MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – 5 Jul 11

• Manitoba/flood  Here’s hoping for a speedy and full recovery for all concerned.  “Five Shilo, Man.-based military personnel and one civilian volunteer were injured Monday afternoon while working on flood-protection measures in the Souris, Man., area. A military spokesman said the soldiers and volunteer were resting about 3:30 p.m. when a hose blew on a dump truck, spraying hydraulic fluid onto them. All were taken for assessment medical treatment in Brandon, Man., but the extent of their injuries was unknown. The five soldiers are all new recruits, the spokesman said. Those injured were working along Plum Creek, a tributary of the rising Souris River, to shore up dikes ….”  More here.
• Afghanistan (1a)  “It’s wrapping up” theme continues.  “Canadian troops formally end five years of combat and counterinsurgency in the dust-blown badlands of southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, heading home in the midst of a guerrilla war of steadily intensifying violence. They do not leave with any illusions that they have done more than create some breathing space for the Afghan government to assert itself. Nor do they venture any predictions beyond saying that they may have weakened, perhaps only fleetingly, the resilient Taliban insurgency. That realism is perhaps their strongest legacy for the allies who will continue the fight ….”
• Afghanistan (1b)  “Canada’s desert war came to an end Tuesday when soldiers of the Royal 22e Regiment stood down and formally handed over their battlefield to American units. The country’s legal command responsibility for the western Kandahar district of Panjwaii will continue for several days, but Brig.-Gen. Dean Milner’s headquarters will be directing U.S. combat units. Almost all Canadian troops are now out of the killing fields of Kandahar, save for a handful of soldiers who will serve for a few more weeks, but attached to American platoons. Parliament ordered an end to the Canadian combat mission in southern Afghanistan back in 2008 and set July 2011 as the deadline. The Conservative government has since announced that 950 soldiers and support staff will carry out a training mission in the Afghan capital until 2014 ….”
• Afghainstan (1c) “After nine years, 157 troop deaths and more than $11 billion spent, Canada’s combat mission in Afghanistan finally comes to an end this week. With popular support for the war sapped at home, some of the nearly 3,000 Canadian troops, based mainly in the dangerous battleground of Kandahar, have already started returning from Afghanistan, and the rest will follow soon. The official end of Canada’s hard-fought mission, which began in early 2002 a few months after the US-led invasion of the country, comes Thursday, and as other countries also announce partial troop withdrawals from the Afghan theatre as Western voters tire of nearly a decade of war ….”
• Afghanistan (1d)  More on the “yard sale” of Canadian equipment.
• Afghanistan (2)  “The Afghan people know what this combat mission has cost Canada — and especially the families of our fallen troops — assures Kandahar’s provincial governor. In an exclusive interview with QMI Agency, Dr. Toryalai Wisa, a Afghan-Canadian academic who oversees the area our combat soldiers will soon be pulling out of, says the level of sacrifice is understood. Wisa recalls conversations he’s had with family members of dead Canadian soldiers: “My heart is still with them — I express my very deep, deep appreciation from the bottom of my heart. “(Canadians) did not spend only the taxpayers money here…they have sacrificed their youth here.” The governor added: “We shall never forget that. That will be part of Kandahar history.” But Wisa complains that while the Afghan people herald the toil of Canadians, the message seems lost before it reaches North America ….”
• Afghanistan (3)  “Some day, if this country is truly lucky, it may be teaching school children about the role Canada played here. If it does, along with the stories of blood and battle, the history lessons should include the oh-so-very Canadian projects pulled off across a battlefield — from paved roads to bridges to a new ministry building that now sits ready for Afghan officials to use. Since April of last year, the Canadian Engineer Regiment for Task Force Kandahar (TFK) has helped oversee an estimated $51.5-million in projects. For now, it’s enough that a refurbished school set close to the peaks of the Mar Khaneh Ghar mountain range is slated to open again in the fall. Until recently, it was filled with Afghan police officers using it as a secure sub-station next to a busy road. The Canadian military helped prepare a new fortified position — constructed by an Afghan contractor — for them next door and then renovated the centre for local kids. It features a playground — almost unheard of here — and a soccer field ….”
