MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – 29 Mar 11

• Cpl. Yannick Scherrer, Royal 22e Régiment, R.I.P. He’s on his way home, expected to arrive home tomorrow.  More here.
• More on the latest fallen in Afghanistan: “Before he was killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan, Cpl. Yannick Scherrer was eagerly anticipating a vacation in Thailand. The trip was just two weeks away and was sure to be a lively affair with some of his male friends, he told followers on Facebook ….”
• Taliban Propaganda Watch:  Taliban claims to hit Canadian “tank” in Kandahar – no mainstream media confirmation on this.
• “The planned drawdown of US-NATO troops in Afghanistan later this year could adversely affect the flow of foreign aid to a country where the achievements since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001 are still fragile, aid workers warn. “We saw a drop in humanitarian assistance in Iraq and Kosovo after the international military forces withdrew,” Louise Hancock, a spokeswoman of Oxfam International in Afghanistan, told IRIN …. “We currently see the last spending frenzy in Afghanistan and then things will start slowing down,” said Sussane Schneidl, with NGO Tribal Liaison Office in Kabul ….”
• No Fly Zone in Libya (1) – “Canadian CF-18s flattened an ammunition depot and have co-ordinated other coalition air raids over Libya involving up to 20 warplanes, the military confirmed Monday. A reinforced bunker, 92 kilometres south of the battered city of Misrata, was hit with 225-kilogram, laser-guided bombs. It was the second ammunition dump taken out by the Canadian air contingent in a week. Four Hornet jetfighters from 425 Squadron out of Bagotville, Que., took part in the Sunday raid. There were no reports of casualties in the surrounding area, said Lt.-Col. Chris Lemay, an Ottawa spokesman for the overseas command. “The mission was successful according to the battle damage assessment we received and sustained no collateral damage as far as we can tell,” Lemay said late Monday ….”
• No Fly Zone in Libya (2) – “NATO’s commander for Libya deflected suggestions Monday that international airstrikes against Moammar Gadhafi’s forces were essentially providing air cover for advancing rebels, insisting that the military alliance’s mission is purely designed to protect civilians. Lt. Gen. Charles Bouchard of Canada told a press conference that the alliance was in the process of taking over command from the U.S.-led operation after NATO’s 28 members agreed Sunday to the transition. He declined to say how long it would take, saying it was complex and still being coordinated, though officials in Brussels have said it would be a few days. The move effectively means that once the transition is complete, NATO could bomb Gadhafi’s forces if they are threatening to harm civilian populations. International airstrikes have crippled Gadhafi’s forces, allowing rebels to advance near Gadhafi’s stronghold of Sirte after appearing at the brink of defeat ….” More from the Associated Press here.  You can read General Bouchard’s speech from the news conference here.  The name of the operation?  UNIFIED PROTECTOR
• No Fly Zone in Libya (3) – An update from HMCS Charlottetown: “The second in command of the Canadian warship patrolling the waters off Libya says community support back home plays a “significant role” in morale on board the vessel. Lt.-Cmdr. Matthew Coates, a Halifax native who is the executive officer of HMCS Charlottetown, said it is important for Canadians to understand the sacrifices members of the Armed Forces and their families make for their country, and he said it is vital for those on deployment to know their communities support them. “Success is predicated on the support of family and friends back home,” Coates, 34, said in an early-morning telephone call from the ship Monday. The ship’s company is getting its first break since leaving Halifax on March 2 in a sudden call to duty to the Mediterranean Sea that took many families by surprise ….”
• F-35 Tug o’ War – The Globe & Mail simply must link one of the candidates to the F-35.
• What’s Canada Buying?  Wanted: Someone to summarize Canada’s Arctic defence research.
• “A five-year-old girl rushed to hospital after a five-vehicle crash in Ottawa on Sunday afternoon has died, police confirmed Monday. The girl was riding in the driver-side rear seat of a minivan at about 3:30 p.m. on Sunday when the vehicle was T-boned at the intersection of Cyrville and Innes Roads, according to Ottawa paramedics. Paramedics said the girl suffered severe multi-system trauma, including a life-threatening head injury. Police confirmed Monday morning that the girl was pronounced dead late Sunday night. A woman at the scene who was a Canadian Forces military combat medic had treated the girl until firefighters arrived and helped to extricate her from the vehicle. Paramedics then rushed her to hospital but she did not have a pulse when they arrived at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario ….” According to the Ottawa Sun, that medic in question was Sergeant Alannah Gilmore.  “Well done” to Sgt. Gilmore.

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