MILNEWS.ca Highlights – January 9, 2017

Veterans & Helping Veterans (or Not?)

• “After N.S. murder-suicide, Veterans Affairs minister calls family to offer funeral costs” – “Military to pay funeral costs for victims of NS veteran’s murder-suicide” – “Ottawa paiera les funérailles de la famille massacrée par le vétéran Lionel Desmond”
• “Gen. Vance and Minister Sajjan slow to act as ombudsman calls for changes in wake of murder-suicide”
• “Veterans Affairs Canada still understaffed despite Liberal pledge”
• “Veterans Affairs stands by level of support it provides ex-soldiers”
• “Not helping veterans could turn into national security problem: Military Ombudsman”
• “VAC takes Medavie Blue Cross to task over medical marijuana envelopes”
• ROMÉO DALLAIRE:  “The war doesn’t end when soldiers return home”
• ” ‘Pain is the same’ for all combat veterans : Former soldier”
• “EDITORIAL:  Fill the gaps in mental health”

Ukraine

• “The Mission At Hand: A busy year of (Cdn tps) training Ukrainian soldiers”
• “Oops! US Gave Obsolete Drones to the Ukraine”
• “Former (UKR) PM says Ukrainian government in exile could be formed”
• “Ukrainian Security Service promises to dissuade Savchenko from disclosing prisoner, missing person lists”
• “Ukrainian Conflict to ‘Escalate Until Trump’s Inauguration’ — Tensions in Donbass will build up until US President-elect Donald Trump and his team come to power, Vadim Kolesnichenko, President of the International Council of the Russian Compatriots, told Radio Sputnik …”
• “LPR Head: New 2017 to terminate Donbass conflict”
• “Headquarters ATO announces the disappearance of the three Armed Forces Ukraine near the boundary” (UKR MoD, in Ukrainian)
• Updates from All Sides  “Latest from OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine, based on information received as of 19:30, 6 January 2017” – UKR govt ATO map, 7 Jan 2017 – “Briefing of Ukrainian Defence Ministry spokesperson on ATO related issues” (UKR MoD, 7 Jan 2017, in English) – “Briefing of Ukrainian Defence Ministry spokesperson on ATO related issues (video)” (UKR MoD, in English, 8 Jan 2017) – “Donetsk Defense: Situation Report, 7.01.2017” – “Lugansk Defense: Situation Report, 8.01.2017” – “Donetsk Defense: Situation Report, 08.01.2017” – “Number of attacks in ATO zone increased to 48, – ATO HQ” – “On Orthodox Christmas Day, militants attack Ukraine positions in Donbas 72 times, wounding six troops” – “DPR Command: Ukrainian forces shell Republic more than 3 thousand times over week”
• “Separating Fact and Fiction in the Svitlodarsk Bulge”
• “Oh, Those Russians …”  “Russia supplies militants in Donbas with 250 tons of fuel – (UKR) Intelligence Directorate” –  “Never Cry “Bear!”: Ukrainian hacktivists fact-checking CrowdStrike report” (InformNapalm.org, pro-UKR OSINT) – “(RUS) 205th Brigade troops deployed to the Ukrainian border” – “Russian military shell occupied Khartsyzk, civilian casualties reported: Intel”
• A Christmas Treat from the Separatist Info-machine  “DPR elite Bunny unit thwarts a Big Bad Wolf’s attempt to steal Christmas from Donbass (MOVIE)”
• “Syrian terrorists’ instructors to train Ukrainian forces’ command staff”
• “Residents of DPR/LPR angry over wage and pension arrears, low-quality food from Russia”
• ” “DPR” limited import of products for citizens from Ukrainian side, – OSCE”
• “Kiev says problem of payment for water supplies to LPR unblocked”
• “No law passed by Ukrainian parliament to promote political settlement in Donbass”
• Really?  “The police of the Netherlands detained two Dutch journalists Stephen Beck and Michel Spekkers in Amsterdam, upon their return from the Donbas. The police confiscated all the materials that the journalists collected in the south-east of Ukraine …” (PravdaReport)

Cold War 2.0

• The Big U.S. Hack  “British intelligence ‘among the first’ to notify US about Russian hacking” – “The Kremlin Wants You to Read That Hacking Report” – “An Open Letter to the CIA from the Head of RT, Margarita Simonyan” – “Christmas tale from CIA, NSA and FBI: Elusive ‘Russian hacker’ is Putin” (pravdareport.ru)
• “Main Baltic News Agency Targeted by Cyber Attack”
• “Time to review what the Russian Armed Forces say they got during the last year. One can’t confirm what weapons and equipment were delivered, so Russian claims have to suffice …” (Russian Defence Policy blog) – “Russian Combat Divers to Tote State-of the-Art Amphibious Assault Rifle”
• “Netherlands takes over NATO’s Baltic air policing mission” – “NATO and Russian Warplanes play game of cat and mouse in the Baltic skies”
• “Czech Battalion Sets Off for Training Bridge 2017 Military Drills in Lithuania” – “250 soldiers of US armored brigade arrived in Poland” – “US deterrence forces arriving in Europe” – “US vows better NATO drills ‘to deter Russia’ “
• “In Lithuania, Learning How to Block Tanks With Trees Is Back in Fashion”
• “Take a Guess at How Long Russian Troops Will Remain in Syria”