• Afghanistan (4)  One columnist’s view on helping the wounded:  “…. with the Conservatives looking for $4 billion in budget cuts, and given the track record of the military as a source of easy “savings,” it will be up to the Canadian public to make it clear that veterans’ compensation needs to go up — not down. Our soldiers’ sacrifice in Afghanistan will not be worth the price if they are not cared for with all the resources that a prosperous, grateful nation can provide.”
• Afghanistan (5)  On the plan to bring Afghan interpreters to Canada:  “…. The federal government should stop blaming slow bureaucracy for allowing only a trickle of Afghans who worked with our Forces to find a new life in Canada. The requirement they show proof that the Taliban could harm them and their families is difficult and objectionable: that they have been working with Canada in the midst of a civil war for at least a year should be condition enough. Kenney should have his department look at ways of immediately speeding up visas, especially as the program draws to a close. The Americans, British, Australians and Danes have eased immigration rules for their Afghan aides. Leaving Sharifi, Zobaidi and others who helped us at risk to their own safety in administrative limbo is irresponsible. We owe them our soldiers’ lives.”
• Afghanistan (6)  What snipers do.  “Breathe calmly, slow the heart rate, squint the eye and slowly, with gentle pressure, squeeze the trigger. With the Tac-50 bolt-action rifle, too heavy to lift and aim — even for hard-bodies — the shooter rests the weapon on a bipod and, optimally, flattens his rib cage against the ground at a slight incline. The 50-calibre bullet — size of a Tootsie roll — will hurtle out of the internally fluted barrel, rotating fiercely, and heave infinitesimally to the right, what’s call the spin-drift. Shooter and spotter will have corrected for that, and also the wind currents, the distance, the ambient temperature. Bullets go faster in high heat. The target — the victim — will feel that bullet before he hears it. And it will kill him. Less than a second and one “bad guy’’ removed, with no collateral damage done. No mental anguish either, for killing a fellow human being. For snipers, it’s the job. Their motto: “Without warning, without remorse”….”
• Taliban Propaganda Watch:  Attacks alleged in Kandahar, Zabul and Taliban disses Afghanistan’s Parliament.
• CF-Royals Link (1)  Remember the talk about the PM’s office wanting the PM’s plane (a CF CC-150 Polaris) painted a prettier colour?  The Royal Visit has one “top government official” saying the current grey paint scheme makes it look like it like something “belonging to a third-world country.”  Could that person the media isn’t naming perhaps be from the PMO wanting a nice, pretty PM’s own “Air Force One”?
• CF-Royals Link (2)  “Prince William enjoyed showing off his military helicopter training with his first-ever water landing Monday to the delight of anxious crowds in Canada, where he and his wife, Kate, have been on their first official overseas trip since their wedding. The Duke of Cambridge climbed into the cockpit of a Sea King helicopter for the military training exercise at Dalvay by-the-Sea, a scenic resort along Prince Edward Island’s north shore. Prince William, a Royal Air Force rescue helicopter pilot, requested the simulated emergency landing procedure. Dressed in an olive flight suit and helmet, the prince settled the large helicopter on the water several times over the course of an hour. From the water, William piloted several takeoffs and hovered in the air before executing dual- and single-engine landings before taxiing around as Kate watched from the ground ….”  More on the check ride here, here and here.
• Way Up North (1)  “Canada’s latest military exercise in the Far North comes as the country is under growing pressure to keep up with other countries in an Arctic arms race. “You’re seeing a buildup of capabilities that simply hasn’t been there before, period,” said Rob Huebert, University of Calgary Arctic security expert. Canada’s northern neighbours have been very busy in the Arctic amid sometimes competing jurisdictional claims. Huebert notes the U.S. and Russia have increased submarine activity in the Far North, Sweden has mused about increasing its submarine capability, and Norway is looking to counter Russian air and sea power in the area ….”
• Way Up North (2) “…. the question must be asked, are we headed for a confrontation with the Russians military or otherwise? It’s a distinct possibility depending on how the United Nations rules on who can actually lay claim to the Arctic’s resources and how much parties like Russia, Denmark and Canada are willing to negotiate. But if history provides any examples, oil tends to bring out the worst in people.”
