(3 Sept. 2010) The secretive war fought in Afghanistan by Canada’s special forces will also end next year when the army ceases combat operations in Kandahar, says Lt.-Gen. Marc Lessard, the head of the Canadian Expeditionary Force Command. Lessard said that most Canadians are not aware that the parliamentary motion to halt combat operations by July 2011 also applies to the special forces - believed to be hundreds in number - that arrived in Afghanistan shortly after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. more>>
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(3 Sept. 2010) A new documentary film that premiered Thursday at Montreal's World Film Festival reveals the toll on the children of some military families with members serving in Afghanistan. Stress, worry their parent will be killed by the Taliban, long absences, more responsibilities, and coping with their father's post-traumatic stress disorder are among the difficult realities faced by kids who opened up for "Children of Soldiers." The National Film Board documentary is director Claire Corriveau's follow-up to her 2007 film on military wives, "Nomad's Land." more>>
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(3 Sept. 2010) Defence Minister Peter MacKay praised Canadian Forces members and their families as the "best Canadians" during a presentation of scholarships on Thursday to eight sons and daughters of those killed in service. The third annual Canada Company awards ceremony was held aboard HMCS Fredericton in Toronto. Each recipient receives up to $16,000 each — up to $4,000 per year for up to four years — toward the costs of their post-secondary education. The minister thanked the Canada Company, Project Hero, and other organizations for their work to build the scholarships and "reach out and touch" military families. more>>
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(2 Sep 2010) The Minister of Veterans Affairs and Minister of State (Agriculture), would like to remind Canadians who may be eligible to receive Agent Orange ex gratia payments that they must submit their applications before 17 September 2010.
In 2007, the Government of Canada offered a one-time, tax-free, ex gratia payment of $20,000 related to the testing of unregistered U.S. military herbicides, including Agent Orange, at CFB Gagetown in New Brunswick during the summers of 1966 and 1967. The deadline for applications was April 1, 2009. An 18-month period beyond this application deadline was provided where
circumstances beyond the control of the applicant resulted in missing the deadline. more>>
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(2 Sept. 2010) A military pickup truck stolen from Canadian Forces Base 17 Wing in Winnipeg was driven onto the runway at the James Armstrong Richardson International Airport on Wednesday. Airport security patrols and city police officers responded and were able to stop the driver, who was taken into custody. Authorities are not sure how the man was able to enter the restricted area of the airport, which is surrounded by security fencing. Their investigation continues.
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(2 Sept. 2010) The body of a Canadian soldier who died Monday in a German military hospital after being wounded during an Afghanistan foot patrol arrived back in Canada today. The casket of Cpl. Brian Pinksen, of Corner Brook, N.L., arrived at Canadian Forces Base Trenton at around 2 p.m. local time. Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean, Defence Minister Peter MacKay, Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Walt Natynczyk, and other dignitaries were present.
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(2 Sept. 2010) A 'need-for-speed' charity event at Canadian Forces Base Cold Lake in Alberta last weekend showcased a variety of super-cars racing along one of the longest paved straightways in Canada. A drag race between a modified 860-hp Ferrari Enzo and a CF-18 Hornet jet fighter was the highlight of the day. The event was organized by Lt.-Col. Rob Carter and ZR Auto, a Calgary exotic car dealer and tuning shop. more>>
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(1 Sept. 2010) The federal government has contracted Quebec-based L-3 Communications Mass to maintain its fleet of CF-18 fighter jets until the end of this decade when their life cycle ends. The $467-million contract begins this year and runs until 2017, with a three-year extension option. The work will be completed at L-3's facilities in Quebec and Alberta.
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(1 Sept. 2010) The head of Canada's air force is defending the federal government's planned $9-plus-billion purchase of 65 new stealth jet fighters. Lt.-Gen. Andre Deschamps admitted that the F-35 Lightning II's are giving Canadians "sticker shock." He did not explain why the Department of Defence selected the $100-million single-engine fighter when a generation ago the single-engine General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon was rejected over the twin-engine McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet. Critics have said that Canada's fighter pilots need a warplane with a second engine due to the vast and inhospitable areas over which interceptions, low-level training, and other missions are flown. more>>
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(1 Sept. 2010) Two soldiers were sent to hospital Monday morning after being injured during a training exercise at CFB Wainwright. They were hurt during an exercise with real bullets and evacuated by air ambulance to the University of Alberta Hospital. more>>
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(30 Aug. 2010) A Canadian soldier wounded eight days ago while conducting a foot patrol in dangerous Panjwaii district died Monday in a German hospital. Cpl. Brian Pinksen, 21, was walking a short distance between two Canadian combat outposts on August 22 in the village of Nakhonay, 18 kilometres south west of Kandahar City, when an improvised explosive device planted by insurgents was detonated, wounding the soldier and one of his fellow servicemen.
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(30 Aug. 2010) Dozens of people showed up to Bayfront Park in Hamilton, Ontario to sign their names and write messages on the flag or on a large scroll. A military band played bagpipes and drums, and yellow ribbons were tied to poles and trees around the park. The event also featured a barbecue and vendors selling Canadian Forces souvenirs. All the money raised goes to Allan's Angels Camp, which is for children of fallen soldiers. more>>
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(31 Aug. 2010) Multiple members of the Afghan government are on the payroll of the Central Intelligence Agency, according to US media reports citing unnamed officials. One of them told the Associated Press on Friday that the intelligence agency has used payments to cultivate sources in the Afghan government. The admission comes after reports emerged last week that an aide to Hamid Karzai,the Afghan president, who is at the center of a corruption probe, was paid by the CIA. more>>
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(30 Aug 2010) Michael Byers, a University of British Columbia political science professor and Arctic expert, questioned what would have happened if the cruise ship recently stranded in Arctic waters had been sinking. With the closest Canadian Forces search-and-rescue helicopter currently stationed in Comox, B.C., he suggested Canada should consider having one permanently based in the North during the summer. more>>
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(29 Aug. 2010) Some families of Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan have been trying to send food packages to their loved ones after receiving complaints the troops have been living mainly on rations during their time overseas. The Canadian Forces acknowledged there have been problems getting fresh food to several units but a military spokesman says the situation is being dealt with. The standard for providing fresh food to troops located at forward operating bases and combat outposts is two such meals per day, operations permitting. “This summer, two Canadian teams deployed outside the wire have been living mostly on individual meal packs,” said Maj. Andre Salloum, a spokesman for the Canadian Expeditionary Force Command in Ottawa. more>>
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(29 Aug. 2010) Seven U.S. troops have died in weekend attacks in Afghanistan's embattled southern and eastern regions, while officials found the bodies Sunday of five kidnapped campaign aides working for a female candidate in the western province of Herat. Two servicemen died in bombings Sunday in southern Afghanistan, while two others were killed in a bomb attack in the south on Saturday, and three in fighting in the east the same day, NATO said. The latest deaths bring to 42 the number of American forces who have died this month in Afghanistan after July's high of 66. A total of 62 international forces have died in the country this month. more>>
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(29 Aug. 2010) Insurgents wearing U.S. army uniforms launched pre-dawn attacks Saturday on a major NATO base in eastern Afghanistan and a nearby camp. NATO said there were no coalition casualties and the attacks were repelled. The assaults on the Forward Operating Base Salerno and nearby Camp Chapman began around 3 a.m. local time. Afghan and coalition soldiers joined forces to repel about 50 insurgents. Afghanistan's Defence Ministry said two Afghan soldiers were killed and three wounded. The insurgents used small-arms fire, rifles, heavy machine-guns and rocket-propelled grenades. Among the dead insurgents were four were wearing explosive vests. more>>
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(28 Aug. 2010) Hiva Mohammad Alizadeh, a Canadian citizen, is the suspected ringleader of an Ottawa terrorist cell, according to the RCMP. The federal police force said this week that Alizadeh was financing insurgent attacks on Canadian Forces and planning a bombing in Canada. Police said searches had turned up a “vast quantity” of terrorist literature, videos and more than 50 electronic circuit boards designed specifically for remotely detonating explosive devices. "The group posed a real and serious threat to the citizens of the National Capital Region and Canada’s national security," RCMP Chief Superintendent Serge Therriault told reporters at an Ottawa news conference. more>>
