MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – October 15, 2012

• Afghanistan (1)  Bonne chance!  “(Yesterday) the first group of soldiers, most of whom are from the Quebec area, left Quebec City for Afghanistan for their mission to provide training and professional development to the National Security Forces of Afghanistan until June 2013 …. Canada is the second largest contributor to the NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan after the United States, with approximately 900 Canadian Forces members working in a whole-of-government capacity alongside 37 partner nations to enable the growth, professionalization and capacity building of the Afghan National Security Forces.  The troops completed four months of intensive training at Canadian Forces Base Valcartier for their new role as mentors and instructors to the National Security Forces of Afghanistan ….”      
• Afghanistan (2)  “National Defence successfully pushed the Harper government last year to ease the prohibition on Canadian troops from setting foot in Kandahar and participating in combat operations by establishing an exemption for those serving with allies, internal documents reveal.  It is a decision that violates both the spirit and the letter of the Parliament motion that led to the country’s exit from the Afghan war, the opposition charged.  Less than a half dozen Canadians, most of them with the air force, continue to serve in the volatile region that has been the epicentre of the Taliban insurgency.  …. A spokeswoman for National Defence says the dispensation was granted.  Canadian Forces “members serving as fully integrated members of foreign forces in exchange positions are permitted to be in Kandahar province and to serve in combat roles, as their host units direct them,” Lauri Sullivan said in an email.  It took the department several days to answer queries from The Canadian Press about the politically sensitive subject.  Since the exemption was granted, at least four Canadians have served in volatile province, two of them with the Royal Australian Air Force, one with the Royal Air Force and one with the U.S. Army ….”
• Afghanistan (3)  Mark Collins points out a good letter to the editor praising the National Post‘s coverage of Afghanistan over the past few weeks.
• Afghanistan (4)  Note to columnist:  did you ask to go to make up for the lack of coverage?  “…. Canada no longer has a combat role in Afghanistan. Canadian troops are still there training the Afghan army, which, in theory, will guarantee security after the last North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces hand off at the end of 2014. But after the combat troops departed, Afghanistan all but dropped off Canada’s map. The hockey “analyst” who told us about the Canadian dead lost interest; the correspondents who fell in love with our troops moved on to other stories; and the military itself was hardly anxious to provoke a post-facto review of what this country and its NATO partners actually achieved there, for all the expended lives and treasure ….”
• Afghanistan (5) An unnamed former CIDA boss tells the National Post why things may have sucked more than the Info-machine said it did   “…. “Ever since CIDA was created a few decades ago, there has always been a huge divide between [CIDA] and what [effectively] has been its senior partner, the Department of Foreign Affairs,” a former agency head told me. “The gulf is wide: CIDA believes in helping the poor and doing so where an aid dollar can be most effective irrespective of the importance of the recipient country in the grand scheme of global power and economic interests. Foreign Affairs, on the other hand, doesn’t much care about poor people. They want Canadian aid to support whatever the current political game plan may be. So if Afganistan is the hot topic of the day, they want a visible Canadian aid presence on the ground, new school buildings and medical centres with Canadian flags flying from them, perfect backdrops for the PM or Ministers’ photo-ops when they fly in to inspect this, that, or the other thing.”  It was this hopelessly conflicted mandate that led to the disaster in Afghanistan….”           
• Khadr Boy  What’s a former diplomat, a former DM of National Defence and former four-month “guest” of Al Queda have to say about Khadr being back in Canada?  “….“Omar Khadr is back within a society of laws, and I am glad about that. I mean, he will have the protection of Canadian law. And if law decides he should be in prison for a whole long time, fine, but it’s law, and its not arbitrary.” ….”
  
• One wonders if CBC employees ever drink and blow off steam?  “The Royal Canadian Navy is investigating after more than a dozen incidents involving drunken sailors from a number of countries were reported to police in the Florida Keys, according to a statement released by the navy.  The supply ship HMCS Preserver is now back in Halifax harbour after returning from mid-September exercises in the Caribbean.  The incidents occurred while the ship was docked in Key West, Fla., along with half a dozen foreign and U.S. ships.  There were 5,000 sailors in all, 250 of them from HMCS Preserver.  During the brief visit, there were at least 14 incidents involving dozens of sailors. Some sailors were returned to the HMCS Preserver by local police or shore patrol, read the statement, but it was not made clear how many Canadians may have been involved in incidents ….” – a bit of context here at Milnet.ca.
  
• Iran  “Canadians are less likely than Americans are to support a pre-emptive military strike against Iran’s nuclear-enrichment program, though the difference nearly evaporates in the Prairie provinces, and both countries consider Iran’s activities a major worry.  A poll conducted by Ipsos Reid found that 41 per cent of Canadians supported a pre-emptive strike compared with 59 per cent of Americans ….”
  