• What’s Canada Buying?  Canada seeking someone to fly planes to simulate bad guys of various kinds, and Canada planning to offer CAE contract for upgrade of Hercules simulator hardware and software.
• One columnist’s view of what to keep in mind about the future of the CF:  “…. Canadians don’t know when their military will be called upon next, or what they will be asked to do — so it must be prepared for anything. Granted, this is expensive. But the same planes that were bought to deliver equipment to soldiers in Afghanistan saved civilian lives in Haiti. Being prepared is half the battle. We can’t forget that, or accept arguments suggesting that the Canadian Forces no longer need the public’s support or continuing modernization. Even in these times of budgetary pressure, the one thing that we truly cannot afford is to forget the lessons learned in Kandahar. Nickel and diming ourselves into another decade of darkness will exact too high a price: the blood of Canadian soldiers in future conflicts. Putting the military on the back burner means death on the battlefield — a cost no Canadian or Canadian government should be willing to pay.”
• A historian’s reminder:  “…. In peacetime, soldiers are routinely scorned. Rudyard Kipling’s Tommy captured this more than a century ago: “O it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ ‘Tommy, go away’; But it’s ‘Thank you, Mister Atkins,’ when the band begins to play.” We all hope that after Afghanistan and Libya, the band won’t begin to play for a long time. But if it does, (critics of the Canadian Forces) can expect that Canada’s Tommies will be there to protect (their) freedom.”

MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – 3 Jul 11

• Troops headed to Manitoba to help with floods – again.  “The Government of Canada is sending approximately 200 Canadian Forces personnel to the town of Souris, Manitoba today to assist provincial and municipal authorities in reinforcing flood control measures along the Souris River …. Canada Command’s Joint Task Force West, headquartered in Edmonton, will be coordinating the Canadian Forces assistance effort and work closely with regional authorities to contain and control the flooding. As the Souris river is expected to crest in the next few days, the soldiers from 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (2 PPCLI) and 1st Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery (1 RCHA), CFB Shilo, will place sandbags to reinforce the dikes over the affected area ….”  More here, here and here.
• Afghanistan (1)  CDS tells troops to help their colleagues.  “Canada’s top commander attempted to bind fresh and old wounds on Saturday when he bid farewell to combat troops in Kandahar. Gen. Walt Natynczyk, in his final address before the formal end of operations, urged returning soldiers to watch their “battle buddies” and take care of each other as they begin the long journey back to regular life at home. His remarks had a poignant ring for the soldiers of the 1st Battalion Royal 22e Regiment, as two of the four deaths in the last combat tour were suspected suicides. Military police are still investigating the cases of Bombardier Karl Manning and Cpl. Francis Roy — both who were found dead of non-battle related injuries over the last month, just before the end of their seven month tours ….”
• Christopher Reid, 1971-2006, R.I.P. “A mother of an Edmonton-based soldier killed in a deadly blast from a roadside bomb in Afghanistan says she is proud of Canada’s mission as troops are preparing to come home. “All of what the soldiers fought for is to make things better in Afghanistan,” said Angela Reid, 64, who lost her son, 34-year-old Cpl. Christopher Johnathan Reid to a roadside bomb in Aug. 3, 2006. “The soldiers have made some headway when they went over there. Afghanistan was in dire straights before they arrived.” ….”
• Nathan Hornburg, 1983-2007, R.I.P.  “When triumph and tragedy bleed together, it’s a little bittersweet. That’s how some family members of soldiers’ who’ve served and died in Afghanistan view this month’s end to Canada’s combat mission in that country. Then there is the lingering question — was it all worth it? “Something that keeps coming up for me, when I think about all of the heartache and about my own son, is just the waste (of human life) with all of this craziness, starting way back with the attacks on the World Trade Centre,” said Michael Hornburg, father of Calgarian Cpl. Nathan Hornburg, who died in combat trying to rescue a disabled tank Sept. 24, 2007. “Hopefully it will be (worth it) for Afghanistan, but certainly not for me personally … nothing would have been worth it for me (if I could) still have him here with me.” ….”