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(28 Aug. 2010) Stephen Harper's Conservatives are not just changing the country's direction (which is their right), they appear intent on reshaping reality. This week, for instance, we learned that the Cold War is not, in fact, over and that Russia remains an active threat in the north. When two Russian fighter jets strayed within 30 kilometres of Canadian airspace, they were turned back by two CF-18s, dispatched from Cold Lake, Alta. The prime minister, on his annual tour of the Arctic, reassured a northern crowd: "Thanks to the rapid response of the Canadian forces, at no time did Russian aircraft enter Canadian sovereign air space." To do what? Drop pamphlets advertising real estate deals in Siberia? more>>
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(27 Aug. 2010) The former airbase commander accused of murdering two women, sexually assaulting two others and committing dozens of bizarre break-ins has waived his right to a preliminary hearing and has been committed to trial. Colonel Russell Williams, who until his arrest was in charge of the sprawling 8 Wing CFB Trenton base west of Belleville, will make his next court appearance Oct. 7 in Ontario Superior Court. Whether a trial will get under way then is unclear. The date was fixed following a pre-trial conference earlier in the day between prosecution, defence and the presiding judge. more>>
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(27 Aug. 2010) Sean Wilson of London, Ont. is a veterans’ rights advocate who wants Londoners to stand up and be counted at a rally this weekend in support of Canadian troops and veterans. “I talk to veterans and they’re saying ‘We need Canada to stand up for us right now’, said Wilson. The rally — under the banner “Stand Up For Our Troops” — is set for noon Sunday at Victoria Park. Wilson’s group has done other work to heighten awareness of veterans’ concerns, including educational outreach for young people. The decision of the federal government to not re-appoint retired colonel Pat Stogran as veterans’ ombudsman has rankled many in the military community, said Wilson. more>>
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(26 Aug. 2010) The computer used to alter information on a Wikipedia entry critical of the Conservative government’s decision to spend billions of dollars on a new stealth fighters has been traced to the air force’s headquarters in Winnipeg, the Defence Department said Tuesday. Defence Department information specialists traced the computer to 1 Canadian Air Division headquarters in Winnipeg, Canadian Forces spokesman Navy Capt. David Scanlon said. The computer was used last month to alter the online encyclopedia’s entry on the Joint Strike Fighter. The alterations included the removal of any information critical of the Harper government’s plan to spend at least $16 billion on the new fighter aircraft. more>>
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(26 Aug. 2010) Pakistan will make a formal request as early as Thursday for Canada’s crack Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) to be deployed to the flood-stricken country. DART includes at least 30 doctors, nurses and medical technicians, complemented by engineers who can provide access to clean drinking water with reverse osmosis water purification facilities that can produce up to 200,000 litres of clean water a day. According to the Department of National Defence, DART is comprised of about 200 Canadian Forces personnel and ready to deploy quickly for emergency relief operations for up to 40 days. more>>
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(25 Aug. 2010) A 2008 cyber attack launched from an infected flash drive in the Middle East penetrated secret US military computers, a Pentagon official says. The attack by a foreign spy service was the "most significant breach" ever of US military networks, Deputy Defence Secretary William Lynn said. Writing in Foreign Affairs magazine, Mr Lynn described it as a "digital beachhead" to steal military secrets.
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(25 Aug. 2010) Two CF-18 fighter jets were scrambled on Tuesday to intercept Russian bombers that came within 55 km of Canada's Arctic airspace. Two TU-95 Bear bombers were detected approaching from the north and CF-18 fighters were scrambled from their base in Cold Lake, AB. The pilots visually identified the Russian aircraft about 222 km north of Inuvik, NWT and the TU-95's turned around before entering Canadian airspace. more>>
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(25 Aug. 2010) Prime Minister Stephen Harper is in one of Canada's most northerly communities, Resolute, Nunavut, rallying troops taking part in Operation Nanook. The annual sovereignty exercise in the Eastern and High Arctic has become a showpiece of Canada's northern prowess. "As the strategic importance of Canada's Arctic grows, the work undertaken by Operation Nanook is more valuable now than ever before," Harper said. "With other countries becoming more interested in the Arctic and its rich resource potential, and with new trade routes opening up, we must continue to exercise our sovereignty while strengthening the safety and security of Canadians living in our High Arctic." more>>
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(25 Aug. 2010) A senior US general has warned President Barack Obama's deadline to begin pulling troops out of Afghanistan is encouraging the Taliban. Gen. James Conway of the US Marine Corps warned that American forces in southern Afghanistan will likely have to stay in place for several years. His comments are likely to fuel debate over US strategy in Afghanistan and Mr Obama's July 2011 withdrawal date. US administration officials say privately they are not surprised to hear the comments from the general, who, correspondents say, has typical US Marine Corps bluntness - and is also about to retire. more>>
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(24 Aug. 2010) A 25-year-old corporal in the Canadian Forces was charged with a sexual assault in Kingston, three months after he was charged with sex attacks on four women on or near Canadian Forces Base Petawawa. Christopher Raymond Chaulk was charged Monday with sexual assault, bringing to 16 the number of charges he faces, including five counts of sexual assault. A joint investigation between the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service, provincial police and Kingston Police is reviewing other incidents. more>>
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(24 Aug. 2010) According to Alice Aiken, assistant professor in the School of Rehabilitation Therapy at Queen’s University, and Amy Buitenhuis, research student with the Canadian Disability Policy Alliance at Queen’s, "The decision not to reappoint the Veterans Ombudsman to a second term has put the spotlight on the New Veterans Charter, federal legislation that determines the programs and services available to veterans injured in the service of their country. Our financial analysis shows that the charter does not adequately meet the needs of veterans who are severely disabled." more>>
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(23 Aug. 2010) Oct. 31/11 is the date when the U.N. says there should be 305,000 members of Afghanistan's national security forces trained and assigned. Officially, there are currently about 249,000 Afghan forces, but getting to 305,000 isn't as simple as recruiting and training one Afghan to fill each empty slot. Because of resignations, desertions, and deaths resulting from Taliban attacks and even faulty NATO air strikes that have killed Afghan soldiers and police, "Just to grow that 56,000, we're going to have to recruit and train and assign 141,000 police and soldiers," said U.S. Army Lt. Gen. William Caldwell on Monday. more>>
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(23 Aug. 2010) Canada's police chiefs are defending the federal long-gun registry as an efficient and effective tool and planning a large public relations campaign in support of the registry that the Harper government is trying to scrap. CBC News has obtained a draft report on the federal long-gun registry to be unveiled later Monday before the annual meeting of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police in Edmonton. Toronto police chief and president of the Canadian Association of Police Chiefs Bill Blair said that the registry costs about $4 million annually to operate. more>>
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(21 Aug. 2010) Three Afghan police officers were accidentally killed in an airstrike and a bomb killed five Afghan civilians in separate incidents in northern Afghanistan, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said on Saturday. The airstrike incident, which occurred on Friday in Jowzjan province, began when insurgents shot at Afghan security forces, and the troops asked for air support. The service members later found the three dead police and other wounded officers. ISAF dispatched a team to the region to investigate. more>>
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(21 Aug. 2010) Engineers at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown say they suspect blue-green algae is to blame for a decline in water production capacity. Over the past few days, base engineers have noticed a reduction in the quantity — but not the quality — of water being produced at the New Brunswick base’s water treatment plant. They believe blue-green algae in the Saint John River are obstructing sand filters at the treatment facility. The situation is also having an impact on the water supply in the nearby town of Oromocto. more>>
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(21 Aug. 2010) A half dozen Afghan war veterans who wanted to talk about how their injuries affected their lives were told by senior military staff they were not to attend a press conference held earlier this week by Veterans Ombudsman Pat Stogran. Injured war veterans are also saying they were told by the military leadership they cannot discuss with journalists their personal views about the controversial "lump-sum" payment system that provides a certain amount of money after soldiers are wounded. A number of injured veterans, no longer in uniform, have warned that the lump-sum system short-changes those wounded overseas. more>>
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(20 Aug. 2010) Canada's top soldier says the concerns that the veterans ombudsman has raised about the treatment of veterans are "absolutely correct issues" and the controversial New Veterans Charter "doesn't work for everyone." Gen. Walter Natynczyk was asked if veterans ombudsman Pat Strogan, whose term is not being renewed, has been doing a good job. "He has certainly voiced with clarity what the issues are," said the Chief of Defence Staff.