• “The Honourable Steven Blaney, Minister of Veterans Affairs, will make an important announcement in his continuing efforts to cut red tape and improve service for Canadian Veterans (this morning)….”    
• In case you missed the governing party’s talking points about how veterans are being treated from last week  “…. Our Government has been unwavering in our devotion to making sure that Canadian veterans not only have the best resources available to them while they’re active, but that they have the support they need once they’ve transitioned to civilian life.  Whether it’s through the Veterans’ Bill of Rights, our Helmets to Hardhats program, or by putting money back into the pockets of veterans by eliminating deductions, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and our Conservative Government will always stand up for veterans.”
  
• Stuart Langridge, R.I.P.  “Defence Minister Peter MacKay says he will not clear the way for the parents of Afghanistan war veteran Stuart Langridge to be involved in the final phase of the inquiry into their son’s suicide.  MacKay’s refusal brought an angry response Sunday from Langridge family lawyer Michel Drapeau, who accused the minister of ignoring the military family’s right to justice.  The public segment of the Military Police Complaints Commission inquiry into Langridge’s 2008 suicide at CFB Edmonton ended last week after sitting for 62 days and hearing from 92 witnesses.  The next step is the production of an interim report, followed by a final report that is unlikely to be published before the spring of 2014.  Crucially, under the National Defence Act only various arms of the military are allowed to see, or comment privately, on the interim report — essentially locking Langridge’s parents, Sheila and Shaun Fynes, out of that final phase. Nor does the law put any time limit on the military during this period.  Only MacKay could have allowed the Fynes and their lawyer access to the interim report and given them a role in secret discussions it will provoke between the MPCC and military ….”
  
• “The escalating threat of cyber attacks requires a rethink in the government’s security priorities, experts and opposition critics said Friday following a stark warning from the U.S. defence secretary about potentially devastating Internet-based threats.  Leon Panetta warned his own country Thursday that businesses needed to better protect their systems, as does government, to prevent a “cyber Pearl Harbor” – a cataclysmic cyber attack that would take down large parts of North American networks and be more devastating than the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.  Panetta’s warning comes after concerns raised earlier this week in Canada about potential Chinese spying through state-backed telecommunications firm Huawei and the country’s ability to secure information after Sub.-Lt. Jeffrey Paul Delisle admitted he took secrets from a secure facility using a USB key.  Experts say it isn’t merely the loss of information we should worry about, but the threat of hackers turning off our syst ems altogether, a move that could shut down drinking water services, derail trains or even release toxic chemicals.  “(Cyber security) is really everyone’s problem, really everyone who is connected to the Internet,” said John Aycock, an expert on malicious software and cyber security who works at the University of Calgary. But, he added, “I think everyone is still struggling with it because computer security is very hard. Our computer systems are very complex.” ….”
  
• “Prime Minister Stephen Harper says the national-security angle to Canada’s relationship with China is something his government takes very seriously.  The remarks Friday came amid renewed concerns about Chinese espionage and also as Harper faces a major decision on an oil-industry takeover by a state-owned Chinese company.  Mr. Harper said he couldn’t comment on specific transactions but noted that the relationship with China is complex because the world giant has different political and economic systems.  ”The relationship with China is important. At the same time it’s complex,“ Mr. Harper told a news conference. ”It’s complex because the Chinese have obviously very different systems than we do — economic and political systems. . .  ”Of course, as you know, there’s a national-security dimension to this relationship, in fact to all of our activities, that we take very seriously.” ….”
  
• Column:  “…. Canadian officials scramble around trying to deflect or block Chinese interference in our internal affairs, without overtly offending Beijing. CSIS and other elements of the national security apparatus must be vigilant, but discreet.  The threat feels new because it’s the Chinese now, not the Americans. It used to be that America was our friend and, officially, we didn’t care much what it did elsewhere in the world. We knew the Americans meddled in our affairs too, but there wasn’t much we could do about it, at least not publicly.  Same goes now with the Chinese. China is a superpower and when you’re super, you don’t have to play fair.”
  
• “Mr. Rodney Weston, Member of Parliament for Saint John, on behalf of the Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of National Defence, announced the official name change of 3rd Field Artillery Regiment adding the title, “The Loyal Company” once again to its name. This name change will reinforce the heritage of the unit which traces its origins to the Loyal Company of Artillery founded in Saint John, New Brunswick in 1793 …. Since its formation in 1793, the Loyal Company has answered the call to arms, defending the New Brunswick coastline during the War of 1812, protecting Saint John from the Fenian attack of 1866, deploying overseas during the Great War and the Second World War, the Korean Conflict and numerous NATO operations abroad including Bosnia, the Golan Heights and Afghanistan. Restoring the former name, 3rd Field Artillery regiment (The Loyal Company) allows the regiment to reconnect with its traditions and history, and to renew its affiliation with the local area ….”