MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – 16 Nov 11

• Afghanistan (1)  Toronto Star columnist becomes legal rep for teenager wanting student visa to attend school in Canada.
• Afghanistan (2)  Someone (I’m guessing) in Ottawa is pissed at how ‘terps trying to come to Canada are being handled.  “Frustration is growing in government ranks that Ottawa is falling down on its vow to help Afghan interpreters and their families find a new life in Canada. “I would say longstanding and growing frustration,” a senior official said this week after the Star highlighted the plight. The target of that frustration is the Citizenship and Immigration department, which critics say is dragging its feet on a Conservative vow to help Afghans who helped the Canadian mission in Kandahar resettle in Canada. “There is a moral obligation to do the right thing here and it’s unfortunate that CIC doesn’t feel this way,” said the official, who asked to remain anonymous ….”
• Afghanistan (3a)  Canadian Info-Machine officer Commodore Bill Truelove:  Taliban losing a grip on its troops?  “The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) has said that “the Taliban leadership has lost control of their organization.” During an operational update by representatives from the ISAF headquarters and NATO on Monday, Canadian Commodore Bill Truelove, Deputy Director of the ISAF Communication Directorate, said the Taliban carried out several attacks recently in spite of the Afghan Eid holiday. “Over the past week, the Taliban showed their blatant disregard for this holy celebration through a series of attacks resulting in the deaths of many innocent civilians,” he told reporters in Kabul. Truelove said the attacks occurred after senior Taliban leaders issued specific orders to their troops, directing them to stop killing innocent Afghan civilians. “Still, enemy forces are realizing they are sacrificing their lives for a cause that is not just and under leaders who have no concern for this country or its people,” he added ….”
• Afghanistan (3b)  Does one Taliban post including alleged security plans for a major meeting (link to copy of post at non-terrorist site) constitute a “propaganda war”?  “Afghanistan’s propaganda wars are becoming almost as intense as the actual fighting, as all sides jockey for position ahead of an anticipated NATO withdrawal in 2014. On Sunday, the Taliban took their psychological operations to a new level when they attempted to derail a loya jirga, or national council, Hamid Karzai, the Afghan President, has called for Wednesday. This will discuss future U.S. troop withdrawals and possible peace talks with 2,000 community and tribal leaders. In addition to the usual threats to assassinate anyone who attends the meeting, the Taliban have published what they claim are highly classified documents detailing security arrangements for the council, scheduled to be held at the Polytechnical University in western Kabul ….”
• Afghanistan (4)  Senator Pamela Wallin on the training mission:  “…. Canada has engaged in what is an incredible act of faith, inspired by the knowledge that if we educate and train the next generation of citizens and soldiers we will truly be giving peace – and Afghanistan – a chance.”
• Afghanistan (5)  “International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo says his office will be releasing a report in the coming weeks that will decide whether to launch a formal investigation into Canada’s treatment of Afghan detainees, among other things. “There are serious allegations of crimes committed by different parties,” he said in an exclusive interview with Postmedia News during a stop at the University of Ottawa on Tuesday. “We are trying to find who is really allegedly responsible for crimes to check if there’s a need for us to investigate or not.” Moreno-Ocampo said his report will not specifically focus on Canada’s treatment of detainees in Afghanistan, but all crimes allegedly committed in that country and seven others. Most allegations, he added, are against the Taliban, but all claims are being looked at ….”
• “Canadian Forces reservists can face extra hardships after returning from deployments, researchers say. Difficulty finding employment and poor post-mission communications between reservists and military units are major barriers to soldiers reintegrating into civilian life. The findings of a study by Defence Research and Development Canada in Toronto were presented at the second annual Canadian Military and Veteran Health Research Forum in Kingston. The study involved 125 Canadian reserve soldiers who returned from an overseas deployment. The troops were contacted six to eight months after returning and about one-quarter of them took part in the 20-minute electronic survey. The results showed many reservists struggle to find work following their deployments. The lack of work added greatly to their struggle to reintegrate themselves into civilian life, said researcher Donna Pickering Tuesday afternoon ….”  A bit more on the Forum here, and the latest, updated (as of yesterday) CF Info-Machine backgrounder on PTSD here.
• Another research tidbit from the same conference:  “Almost one-quarter of a group of frontline soldiers sent to fight in Afghanistan in 2007 have been diagnosed with mental health problems, according to a new study by the Canadian Forces. The figure shines a light on the psychological risks facing Canada’s battle-hardened veterans not only in CFB Gagetown, where the study was conducted, but at CFB Petawawa in Ontario, CFB Edmonton in Alberta, CFB Valcartier in Quebec and at other major military bases where soldiers have deployed in great numbers over the last few years. The study of 792 members of the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment, found 23.1 per cent of soldiers who served in Kandahar four years ago were now being treated for their mental health problems. One in five of those soldiers have been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder, one of the chief health risks to Canadian soldiers after a decade of combat in Afghanistan. The study was presented Tuesday at a military health-care conference (in Kingston) that is bringing together some of the country’s best minds to share the latest research on how to help soldiers with broken minds and bodies ….”
