Middle East
- “Stephen Harper to announce Canada’s combat role in ISIS fight Friday” – “Harper readying groundwork for Canada’s turn in Iraq” – “Harper to outline expanded military contribution to fight Islamic State” – “Harper to outline expanded military contribution to fight Islamic State” – “Stephen Harper to announce Canada’s combat role in ISIS fight Friday”
- “It’s ‘not about whipping out our CF-18s to show how big they are’: Trudeau” – “Justin Trudeau says he hasn’t decided whether to support Iraq mission” – “RAW Trudeau: Don’t just ‘whip out CF-18s’ 3:40” – “Trudeau says Canada must be involved in Iraq, but not necessarily in a combat role” – –
- “Delay in Iraq mission debate vexes opposition” – “Delay in Iraq mission debate raises ire of Tom Mulcair, Justin Trudeau” – “Canada’s political parties struggle with Iraq war plan”
- “Canada’s political approach to combat varied”
- “The mystery of Canadians in the Islamic State”
- Commentary “Without giving details to Parliament, Harper could wear Iraq mission alone” – “Everyone’s talking about the Tories’ secret, covert, hush-hush war plans” – “Harper fails to make the case for Canadian combat role in Iraq” – “Questionable record leaves Harper’s military flank exposed” – “Harper’s anti-ISIS game plan” – “Canadians need answers on ISIS mission” – “Stephen Harper not helping himself by recycling Iraq war rhetoric” – “Time again for Canada to say no to war” – “Canada should resist Obama’s flawed war on the Islamic State”
- Commentary from Journalists/Columnists on the Ground “Fisher: Canadians must wake up quickly to Middle East nightmare” – Terry Glavin: “Canada vs. The Islamic State: Not Our Finest Hour”
- ceasefire.ca commentary “A better way forward in a troubled world? Why radical diplomatic reform is imperative”
Ebola
- “Canada prepping for potential Ebola cases but still sees risk as low: health minister – Canada is considering placing doses of an experimental Ebola vaccine in hospitals around the country that have been designated to treat Ebola cases if any arrive in the country, the new chief public health officer said Wednesday ….”
- More on Ebola at Google News and at the European Commission’s news aggregator
Way Up North
Ukraine
- “Canada lends $200 mln to Ukraine”
- “Russia retaliates over Ukraine sanctions, banning imported food products from the West – Russia retaliated Thursday for sanctions over the crisis in Ukraine by banning most food imports from the West, dealing a blow to Europe that also takes aim at hurting the U.S., Canada ….”
Other
- “Sailor says he was beaten on board HMCS Regina” – more
- Remember the CP story about some new changes (allegedly) coming up to VAC benefits to “placate angry ex-soldiers”? Here’s the document (PDF) the story was based on, and here’s the original Committee report the department is responding to – and here’s what’s being said over at Milnet.ca about the newly released document (DISCLOSURE: I’m a moderator at Milnet.ca)
- F-35 Tug o’ War Academic commentary on extending the useful life of Canada’s CF-18’s “…. What is interesting is that the longer life of these planes will allow the Conservative government to delay making a decision on the F-35s. They can say: we don’t need to be rushed, as our current fighters will last longer. This is good for the Conservatives since it allows them to kick the can down the road a wee bit further…. past the 2015 election. This program has been a major political challenge for the government, one where the NDP demonstrated a real competence on defence. Well, on this one area. Of course, this is not fooling anyone. It does not take a year plus for Harper to figure out what he wants to do with the F-35/alternatives. He has had the report since spring, and he is not spending night and day pondering the RCAF’s future. He is deferring because it is politically expedient ….”
- “Huge (former military) land deal opens big tracts of Vancouver to development” – more
- More academic commentary on how the Tories are treating the CF “…. Harper almost certainly understands what he is doing is not good for the military or good for Canada, but it may get him re-elected. Ah, the joy of democracy–short term incentives win out.”
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