Stephen Harper made a surprise visit Saturday to Iraq, the focus of a military campaign by Canada and allies to beat back Islamic State militants who still control about one-third of this country.
Mr. Harper arrived in Iraq about 7 a.m. Saturday morning, Baghdad time, travelling in a Canadian C-17 heavy-lift military aircraft and protected by heavy security.
The prime minister’s trip had been under a media blackout, for security reasons, until after early Saturday meetings in Baghdad[…]
Later he traveled to Erbil in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, where Canadian special forces are helping peshmerga militia battle the jihadists.
It’s just a photo-op sneers the Globe and Mail.
good Lord I hate liberals!
When was the last time Justin Trudeau or Thomas Mulcair made a visit to the military, either at home or abroad?
The awful Urnalists at work again. What a horrible life it must be to wake up every morning and conciously go out to hate someone who does not agree with your incorrect thought processes. ” I will not tolerate your intolerance” The medias motto. Harper is a good man, few and far between in politics. Here in Alberta the whole pathetic media is horny for a NDPee harridan with no business acumen, just another idiot. Just wait till they get their wet dream wish. Who will send the 22 billion to the rest of Canada then?
Is there justification for criticism of the size of Canada’s Defence Budget under the Conservatives?
Yes I think so. We Canadians have depended on the U.S. for far too long as our primary source of military preparedness. With sequestration depleting the U.S. military’s ability to prosecute a war on more than one continent it is time for Canada and other allies to begin to pick up the slack.
Our allies are right to be pressuring Canada to increase its military spending substantially. Canada is not pulling its weight. With a Defence Budget of $18.4 billion (1.0% of GDP) Canada needs to begin to more than double its spending for Defence.
Approximate Defence Spending (in billions)
U.S.A. ……….. $577.1 ……. 3.8% of GDP
U.K. …………… $51.5 …….. 2.2% of GDP
France ……….. $40.0 …….. 2.2% of GDP
India ………….. $38.0 …….. 2.4% of GDP
Australia …….. $26.2 ………1.6% of GDP
Source 1: http://www.globalfirepower.com/defense-spending-budget.asp
Source 2: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/MS.MIL.XPND.GD.ZS
If it was “just a photo-op” why did the Globe and Mail report it and publish a photo? Perhaps because it wasn’t newsworthy but it was an opportunity to dismiss the Prime Minister’s visit as just a photo-op?
Not so sure, at least there’s little evidence, either Trudeau or Mulcair believe in having a military. The Liberals gutted the military and the NDP do not believe in fighting to protect what we stand for. It’s all tea and sympathy. we saw examples of it as they railed on about the treatment of taliban prisoners, accused our own troops of war crimes.
“In late March, the prime minister used his parliamentary majority to extend the mission until March 2016.”
Amazing, Steven Chase, how a majority government does this type of thing.
Of course, Liberal governments never used their government majorities did they?
Oh wait a minute!…….
Maybe accompanying his father after he ordered out the troops on the citizens?
Or manning a shovel digging out trona
Or peddling his book. “Hair Apparent”. Riding dads coattails with the press in tow
Not able to find actual video of PM Harper’s visit, only these stills in video format from Reuters.
Does the G & M sees sub machine guns everywhere? The Iraq honor guard does seem to be using those Lee Enfield .303’s for ceremonial purposes at the airport, I doubt sub machine guns that have very limited use would be the weapon of choice to guard anyone… but when every gun owner needs to be painted evil, perhaps the sub machine gun is the first thing to spring to mind.
They make for a good home defence system… I can’t see the G & M approving them for that purpose either.
Here..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYdpW5x8h3s
So according to the dork Stephen Chase, the accidental death of Doiron and grousing about the Globe’s access to a battle site are all more important than this buried way down in the article:
“Mr. Harper announced $139-million in additional humanitarian aid for refugees affected by the conflict in Iraq and Syria, where Islamic State seized large portions of land in 2014.
He also unveiled nearly $2-million in security aid including six bomb disposal robots and 200 night vision goggles.”
The sheer pettiness of this cretin is beyond belief.
I really regret to rain on yer parade…pal…them’s not Lee Enfields…..they are Ismash made(SOviet) SKS ….
The magazine housing is the giveaway….also the integral folding bayonet…
Really gonna have ta get me one…
It wouldn’t surprise me if they did make such a visit. What would surprise me is if the Globe and Mail or the CBC referred to any visits they might make as “just a photo-op”.
I don’t mind any correction here… we can agree they’re not sub machine guns, there’s no photos of the actual street procession yet.
some internet chatter of those being quite accurate, with depressed pricing in the low hundreds $
Ya know, you read the comments, and it’s kind of sad, isn’t it? I mean, most of the commenters are, at least in a strictly technical sense, adult males. Imagine living like they do day in and day out-constantly scared, shaking, and snivelling. Must be awful.
“Mr. Harper announced $139-million in additional humanitarian aid for refugees affected by the conflict in Iraq and Syria, where Islamic State seized large portions of land in 2014.”
What????
It’s bad enough we give them free access to Canada with Social Assistance and housing, now we’re increasing the money ISIS is going to take away from the “moderates” once everyone else goes home.
Don’t get me wrong I think Harper is one of the best PM’s in Canadian history, but it’s BS like this that make’s me wonder. I’m guessing this is more knee bending to the UN on Canada’s behalf.
the fact that he also visited Kurdistan is a message that Canada would be willing to recognize a independent Kurdistan and the fact that he took the time to see them will not be lost on the Kurds or on other players in the region.
Gotta love the Grope and Flail readers and editors on their take that it was a photo-op. This trip was very low-key, so low key that the Grope and Flail had to revert to a Reuters picture of the coverage. If this had been Mulcair or Trudeau you could bet next weeks pay cheque that their trip would have been covered by staff photographers and they sure as he** wouldn’t have been travelling in a military transport!!!
CTV is trying to pigeon hole minister Alexander and have him admit Harper is addressing the troops for a photo op. Laurie Graham trying to link the visit to the election in five months. Minister Alexander responded with so you think Western leader invented ISIL for photo ops.
What a bunch of dip sh!ts