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(20 Aug. 2010) More than 1,000 Aboriginal Canadians have graduated from the Bold Eagle training program, with many choosing careers in Canadian Forces. The program combines six weeks of cultural teachings and CF basic training, which could qualify Aboriginal participants to enter the Reserves. The training focuses on self-discipline, teamwork, self-confidence and physical fitness. Former graduates are chiefs, band councilors, RCMP officers and respected members of their communities across Canada.
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(19 Aug. 2010) Defence Minister Peter MacKay is observing troops on northern Baffin Island as part of Operation Nanook, the Canadian Forces' annual Arctic sovereignty operation. He is scheduled to travel to Pond Inlet, Nunavut, on Thursday (Aug. 19) to watch Canadian infantry troops and Inuit members of the Canadian Rangers prepare to head out on three days of ground manoeuvres in a nearby area. Operation Nanook, which began Aug. 6 and runs through Aug. 26, involves Arctic sovereignty patrols, military exercises and emergency preparedness training in the eastern Arctic.
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(18 Aug. 2010) The Canadian Forces will review several contracts it has with private security companies in Kandahar following an order from President Hamid Karzai that the firms cease operations in Afghanistan. Canada has nine contracts worth $9 million this fiscal year with four companies to provide security at its forward operating bases.
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The multibillion-dollar plan to buy new Close Combat Vehicles for the military, launched with much fanfare last year by the government, has run into a roadblock, with every vehicle offered now being rejected by Public Works and the Defence Department. Defence sources say the problem was caused by poorly written requirements produced by inexperienced procurement officials. The vehicles rejected include some of those being used in combat by Canada’s allies in Afghanistan. more>>
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(18 Aug 2010) There’s no excuse, justification or half-decent rationalization for Mr. Elliott’s actions on Wednesday. Bring on the laughable lie, a wallop of obvious nose-stretching that’s all the more alarming emanating from a national police force which seems to be axing senior staff in anticipation of the government’s wishes. more>>
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(18 Aug 2010) Charles Momy, the president of one of Canada's largest national police associations, wants the federal government to remove RCMP commissioner William Elliott after the head of the Canadian Firearms Program, Chief Supt. Marty Cheliak, a strong supporter of the long-gun registry, was ordered to attend French-language training after nine months on the job. Cheliak's supporters have suggested that political influence led to his removal. more>>
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Less than 2 years and nine months into his mandate, the Harper government has axed the Ombudsman for Veterans, after it became apparent that he truly spoke for Veterans. The outgoing veterans ombudsman, retired colonel Pat Stogran, is going out firing his guns at the Conservative government and federal bureaucrats, expressing his anger at how Ottawa treats its veterans. View Video: more>>
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(13 Aug 2010) Liberal MP Jim Karygiannis and Pakistan consul general for Toronto Sahebzada Khan on Wednesday asked for the 200-member Canadian Forces Disaster Assistance Response Team to be dispatched to help flood victims. The flood has left about 14 million people homeless and 1,600 people dead. “We have already made the request from Canada,” Khan said. “The DART has done tremendous work in other countries in the past.” more>>
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(12 Aug 2010) The Government of Canada announced six new defence infrastructure projects that will help to modernize facilities at Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Borden. Improvements to this key base, which acts as a training centre for Canadian Forces members from all across the country, will include the completion of housing units, upgrading the base's intrusion detection system, and a military police academy. The projects are part of the Canada First Defence Strategy, aimed at updating and replacing dated defence infrastructure to meet the challenges of the 21st Century. While announcing the six projects, Minister MacKay pointed to two recently completed projects also funded through the Canada First Defence Strategy, which have already delivered a boost to the local economy. Combined with today's announcements, the Government's total investment in infrastructure at CFB Borden is almost $210 million. more>>
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(12 Aug 2010) Ten vessels, including RCMP craft and a navy ship, have left the B.C. coast headed for a Thai cargo ship believed to be carrying several hundred Tamil migrants. It is not clear when the ship might arrive inside Canadian territorial waters — which extend about 12 nautical miles (22 km) off the coast — but officials had said the vessel would arrive by early Friday at the latest. more>>
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(11 Aug 2010) A Sea King helicopter made a precautionary landing in a grassy field off a Nova Scotia highway Tuesday because of a hydraulic problem, a military official said. The aircraft set down off Highway 101 in Lower Sackville, north of Halifax, at about 8 p.m. The three crew members were not hurt.
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(7 Aug 2010) Taliban insurgents were responsible for the downing of a Canadian Chinook helicopter in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, the Canadian military confirmed Saturday. The helicopter was brought down by small arms fire from insurgents, the military said at a briefing at the Kandahar base.
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(5 Aug 2010) A Canadian Chinook helicopter was forced to make what military officials called a "hard landing" in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, but none of the 20 onboard was seriously injured. A Taliban spokesman responsible for the south, Qari Yousef Ahmadi, told The Associated Press by telephone the helicopter was shot down with a rocket.
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(3 Aug 2010) When it comes to military missions, the tough guys' mantra is that we Canadians don't "cut and run." When the going gets difficult, Canadians keep fighting against the odds in order to create a better world wherever our troops are representing us. And if our military is completely burned out ... we at least leave enough people in the field to train local fighters to take our place. Oh, and one more thing: We'll keep shunting big aid dollars to Afghanistan, to help ordinary Afghans whose lives have been made hell by the war that we have been fighting on their behalf. more>>
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(3 Aug 2010) "Yes, our Afghan village boys join the Taliban," says an Afghan villager. "But only because they are scared by Taliban threats to their families. It is Pakistan that trains, funds and leads them. When we capture their fighters they confess that they are trained in Pakistan. The Pakistanis find religious boys, give them weapons, and send them across the border into Afghanistan to kill us, and to kill your British soldiers." more>>
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(3 Aug 2010) At least 10 insurgents are dead after launching a failed attack on Kandahar Airfield in southern Afghanistan, NATO officials say. The insurgents launched a ground attack on the busy base just before midday on Tuesday with two rockets fired into the base, followed by a handful of would-be suicide bombers assaulting the outer gates.
