MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – October 19, 2012
- Afghanistan (1) Former CIDA guy: Let’s not be so quick to judge the development work a failure “…. Today, because of Canadian, Afghan and partner efforts throughout the country, more than 60% of Afghans can walk to a health facility, up from only 9% in 2001. There are now 16 million cellphone subscribers, up from 21,000 in 2001. Eight million kids are in school in Afghanistan, almost 40% of them girls, up from just 600,000 a decade ago. This is an imperfect science: In order to make gains, risks need to be taken. That’s what Canada did when we went into Kandahar. No, it didn’t go off without a hitch. Many Canadians lost loved ones there; so too have many Afghans. Creating legitimate institutions takes decades. Mr. Blackwell and Mr. Kay — and their sources — appear to expect Afghanistan to have graduated to middle income status as Canadians were placing their rucksacks onto the airplane. That, I’m afraid, is simply not how it works: All seeds need time to grow.”
- Afghanistan (2) AFG’s envoy to Canada on the situation “Looking for al-Qaida in Afghanistan is like looking for Paris in the United Kingdom, Afghan Ambassador Barna Karimi recently told an audience at Carleton University. “If we look at the map of the United Kingdom, we can see London but we cannot see Paris,” Karimi said. “Because Paris isn’t in the U.K., it’s in France. Looking for al-Qaida in Afghanistan, when we all know it’s somewhere else, is the same thing. I think it needs another approach.” Karimi was careful not to name Pakistan, the neighbouring country where he suggested al-Qaida resides, but said: “Everybody knows where they are, where they’re launching their activities. We’ve been saying this from 2003/2004, that the war on terror should go to the places where those terrorists are.” Karimi’s talk, the first of the Ambassadors Speakers series put on by the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, was supposed to look at what will happen in Afghanistan beyond 2014 and to do that, Karimi looked at what has happened since 2001, when al-Qaida orchestrated the events of 9/11 and the world started paying attention to Afghanistan again. Predicting what will happen beyond 2014, when the Americans withdraw their troops and leave policing and governing up to the Afghan National Security Forces, the Afghan police and the government of President Hamid Karzai, is anyone’s guess, he said ….”
- Afghanistan (3) Be careful what you wish for, Mr. President …. “Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai said Thursday the nation’s military and police are ready and willing to take full responsibility for security in the country if the U.S.-led international coalition decides to speed up the handover to Afghan government forces. With support for the already unpopular war fading in the West, there has been growing speculation that NATO could accelerate withdrawal plans that currently call for the security transition to Afghan forces to be complete by the end of 2014, when all foreign combat troops are scheduled to leave the country. “Afghans are ready to expedite the process of transition if necessary, and willing as well,” Karzai said during a joint news conference with NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen. “So this is in all aspects good news for us and good news for NATO.” ….”
- Afghanistan (4) Web site says Taliban boss going crazy, Taliban says “whachoo talkin’ ’bout Willis?” (links to non-terrorist site)
- “The Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of National Defence, celebrated the ‘send-off’ of the Sapphire small satellite at the Canadian Space Agency’s David Florida Laboratory in Ottawa …. Canada’s Sapphire is the Department of National Defence’s first dedicated operational military satellite. This space-based electro-optical sensor will track man-made space objects in high Earth orbit as part of Canada’s continued support of Space Situational Awareness. Data from the Sapphire satellite will contribute to the U.S. Space Surveillance Network, enhancing the ability of both countries to detect and avoid the collision of critical space platforms with other orbital objects. Canada’s contribution also ensures access to orbital data on space objects. MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA), as the primary contractor, has built the satellite and developed the Sapphire system following an open, transparent, and fair competition at a cost of under $66 million. Work on the design and development phases of Sapphire employed an average of 45 Canadians in skilled space sector jobs ….”
- The CF Info-machine freshens up its fact sheet on women in the military
- I can imagine how well this ceasefire.ca initiative is going to go down in some minds…. “…. We will launch a special Remembrance Day action to ask Canadians to remember peace, not celebrate war ….”
- Editorial: “…. Canadian governments must take the threat of possible state interference and influence upon Chinese companies that operate in Canada, or wish to operate in Canada, seriously. The Canadian government’s decision to delay its ruling on whether to allow the purchase of Nexen by China’s state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corp. is a sign that it’s taking these warnings seriously. If that means Chinese firms are restricted from being involved in sensitive technology sectors that could give Chinese companies access to reams of data, so be it. Anything less could leave our entire economy shaken and stirred.”
- More on the possible Chinese deal on Nexen “…. Canada will have to impose conditions that show it has given public concerns about Chinese investment serious consideration, but not make them so onerous that they will force the Chinese to lose face and scare them off. Canada needs huge amount of new investment to continue to develop its oil sands fields, just as it needs new investment to move the product to new markets in the face of a growing glut in North America. While allowing the deal to proceed makes sense from an economic standpoint for both China and Canada, navigating the political minefields will be tricky. For both parties the stakes are high and the decision now hangs in the balance. I believe it will be approved and both sides will declare victory. We should know for sure in about a month.”
