What got me rolling in that vein was hearing on the radio one of our major-generals [we've got brigadiers and major-generals up the ying-yang, too many chiefs and not enough armed capable on-the-ground indians, product of many years of federal Liberal misrule due to population distribution and general apathy/ignorance] .. [biggest problem canadians have is their apathy, if anyone ever cares about it, it's gonna be a problem] ... anyway, this doofus was explaining that contingency plans were being worked out for cross-border movement of troops in case of emergencies ... both ways btw, but since we have dick in the way of military we know how the flow would go ... and he gave as an example, 'maybe guarding airports' ... also 'what if Vancouver had an earthquake, would we not welcome US army engineer help' ... to this last, i say well duh, if Seattle had an earthquake we'd be there in a flash, we're the neighbours, but we would not come in tanks, nor bring sidearms for that matter one hopes, it is a foreign country and we would be guests there, it would behoove us to come with tools more appropriate to the job
To the first, 'guarding airports' and the like, i highly object to canadians even considering such a capitulation of sovereignty ... our national hymn has a line, 'O Canada, we stand on guard for thee' .... it is our duty to fulfil that commitment, if we do not we will lose this country to the control of Washington
Now it is possible that this m-g Cameron Ross was not such an ignorant doofus, and instead was instigating debate on the ridiculously low funding this nation gives its military in recent years .... i hope so, for the sake of this country, that it was such a ploy .... but you know, he sounded so sincerely willing to surrender, if a ruse it was excellently presented .... i say we bust him to latrine attendant while we investigate the matter
There has been US military in this country continuously since early '42, much of it during the cold war, DEW line stations etc, other cooperation on many levels ... works both ways, there are canadians at NORAD headquarters and other places like the Florida [?] site they ran the afghan war out of ..... reality of life is, we're neighbours and allies in any cause we perceive to be just, i have no great problem with much of this, save an unease with the unknowns of 'entangling alliances' ...... but, a situation in which it is conceivably possible for armed US troops to point a weapon at a canadian on his home soil, this is far far over the line
Yes we must fund our military better, no question ... currently less than four hundred loonies per capita per annum, that is ridiculous .... a draft won't fly, considered un-canadian and rightly so, by honouring our forces properly and paying them a decent salary we can get all the red-blooded colonial boys and girls we need ... we've done it before and done it superbly - check out how quickly this country responded in '14 and '39, war came and wham we were right there lining up to get in
Responsible elements in the US would rather we do it ourselves i should think ... saves them the tax money, and more importantly the bad press of what would be seen as extension of a Manifest Destiny grab of territory .... obviously you have nothing whatsoever to fear from us, you're better off leaving us relatively free ... from our point of view, there is a disquietingly intense and irrational militarist faction in your country, you can see it on a lot of these threads here, adults who advocate turning the middle east into glass as long as it doesn't make the oil inaccessible .... too much power already in too few unchecked hands, is how we see it, many of your countrymen see it the same, well here we have a prepared line, the forty-ninth parallel, let's respect it
Post cut short, real life intruding again ... good to see you here Tim, i've enjoyed your posts on other threads, didn't always agree with specific points but always found you coherent thoughtful and a civilised debater ... later, cheers |