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A Canadian soldier described both as top-notch and a disgrace to his uniform will discover his fate Sept. 9 for shooting a severely wounded, unarmed insurgent in Afghanistan. Military Judge Jean-Guy Perron has said it will take him that long to sort through the arguments and evidence offered by defence and prosecution on appropriate sentencing for Capt. Robert Semrau, convicted of disgraceful conduct. more>>
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(1 Aug 2010) Anything that throws doubt on the reliability of the Afghan National Army always represents a big problem for Nato. The deaths of three British soldiers at the hands of a renegade Afghan soldier in Nahr-e Saraj, Helmand province, on July 13, though clearly a rare event, does not help the army's reputation for reliability. more>>
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(1 Aug 2010) The Netherlands has ended its military mission in Afghanistan, after four years in which its 1,950 troops have won praise for their effectiveness. Dutch military chief Gen Peter van Uhm said security had improved in Uruzgan province during the Dutch deployment. more>>
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(30 July 2010) WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said Friday that he was disappointed by criticism from Secretary of Defense Robert Gates over the release of about 76,000 pages of U.S. documents related to the war in Afghanistan. Gates said Thursday that the massive leak will have significant impact on troops and allies, revealing techniques and procedures
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(30 July 2010) Canadian fighter jets were launched this week when Russian bombers came close to probing Canadian airspace. Defence Minister Peter MacKay said the Russian planes - Tu-95 or “Bear” bombers - do fly near Canadian space on occasion. But it is the “unidentified appearance” of the planes that caused concern, prompting the dispatch of Canadian CF-18 fighter jets from CFB Bagotville in Quebec. more>>
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(29 July 2010) A Defence Department spokesperson confirms computers at the department's research agency were used to alter a Wikipedia page entry about the Joint Strike Fighter jet and the Conservative government's decision to spend as much as $18 billion on the aircraft. more>>
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(27 July 2010) The Canadian military is rejecting a report released by WikiLeaks that suggests four Canadian soldiers were killed by friendly fire from U.S. forces in 2006. The military maintains the four soldiers died in combat with the Taliban. "The loss of four Canadian soldiers on September 3rd, 2006, was the result of insurgent activity in the Panjwaii district of Afghanistan," the defence minister's spokesman Jay Paxton said. "The only friendly fire incident from the time period in question occurred on September 4th, 2006, when Private Mark Anthony Graham was killed in the same district."
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The federal government is dropping key performance standards for navy helicopters due this fall in exchange for the manufacturer's promise to guarantee another $80 million in work to Canadian aerospace companies. A spokesman for the federal Department of Public Works says the first Cyclone choppers that fly from the navy's frigates won't have a system allowing some secret tactical information to be exchanged between ships and helicopters. That was one of the original requirements in the $5.1-billion contract to build and service the 28 helicopters, which are currently over three years behind the original schedule. more>>
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(27 July 2010) [His conduct is] "such a blow to the credibility of the institution that I don't think we have any other option but to relieve him from service," BGen Thompson told the sentencing hearing for Capt Semrau, adding he was speaking for the Canadian Forces chain of command in making his recommendation.
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(27 July 2010) Captain Robert Semrau was an “amazing” leader who repeatedly risked his life for his soldiers while mortars rained down in Afghanistan, a Canadian army private told a military court martial. “Capt. Semrau was up to his elbows in blood just helping out. After everything was said and done he kept checking the wounded to make sure they were okay,” said Private Joseph Villeneuve. more>>
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(27 July 2010) It is being described as the biggest leak of military secrets in history – a treasure trove of more than 92,000 highly classified field reports, intelligence assessments and after-action battle reports released on the Internet that paint a damning portrait of the war in Afghanistan. Yesterday Julian Assange, the Australian founder of the WikiLeaks website, compared his group's release of the AfghanistanWar Logs to the Vietnam War's Pentagon Papers. more>>
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(27 July 2010) When, at the height of the Vietnam War, a Pentagon analyst published explosive details about how the White House was running the campaign, U.S. military commanders soon found themselves forced into ordering a humiliating retreat.
Now, anti-war campaigners opposed to the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan are desperately hoping that history is about to repeat itself following publication of tens of thousands of secret Pentagon documents relating to the Afghan war.
The extracts provide disturbing reading. more>>
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(26 July 2010) Canada won't be required to sign a contract committing it to purchasing new multi-billion-dollar stealth fighters until 2013, opening the door for any future government to back away from the proposed deal if needed. The Conservative government's decision in mid-July to spend an estimated $16 billion on the Joint Strike Fighter has sparked controversy, with opposition parties questioning whether the purchase is needed at a time when the country's deficit has ballooned to $50 billion. Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff, concerned that no competition was held to select the fighter plane, known as the JSF, has vowed to review the deal if his party forms the next government. more>>
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(26 July 2010) The judge who must decide on a punishment for Capt. Robert Semrau will have few precedents to guide his deliberations, which begin today.
Semrau, 36, has been convicted of disgraceful conduct for shooting an unarmed, wounded Taliban insurgent in Helmand province. Evidence at his three-month trial suggested the Oct. 19, 2008, shooting was a mercy killing.
University of Ottawa law professor Michel Drapeau said Semrau's is the only case he knows of in which an officer has been found guilty of disgraceful conduct on a battlefield. "It's very, very rare," said Drapeau, a retired colonel in the Canadian Forces and an expert in military law.
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(26 July 2010) One of the thousands of classified Afghanistan war documents controversially released Sunday by the anti-secrecy organization WikiLeaks shows that a Canadian military photographer who died in a 2007 helicopter crash that also killed six other NATO troops was the victim of a heat-seeking missile fired by Taliban forces, shedding new light on a previously downplayed threat in the Afghan war zone.
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(25 July 2010) A six-year archive of classified military documents made public on Sunday offers an unvarnished, ground-level picture of the war in Afghanistan that is in many respects more grim than the official portrayal. more>>
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(25 July 2010) WikiLeaks documents saying that the US military believes Pakistan's spy agency supports the Taliban jibes with what Afghanistan's leaders have complained about for a long time. more>>
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(26 July 2010) The release of some 91,000 secret U.S. military documents on the Afghanistan war is just the beginning, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange promised Monday, adding that he still has thousands more Afghan files to post online. more>>
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(26 July 2010) The mother lode of ground-level raw intelligence from the Afghan war disseminated by WikiLeaks may ultimately bring about some good. In the short term, however, it will almost surely further undermine the U.S.-led search for stability. more>>
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(24 July 2010) Bombings killed five U.S. troops in southern Afghanistan in two separate"improvised explosive device attacks."
June was the deadliest month for international troops since the war began: 60 Americans were among 102 international troops slain, according to a CNN count of military figures. more>>
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(23 July 2010) Investigators are trying to figure out what caused a CF18 jet to crash during a practice run ahead of the Alberta International Air Show.
"This is an isolated incident with one aircraft," said LCol Midas Vogan, commanding officer of the 419 Moose Squadron based in Cold Lake. The jet crashed around noon as pilot Captain Brian Bews practised a stunt about 10 metres above the runway, according to some witnesses. He was able to eject from the twin-engined aircraft and dodge a massive fireball. more>>
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(23 July 2010) Two American soldiers were abducted in Afghanistan, an Afghan intelligence source told CNN Saturday. NATO and military officials confirmed that the two missing service members are American. A search has been l;aunched for the service members and the military vehicle they were in, ISAF said.