• Afghanistan (2)  Rex Murphy shares his thoughts.  “…. It may be unpalatable to admit it, but we are starting to end our presence in Afghanistan with neither victory, the only real end of wars even in our enlightened day, nor the fulfillment of those broader and noble pledges toward rebuilding that sad country we made early on.”
• Afghanistan (3)  More on the “packing up to leave” theme.  “A mammoth operation is underway in Kandahar — not to boost security in the area but to tear down the facilities that have housed much of Canada’s military presence in Afghanistan. Work crews are readying a huge amount of equipment to be shipped home thousands of kilometres away. It’s a formidable task, and part of a transition that will see U.S. forces take over security responsibilities in Kandahar province as Canadian combat troops pull out of the war-torn country. Everything from dust filters to armoured vehicles need to be cleaned, fumigated, bar-coded and categorized before they’re packed up ….”
• Taliban Propaganda Watch:  Attacks alleged in Kandahar, Daikondi.
• From Afghanistan to the Arctic.  “While Canada’s combat mission in Kandahar is in its last days, a new training mission has started in Kabul, Canadian fighter aircraft are making daily bombing runs against Libya, and now the armed forces is preparing to send more than 1,000 troops on a huge exercise in the High Arctic next month. “It will be the largest operation that has taken place in recent history,” Defence Minister Peter MacKay said Saturday, moments after bidding an emotional farewell to combat troops now leaving Kandahar. “All of this is very much about enlarging the footprint and the permanent and seasonal presence we have in the North. It is something that we as a government intend to keep investing in.” Exercise Nanook is to play out in several phases on and near Baffin Island and Ellesmere Island throughout August. It will involve CF-18 fighter jets as well as surveillance and transport aircraft, a warship, infantry companies from Quebec and Alberta and 5 Canadian Ranger Patrol Group — Inuit reservists who have broad experience surviving in the extremely austere environment of the Far North ….”  A Russian media take on this here, and more on Canada’s military in the Arctic here.
• New bosses for the Canadian Forces Joint Signal Regiment, 17 Wing Winnipeg, 429 Transport Squadron, 22 Wing North Bay, 722 Air Control Squadron, 51 Aerospace Control and Warning (Operational Training) Squadron and Land Force Central Area Training Centre Meaford.
• CF-Royals Link  “As Master Cpl. Jody Mitic stood chatting with Prince William, his young daughter seemed unfazed to be in the presence of royalty. Perhaps that’s because to her family, Mitic wasn’t necessarily talking to a future monarch, but to someone more like himself. He’s been through all the same training. Just because they’re royals doesn’t mean they don’t have to do the basic training,” said Mitic. “In our opinion, it’s a brotherhood.” Both William and his younger brother Harry are military men. William is a search-and-rescue pilot and Harry has served a tour of duty in Afghanistan. He also did some of his training in Alberta. William’s wife Kate also has a connection to the Canadian military; her grandfather trained military pilots in Alberta. The royal couple have made a specific effort to meet veterans over the course of their Canadian tour ….”
• Royal Kate gets it.  “The Duchess of Cambridge fears that Prince William will have an accident on a risky helicopter rescue mission …. She opened her heart about her concerns to a military wife on the couple’s royal tour of Canada. Kate said: ‘I always worry, but my job is to support my husband. You should always support your husband.’ She revealed her worries after laying wreaths with William on the tomb of the unknown soldier at Ottawa’s war memorial …. after paying respects to Canada’s war dead, the 29-year-old Duchess spoke to former army private Celine Drapeau. Celine, 52, told her she worried for the safety of her husband, a military policeman, who was away for long periods. ‘You always fear for them not knowing if something is going to happen and it can be very hard.’ Celine said later that she thought it was ‘very brave’ of Kate to reveal her true feelings and it was a ‘great comfort’ to know she understood the fears of service families ….”  More here.
