There are peace-at-any-pricers here, but that's not the essence of the nation i don't think, we are not at core unrealistically pacifist do-nothings .... we were not so long ago the shock troops of democracy, captured Mons in Belgium twice now, that's part of the heritage
Canada spends about 1.1% of gdp on defense, narrowly edging out Iceland who are at 0.0% .... we should double it, roughly .... hmm, this is interesting, the top spender in Nato is not the US at 2.9%, but Turkey at 5.0%, followed by Greece at 4.8% - dnd.ca
Some of this will depend on what each nation calls its 'military', no doubt .... the icelanders likely have means of defending themselves with a coast guard and police, while the turks may be using their army as a job-creation programme while it does repression of the kurds, which is internal and in another nation would be handled by police
This group - ccs21.org - has been founded by some well-known names, among them retired general Lewis MacKenzie, who has served with your general Wesley Clark, also Powell and Zinni
One main concern stated by some against rebuilding our military, is that it will then be commandeered by US militarist adventurers in situations counter-productive to peace, a la Iraq '03 ..... this is wrong-headed, i believe, it presumes a weakness to our national will, a lack of spine .... we have not retained our independence this long by being weak, we need the ability to defend ourselves for precisely that reason, to avoid becoming a US protectorate, and ending up with no country at all
In overseas operations, there is a bread-to-bombs ratio of importance, the danes have the best in the world, they spend 1.0% on foreign aid and only slightly more on defense .... Canada and several other independent democracies could perhaps incorporate foreign development aid into its armed forces, with places like Afghanistan in mind, where we have invaded and thereby incurred a responsibility ..... not sure if this would be a good idea, some NGOs people say aid must never be seen to be militarised, because it gets them, and locals who cooperate with them, shot ..... i wonder though, if maybe canucks and kiwis could cross this line, where a larger and/or more aggressive nation could not, and we could use those hearts-and-minds regiments i mention above
On the diplomatic front, we should be rebuilding the UN ... this is vitally important, top priority, the only long-term fix possible ..... maybe move its centre, NYC taxistas would appreciate that, buy or build an island somewhere and set it up far less luxurious than it is now, because the reps we send there are supposed to be doing a job, not living it up and whoring around, let's help them concentrate .... voting weights - India should have greater weight than some place with one per cent of her population, and ruled by a dickhead dictator, duh .... there has to be weight given to democratic advancement, with ways to measure its progress when nations are genuinely trying
And in the meantime, coalitions with fellow democracies where appropriate, yes .... a concern far larger than terrorism is domination by the US, especially when such domination is the express philosophy of its rulers, you will appreciate this i'm sure ..... we must reject entirely the 'yer with us or yer agin us' garbage, avoid falling into the trap of being automatically in or automatically out of US actions, rather we must consider each issue on its merits and with an eye to the long term, and always leave the door open to responsible elements from anywhere |