• “After almost five years of legal wrangling, Dennis Manuge says he’s relieved that Canada’s disabled veterans are finally getting their day in court. “How I feel about it is a little bit of relief and absolute faith in the justice system that we are going to begin to have our case (heard),” he said Tuesday. Manuge, of Musquodoboit Harbour, N.S., is the representative plaintiff in a lawsuit against the federal government that alleges it is illegally clawing back the long-term disability insurance benefits of injured veterans. The Federal Court in Halifax will begin hearing arguments Wednesday in the class action, which could potentially affect the benefits of as many as 6,000 injured veterans ….”
• A reminder:  “For the sixth year in a row, friends and families of Canadian troops deployed overseas will be able to send their holiday letters and parcels for free via Canada Post. The program, which started in 2006, has delivered close to 90,000 parcels to members of the Canadian Forces serving overseas in war zones. With capacity limitations on military aircraft carrying supplies to deployed forces, this program is restricted to family and friends of the deployed service men and women serving overseas in war zones. Troops serving on any of the deployed Her Majesty’s Canadian Ships are also included in the program. Canada Post will accept regular parcels free of charge to designated Canadian Forces Bases overseas from October 17, 2011 until January 13, 2012. Lettermail weighing up to 500 grams to deployed troops can be sent free of charge until December 31, 2012.”  More from Canada Post here.
• Canada’s mission to help Jamaica is wrapping up – safe travels home, folks!  More on OP Jaguar here.
• “Haiti’s efforts to restore its disbanded army could deplete resources from more pressing matters in the Caribbean nation, which is still recovering from the massive earthquake that killed hundreds of thousands of people almost two years ago, a Canadian diplomat said Tuesday. John Babcock, a spokesman for Canadian Minister of State of Foreign Affairs Diane Ablonczy, said in an email to The Associated Press that Haiti’s decision to create a second security force is a sovereign right but that its formation “seems premature” because of the difficult living conditions that many Haitians still face following the January 2010 earthquake. “Canada fears that creating a second security force will significantly reduce resources available for Haiti’s other important priorities,” one of them being the need to strengthen Haiti’s national police department, Babcock wrote. Haitian President Michel Martelly is moving ahead with a plan to restore the national army that was disbanded in 1995, and recruiting an initial force of 500 troops would cost an estimated $25 million. Babcock said Tuesday Canada wouldn’t help pay for a second security force, echoing sentiments of foreign diplomats who told Martelly in October they wouldn’t fund the force ….”  Here’s a bit of what Canada’s done for Haiti’s police force, as well as the official line on our relations with Haiti.
• Way Up North  More on how expensive it could be to keep troops in the north (again with no disclosure of “obtained” documents).
• At least one Canadian Press reporter is not personally averse to the idea of sharing documents obtained through Access to Information Act requests, even if his employer doesn’t seem to be using available technology to make that happen yet – one can hope….
• F-35 Tug o’ War  “U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has warned the F-35 project will be scrapped if a congressional “super committee” doesn’t come up with a credible plan to reduce the U.S. federal deficit by next week. Opposition parties in Ottawa jumped on the comments Tuesday, accusing the federal government of continuing to bury its head in the sand as the stealth fighter program suffers ever-increasing amounts of turbulence. But the government again stood firm, saying Panetta’s comments were in response to internal U.S. politics while expressing fresh confidence in the controversial military jet being delivered to Canada on time and on budget ….”  More on Canada continuing to stand behind its decision here, and how it could cost way more if the U.S. cancels here.
• “As the nuclear crisis over Iran heats up, Canada is veering toward a dangerous place. Israel is again contemplating a military attack on Iran to prevent its developing atomic weapons. This time it’s not clear that U.S. President Barack Obama can forestall the Jewish state …. In the past, Canada would have happily stayed on the sidelines …. Under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, however, Canada has taken a more militant approach to international affairs. His support for Israel has been rock-hard. He has also shown himself willing to deploy Canada’s small but effective military in combat operations the government deems politically useful …. In short, both sides now see the nuclear issue as life or death. The question for nations like Canada is not which country we like more but which alternative is worse. Is it better to let Iran follow in the footsteps of the U.S., France, Britain, Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea by acquiring nuclear weapons? Or is better to unleash another Mideast war?”
• A bit of Canadian aviation history will become a bit of a British monument honouring Bomber Command (PDF).  “A Royal Canadian Air Force C-17 Transport (landed) in Lethbridge, Alberta on Remembrance Day to pick up 800 pounds of aluminum that was once part of a wartime RCAF Halifax Bomber. The metal will become part of a £6,000,000 Bomber Command Memorial currently under construction in Green Park, London. The aluminum is being provided by the Bomber Command Museum of Canada to draw attention to the fact that 10,000 of the over 55,000 airmen lost with Bomber Command during World War II were Canadians. Halifax Bomber LW682 was part of 426 “Thunderbird” Squadron RCAF. It was shot down in 1944 and crashed into a swamp in Belgium. The seven Canadians and one Briton aboard were killed. The bodies of three of the Canadian airmen, missing in action and entombed in the Halifax bomber, were recovered in 1997 and given a full military funeral in Gerarrdsbergen, Belgium. The recovered parts of the Halifax were all saved and brought to Canada. Some of the parts were used in the restoration of the Halifax currently on display at Trenton, Ontario. The unusable aluminum was saved due to the rarity and heritage of this RCAF metal and was then melted down into ingots to be used into the future for Air Force Memorials, plaques, and statues by the Bomber Command Museum of Canada ….”