• New, purpler prose attacking Canada’s plans for “foreign bases,” courtesy of the Canadian Peace Congress.  “The Canadian Peace Congress condemns and calls for an immediate halt to the Canadian government’s negotiations for military basing rights as part of the Operational Support Hubs Network, and abrogating and renouncing rights already negotiated with Germany and Jamaica. As Defence Minister Peter MacKay has already admitted, Canada’s “military tempo” is at the highest levels since the Korean War. Instead of opening the way for more bombings and destruction with basing rights spread throughout the world, Canada should reverse its military aggression, which is only in the interests of an imperialist minority and against the interests of the peace-loving majority. The basing agreements allow the Canadian military to enter other countries at any time, violating the sovereignty of the host country, in order to rain death and destruction on a third country ….”
• “In an out-of-the-way spot in an old Dutch cemetery, there’s a place that is forever New Brunswick. Anyone visiting the Gorinchem cemetery from this province could pick it out immediately: a small New Brunswick flag is there, and, at the base of the white headstone, a painted rock from McLaren’s Beach in Saint John. Buried in the grave is the body of Harold Magnusson, a 22-year-old from Saint John who was killed in 1944 in the operation immortalized in book and film as A Bridge Too Far. But the mystery of his burial in a civilian cemetery far from the horrors of Arnhem has created a bridge of a different sort for a Dutch woman who has used the story to reach across time and distance to Canadians. “It was as if someone tapped me on the shoulder when I walked into that cemetery and said ‘Solve this puzzle,’ ” Alice van Bekkum said in an interview during a recent visit to New Brunswick. “I became gripped by the story and it has led to wonderful new friendships … I got involved with Magnusson, and I fell in love with Canada ….”

MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – 28 May 11

• Libya Mission:  “Stephen Harper is planning to extend Canada’s controversial military intervention in Libya and will ask the Commons, which he controls, to approve this. He announced this Friday at the Group of Eight leaders’ meetings in France. It’s not clear yet how long Mr. Harper intends to extend Canada’s involvement ….”  More here, here, here and here – more on Operation Mobile here.
• Karl Manning, 5 RALC, R.I.P.:  A Canadian gunner was found dead from non-combat related wounds at approximately 5:30 a.m. local Kandahar time on 27 May 2011 at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Zangabad, southwest of Kandahar Airfield.  More here and here – condolences thread at Army.ca here.
• Afghanistan:  Meanwhile, work – including on roads – goes on.  “The Taliban tried to crash the Canadian army’s party Friday by launching an attack on the ceremonial opening of a road in the heart of the perilous Panjwaii district. The speakers weren’t even finished and pieces of the ribbon had just been picked up when a pair of explosions rang out, followed by small-arms fire. “Nothing like a few fireworks,” said Brig-Gen. Dean Milner, who was still speaking when the first muffled explosion occurred. Milner, unfazed, carried right on talking. “Like a good day in Afghanistan, there’s still lots of things that happen out there,” he said. “I think we even heard a couple of bangs. To make good things happen, you still have to challenge those bad guys, those insurgents.” ….”
• Afghanistan: Reservists remember. “Cpl. Scott Hahn came under fire for 20 minutes on his first patrol in Afghanistan. “You think right away you’re going to die,” he says. Then his infantry training kicked in. He started breathing properly, getting oxygen to his head, thinking straight. Ten minutes into the firefight he felt confident enough to start cracking jokes. “I’m glad it happened,” he says. “You learn your mistakes and how to correct them.” The war in Afghanistan left its mark on five soldiers from the local Royal Highland Fusiliers who completed tours of duty last year. Each went for up to eight months, undertaking different jobs in different places ….”
• Manitoba Flooding: “The Canadian Forces flood-relief mission in Manitoba is over, the military said Friday, having deployed 1,800 troops over the past 2½ weeks to pack and place sandbags, monitor dikes and help evacuate communities. “From coast to coast, the men and women of the Canadian Forces have proven they are ready and willing to assist Canadians in times of crisis,” Defence Minister Peter MacKay said in a written statement. “I’m very proud of their efforts to protect the people of Manitoba and their property from the flooded Assiniboine River.” This year’s seasonal flooding on the Assiniboine resulted in some of the highest water levels in a century. In Brandon, Man., about 1,400 people were forced from their homes more than three weeks ago and will return this weekend. The province’s second-largest city suffered the highest river crest since 1882 ….”  More from Postmedia/Global News here and QMI here, from the CF in its latest update here and its fact sheet here.
