MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – 9 Feb 11

• Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai seems to want to eliminate the middleman and get rid of Provincial Reconstruction Teams, allowing aid, assistance and services to be delivered by the Afghan government. What’ll this mean for Canada?  Apparently, the BIG TICKET work’ll still get done:  “…. The eventual closure of the bases won’t affect legacy projects such as the refurbishment of the Dahla Dam, a Canadian official at Kandahar’s provincial reconstruction team (PRT) said Tuesday. “Canada’s signature projects are not linked to this issue, as they have a completion date of 2011, and President Karzai’s comments consistently refer to a transition date of 2014,” spokesman Adam Sweet said in an email …. “ Follow-up question:  what happens to all the OTHER work Canada does through Kandahar’s PRT now?
• And Canada’s lead Minister on the possibility of PRTs being shut down? “Canada is defending its development and reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan amid calls from President Hamid Karzai for NATO partners to wind down their efforts. “Canada supports the Government of Afghanistan’s desire to have more international aid channelled through the Afghan Government,” Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon acknowledged in a statement Tuesday. “But this must be accompanied by meaningful public sector reform that addresses corruption and that is founded on the principles of good governance.”  ….”
• “Veterans Affairs is failing former Canadian soldiers who’ve reached a mental health breaking point, Veterans Ombudsman Guy Parent told a House of Commons committee Monday. “People at Veterans Affairs need to be trained to deal with people in crisis,” he said, noting the department is currently unable to help veterans who need quick access to care. “The complexity of the process doesn’t allow for a response to immediate needs.” The bureaucracy and red tape involved can also be harmful to people suffering mental illness, Parent told the all-party committee. “The more times people have to tell their stories, the harder it becomes for them.” ….”
• Taliban Propaganda Watch: Attacks alleged in Kandahar, Uruzgan.
• Hello, hello, hello, what have we here? “Customs agents in Cincinnati are trying to figure out why someone in Canada wanted 300 sets of military-grade night vision goggles that were seized here last month. Agents grabbed several boxes of the goggles as they passed through the DHL hub at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in January. Officials with Customs and Border Protection said the Russian company that was shipping the goggles to a customer in Canada did not have the necessary license from the U.S. State Department. “The big question is, who needs 300 night vision goggles?” said Brian Bell, a Customs and Border Protection spokesman. “That’s the question that really sparked a lot of concern.” He said investigators have tracked the shipment back to a Russian company and believe the goggles were headed to a business in Canada ….”
• More on the mystery goggles here:  “U.S. Customs agents said they seized a sizable shipment of military-grade night vision goggles at the DHL facility at CVG last month. The agency said agents identified the parcels, conducted research and working with other resources determined that the 300 sets of night vision goggles were military grade. Further research indicated that the exporter did not have the correct licenses to export this type of equipment, the agency said. The goggles were bound for an address near Toronto, Canada, said Customs spokesperson Brian Bell ….”
• F-35 Tug of War (1):  “Lockheed Martin will be cutting it close if it intends to deliver F-35 stealth fighters to Canada on schedule in 2017, according to a revised timetable released by the U.S. defence giant. An extended flight test and software programming plan was ordered by the Pentagon over a year ago and the changes mean the aircraft will not exit its full development phase until late 2016. The aircraft-maker, the world’s largest defence contractor, is scrambling to hire over 100 software engineers to complete the three-stage development of computer programs that will fly and control the advanced stealth fighter in combat. A senior company official said the version of the F-35 Lightning II that Canada wants to buy — the A model — should have its final set of software codes by early 2016 ….”
• F-35 Tug of War (2):  “The Harper government has already spent almost $200,000 on the pan-Canadian promotion of its stealth jet purchase, records show. In a bid to counter opposition to the controversial decision to buy a fleet of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, federal officials have organized media events and a cross-country tour to justify the spending and explain why the government felt the need to make the acquisition without going to tenders. Federal documents show the department of National Defence spent $131,519 on travel and hospitality costs to organize one media announcement, a cross-country “outreach tour” and an industry visit to a Lockheed-Martin facility in Texas ….”
• WHAT’S CANADA BUYING? Training CF naval small arms trainers and who’s interested and qualified to refit the HMCS Athabaskan?
• “The 2011 Ottawa Conference on Defence and Security (hosted by the Canadian Defence Association) will be held at the Fairmont Chateau Laurier Hotel in Ottawa, Canada, on 24-25 February 2011.”
• You can tell it’s winter in the Rockies when the gunners come out to shoot down snow to prevent avalanches.
• Funny how universities are supposed to be bastions of free speech, expression and association – unless it’s speech, expression or association some don’t like.  “University of Toronto students and allies braved the weather on Wednesday to protest a recruitment session for the Department of National Defence hosted by the University’s Career Centre. A petition in circulation since last Saturday has attracted over 300 signatures, among them dozens belonging to faculty members. Signatories included former Canadian Senator the Hon. Lois M. Wilson and renowned scholar, author, and peace advocate Ursula Franklin …. Organizers of Wednesday’s demonstration have called for the University of Toronto administration to declare the campus a military-free zone. They are encouraging the community at large to join them in opposing the planned talk by Brigadier-General Jonathan Vance that the University’s Munk Centre will host on February 15th. The University of Toronto Career Centre has agreed to develop a set of guidelines against which invitations to potential employers can be measured.”
• How Canada is helping out a bit in the Democratic Republic of Congo:  “United Nations peacekeepers are making “important headway” on the difficult road towards bringing stability to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), but shortfalls in funds and military equipment are constraining their efforts, a top official said today …. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon”s Special Representative for the DRC, Roger Meece, told the Security Council …. There are …. still significant weaknesses in the military and civilian justice systems, and the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) ” the peacekeeping mission which Mr. Meece heads ” has worked to bolster military prosecution capabilities with support from Canada and the UN Peacebuilding Fund, “but much greater efforts are needed,” Mr. Meece stressed. The Fund, which was set up in 2006 and relies upon voluntary contributions, supports efforts to augment peace and stability in countries emerging from conflict ….”