Way Up North

• “How Russian advances in the Arctic are leaving NATO behind”
• Colonel Ted:  “I understand that Prime Minister Trudeau, supported by many Liberals, wants to just ignore the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Forces, ideally starving the CF into strategic and political irrelevance, but a combination of Vladimir Putin and Donal Trump may make that impossible …”

#CANvsISIL

• “Canadian war-zone doctors saving ISIL jihadists at hospital near the front lines in Iraq”
• ” ‘Worried about this one’: Canadian anti-ISIL fighter documented his time in Syria in messages, photos, videos”– “Volunteer killed in Syria a ‘reckless adventure-seeker’ “
• “Opinion: Why Canadians should not leave to fight ISIL”
• “Shutdown of key Yazidi aid group creates new hurdle for Canada’s resettlement plan — The Immigration Department says Canada remains committed to resettle Yazidi survivors by its Feb. 22 deadline despite a new complication: the closure of a key humanitarian group working to identify and screen women and girls in greatest need of protection …” – “Canadian government remains committed to settle Yazidi refugees” – “Yazda Urges Reopening of Yazidi Refugee Aid and Therapy Services in Iraq” (Yazda statement) – “International Genocide NGO Begins Investigation into Yezidi Massacre” – “Yazda NGO Banned Over Involvement in Political Activities” – “Kurdish official calls closure of Yezidi NGO ‘illegal’ “ – “KRG closes offices of Yezidi rights organization Yazda” – “Closure of Iraq charity puts rescued Yazidi sex slaves at risk, director warns” – Army.ca “Yazidis to Canada” thread (DISCLOSURE:  I’m a moderator over at army.ca)
• “Canada has an Opportunity to be the Voice of Reason on Syria” (Centre for International Policy Studies)

Everyone Else Vs. ISIL

• “Minister of National Defence Reacts to attack in Jerusalem” (DND Info-machine) – More on Truck-Ramming Attack against IDF Troops (via Google News) http://bit.ly/2jkqKJG

Mo’ Peacekeeping Coming?/Canada Into Africa?

• “UN condemns deadly ambush that leaves one ‘blue helmet’ dead in Central African Republic”
• “Canadian Peace Operation Must Address Realities and Risks” (NATO Association of Canada)
• Colonel Ted on the Government’s Peacekeeping Assessment:  “… I’m assuming that Team Trudeau does understand its aim: winning that temporary, second class seat on the UNSC. If that’s the case then I hope their analysis says: “how little do we have to do? how do we take the minimum risks? how few soldiers do we need to send?” …”

Sexual Assault/Harassment in the CF

• “Ex-military medic’s court martial on sex assault charges, breach of trust, to begin in Gatineau (today)” – “Ex-medic faces third sex trial Monday” – “Court Martial Begins for Ex-PO2 James Wilks” (DND Info-machine) – “L’ex-premier maître de 2e classe «palpeur de seins» James Wilks de nouveau devant la justice militaire”
• “Canadian Armed Forces Member was found not guilty of sexual assault at court martial”
• “Alleged rape survivor asks why ‘the military’s judging their own’ in possible voyeurism case at Toronto base”

Internal Security

• “Crown drops charges against suspected Ottawa terrorist Tevis Gonyou-McLean” – “Mentally ill addict or terrorist? Gonyou-McLean released from jail”
• “CSIS assessing ‘bulk data’ collection, records show”
• “Canada Border Services Agency loses wanted fugitive—twice”
• From the Lux Ex Umbra blog  “ATIpper #6: 1957 Division of Effort” – “ATIpper #7: 1948 Quinquepartite SIGINT Agreement”

Way Up North

• “Some Perspective on the US- Canada Joint Statement on the Arctic”

What’s Canada Buying?

• Big Honkin’ Ships  “A subsidiary of French defence giant Thales has been selected for a $5-billion contract to maintain Canada’s new Arctic patrol vessels and supply ships, but according to documents obtained by the Ottawa Citizen, the Canadian government had earlier been warned by some officials at the Department of National Defence that its strategy of having one firm do maintenance for both fleets could cost taxpayers more money in the long run …”
• “The Department of National Defence and Canadian Forces require the services of a contractor, on an “as and when requested” basis, to operate the Polar Epsilon (PE) Near Real-Time Ship Detection (NRTSD) System, which delivers to the Canadian Atlantic and Pacific Regional Joint Operations Centres (RJOC) a capability to exploit RADARSAT-2 (R2) for all-weather, day and night, active wide area surveillance, for the purposes of contributing to the situational awareness of the maritime approaches to Canada and North America and to foreign littoral areas where the Canadian Forces may be deployed …”

Other

• “Justin Trudeau stopping at CFB Trenton next week”
• “TAYLOR: Trudeau’s Liberals may be setting military up to fail”
• “Ex-Bomber Maguire still in the game as he eyes military service”

World War Two

• “English village honours Canadian WW II airmen as ‘Yorkshire’s sons’ “

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