• Quebec Flooding (1):  Defence Minister drops by.  “Defence Minister Peter MacKay toured the flood zone in southern Quebec’s Monteregie region Wednesday, meeting with area mayors and residents and clarifying the role of the Canadian Forces in the area. MacKay expressed pride in the work of the soldiers, saying they proved their versatility and efficiency but also made it clear that they were there only to provide emergency support and not to help in the cleanup. “We’ve taken the decision with the mayors and soldiers we will stay for the weekend and make day to day,” he said ….”
• Quebec Flooding (2):  More on why militaries don’t tend to help clean up AFTER floods:  “The Canadian army isn’t the only military force that doesn’t do cleanup. Local mayors and residents in flood-stricken areas near Montreal have been trying to get soldiers to stick around and help once waters eventually subside. But they need only look south of the border to see they’re not alone: the Vermont National Guard, which comes under the control of the state governor, is not allowed to help out on private property, either. Spokesperson Lt.-Col. Lloyd Goodrow says U.S. federal law doesn’t let National Guard members help people with their flooded basements. “That’s why people have insurance,” he told The Canadian Press on Friday. Goodrow says the National Guard is not allowed to provide any services that compete with the private sector ….”
• Canadian, American and British intelligence troops practice their skills together in Arizona at Exercise Empire Challenge (hat tip to Bruce Ralston at Flit for sharing this).
• Still MORE reading of the Julian Fantino tea leaves.  “Winning a majority government doesn’t make everything easier. Take, for example, the headache facing the Conservatives as they negotiate to buy the cost overrun-prone F-35 fighter-bomber from the United States, where a top Pentagon official recently called the jet-building program unaffordable without revisions. Helping sort this out and defend Canada’s purchase will now be Julian Fantino’s yoke to bear as the newly minted associate minister of defence with responsibility for procurement. Mr. Fantino will contend with two constants in his new job: Buying military hardware is infuriatingly complicated, and it gets more difficult during an era of belt-tightening. The retired cop’s appointment as Ottawa’s No. 2 defence minister after Peter MacKay gives the military a second voice at the cabinet table to promote and defend its big spending plans during a period of restraint when others might be inclined to delay. It also provides Stephen Harper with a point man to shepherd military procurement decisions through Ottawa’s frustrating and delay-plagued buying process – an assignment that may leave the Prime Minister feeling better-served on this file than in recent years ….”
• A former radar site on Hudson’s Bay is about to be cleaned up. “Six decades after the radar operators gave up their search for Russian bombers streaking across the Northern Ontario sky, a massive cleanup effort will finally begin to erase a ghost town that was very briefly one of Canada’s most important military installations. The town doesn’t even have a formal name – military documents simply refer to it as Site 500. It was the operations centre for the Ontario portion of the Mid Canada Line Radar installation, a network of 17 sites built as part of a national network in the 1950s to monitor the skies for foreign invaders. Site 500 is now at the centre of the largest environmental remediation project ever undertaken in Ontario. Its scale is dwarfed only by the national cleanup of the Distant Early Warning radar line – a more northern string of radar installations that the federal government has already spent half a billion dollars cleaning ….”  More on the multiple tries to find a successful bidder for the work here.

MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – 14 May 11

• “Canada’s ability to deploy its combat forces overseas will be impeded for more than a year due to the complexity of repairing and repatriating huge quantities of gear at the end of the current combat mission, the commander of the army says. “We are planning to be reconstituted to a level of deployability by November 2012,” said Lt.-Gen. Peter Devlin during a briefing on how to move tons of helicopters, ammunition, heavy armoured vehicles and about 1,000 sea containers of equipment back to Canada. “We will have the means, by December 2012, to deploy a capable task force — not of this size — to respond if the government of Canada wants to commit us.” ….”
• More on those 3 per cent who got booted from the HMCS Charlottetown before it deployed to Libya.
• Manitoba flooding help has been named OP Lustre.