They were abducted in Logar province, south of Kabul -- Afghanistan's capital. more>>
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Viewpoint: by Ahmed Rashid, Pakistani journalist based in Lahore and author of the best-selling book “Taliban” and “Descent into Chaos: How the war against Islamic extremism is being lost in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia” more>>
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(24 June 2010) When Capt. Robert Semrau is sentenced Monday for disgraceful conduct, having been acquitted of second-degree murder of a severely-wounded Taliban fighter, it will be a miscarriage of justice as well as denunciation of moral standards. Capt. Semrau did the right thing. But what would the court martial panel know about combat, since it was made up of administrative and logistics officers, none with battlefield experience? It was hardly a jury of peers. more>>
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Richard N. Haass, a former Director of Policy Planning for the United States Department of State, under the Bush Administration, and a close advisor to then-Secretary of State Colin Powell, comments on the current war in Afghanistan. more>>
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(July 2010) The chairwoman of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission has asked the Harper government to leave some military trainers and mentors in the country after the scheduled withdrawal of the Canadian Armed Forces next year. Dr. Sima Samar also wants women at the negotiating table when the Afghanistan government embarks on reconciliation and reintegration efforts with the Taliban. more>>
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(19 July 2010) A new written tactical directive from BGen Jon Vance that clarifies when soldiers in Task Force Kandahar can shoot at the Taliban, is receiving widespread approval from the troops. "It's crystal clear what the general's directive is. It has made it easier for us," said Cpl. Luke Carlson of Emo, Ont., who mans a Dillon Gatling gun on a Griffon helicopter. more>>
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(19 July 2010) According to Britain's Defence Secretary Liam Fox, British front line combat troops are scheduled to withdraw from Afghanistan by 2014. He said that within four years, the Afghan National Army and police should take responsibility for security, leaving British troops to work only as military trainers. Earlier this month, Prime Minister David Cameron had said he wanted most troops back by 2015. more>>
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(19 July 2010) Joint Strike Fighter: It makes no sense for the Canadian Forces and less sense for the tax payers. Spend those extra billions on adding forces to the Army and capability to the AF and Navy to work the Arctic and maintain the current capability they have worked hard to achieve. more>>
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(19 July 2010) Capt. Robert Semrau is the first soldier in Canadian history to be found guilty of shooting a wounded, unarmed combatant on a battlefield. While a four-person military judicial panel found the 36-year army captain guilty of disgraceful conduct resulting from the Afghan shooting, he was found not guilty of second-degree murder, attempted murder and negligent performance of duty. He faces up to fives years in prison for the lesser charge, and most likely a discharge from the armed forces. more>>
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(18 July 2010) The murder case against Capt. Robert Semrau made national headlines because it involved sensational allegations of a battlefield mercy killing. But Semrau’s trial unfolded an even more compelling story: that of four soldiers faced with a searing moral crisis. Each man must now live with the decisions he made. Andrew Duffy reports. more>>
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(18 July 2010) A suicide bomber targeting anti-Qaeda militiamen being paid their wages killed at least 45 people west of Baghdad on Sunday, in Iraq's deadliest single attack in more than two months. Forty-five people were killed and 46 wounded in the 8:30 am (0530 GMT) bombing in the mainly Sunni Arab district of Radwaniyah, a former insurgent hotspot 25 kilometres from the capital, a defence ministry official said. more>>
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(17 July 2010) Canada's special forces command is creating a new quick-reaction task force to be led by a Petawawa-based officer and capable of responding to an international crisis. Task Force Arrowhead will be set up next year and able to quickly put the first special forces troops on the ground in the case of another Afghanistan-like mission, or to conduct smaller, more limited operations. more>>
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(17 July 2010) An upcoming review of the military's structure is expected to examine the size and structure of the special forces. Some believe it would save money and improve oversight if the conventional army were to absorb CANSOFCOM, the special operational forces command that was created in 2006. Others suggest they have proven their worth time and time again.
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Getting+drop+Special/3290284/story.html more>>
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(17 July 2010) NATO's eight-year campaign to win hearts and minds in the embattled region is in serious trouble, according to a survey that interviewed 532 men in mostly rural parts of Kandahar and Helmand provinces. The survey found that a 70 percent of southern Afghans felt military operations were bad for the Afghan people and that NATO forces did not protect the local population. Many (75 percent) said foreigners did not respect their religion and traditions; and 74 percent believed it was "wrong" to work with international forces. Most (59 percent) opposed a new military offensive against the Taliban in Kandahar. more>>
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(17 July 2010) Canada is expecting the Afghan government to produce a practical, measurable anti-corruption action plan at an international conference in Kabul on Tuesday, a senior Foreign Affairs official said Friday. "Clean public money and clean government is important, very important to the international community," said Kerry Buck, assistant deputy minister, Afghanistan task force, at the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. more>>
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(17 July 2010) Military Judge Lt.-Col. Jean-Guy Perron took more than four hours to deliver his final instructions to the jury. Perron read 84 pages of legal instructions to guide deliberations. No one knows for certain when the panel will reach a verdict. Under law, their deliberations will remain forever secret. The panel deliberated for about three hours today and will resume on Sunday morning. more>>
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(16 July 2010) The Canadian government announced plans to spend $9 billion to purchase a new generation of fighter jets, the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter.
Defence Minister Peter MacKay told a news conference in Ottawa that the 65 new jets would be purchased from Lockheed Martin, with the first delivery expected by 2016.
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(14 July 2010) A 70-page report from an international rights group warns that President Hamid Karzai's government may be willing to compromise on women's rights as part of any deal with the insurgents. "Afghan women want an end to the conflict. But as the prospect of negotiations with the Taliban draws closer, many women fear that they may also pay a heavy price for peace," the report says.
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(14 June 2010) Defence Minister Peter MacKay announced the go ahead for the navy's $2.6 billion Joint Supply Ships (JSS) program today in Halifax Nova Scotia. more>>
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(13 July 2010) Three British soldiers were murdered and four others were injured in what NATO calls "a premeditated attack" by a rogue Afghan National Army soldier. An Afghan soldier fired a rifle and a rocket-propelled grenade within confines of the base before escaping, according to reports in the British media.
The latest incident set off alarm bells in Kabul and London, where, as in Ottawa and Washington, there have been qualms about the progress that NATO has said it has been making to train tens of thousands of Afghan soldiers and police. more>>
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(12 July 2010) Brig.-Gen. Daniel Ménard, the former commander of Canada's war effort in Afghanistan, and his subordinate, Master Cpl. Bianka Langlois, have been charged by military police after admitting to a sexual affair while on duty. more>>
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(12 July 2010) The Harper government is gearing up for more multibillion-dollar announcements on military equipment spending: one for the purchase of 65 new fighter aircraft, the other a re-announcement of the JSS project that was derailed two years ago. more>>
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(10 July 2010) NATO announced that six American service members have been killed in separate attacks in Afghanistan. Four of the Americans died in separate incidents in the east involving small arms fire and an insurgent attack. The other two died in separate roadside bombings in the south. NATO also says a suicide car bomber also struck one of its convoys in the eastern province of Khost, but no casualties were immediately reported. more>>
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(9 July 2010) Canada doesn't send monsters into combat. Our soldiers are not bloodthirsty killers eager to "off" as many enemy as possible. They are as intelligent, thoroughly trained and compassionate as any soldiers in the world. more>>
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(9 July 2010) The most senior ranking Canadian military officer in Haiti has been relieved of command and is the subject of an internal investigation. Colonel Bernard Ouellette, who doubles as the chief of staff to the United Nations mission in the earthquake-battered country, is facing several allegations — including that he was involved in an inappropriate relationship.
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(9 July 2010) With insurgent attacks increasing across Afghanistan, frustration about rules of engagement is growing among NATO troops, and among some members of the U.S. Congress. Addressing those concerns will be one of the most complicated initial tasks facing Gen. David H. Petraeus, the new commander of U.S. and NATO forces in the country. more>>
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(8 July 2010) Final Remarks have been delivered in the court-martial case of Captain Semrau. Currently over 8,000 people have signed up to question how a man who left his country and family to fight for the freedom of all people could be facing 10 years in jail for allegedly putting a dying enemy out of his misery.