On sharing ATIP’ed documents: The Canadian Press

Here’s a Twitter exchange I recently had with a Canadian Press reporter about being able to share documents CP obtains via Access to Information Act/Privacy Act (ATIP) requests.

• @Murray_Brewster DND mulls how to get Canadians out of harm’s way in future crisis: documents – via @winnipegnews shar.es/bFVcu #cdnmil
• @milnews_ca @Murray_Brewster Is CP going to share the obtained docs anyplace online? Thx!
• @Murray_Brewster @milnews_ca Unlike the Globe and newspaper publications, we don’t have a format or venue to share documents online. I wish we did.
• @milnews_ca @Murray_Brewster Interesting – how about Scribd.com or other file sharing sites? Thx for the response – much appreciated.
• @Murray_Brewster @milnews_ca Traditionally, once our stories are published, we’ve provided hard copies of ATIP docs to whoever has asked.
• @milnews_ca But that was back in the stone age.

No response re:  posting docs to Scribd.com or other document sharing sites.

My read:  individual reporters may be amenable to sharing documents obtained via ATIP requests, but some outlets don’t have (or don’t want to set up) the infrastructure to share them.

Then again, what about the outlets with infrastructure already in place to share such documents?

More as we find it out….

MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – 3 Oct 11

• Afghanistan (1)  Troops getting ready in Gagetown to head to Afghanistan.  “Efforts are continuing to prepare hundreds of soldiers from Canadian Forces Base Gagetown for duty early next year in Afghanistan. Approximately 450 personnel from The Second Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment (2RCR) will be joined by another 100 from the greater Land Force Atlantic Area in deploying to the war-torn region for an eight-month training mission. The first group of soldiers will depart Gagetown in mid-February with the process continuing until mid-March. It’s expected to take about a month to get everyone into the Kabul theatre of operations ….”
• Afghanistan (2a)  Nichola Goddard, 1980-2006, R.I.P.  Father of fallen returns to Afghanistan to help get more women teachers trained.
• Afghanistan (2b)  Speaking of such things….  “Canada is being urged to use whatever influence it has to ensure gains made over the last decade for women in Afghanistan are not lost in any peace deal that might materialize. Late Sunday, international aid agency Oxfam released a report saying there is a risk that many of the improvements made for women since the Taliban were toppled 10 years ago could be given away in bargaining as different factions in the war-torn country, including the Taliban, negotiate an end to a decade of war. “The women’s movement is quite worried about the potential that a peace deal with the Taliban could imply setbacks to the progress that women (in Afghanistan) have achieved and the potential for further progress,” Mark Fried, policy co-ordinator with Oxfam Canada, said in an interview ….” 
  