• Congrats to all those receiving Mentioned in Dispatches awards (including the two who can’t be named).
• “Imprisoned in a concealed hole in the ground in the Afghan countryside, Mellissa Fung interviewed her rapist the morning after he assaulted her. The veteran CBC journalist had been stabbed and abducted as she was leaving a refugee camp near Kabul. That was the beginning of 28 days in captivity that Fung recounts in her poignant, harrowing, gripping and ultimately inspiring memoir, Under an Afghan Sky, which is already on the bestseller lists. Fung also interviewed the man who had knifed her. Tormented, driven to the limits of endurance, alternately fighting the monotony and terror of being a kidnap victim, she shows herself to be the ultimate journalist, engaging her fundamentalist captors in dialogue about religion, elections, women, the Taliban. Fung recounts each moment vividly, her telling details and superb use of dialogue taking the reader into the dark heart of Afghanistan and a foreign correspondent’s worst nightmare ….”
• Taliban Propaganda Watch:  Loads of attacks and kills alleged across Zabul.
• F-35 Tug o’ War:  More problems stateside.  “U.S. Air Force’s F-35 fighter, due to form the bulk of future U.S. tactical air power and to be bought by allies, may be able to fly only 85 percent as far as originally projected, a Pentagon document shows. The radar-evading aircraft’s “A” model is currently estimated to have a combat mission radius of 584 nautical miles, just short of the required 590 nautical miles, a Dec. 31-dated report to Congress said. Program officials originally estimated that the F-35A would be able to hit targets 690 nautical miles away, unrefueled, or 15 percent more than now, the Department of Defense’s “Selected Acquisition Report” showed. The current combat radius prediction is based on estimates of the amount of compressed air diverted from the engine to run onboard systems as well on aircraft performance and fuel capacity that are not yet fully known, the report said ….”
• “Prolific blogger” Mark Collins highlights what Canada’s going to be buying down the road.
• “The commander of Canadian Forces Base Gagetown is heading to Manhattan. Col. Michael Pearson, commander of CFB Gagetown, is heading to New York to work with Canadian diplomats. The seasoned soldier will fill the role of defence attache and will be working with Canadian diplomats involved in global issues. Pearson, who took over control of CFB Gagetown two years ago, is still waiting on further details regarding his duties. “By all accounts, it’s a fascinating job,” Pearson said. “It’s a fascinating place with a group of professional Canadian diplomats as my colleagues and the ambassador as my boss.” ….”
• “Canadian Coast Guard crew members are calling for a legislative overhaul and reporting structure reforms to meet a proposed new mandate that would give the civilian agency an armed policing role. The Conservative election platform unveiled plans to arm certain vessels in the fleet, establish armed boarding teams with RCMP and CCG personnel, and give law enforcement responsibilities to the maritime patrol agency. Christine Collins, national president of the Union of Canadian Transportation Employees that represents CCG employees across the country, said the surprise platform pledge represents a “very significant change” in role ….”
• “They came from rough-and-tumble lumber camps, humdrum offices and the pot-holed streets of post World War II Canada. They turned into crack troops who could take on a force many times their size in terrain that was half a world away. When it was over they went quietly back to their lives, forgotten and unsung. Few would think of the 1950-53 Korean War — if they think of it at all — as a Canadian victory. And as Canada enters a new conflict in Libya, and ends a bruising confrontation in Afghanistan, the now-obscure war fought under the UN flag is lost in the vapour trails of history. Kapyong was one battle in that dirty, drawn-out war, and its 60th anniversary on April 24 was largely unmarked. But says Dan Bjarnason, a veteran CBC correspondent and military researcher, it was a pivotal moment that could have altered the political and geographical landscape of East Asia. Bjarnason’s book, Triumph at Kapyong, documents an extraordinary moment in Canadian and Korean history that was as unlikely as it was unknown. “Kapyong was the gateway to Seoul,” he says. “If it had fallen Seoul would likely have gone under. Then it would have been a free-for-all and anything could have happened.” ….”
