Monday 26 July 2010

Leaking the Afghan Documents & National Security

Since absolutely everything that happens has national security implications to the neo-con mini-minds, it's not a surprise that they'd now claim our soldiers are at risk because of the release of these historical documents. In fact, they don't do much more than reinforce what anyone with any military experience knows full well, namely that we are losing this war because of lack of resources and political will.

Afghanistan is a guerrilla war, not a conventional war. 150,000 soldiers operating in a hostile country with a totally corrupt government and an ineffective and corrupt local security organization will never "win", regardless of how long we stay there. 500,000 might. On the other hand, it would be a lot cheaper in lives and dollars, if we just paid to re-settle those Afghans who are in danger because of co-operating with us and also those who just want to get out.

There's no sense fooling ourselves, Alexander the Great couldn't subdue Afghanistan 2300 rears ago, the Brits couldn't do it 125 years ago, the Russians couldn't 30 years ago and the Americans don't have a military record that's any better. The guerrilla fighters (regardless of what name you want to give them) have the same mindset now as they did 2300 years. The difference is that today they have modern weapons. And who originally gave them those and trained them starting in the 1980's?

Saturday 24 July 2010

Clement's Folly - The Census



For more on this issue, see my earlier posting below: The Census & Neo Con Intelligence

Friday 16 July 2010

Avro Arrow Affair, Airbus Affair, Lockheed Martin Affair? Conservative Party History

In 1959, at the height of the Cold War, a Conservative government killed what was potentially the best fighter in the world (and destroyed Canada's aircraft industry). At that time, we needed such a plane. Today, they want to spend $9 billion+ on an untendered plane contract for a plane we don't need. There is no conventional war on the horizon (no, Afghanistan is not a conventional war, it's a guerrilla war). You don't need fighters for that, you need all sorts of other planes - transport planes, helicopters, reconnaissance drones, etc.

So, in 1959 we had the Conservative Avro Arrow affair, 20 years ago we had the Conservative Airbus affair, and today, the Lockheed Martin affair?

What happened to the military base in the North we were promised by Harper? What happened to the ice-breaking warships we were promised by Harper to protect our northern sovereignty? If we don't have a country on the ground, why do we need new American fighter planes in the air?

Wednesday 14 July 2010

RETHINK ALBERTA

It's not enough that successive Alberta governments have been giving away Alberta's oil and gas to mostly foreign companies for almost no royalties (Norway, which controls its own oil production has amassed about $170 billion in the same time that Alberta has been content with $17 billion). In addition, the Alberta and the federal governments have not enforced even the minimal anti-pollution regulations they've enacted, again unlike Norway which has some of the most stringent regulations in the world.

So, it's not surprising that international anti-Alberta and anti-Canada voices are getting stronger. Here's the latest:

The Census & Neo Con Intelligence

I knew the good feeling wouldn't last!

The neo-cons' explanations for their latest example of brain-dead stupidity would be laughable if the reliability of census data weren't such an important issue. It's no surprise that Harper & Co. would come up with something like this - making the census long form voluntary despite protests from experts and business people. The development of government services at all three levels of government depends on the data collected from the long forms.

But let's not forget, the main reason the Neo-Conservative Party exists is to kill all government services.

We need to get rid of this government, before it gets rid of us!!

Thursday 8 July 2010

Our New Governor-General: Harper Makes His First Ever Intelligent Decision

Well, I have to say I'm absolutely astounded. This is the first time I've agreed with anything Harper has said or done since I've followed his less than stellar career in federal politics during the past 20 years.

David Johnston is an excellent choice as Governor-General! An eminent scholar well-versed in Canadian constitutional law, he would not be easily dismissed if he had to stand up to Harper on a constitutional issue such as prorogation. We must never forget that if Michaelle Jean had not agreed to prorogation, Harper would not only have attacked her personally, but also her office, and thus would have provoked a constitutional crisis from which we might not have recovered as a united country.

With David Johnston's background and with him being his own choice, Harper will have a much harder time undermining Canadian democratic institutions. The Governor-General has specific powers under our constitution which he (or she) must and will, if necessary, exercise to control any potential excesses by the executive branch of government (the prime minister). In the past, our governors-general have risen to the challenge, and I have no doubt Dr. Johnston will as well.