• Afghanistan (3)  New book says LOADS o’ central control over execution, communication about the Afghanistan mission.  “Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s office was so seized with controlling public opinion of Canada’s shooting war in southern Afghanistan that even Defence Minister Peter MacKay wasn’t always in the loop, says a new book about the conflict. “The Savage War,” by Canadian Press defence writer and Afghanistan correspondent Murray Brewster, paints a portrait of a PMO keen to preserve its tenuous grip on minority power and desperate to control the message amid dwindling public support for the war. MacKay, who took over Defence from Gordon O’Connor in August 2007, was blindsided by the Harper government’s decision later that year to set up a blue-ribbon panel to review the mission headed by former Liberal cabinet minister John Manley, Brewster writes. “It wasn’t discussed with the broader cabinet, no,” the minister says in the interview. “I didn’t know all of the specifics.” ….”‘
• Veterans Affairs Canada’s Virtual War Memorial web site, listing detailed information about Canada’s fallen, has moved from here to here.  Last month, the CF webmeisters moved the “Fallen Canadians” page from here to here.
• Trees to honour the fallen.  “When Elizabeth Pratt had her first brush with Canadian Forces soldiers four years ago, she couldn’t believe how young the men and women in uniform were. In Halifax, as part of the Royal Nova Scotia Military Tattoo in 2007, the then-Grade 11 student met hundreds of soldiers serving in Afghanistan, many of them only a few years older than she was. “I was so surprised at how close in age they were to me,” she said, “not to mention the fact that they were out there fighting and maybe even sacrificing their lives. That hit home.” Now, the 20-year-old University of B.C. student and her brother, 14-year-old Michael, are launching a project they hope will ensure a lasting memorial for those Canadians who have indeed sacrificed their lives in Afghanistan. The pair have created Langley Youth for the Fallen, a non-profit organization that is raising money to buy 157 trees that will be planted in a commemorative grove at the Derek Doubleday Aboretum in Langley ….”
• Libya Mission (1)  A columnist shares his perspective of “security”.  “How are we doing in the war on terror? Against the terrorists, tolerably well. Against our governments — that’s a different story. As travelers, we’re coping. We can put up with being treated like inmates at Alcatraz. We display our anatomies to the extent requested; take off our shoes like lambs, purge our carry-on bags of liquids and stuff them with photo IDs. We’re a little dismayed, though, that we may have Grandma strip for nothing. Our governments that protect us so brilliantly from our underwear, seem less effective when it comes to protecting us from portable ground-to-air missiles. That’s right. NATO lost sight of about 20,000 of the suckers, each one capable of shooting down a civilian airliner, while helping rebel forces overrun Colonel Muammar Gaddafy’s Libya. This week the White House’s Jay Carney confirmed an initial ABC news report that thousands of the shoulder-fired weapons, ideal for terrorist operations, are missing from the Colonel’s unguarded military warehouses ….”
• Libya Mission (2)  Another columnist on when we know it’s done.  “Last week, the Canadian Parliament briefly debated and then voted to extend our military commitment to the NATO mission in Libya. In announcing the extension, Defence Minister Peter MacKay explained that “Canada was in at the very beginning [and] we should be there until the job is done.” Of course, no one in the Harper government has yet to explain exactly what our “job” is in Libya. Therefore, it remains impossible to determine when or if that task will ever be completed ….”
• Pile On the Defence Minister About The Planes/Choppers!  OK, in this case, piling on the Parliamentary Secretary (not the “Defence Secretary” as the headline writer claims).  “Commenting on an investigation that found the minister of national defence racked up nearly $3 million worth of flights aboard federal jets, the minister’s parliamentary secretary reiterated on Sunday that Peter MacKay did not break travel rules. When asked on CTV’s Question Period whether MacKay “at no point” contravened the government’s guidelines for ministerial travel, Chris Alexander said “the short answer is yes,” before adding that members of the Conservative government have “used challenger aircraft three-quarters less” than their predecessors. “This government has been extremely exacting of its ministers and everyone in government by putting in place the toughest measures for accountability, transparency, making sure we know what assets ministers have and making sure we watch like hawks what their means of travel are,” Alexander said. Every ounce of evidence shows MacKay and others members of government have followed the rules.” ….”
• “A senior federal cabinet minister breathed a sigh of relief upon word of the assassination of Anwar al-Awlaki, a nod to the late radical cleric’s ability to inspire young westerners — including Canadians — to embrace Islamic extremism. “This is good news not only for the United States and North America, this is making the world a safer place,” said Defence Minister Peter MacKay. The death of the U.S.-born al-Awlaki in Yemen — possibly in an American missile strike — appeared to be the latest in a series of targeted killings of al-Qaida kingpins. The charismatic lecturer spent his early childhood in the United States, moving with his family to Yemen before returning to Colorado to pursue university studies. He become an imam whose pronouncements and dealings drew the attention of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. Members of a Toronto-area group implicated five years ago in terrorist plotting had watched one of al-Awlaki’s videos at their makeshift training camp ….”
• On soldiers, tattoos and blood types.
• Cape Breton Highlanders get their new Camp Flag – shame there’s no link to a photo, no?
• Editorial:  history =/=. conspiracy. “…. There is no doubt that Mr. Harper is highly political, maybe too political at times, but the promotion of Canadian history and the symbols of national identity are not evidence of a dastardly plot. The prime minister is reportedly equally interested in the 200th anniversary of the arrival of the Selkirk settlers in Manitoba and is considering a visit to Winnipeg next year to help mark the occasion. The fact is that Canadians have demonstrated a greater interest in their history over the years, an evolution that seemed to begin in the 1980s with celebrations of significant military dates from the first and second world wars. In 1994, the city of Winnipeg staged a downtown parade, complete with military vehicles and even a Sherman tank, to mark the 50th anniversary of D-Day, the first such parade since the war ended. Sometimes they are controversial, such as the 250th anniversary of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, and the upcoming celebration of the War of 1812 (Canada won, didn’t it?), but they have never been seen as part of a political agenda. Unfortunately, significant political events from the past have received less attention, but if Mr. Harper (and the CBC) want to ignite a passion in the broader Canadian story, let’s at least not call it a conspiracy.”
• “Divers will search for unexploded munitions this month on the wreck of HMCS Thiepval, a former warship that hit an uncharted rock and sank in Barkley Sound more than 80 years ago. The Department of National Defence organized the search after recreational divers reported spotting artillery and shells on the anemone-covered 1917 Battle-class naval trawler. The vessel boasts a colourful history, including a secret spying assignment and a gin-drinking Japanese bear adopted by the crew. The wreck is resting in about 12 metres of water ….”