• AQ spokespersons, meanwhile, say the material was already in the complex when they moved in.  “A stash of pornography was found in the hideout of Osama bin Laden by the U.S. commandos who killed him, current and former U.S. officials said on Friday. The pornography recovered in bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, consists of modern, electronically recorded video and is fairly extensive, according to the officials, who discussed the discovery with Reuters on condition of anonymity. The officials said they were not yet sure precisely where in the compound the pornography was discovered or who had been viewing it. Specifically, the officials said they did not know if bin Laden himself had acquired or viewed the materials ….”

MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – 7 Apr 11

• Libya Ops – “Canada has boosted the number of personnel involved in the NATO-led mission in Libya by nearly 200, the military said Wednesday. There are now 570 Canadian army and navy personnel taking part in international efforts to crack down on Libyan despot Moammar Gaddafi. That’s compared to the 380 personnel originally posted when Canada joined the mission in March. Brig.-Gen Richard Blanchette made the comments during a media briefing on the mission. He also said Canadian CF-18 fighter jets had been on 14 flights since last week, targeting a number of ammunitions depots and military bunkers in Libya ….” More in the CF Backgrounder on the operation here.
• Is Canada’s Navy considering centralizing its HQ in Halifax? Not according to British Columbia’s Premier. More here.
• Hesco barriers to the rescue against flooding in Manitoba. “A new technology is being used for the first time in Manitoba’s flood fight. Crews put up a Hesco Bastion along River Road in the Rural Municipality of St. Andrews, just north of Winnipeg, on Wednesday. The one-metre-square wire cages can be unfolded and quickly filled with dirt or mud. They can also be linked for a long row that can be set up far quicker than it takes to sling sandbags. The dike along River Road, more than 300 metres long, will provide protection to several homes and can be built in a day ….”
• “Lt. Vanessa Harmon wraps a scarf around her head and atop her tan battle fatigues when attending shura meetings with Afghan elders and government officials, but not because she is required to. “It makes things easier,” is the Canadian officer’s brief explanation. Head scarves have recently become a controversial subject in the U.S. military, after a request last month by Central Command that its female soldiers in Afghanistan wear hijabs, or head coverings, in order to encourage better relations with the local population by demonstrating cultural sensitivity. Many critics in the U.S. have interpreted the CENTCOM request as being tantamount to an order. Such encouragement would appear to contradict the spirit of a law passed by Congress in 2002 banning the wearing of Muslim head garb by U.S. soldiers stationed in Saudi Arabia. There is no such expectation in the Canadian military, according to Brig.- Gen. Dean Milner, who commands Task Force Kandahar. “We haven’t changed our standards. Our women are soldiers,” Milner said. The few Canadian female soldiers who wear head coverings in Afghanistan have been allowed to do so, but as a matter of choice, not because of an order or a request ….”
• Election 2011 – “It’s amazing that we’re fighting two wars during an election campaign and nobody is talking about them as issues. People might just be tired of Afghanistan. Our troops have been fighting for nine years. We’re stepping back, sort of, this year. Still, it’s not clear how many Canadians will stay in the conflict, or whether anything lasting has been accomplished. Those should be campaign issues. Libya is brand new. Canada signed on to a military mission there March 19, just before the election campaign started. That should be a big decision. As citizens, we bear responsibility for government actions. And going to war should bring the greatest responsibility ….”
• Former CF Ombudsman goes political. “The first commander of Canadian forces in Afghanistan says the country’s current democratic system is not working and needs an overhaul of the kind now taking place in the Arab world. Retired colonel Pat Stogran is urging young Canadians to get involved in the political process and engineer change from the ground up. “Canadians are sick of our democracy,” said Stogran, who launched a strident campaign protesting government treatment of former soldiers after his contract as veterans ombudsman wasn’t renewed. “Canadians call for change at every one of the elections. Yet Canadians keep doing the same old thing. “They keep voting for one side or the other, knowing full well that after all the promises are made and the votes are cast, whoever gets in there is going to get into crisis management and go from one flavour to the next to stay in power.” Stogran said the country needs parties with long-term vision, “grassroots movements like we saw in Cairo and Tunisia and Libya.” He has signed on with the fledgling Progressive Canadian party as an adviser on veterans affairs ….”