MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – April 23, 2014

• Ukraine (1)  “Canada’s CF-18 Deployment Details Are Incomplete, Says NDP Critic”
  
• Ukraine (2a)  From the PM’s Info-machine  “Prime Minister Harper called Prime Minister Yatsenyuk of Ukraine today.  The two leaders exchanged views on the latest developments in Ukraine. They strongly condemned Russia’s illegal occupation of Ukraine and its continuing provocative military actions, calling for immediate compliance with the terms of the April 17 agreement in Geneva. Prime Minister Yatsenyuk expressed his deep appreciation for the strong leadership that Canada is taking in support of Ukraine. He noted specifically the value of the April 23 announcement of measures to promote democracy in the country and see up to 500 observers travel to Ukraine to monitor the upcoming presidential elections ….” – more from media here
• Ukraine (2b)  “Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird today announced that Canada and Poland will partner on various initiatives to help Ukraine stabilize its economy, consolidate its democracy and support civic engagement. Baird made the announcement in Warsaw, Poland, alongside Radosław Sikorski, Poland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, following their meeting to discuss a coordinated approach to the crisis in Ukraine.  “In the face of Russia’s cynical aggression, Canada and Poland again stand shoulder to shoulder in calling on President Putin to respect the Russian Federation’s Geneva and Budapest commitments to de-escalate the crisis, call off its provocateurs and respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine,” said Baird ….”
  
• Ukraine (3)  Academic commentary  “Canada is joining its NATO partners in sending six CF-18s to Eastern Europe (with some uncertainty on exactly where despite references to a specific base in Poland) and 20 CF personnel to help staff NATO headquarters. This is both ordinary and remarkable ….”
  
• “The identity of a member of Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS) Regina who died in hospital in Tanzania on April 21, has been released. Leading Seaman Brandon South was en route to Canada for a scheduled leave period from the ship, which is currently sailing in the Indian Ocean. The circumstances surrounding this death are being investigated at this time ….” – condolences from the Captain of HMCS Regina, the Chief of Defence Staff and the Minister of National Defence
• Afghanistan  Oopsie …. “Less than three weeks before an elaborate National Day of Honour ceremony takes place on Parliament Hill, several top soldiers who played key roles in the Afghan mission have yet to be invited, CTV News has learned.  The Day of Honour will commemorate Canadian troops’ service and sacrifices in Afghanistan. But former chief of the defence staff Rick Hillier, who shaped the military mission in Kandahar, said he has seen “none of the details or invites.”  Retired lieutenant-general Andrew Leslie, who is seeking the Liberal nomination in the Ottawa-Orleans riding, says he’s received “no formal invitation” to the May 9 event.  Retired colonel Pat Stogran, the outspoken ex-veterans ombudsman, also says he hasn’t received an invitation ….” – more on what’s being said (or not) about May 9th here at Milnet.ca (DISCLOSURE:  I’m a moderator at Milnet.ca)
• South Sudan  This from the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and for International Human Rights:  “Canada deplores the atrocious targeted attacks against civilians committed in Bentiu, South Sudan, by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army in Opposition. Early reports indicate that hundreds of people, including women and children, were killed. Of these, approximately 200 civilians were encouraged to shelter in a mosque by Opposition forces and then deliberately targeted and killed.  Canada condemns the perpetrators of these terrible attacks and calls on the leaders of the Opposition forces to undertake an immediate and thorough investigation, to hold the perpetrators accountable and to ensure that their troops never again commit ethnicity-based atrocities ….” – more on whazzup in South Sudan here and here
• “Exercise DETERMINED DRAGON 13, recently brought together 63 exercise controllers to test the mental mettle of Canadian and American military personnel through a series of military threat scenarios scanning sea, space, land, air and cyber battlefields.  Canadian Joint Operations Command (CJOC) Headquarters hosted the second annual Determined Dragon, October 28 to November 1, to push the limits of conventional military thought. The exercise tested CJOC’s ability to respond to notional continental threats keeping them working around the clock for five days ….”
• “Launch Event for Campaign to Stop Killer Robots in Canada” – more here
• “During his visit to 4 Wing Cold Lake, Alberta, last month, Governor General David Johnston sat down with the editor of The Courier newspaper for an interview. He shared his thoughts on the relationship between Canadians and their armed forces, on our reputation amongst our allies, and on his respect for 4 Wing members and their families ….”
• Update on HMCS Chicoutimi  “Bravo Zulu to HMCS Chicoutimi for successfully completing two camber dives April 17-18, 2014 at Ogden Point near Victoria Harbour. These camber dives are a key moment in the submarine’s Extended Docking Work Period (EDWP) and an important stepping stone in HMCS Chicoutimi’s return to the fleet, which is expected later this year, as it advances through an exhaustive test and trial program ….”
• “Rape in the Military. That was the headline on a Maclean’s cover in 1998—one of four cover stories that year stemming from a nine-month investigation into disturbing behaviour in the Canadian Forces. Now, 16 years later, Maclean’s and its sister magazine, L’actualité, are coming together to publish another months-long investigation into the sexual violence that still plagues our military.  L’actualité reporters Noémi Mercier and Alec Castonguay talked to dozens of victims, attended court martials, culled statistics and documents under Access to Information, and visited bases across the country and Afghanistan. Their powerful story appears at the centrepiece of both magazines—the first time ever the sister magazines are jointly publishing a cover story ….” – more here
• “Today, the Honourable Rob Nicholson, P.C., Q.C., M.P. for Niagara Falls, Minister of National Defence, participated in the Second Trilateral Meeting of North American Defence Ministers in Mexico City, Mexico. The meeting was hosted by Mexico’s Secretary of National Defence, General Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda, and the Secretary of the Navy, Admiral Vidal Francisco Soberón Sanz, and attended by U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel ….” – more here
• “The biennial meeting of the Western Pacific Naval Symposium (WPNS) held in the Chinese port city of Qingdao concluded on Wednesday after endorsing a naval agreement to reduce uncertainties and risks at sea.  The agreement, the Code for Unalerted Encounters at Sea, provides member states of the symposium with a tactical maneuvering and signal manual to reduce interference and uncertainties during naval ship and aircraft encounters.  WPNS members also agreed unanimously to allow Pakistan become the fourth observer of the WPNS. Bangladesh, India and Mexico are the other three observers …. Member countries of the WPNS are Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, France, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Republic of Korea, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, Tonga, United States and Vietnam.”
  
