In a vote 157 for and 134 against Canada will once again put our military to task.
In 1990 I was a crewman of HMCS Saskatchewan. The ship was about to go through a refit process and prior to reassignment to HMCS Mackenzie I was assigned to the Saskatchewan's cleanup crew prior to the docks taking control. Basically I was hauling crap from the boat to where ever it was deemed to go. There was a lot of crap. We were the night crew and started around six in the evening and finished around six the next morning.
One day, while walking into the base, sirens started going off, and kept going.
I walked up to the PO (Petty Officer) in charge of our crew and asked, "What's going on?" There had been no fire drills, no rushing around the base that would indicate a threat or problem. He replied, "We're at war."
This, of course, was Gulf 1.
After my duty was done, and I headed back to the duplex I shared, there were concrete blocks zig-zag'd in front of the base. I turned on the TV. CNN became CNN during this time. The next four months were probably the most stressful period of my life.
They didn't need volunteers on the boats that went, they were full because many, many of us volunteered.
So we watched. We watched missiles fired on Israel in an attempt to bring them into the war. We watched those civilians donning gas-masks in fear of the chemicals Iraq had poured on Iranian troops. We watched dramatic fireballs behind Peter Arnett and Bernard Shaw.
It was very exhilarating. Except...I couldn't get over the what-ifs. What if Israel retaliated? What if Iraq used chemical weapons? What if....
Those were my wingers over there.
So, yeah. a vote was held to send our pilots, crews and ground crews over to rain judgment on those who would despoil the gift of life.
But there is no trepidation, no hesitation. They are still my wingers, but they'll be in far less danger than our ships and pilots during Gulf 1. Far less danger than Afghanistan. Far less danger than Kosovo. And they'll be on the side of angels.
God speed, men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces.
Tonight's vote was to the everlasting shame of the Liberals and the NDP. I knew Mark Garneau in uniform and I had higher expectations of him. Like Lance, I was thrust into the Gulf War, albeit in a support role for 4 Fighter Wing, our CF-18 commitment. Evil must be confronted and playing political games is a disgrace from which I hope the "Loyal Opposition" never recovers.
Edited to reflect the Air Force contribution to Gulf 1. Sorry Aviator.
Cheers Mate!
Lance in 1961 it was the Cuban Missile Crisis. I was at the end of my Five year enlistment and just finished my mustering out at HMCS Stadacona. The base was closed as was HMCS Shearwater across the Halifax Harbour.
There was no need for the Canadian Ships to leave Halifax as the war was still being fought in the Oval Office and the Kremlin. The U.S.Navy always at sea in The Caribbean had the situation well in hand, but the world stood still.
Why oh why does the uninformed not recognize the truth about having a military capability is the only way the evil of humans to other humans can be kept in check? My only guess is there are domestic self aggrandizers who distort for their own interests. Cheers again Mate!
One thing I couldn't add to the entry, but really should have.
I am just under 3 months older than Justin Trudeau.
Taking ISIS out is a good idea, and I am not on general principles against Canada participating in such expeditions, but 6 CF-18s is at best a token force.
Given that the Saudis, Jordanians and the UAE have over 500 Fighter aircraft between them and a large slab of oil money, why don't they spend their blood and treasure cleaning up their backyard? Or if we are to do it for them, then they should pay for it and pay through the nose.
For those of us old enough to remember, this is a stark reminder of the attitude that Trudeau had toward the military and police. Basically regarded as the palace gaurd to protect the laurentian elite and not to be used to protect the general public or fight to protect the country and our allies.
The sr trudeau disdained the military and only depolyed them once and that was to declare marshal law because he and his Quebec political cohorts felt threatened.
Justin seems to display this attitude in spades, apparently Mulcair seems to as well.
Hopefully a good number of voters will realize this now as well
Lance, I remember those days. I was in Petawawa at the time. We were all hoping to go to. Of course they only needed one maintenance officer for the National Support Element and it wasn't me. The rest of us spent the next several months working hard to get the field hospital trained up,fixed up, packed up and shipped of.
Unfortunately in Canada unlike in the States most people have no relative in the armed forces or live near a military base. I also wonder how many young people have ever fired or touched a gun except for in video games.
Not only did Justin have a Communist dictator supporting father but his mother was a hippie pacifist. Any wonder he is so naive. After all the bluster from former Liberal big wigs I thought at least a few Liberals would stand up for the Christians and Kurds in Iraq but no. What a disgrace.
Wow, thanks for sharing this. We owe men like you a lot.
I dunno – I just get a bad feeling every time we send men to war with politicians running the rules of engagement. I fear for the troops. Will they be allowed to do what they have to do to WIN. Will they be pilloried by PC vermin in the media and opposition benches (remember how they used the CAF to try to get at the PM?)and have this encumber the militay objective? I hope the troops remember the pols leaving them to swing in the breeze during the Afghan detainee non scandal and in Somalia when the airborne did what it was trained to do. I fear they have proper leadership to get the job done and not some Lib-left political climber who is more at home in an LPC circle jerk than a battle field.