Click here to join the site: more>>
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(8 July 2010) Britain says it will withdraw its troops from the Afghan district of Sangin, where it has suffered some of its heaviest casualties in the nine-year war. About 1,000 Royal Marines in the Sangin area of Helmand Province will be gone within months and will be replaced by US forces. more>>
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(7 July 2010) NATO mistakenly killed five of its Afghan army allies in an air strike Wednesday while the Afghans were attacking insurgents in the country's east, officials said. An Afghan defence official condemned the latest “friendly fire” deaths, which came at a time when international troops are trying to improve co-ordination with Afghan security forces in hopes of handing over more security to them. The Afghan soldiers were launching a pre-dawn ambush against insurgents reportedly on the move in Ghazni province when NATO aircraft began firing on them without warning, Afghan Defence Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi said. more>>
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(7 July 2010) The prosecution and defence presented final arguments Wednesday in the court martial of Canadian Forces Capt. Robert Semrau, accused of murdering a wounded Taliban insurgent on the battlefield in Afghanistan in 2008. Semrau, 36, of CFB Petawawa, is charged with second-degree murder, behaving in a disgraceful manner and negligent performance of duty. The prosecution alleges he fired two tracer rounds into the body of a severely wounded Taliban fighter on Oct. 19, 2008 while on a mission with the Afghan National Army. Prosecutors have characterized his actions as a misguided mercy killing, an act that violated both the Criminal Code and the Canadian Forces Code of Conduct. more>>
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(6 July 2010) Media claims of the capture of Taliban chief in Afghanistan, Mullah Omar, has spread confusion all around the world. Pakistani secret agencies, government officials and other sources refused to verify or deny the news. American authorities have also refused to comment.
The discussion started in the media after an American blogger claimed that the Taliban chief was captured from Pakistani coastal city Karachi on March 27, 2010. Omar is wanted by the U.S. for sheltering Osama bin-Laden and his Al-Qaeda network in the years prior to and after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in America, ans is believed to be leading Taliban fighters in their war against the Afghan government and NATO troops in Afghanistan. Pakistan had arrested Mullah Brather, Taliban Chief No.2, earlier this year from the same city of Karachi. more>>
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(5 July 2010) Some 4,000 guests braved the heat yesterday to take in U.S. Ambassador David Jacobson's first Independence Day party in Ottawa. Diplomats and journalists were out in force, although there were fewer politicians than usual. House of Commons Speaker Peter Milliken made an appearance as did Liberal MPs Mauril Bélanger and Byron Wilfert and Conservative Rob Merrifield, minister of state for transport. At the end of the official program, the popular Chicago dance band, Lynne Jordan and the Shivers, took the stage. more>>
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(29 June 2010) Afghan Ambassador Jawed Ludin says the warning issued by G8 leaders last week that Afghan President Hamid Karzai must provide detailed plans on how – within a five-year period – Afghans will take responsibility for their own security while also eliminating corruption will not be a problem for his president. The idea that foreign troops want to withdraw by then is understood, Ludin said. "This is completely consistent with Mr. Karzai's own promise in his inauguration speech after his election last fall, and also with the expectations of the Afghan people who want to take responsibility sooner rather than later," Ludin said. more>>
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(29 June 2010) More than US$3-billion in cash has been openly flown out of Kabul airport since 2007, raising fears yesterday that large sums of international aid are being stolen by corrupt Afghan officials. Customs records for legally declared money leaving the airport showed that US$3-billion was flown out between January 2007 and February 2010. more>>
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(28 June 2010) President Barack Obama sacked his loose-lipped Afghanistan commander Wednesday, a seismic shift for the military order in wartime, and chose the familiar, admired — and tightly disciplined — Gen. David Petraeus to replace him. Petraeus, architect of the Iraq war turnaround, was once again to take hands-on leadership of a troubled war effort.
Obama said bluntly that Gen. Stanley McChrystal's scornful remarks about administration officials in interviews for a magazine article represent conduct that "undermines the civilian control of the military that is at the core of our democratic system." more>>
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(26 June 2010) Two Canadian soldiers from 1RCR were killed in Afghanistan when their armoured vehicle hit an improvised explosive device. Master Cpl. Kristal Giesebrecht and Pte. Andrew Miller, both medics from CFB Petawawa, had been responding to a report of a mine found in the doorway of a home when their vehicle detonated an IED. The blast occurred about 20 kilometres southwest of the city of Kandahar. more>>
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(26 June 2010) Six NATO-led service members were killed Saturday in bombing attacks in Afghanistan, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said.
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(24 June 2010) The recommendation, in an interim report introduced in the Senate Tuesday, is certain to fan an emerging debate in which the Opposition Liberals are nudging the government to keep some training forces in Afghanistan while the government insists it is obeying a 2008 parliamentary motion that orders withdrawal of Canada's 2,800 troops over six months starting July 2011. more>>
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(24 June 2010) Nine NATO soldiers were killed in Afghanistan on Monday, the latest in a series of grim days that has made June one of the deadliest months for the alliance. more>>
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(23 June 2010) The Canadian government has put the world on notice that, beginning 1 July 2010, ships entering the country's Arctic waters will be subject to new mandatory vessel-tracking rules aimed at preventing terrorist activity and pollution while improving search-and-rescue capabilities in the Far North. The strict new measures have raised concerns from the U.S. government. more>>
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(22 June 2010) The top US commander in Afghanistan has been summoned to Washington in the wake of a Rolling Stone magazine article that quotes him and aides criticizing senior government officials and diplomats. more>>
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(15 June 2010) A Commons committee will investigate the Conservative government's planned purchase of a new fighter aircraft fleet amid questions about the project's $16-billion price tag and whether Canada needs the stealth planes. But the hearings into what is considered the largest single defence procurement in Canadian history won't happen until the fall. more>>
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(14 June 2010) The Canadian Forces has too much overhead in some of its headquarters and is looking to re-assign military personnel to field units as it prepares for future operations, says Chief of the Defence Staff, General Walter Natynczyk. more>>
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Global military expenditure stands at over $1.46 trillion in annual expenditure at current prices for 2008, and has been rising in recent years. more>>
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(13 June 2010) Brigadier-General Jon Vance had just set out from Ottawa heading to Kingston, to speak with some soldiers who will be heading to Afghanistan this fall, when his cellphone rang. Now back in command eight days, Vance said it had helped a lot that he had worked for a short spell last fall with British Maj.-Gen. Nick Carter, who still runs the war in the south and was aware back then that the U.S. was about to flood Kandahar with thousands of extra troops. more>>
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Quarterly Report to Parliament for the Period of January 1 to March 31, 2010. Click here for full report: more>>
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(14 June 2010) Recent resignations of Afghanistan’s interior minister and intelligence chief have been covered extensively in the Afghan papers. What keeps the media so closely interested are the factors behind those resignations – their timing, and their impact on the NATO and coalition campaigns. Publicly, the officials’ failure to prevent an attack on President Hamid Karzai’s peace council, or jirga, on June 2 has been presented as the reason for the resignations. more>>
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(12 June 2010) Afghan President Hamid Karzai visited the Taliban's spiritual home yesterday, launching a campaign that promises better governance and development alongside a security push by foreign forces. more>>
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(11 June 2010) The Harper government is refusing to open up the $16-billion purchase of 65 new fighter jets to a competition because of the potential negative reaction in the United States and other allied countries, internal documents show. “Canada must commit to the JSF program to realize benefits,” the government says, pointing to a potential for $12-billion in future work. more>>
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The military and other organizations have developed a variety of programs to help family members cope with deployment, unfortunately, relatively few of them work with families as a whole. Read full report by University of Georgia. more>>
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(June 2010) The Burke Chair has developed two reports that address these issues. The first summarizes the campaign plan and the key issues involved. The second addresses the need for far better focused and more transparent reporting on the war – both within ISAF and at the public level. more>>
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(7 June 2010) Afghan observers and Western officials are interpreting the forced resignations of Afghanistan’s two top security officials as another worrying sign of President Hamid Karzai’s increasingly impulsive decision making and deepening isolation from his backers, both within Afghanistan and abroad. Some believe that Mr Karzai, who like most of the Taliban (and many Pakistanis) is a Pushtun, a member of Afghanistan’s largest ethnic group, has softened towards Pakistan because he no longer thinks NATO can win in Afghanistan. Hence, Karzai’s reluctance publicly to endorse the counterinsurgency strategy of General Stanley McChrystal, the American NATO commander. more>>
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(10 June 2010) The hope Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan’s president, nurtured for the huge gathering held in Kabul this month was that it would give him the national support needed to start a peace process with the Taliban. Instead, it prompted the resignations of the country’s hugely respected interior minister and spy chief and exposed serious disagreements about efforts at reconciliation with the insurgents. more>>
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(June 2010) The Honourable Jean-Pierre Blackburn, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Minister of State (Agriculture) will decorate 11 citizens of Manitoba, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Northwest Territories and the Yukon with the Minister of Veterans Affairs Commendation during a ceremony that will be held June 12th in Winnipeg at The Fairmont Winnipeg, Ballroom East, 2 Lombard Place.