• Way Up North (1)  “Expensive house calls by plumbers can be nerve-racking for homeowners, but this plumbing job in Canada’s high Arctic is one for the record books.  Broken water pumps at CFS Alert triggered an 11,000-kilometre house call this winter by an elite squad of navy divers from Halifax.  The 10-day job in the frozen, permanent darkness of an Arctic winter required arduous drilling through ice more than a metre thick, and then a robot submarine to survey the damage.  In the end, the crack diver-plumber team was able to replace one broken pump, but not a second backup pump, the repair of which will have to wait for warmer temperatures in the summer ….”
• Way Up North (2)  “Canada under increasing pressure to come up with co-ordinated NATO response to Russia in Arctic”
• Way Up North (3)  “In 1553, several fishermen near Arkhangelsk were terrified when a hulking English warship appeared off the coast of the White Sea. The ship’s captain, Richard Chancellor, had set out in search of a new northern trade route to China, before storms and ice had blocked his way. Instead, he settled for Moscow. Ivan the Terrible, who welcomed the Englishmen with open arms, was delighted to open a new trade route with Europe.  It was the beginning of a fruitful cultural and commercial relationship. English muskets outfitted the armies of the expansionist Russian state, and Russia provided the timbers for Britain’s Navy. Then, in the 1640s, tsar Alexei I watched in horror as King Charles I was overthrown by a palace coup, aided by English traders in Russia. When Charles was executed in 1649, Alexei expelled the English from the capital.  Five hundred years later, relations between Russia and the West have again taken a turn for the worse ….”
  
• Way Up North (4)  “Canada needs to do more to back its claims to Arctic sovereignty”
• Way Up North (5)  “Canadian Armed Forces operations don’t stop when the roads do. Rather, the rougher the terrain, the more intricate the transport plans become. In the High Arctic especially, airlift is integral to mission success.  The soldiers, sailors, airmen and airwomen deployed on Operation NUNALIVUT 2014 (Op NU 14) depend on ingenuity and a mix of unique assets to achieve Canadian Armed Forces’ objectives in the demanding yet beautiful region of the High Arctic.  Strategic and tactical airlift combine to play a key role in keeping soldiers mobile and responsive when operating in harsh, Arctic environments.  This year, for the first time in Operation NUNALIVUT’s history, the109th Airlift Wing from New York State was invited to participate.  They fly ski-equipped LC-130’s (a.k.a. Ski-herc’s) and operate out of Scotia, New York and Thule Air Base in Greenland ….” 
• Commentary by former executive director, Intelligence Assessment Secretariat, Privy Council Office  “Kris Wheaton’s reflection on his class discussion (How to Analyze Black Swans) is useful in understanding the challenge of elaborating future possibilities in intelligence assessments. Mark Lowenthal’s comment on Black Swans also illuminates an important aspect of uncertainty—while a situation may be completely mysterious to some observers, others may be very familiar with every aspect of it. Their knowledge, however, may not be transferable to intelligence analysts.  While many assessments provide useful contextual background, the most helpful to clients are those which are insightful in forecasting what will happen next. This is obviously not always easy. These are my observations based on eight years as the head of an intelligence analysis unit ….”
• “An Edmonton woman is charged with a terrorism hoax.  Canadian Forces in Toronto got an e-mail threat stating an Edmonton man was going to commit an act of terror on April 17.  The Alberta RCMP Integrated National Security Enforcement Team (INSET) followed up and found it was nothing but a hoax.  K-Division RCMP spokesperson in Edmonton Josee Valiquette said authorities take all threats to national security very seriously.  “Investigating potential threats consume significant resources and time for the police domestic and international in all of our agencies and partners that play a role in public safety,” Valiquette said.  She said she can’t reveal the nature of the threat or the motive.  “Details about the nature, or what was threatened will be disclosed during the court proceedings,” Valiquette said.  Charges for terrorism hoaxes carries a maximum five years imprisonment ….”
• “A memorial for Windsor’s First World War veterans that had been hidden in the shadows and sprayed with graffiti has been moved in front of the gates of Memorial Park.  “This here was so obscure people wouldn’t even know it was here,” 89-year-old Second World War veteran Larry Costello said Tuesday.  Now the granite memorial with the names of 837 men and women from the Windsor area who died serving in the First World War is prominently displayed off Ypres Avenue at the end of Hall Avenue. The public is invited to join veterans and dignitaries Friday at 10:30 a.m. for the Memorial Park rededication ceremony ….”
  

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