Lastly I worry about mission creep – I say bombs away as far as that goes, but I will fight against one single Canadian life being wasted on a protracted ground engagement with a political objective rather than a military objective. And I do not support ANY involvement in a ME conflict as long as we leave immigration from these enemy nations open. Unless these last two provisos are met – NO WAR. Committing to war while leaving the front door open to enemy infiltration, and running a war in a PC manner for reasons other than winning is immoral and treasonous.
Apparently there were a handful of Liberals who didn't show up for the vote, the party is showing it's divide once again, some of the old guard are not onside with their leadership, whoever and whatever that is. Justin is being led, hasn't got the brain power to think for himself, make important decisions beyond playing political tag with the NDP for votes.
For someone with the accomplishments of Marc Garneau to be so silly as to come out and say they'd be voting against this motion but would then be for it, tells me he's willing to make an ass of himself for the politics of the stupid.
Then there's this silly ass, gormless Trudeau adviser,former "General/whatever" Leslie who continues to make a fool of himself. To think he was in our military top brass is scary indeed, thankfully he's not there now.
WRT apparent dissension in the Liberal ranks, kudos to senior Liberal Irwin Cotler for abstaining for 'lack of clarity.' While not a 'yes' vote, I see it as a rebuke to his leader's decision to oppose. Mr Cotler has often written in favour of Canada's (PMSH's) staunch support for Israel.
The 'L' in ISIL represents the Levant which I understand to include that land under Israel. Therefore, he sees ISIL as a direct threat not only to Syria and Iraq but to the entire Middle East.
Matthew Fisher in Saturday's NP quoted a British colleague who said over dinner that sometimes in international affairs there comes a situation where collective action by the entire world community is a "no brainer." Too bad Justin couldn't see this situation as one of those times.
Great post, Lance,
MM
The ONLY issue I have with sending the CAF into the Middle East is that I believe our allies are not serious about fighting a war and for that matter neither are we. Dropping a few bombs may be one way of doing a bit of damage while keeping the media away but it is not going to work if the objective is to defeat ISIS.
"God speed, men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces." I second that motion.
Stay safe.
1990, I was on Supplementary Ready List at the time and called up serve at the HQ located at the Winnipeg airport. This was so that all the young bucks could go to Wainright, AB. for exercises. It seems like an age ago.
Our "allies" in the region aren't fighting at all. Turkey, our is watching the Kurds get massacred in northern Syria. Where are the Saudis and the UAE? Working behind the scenese to make sure the Americans and the Euros do the Arabs fighting for them.
I don't understand why the bloggers here are foursquare behind Canadians fighting a war on behalf of Iran and its clients in Baghdad and Damascus. If the Persians and their terrorist Shiite minions are worried about the Arabs gaining ground with their fanatical Sunni caliphate then let them deal with it. Or the Turks. If the Saudis want to rein in the monster they unleashed, they can knock themselves out.
Lance, do you seriously believe that if ISIS is defeated (a big 'if') things will be any better over there? Who are you all in for in Syria? Hezbollah or Al Qaeda? Who's your horse after it's all over? The Iranian client regime in Baghdad?
When a country is faced with the very serious challenge of making the decision whether to send young men and women in harm's way, leaders must lead, they do not use someone else to try to do it for them. Trudeau, like his father, was AWOL. The liberals should be ashamed of themselves.
As an American, I am grateful to have friends as loyal and true as Canada. As a veteran, I'm happy to have friends as loyal and lethal as Canada. '8 -)
I was stationed at CFB Toronto during the first Gulf War. Our section was tasked to provide one clerk for the FSH (forward surgical hospital) and we received several volunteers. There was one tech who went despite being on counselling & probation for weight issues (he went, did fine, and the BMI program died). We had another tech who refused to go and I had to counsel him that he would be released the day he was due overseas; he said he knew that and had been on four tours already and ended his career over it.
We had a fellow make "Saddam buster" tea shirts which he brought to Base HQ. I asked to inspect his vehicle, he said OK, and he gave us the shirts for no charge, which I later ferried up to our troops training in Petawawa, courtesy of our reserve helicopter squadron, along with other goodies. We hit some nasty snow storms and the pilot told me he might have to set down - I told him to do whatever he needed to do.
Quite memorable.
Thank y'all for your service.
As much as I dislike Mulcair, one has to admit that he is caught between a rock and a hard place politically. If he does the right thing and supports PMSH on this, he will gain a degree of respect from reasonable people. The problem is that reasonable people will never, ever vote for the NDP no matter what Mulcair says or does. By taking the high road (unfamiliar territory for Mulcair) he risks alienating the whackos and pacifist cretins who will have no problem in switching their allegiance to the Liberals who, as we well know, have a complete and total lack of morals and courage and exist only to get votes.
As for Trudeau. Well, he's just an idiot plain and simple.
So our troops in the ME are under Obama's command.
Great.
What should be standing out to all of us is the games being played by the Opposition players in our HOC. They're playing domestic politics with an issue that is a threat to all of us in the free world. We need to do this to keep them contained and rendered powerless, it's not about the next election, not a popularity contest.
Saudi Arabia and Iran are much bigger threats.