Recipients of the Commendation are:
• Janet Bennett, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
• Gilles Grossinger, Whitehorse, Yukon
• Fiona Jasper, Cochrane, Alberta
• Bertrand Lafond, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan
• Philip McKerry, Evansburg, Alberta
• Robert McPherson, Calgary Alberta
• Arnold Mottershead, Edmonton, Alberta
• Ernest Mulcahy, Winnipeg, Manitoba
• George Pambrun, Okotoks, Alberta
• Clifford Tessier, Winnipeg, Manitoba
• Loralea Wark, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories
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(10 June 2010) A bomb ripped through a wedding party for a family with ties to Afghan police, killing at least 40 people and wounding dozens more, officials said Thursday. The Taliban denied carrying out the attack, but strong suspicion fell on the insurgent group because it has previously attacked allies of the government or Afghan security forces.
The area is largely considered a Taliban haven, and village residents said they believed they were attacked in an air bombardment. Mohammad Rassool, a cousin of the groom, said helicopters were circling above the compound before the explosion. more>>
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(9 June 2010) The Obama Administration has secured a UN Security Council resolution for a new round of sanctions targeting the Iranian regime’s nuclear program. The measure, which passed by a vote of 12 to 2 with 1 abstention, opens the door for the United States, its European allies, Canada and other countries to enact more stringent sanctions against the regime.
“Unfortunately, time is not on our side," said FDD Executive Director Mark Dubowitz. "This sanctions vote will only be a victory if it enables the U.S., Europe, Canada and other nations to exert crippling pressure on Iran's nuclear program, human rights abuses, and support for terrorism. These sanctions should be put in place on behalf of the Iranian people, who only a year ago endured brutal reprisals for peacefully demonstrating their democratic aspirations. To be effective, these sanctions must target Iran’s energy sector – the lifeblood of the men who rule Iran,” continued Dubowitz. “Congress is poised to enact tough new legislation exploiting Iran’s dependence on imported gasoline and restricting foreign support for the Iranian energy industry. View video:
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The federal cabinet is expected to debate the multibillion-dollar purchase of new jetfighters Wednesday, but the long-term cost of the Joint Strike Fighter will be a moving target. Traditionally, when the federal government buys a big-ticket piece of equipment for the military, it nails down costs of the long-term support package up front. However, Defence bureaucrats are only able to ballpark the overall project costs for the JSF, with estimates varying between $9 billion and $10 billion. When the Conservatives announce the deal for the F-35 Lightning II, they'll only be able to guess at what the maintenance portion of the bill will be. more>>
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(9 June 2010) Attempts to forge a peace deal with the Taliban in Afghanistan have been branded "a disgrace" by the former head of the country's spy service. Amrullah Saleh, the former chief of Afghanistan's National Directorate for Security (NDS), said he tried to undermine Western-backed efforts to negotiate with militants. "Negotiating with suicide bombers will disgrace this country," he said.
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(8 June 2010) Gen. Walter Natynczyk says that time is running out for the international community in Afghanistan and that there must be a "game changer" that will allow the Afghan people to get on with their own reconciliation. "At the end of the day, the solution to this counter insurgency has to be an Afghan solution and I think all of us on the bleachers watching this, I think we have to be very patient to see how all of this unfolds," he told a Senate committee on Monday. more>>
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(7 June 2010) At least three suicide bombers attacked a police training centre Monday in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, killing one American — a civilian contractor. One of the attackers drove an explosives-laden car up to the gate of the centre and detonated the bomb, blowing a hole in the compound wall, the Interior Ministry said. Two other bombers tried to storm through the hole, engaging in a gunfight with police before blowing themselves up outside.
General Gul Nabi Ahmadzai, head of police training programs for Afghanistan, gave a slightly different account, saying the two gunmen were killed in firing by police. Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi claimed responsibility for the attack. more>>
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(7 June 2010) Five American soldiers have been killed by an improvised explosive device in eastern Afghanistan. Another U.S. soldier died in a bombing in the southern part of the country and a seventh U.S. soldier was killed by small arms fire. Three other NATO soldiers — including Canadian Sgt. Martin Goudreault — were killed Monday in separate attacks.
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(7 June 2010) Gen. Walt Natynczyk says the military is obeying "very clear instructions" from the government to withdraw from Afghanistan next year and he won't speculate on whether some troops could or should stay behind. more>>
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(7 June 2010) Sgt. Martin Goudreault, of 1 Combat Engineer Regiment in Edmonton, became the 147th Canadian to die in Afghanistan when he was killed by a homemade landmine just before dawn on Sunday while on a foot patrol about 15 kilometres southwest of Kandahar City. more>>
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(7 June 2010) Afghan President Hamid Karzai has agreed to open negotiations with Taliban insurgents. This also includes the possible release of hundreds of detained Taliban militant suspects. more>>
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(7 June 2010) Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards are ready to provide a military escort to cargo ships trying to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza, a representative of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Sunday. more>>
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(4 June 2010) Liberal foreign affairs critic Bob Rae has provided the strongest indication yet that a deal may be possible between his party and the Harper government to keep some Canadian troops in Afghanistan after the combat mission in Kandahar ends next summer. more>>
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(4 June 2010) The first of 17 new CC-130J Hercules tactical airlift aircraft left Lockheed Martin and landed today at 8 Wing Trenton, Ontario. The Minister of National Defence, the Honourable Peter MacKay, and the Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada, the Honourable Rona Ambrose, were present to mark this important milestone.
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(4 June 2010) Canada's new military commander in Afghanistan arrived in Kandahar to lead Canada's 2,800 military personnel in the country until September. more>>
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(3 June 2010) Canadian troops may stay in Afghanistan beyond the 2011 withdrawal date, members of an all-party Commons committee said yesterday after touring the war-ravaged nation. Committee members recently spent five days touring reconstruction projects, and talking with soldiers and civilians. New Democrat committee member Jack Harris said it was important to honour the sacrifices of Canadian soldiers killed or injured in Afghanistan "by doing something that has a lasting effect on Kandahar." more>>
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(3 June 2010) Insurgents fired rockets, detonated explosives and engaged in an intense gun battle with security forces [June 2] near the site of a jirga, or peace meeting, where Afghan President Hamid Karzai spoke. Police later said they had surrounded a home in Kabul where suspected insurgents, believed to be responsible for the attack, were holed up. Video report: more>>
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(3 June 2010) Defence Minister Peter MacKay laid out Ottawa's $35-billion plan to reinvigorate Canada's moribund shipbuilding industry, saying the government will establish a long-term relationship with two Canadian shipyards for the procurement of the large ships — one to build combat vessels, the other to build non-combat vessels. "The plan is to select two Canadian shipyards in a fair and transparent process," he said at the CANSEC trade show in Ottawa. "We expect to have these contracts signed within two years." The plan will result in the creation of two "national" shipyards — one for combat ships and one for non-combat ships. more>>
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(1 June 2010) Mr. Yazid, also known as Sheikh Said al-Masri, according to reports died along with his wife and three children.
