a “red line” of his own – and a senior Harper government official said Canada will not openly back a specific trigger for war to stop Iran from gaining nuclear weapons. “Canada will not be publicly setting red lines. That is for others to do,” the official said. “We will continue to work with our allies to find a peaceful resolution on Iran.” Mr. Netanyahu has been in a public dispute with U.S. President Barack Obama over where to draw the line for Iran. Mr. Obama has said he won’t let Iran obtain nuclear weapons, but Mr. Netanyahu insists Iran must know it will be attacked if it enriches enough uranium to make a bomb. Mr. Harper was clearly not willing to get in the middle of Israel’s disagreement with the United States, Canada’s most important ally, on a major international-security issue ….” – a little bit more here.
- Iran (2) “Sanctions and diplomacy — not military action — remain the “preferred option” for correcting Iran’s threatening behaviour, according to Defence Minister Peter MacKay. But the opportunities to impose crippling sanctions are becoming “less and less obvious,” and the sanctions themselves are becoming “less and less effective,” he said during a press conference here Friday with his United States counterpart Defence Secretary Leon Panetta. Asked repeatedly about whether Canada supported Israel’s call for a so-called red line from the United States, which if crossed would trigger military action, MacKay said that was ultimately a “sovereign decision.” “I think there have been a number of red lines placed already and Iran has edged closer and stepped over those red lines on a number of occasions, particularly around the subject of inspections,” he said. “The Israelis are going to make their own decisions … they’re going to continue to signal very clearly their alarm over the nuclear ambitions of Iran, and we are going to continue to work with them.” ….”
- “It was supposed to be a historic moment, the culmination of two years of work and the start of an exciting program for about 60 Surrey kids. But Canada’s first Sikh cadet corps has already run into some opposition – over its name. “We were told there was a problem with the naming,” said Pargat Singh Bhurji, director of the Friends of the Sikh Cadet Corps Society. “There was a hesitation over the word Sikh.” The opposition to the name – the 3300 British Columbian Royal Army Cadet (Surrey Sikhs) – was raised in a Sept. 13 meeting between the Sikh cadet corps organizers and representatives from the Canadian cadet program. According to Kimberley Caron, a Department of National Defence spokeswoman for cadet organizations, officials believe the use of the word “Sikh” gives the wrong idea. “The issue is it’s got to be all-inclusive,” she said, adding the name insinuates non-Sikh youth can’t join ….”
- “A tribute to nearly 1,900 long-range patrol aircrew members who have died while flying maritime patrol operations around the world was held Sunday at 14 Wing Greenwood. Hosted by VP International, an association that promotes maritime patrol operations and their impact on military aviation, the annual memorial service included the laying of wreaths from 13 member countries. Founded in 1966, VP International has now blossomed into a worldwide organization with 5,500 members in 22 countries. “We gather today to honour those that have given the ultimate sacrifice while in the conduct of shore-based, fixed-wing, long-range patrol training and operations since 1947,” Maj. Derrick Hotte, the group’s president, said in his remarks Sunday ….”
- “The Canadian Security Intelligence Service has released a series of recruitment videos onto YouTube, videos that feature testimonials from real-life spies. The clips were posted last week, but released without any publicity. To date, the YouTube videos have drawn only a few hundred viewers apiece. In the clips, each of which lasts a minute or two, CSIS intelligence officers are shown striding purposefully to urgent (but fictional) assignments, as orchestral music plays and time-lapse video speeds up street scenes ….” You can check out CSIS’ YouTube videos here.
- “The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will launch a project on Monday to improve border security. Under the pilot project, the two government agencies say they will “exchange data currently collected on third-country nationals — those who are neither citizens of Canada nor of the U.S., permanent residents of Canada and lawful permanent residents of the United States” at the Pacific Highway in Surrey, B.C. and Blaine, Washington; Douglas (Peace Arch), Surrey, B.C. and in Blaine; the Queenston-Lewiston Bridge in Niagara-on-the Lake, Ont. and the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge in Lewiston, NY, and the Niagara Falls Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls and the Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls, NY. “As outlined in the Beyond the Border Action Plan, our governments are committed to maintaining the integrity of our shared border,” Vic Toews, Minister of Public Safety, said in a statement Friday. “This sharing of entry and exit information will play a key part in bolstering border security.” ….”
- “The Honourable Vic Toews, Minister of Public Safety, issued the following statement (yesterday), on the occasion of the Canadian Police and Peace Officers’ 35th Annual Memorial Service …. More than 820 officers now have their names engraved on the Honour Roll in the Memorial Pavilion on Parliament Hill. These brave individuals made the supreme sacrifice in service to their communities. Their contributions cannot and must not be forgotten ….”