The same government that promotes Saudi mosques in Canada, sends the RCMP to Muslim outreach, and imports hundreds of thousands of Muslims a year is not interested in our safety.
Yeah well, it's better than being under ANY UN control or ROE's.
As an associate, commented regarding being a UN observer, enforcing UN ROE's is a dangerous matter.
Dead men file no reports...."Tain't right.....just is."
Yes, but did the RCMP take this directive from the government or from within their own hierarchy?
The booklet put out by the so-called "Muslim outreach" had the RCMP crest on it but I think they have since distanced or tried to distance themselves from the outfit. IMO we should tread carefully in the trust department when they take the liberty to use a logo without permission, if indeed that is the case.
The Conservatives have heard from me on the subject of Muslim immigration. I have some faith in Chris Alexander to act on this matter but we can't sit on our hands and not keep after them, never assume anything when it comes to what our governments are up to.
What gets me with this government is their abject failure when it comes to dealing with issues that need explanation and in a lot of cases, correction, they allow the media and opposition to run with lies and half truths. The RCMP like the Senate operate their own affairs. The government involvement with the Senate beyond the PM appointing people to fill the vacancies is nil. They operate by their own rules, when they are broken it's not the fault of the government beyond making bad choices to fill those appointments.
IMO we'd be far worse off with a Liberal or NDP government in dealing with these matters so we need to be careful what we wish for and ultimately vote for.
Mike >
I’m with you on this.
It’s too bad the keyboard warriors didn’t have a bigger stake in this foreign conflict other than other people money and other people’s kids.
I’d have a lot more respect for opinions of people actually going to fight in some far away desert than internet tough guys whose biggest worry is shifting their fat asses from the computer chair to the Monday night football chair. But we don’t hear from the real soldiers in the field, only the vets bitching about their VA care and paltry pensions.
As far as stopping ISIS/ ISIL “over there” – the big news for those that like Open Borders especially for the sake of Globalization, is – They’re ALREADY HERE.
Yup in our universities, our taxi cabs and just about any profession you dare to step into an office for.
Anyway, a few airplanes and crews is a small price to pay over “boots on the ground”, but that can change fast. The biggest surprise for me is how many so called “conservatives” think that following Obamba and Hillary’s foreign policies under their command is in our best interests, seriously?
This may be more about the right thing to do than just "following Obamba(sic) and Hillary's foreign policies under their command". It's not ideal to be taking any leads from the present US administration, they're a sad lot even beyond their refusal to allow the pipeline, but we can't cut off our noses to spite our face, we're playing a small part in this fight, it's not only about our interests. The odd thing is the Obama cheerleaders among the Liberal/Left this is being called "Harper's War" when it was their hero Obama is in it and who asked us for assistance.
I agree with Occam on this issue.
Once combat has been decided, the politicians should back-off and let the military do their job. Micro-managing by politicians always wastes lives and resources and seldom achieve the objectives. MP Lawrie Hahn, a retired fighter pilot, is one of the few politicians to understand this. He also correctly stated that we should not divulge the ROE, as it only gives the enemy an advantage. If we're going to fight, then we fight to win with the least loss of life.
We should not put any troops on the ground. Non-Muslim troops will always be regarded as "infidel occupiers" never as liberators. We should have learned that lesson by now. Instead we should provide the troops of the neighboring countries with combat air support and technical assistance.
If there must be combat, fine. Vaporise ISIS but do go in it to win.
Or ...
Send them in the direction of Saudi Arabia and Iran and then leave.
I'm sure the fellow Muslims can sort out the rest.
The approach to problems as demonstrated By General Leslie sure makes the media criticism of P.M. Harper's decision to turn Leslie away.
well now key board intellect, the keyboard warriors are a site more entertaining, and therefore more palatable than keyboard intellects. Butt than again, you basically posted nothing and therefore probably don't qualify for keyboard intellect. But tell you what 99, if I hear about a terrorist attack on this side of the pond I'll give you a heads up so you can present yourself as a victim. I always like quacking idiots who never want to do any thing until it's about to disrupt their lives...once of prevention..........................
Leaving it to the locals is what led to the Taliban, al Qaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood, Recep Erdogan, etc.; and a laissez faire policy is getting increasingly dangerous for the West.
A war of conquest against Iran is desperately needed, followed by the imposition of a peace, which will be greatly opposed by the locals.
If he West does nt destroy the power of Iran,the terrorism it foments will eventually result in the destruction of a Westrn capital by a clandestine atomic weapon. Does anyone care to risk that?
Kudos to lance for his patriotism, service, and warrior spirit - which are always out of fashion with the governing class and others of the smart set. The media wish these virtues were dead, but the fact that they are still present and revered yet not celebrated says more about the scribbling class, than anything of importance.
NME666 >
Heh, and I used to think you were just partially retarded.
I did a stint on the Saskatchewan back in '77 even I was in cadets. A week long trip down to San Diego and Mazatland(sp?). Great memories.
As for Gulf War 1 I was stationed in Wpg. I remember my mom phoning all crying not wanting me to go to war. I told her not worry, unless the air force was going to start putting hard points on the Tutors.
Having said that, as us retreads would ask the pure air force types "What happens when all the planes are gone grunt?"