MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – September 3, 2014 ift.tt/1oFveFw Ukraine (1) “The Ukrainian ambassador to Canada has been begging for boots on the ground. Wednesday he got his wish with the announcement of Exercise Rapid Trident — an annual multinational exercise being held this month in Ukraine. It was announced out of the Wales NATO Summit that Canada will be among 15 nations who will be sent to the war-torn country for the exercise. Thirteen Canadian Army soldiers will participate in the exercise, “as Canada continues to support our allies in Eastern Europe,” the Prime Minister’s Office said Wednesday. Four officers from 5 Canadian Division Headquarters will provide mentorship and support to Ukrainian officers in command positions, while nine Canadian Army Counter Improvised Explosive Device (C-IED) instructors from 4 Engineer Support Regiment “will hone the skills and knowledge of participating soldiers’ C-IEDs methods and techniques,” PMO spokesman Jason MacDonald said ….” – more from Canadian media here, and on Rapid Trident here and here. Ukraine (2) From the Info-machine “Today approximately 100 Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) soldiers are participating in Exercise STEADFAST JAVELIN II in Latvia as part of Operation REASSURANCE, Canada’s commitment to working with our NATO Allies to promote security and stability in Central and Eastern Europe. STEADFAST JAVELIN II is a multinational exercise taking place from September 2 to 8 in five European nations – Germany, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. It aims to develop and enhance interoperability, readiness, joint operations capabilities, and multinational responses to potential crises ….” – more on Op Reassurance here Ukraine (3) “Harper likely to feel heat from allies over Ukraine military support” Ukraine (4) Commentary “NATO not coming to Kiev’s rescue, regardless of Putin’s actions” Ukraine (5) More of the latest from Ukraine here and here “Canada has reached a compromise with NATO allies in which member states will commit to trying to increase defence spending to 2 per cent of their annual economic output, rather than embracing a hard target for boosting military expenditures …. The Harper government, which styles itself a hawk on military spending, found itself in the unusual position of resisting pressure from allies to boost defence spending. On Tuesday evening, however, the Prime Minister’s Office announced Canada had found middle ground in discussions with Washington and London and other NATO members ….” - “Harper defends military spending” – Commentary: “Harper isolated on NATO defence spending” Commentary “DND brass tenaciously do nothing in face of warning over Canadian military disarray” Middle East (1) From the Info-machine “Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird was in Baghdad today to meet with government officials and discuss the critical humanitarian and security situation in Iraq. He was joined by an all-party delegation consisting of Paul Dewar, Member of Parliament for Ottawa Centre, and Marc Garneau, Member of Parliament for Westmount-Ville-Marie ….” Middle East (2) “Stephen Harper pledged further action Wednesday to combat the rising threat of Islamic extremism in the Middle East, but said he would do so on a frugal budget ….” – more – “ISIS in Iraq: What Canada could offer if West decides on military action – Range of options includes training for Kurdish fighters to surveillance planes ….” Middle East (3) Commentary “Canada being lured into another Iraq war” Middle East (4) “Two of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s top lieutenants on Wednesday jumped on retired general Andrew Leslie, one of Justin Trudeau’s top advisers, for saying the Israeli military had fired “indiscriminately onto Palestinian women and children.” Leslie’s remarks were made Aug. 19 but only surfaced this week when transcripts of his remarks, including a transcript made by Leslie himself, were provided to QMI Agency ….” Middle East (5) “Canadians held Americans hostage in Syria“ “Just two weeks ago the international president of Medecins Sans Frontieres insisted she didn’t want to be quoted saying military hospitals should be deployed to West Africa’s Ebola zone to bolster the woefully undermanned response efforts there — even though she herself raised the possibility. Dr. Joanne Liu had just returned from touring treatment facilities MSF — also known as Doctors Without Borders — is operating in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, which are engulfed in the worst Ebola outbreak on record. In an interview with The Canadian Press, she proposed tapping into military assistance, then quickly backed away when asked to be more explicit. “I don’t want you to quote me on that, because I’m going to get killed by MSF,” Liu said, her comment revealing the tension that often exists between Doctors Without Borders and the world’s armies. So it is all the more indicative of how dire conditions are in West Africa that Liu called on governments to deploy this type of expertise Tuesday when she addressed a special Ebola briefing for the United Nation. Without this help, Liu said, this outbreak will not stop. “To curb the epidemic, it is imperative that states immediately deploy civilian and military assets with expertise in biohazard containment,” she told the UN ….” Khadr Boy “Judge reserves (decision) on allowing Omar Khadr to widen $20M lawsuit against Ottawa” “A Canadian Forces veteran, who served for 27 years in such hot spots as Afghanistan, Bosnia and Kosovo, wants to take on veteran Conservative MP and former defence minister Peter MacKay in his Central Nova riding, setting up a tense dynamic for the 2015 general election. David MacLeod is seeking the Liberal nomination in the northern Nova Scotia riding, which Mr. MacKay, now the Justice Minister, has represented since 1997 ….”
Posted on: Thu, 04 Sep 2014 02:45:00 +0000