WHAT’S CANADA BUYING? Self-healing UAV systems

Another link in the “swarming robot/UAV” research stream – this “ask”, from MERX

…. Self-Healing Networked Control Systems Study …. The objectives of the work are:  To conduct an extensive study on the synthesis, the analysis and the validation of self-healing networked control systems for heterogeneous teams of small-scale unmanned vehicles. On the one hand, to develop concepts and theory pertaining to the following functionalities in teaming autonomous systems: cooperative health management and decision making, condition monitoring, information fusion, and robust fault-tolerant control. On the other hand, to prove the validity of the proposed concepts and systems in autonomy by means of theoretical proofs, extensive studies of modeling and simulation, and hardware-in-the-loop experiments.

(….)

The maximum funding available for the Contract resulting from the bid solicitation is $275,000.00 (Goods and Services Tax or Harmonized Sales Tax extra, as appropriate) ….

Who got the work?

Numerica Technologies Inc
3420 Lacoste
QUEBEC
Quebec
G2E4P8
Canada

(….)

Amount $288,750.00 CAD

Earlier:

WHAT’S CANADA BUYING? Micro-chopper UAVs and Recce Robots

WHAT’S CANADA BUYING? Canadian Press Catches Up…

WHAT’S CANADA BUYING? Canadian Press Catches Up…

….on some research being done by the CF.

24 Oct 09, MILNEWS.ca:  “DND Looking into Micro-UAVs, UAV Swarming”

10 Nov 09, MILNEWS.ca:  “WHAT’S CANADA BUYING? Micro-chopper UAVs and Recce Robots”

10 Jan 10, the Canadian Press:  “DND experimenting with robotic tanks and helicopters, hoping to make them think”

NOW the Media Says Canada Should Stay!

Is it just me, or is it just recently that Canadian media is actually covering Afghanistan in a way that suggests maybe Canada SHOULDN’T leave?