U.S. officials say he was killed recently in the tribal areas of Pakistan in an American drone attack. Previous reports of his death have been wrong, this is the first time al-Qaeda has acknowledged such claims. more>>
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(1 June 2010) When Afghan elders gather under a giant tent in Kabul for a peace jirga this week, they will have to be protected not just from militants trying to bomb the meeting from the hills above, but also insulated from a half dozen neighbours all battling for influence more>>
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(30 May 2010) Brig.-Gen. Daniel Ménard has been relieved of command of Canadian troops in Afghanistan following allegations he was involved in an inappropriate personal relationship while in theatre.
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(29 May 2010) As thousands of Canadian, U.S., British and Afghan troops prepare for a summer offensive in Kandahar - expected to be the most decisive battle in the Afghan war - the Taliban are already preparing their battleground, planting mines, hiding weapons and terrifying the local population.
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(27 May 2010) Tensions rise as mounting evidence from a torpedoed South Korean ship points to the North Korean Army.
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(26 May 2010) A car bomb blew up outside Canada's Provincial Reconstruction Team base in Kandahar City on Wednesday morning. The attack occurred in front of Camp Nathan Smith where Afghan workers on the base sometimes gather or pick up lifts.
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(26 May 2010) Sixty special reconnaissance vehicles will be bought and housed at Canadian Forces Base Petawawa to support special forces units there, in Ottawa and in Trenton, Ont. The new vehicles are being located with the Canadian Special Operations Regiment in Petawawa, which would also provide maintenance support as well as drivers. The high-mobility trucks will be available to various units such as the Ottawa-based Joint Task Force 2 or to special forces task groups.
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(26 May 2010) The federal government has ordered that Conservative political aides refuse to testify at House of Commons committees, a decree that sets Stephen Harper's Tories on another collision course with Parliament.
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(25 May 2010) Brig.-Gen. Daniel Menard, the commander of Canadian Forces in Afghanistan, was fined $3,500 after pleading guilty at a court martial Tuesday to neglect in handling his C8 rifle. more>>
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(25 May 2010) Attacks over the past 10 days on the Kandahar and Bagram airfields and on a NATO convoy in Kabul, in which a Canadian colonel was killed, were militarily insignificant but spectacularly successful publicity coups for the Taliban. more>>
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(24 May 2010) Trooper Larry Rudd is the latest Canadian soldier to be killed in Afghanistan. Rudd, 26, died Monday while on a resupply patrol to deliver supplies and equipment to Canadian soldiers near the village of Salavat, about 20 kilometres southwest of Kandahar City. He was killed by an improvised explosive device. more>>
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(23 May 2010) The Taliban have claimed responsibility for a night time assault on NATO's largest base in southern Afghanistan. At least five rockets struck Kandahar Airfield base Saturday in the initial attack, wounding several coalition soldiers and civilian employees. The assault on the base, where several hundred Canadian troops are stationed, lasted nearly four hours. more>>
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(22 May 2010) The defence minister in Britain's new coalition government visited Afghanistan on Saturday with other senior officials after saying he hopes to speed the withdrawal of British troops from the country.
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The U.S. military's workhorse rifle — used in battle for the last 40 years — is proving less effective in Afghanistan against the Taliban's more primitive but longer range weapons.
As a result, the U.S. is reevaluating the performance of its standard M-4 rifle (an updated version of the M-16) and considering a switch to weapons that fire a larger round. more>>
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(22 May 2010) Breaking news - Insurgents have launched an attack on NATO's main military base in southern Afghanistan, home to the largest contingent of Canadian Forces personnel in the country.
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(21 May 2010) Col. Geoff Parker was bid a poignant farewell Thursday by scores of infantrymen from his Royal Canadian Regiment and 2,000 other NATO troops in a solemn ceremony beside the camouflaged transport plane that was to take the colonel on the first leg of his last journey home. more>>
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(20 May 2010) Col. Geoff Parker was bid an poignant farewell Thursday by scores of infantrymen from his Royal Canadian Regiment and 2,000 other NATO troops in a solemn ceremony beside the camouflaged transport plane that was to take the colonel on the first leg of his last journey home.
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(18 May 2010) A Canadian soldier was killed in a suicide attack in Kabul on Tuesday, a Canadian Forces spokesman has confirmed.
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(18 May 2010) More than 100 Afghan policemen who are to be in the lead when Afghan and NATO forces move against the Taliban in Kandahar's Dand and Zhari districts this summer in Operation Hamkari are receiving lessons on why prisoners should not be beaten.
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(14 May 2010) The order to cut Canada's 12 coastal defence vessels by half has been rescinded — just one day after it was announced, according to the country's chief of defence staff.
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(13 May 2010) “There’s no question there’s still a lot of work to be done," said Lt. Col. Jerry Walsh. "But what we’ve set in motion, and when I say 'we' I mean the Afghans themselves, NATO, military, civilians, all the NGOs, everyone coming together now with a real focus and things are really coming together like they haven’t been in previous years.” more>>
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(13 May 2010) A shortage of money and sailors is forcing Canada's navy to mothball half its fleet of 12 vessels used to patrol the Arctic, Atlantic and Pacific coasts. The navy made the tough choice to strip several coastal patrol vessels of their crews because it doesn't have the resources to operate them all. more>>
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(13 May 2010) The top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan says the war is a draw. Gen. Stanley McChrystal says the momentum of the resurgent Taliban militants has been stopped. But for now, the general says, nobody is winning. more>>
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(13 May 2010) Pte. Kevin McKay of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (Edmonton) is the 144th Canadian Forces member to be killed in Afghanistan since 2002. He was scheduled to return to Canada in two days. An improvised explosive device caused his death.
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(13 May 2010) Canada's navy is mothballing half of its fleet of 12 coastal patrol vessels due to a shortage of government funding and crews.
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(11 May 2010) Three car bombs at a factory, followed by a fourth targeting emergency workers, and co-ordinated blasts against security forces killed 102 people yesterday in Iraq's bloodiest day this year. more>>
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(11 May 2010) Three car bombs at a factory, followed by a fourth targeting emergency workers, and co-ordinated blasts against security forces killed 102 people on Monday in Iraq's bloodiest day this year. more>>
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(10 May 2010) Petraeus thinks he knows that President Hamid Karzai is widely viewed as “the father of the new Afghanistan.” Although there was widespread fraud in the election last August that extended Karzai’s presidency by five years, Petraeus says “ordinary people are not seized with anxiety about electoral corruption.” Besides, “there is a democratic culture in these tribal councils,” which are “like caucuses, if you will. more>>
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(10 May 2010) Faisal Shahzad, the Pakistani-American terrorism suspect behind the failed truck bombing of New York's Times Square, was trained, funded and guided by the Pakistani Taliban, senior U.S. officials said yesterday. more>>
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(10 May 2010) Canadian and U.S. troops will probably be drawn into fighting the Taliban inside Kandahar -- a task that can quickly turn nasty -- during the unfolding offensive that is expected to begin soon, a NATO official says for the first time.
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(10 May 2010) The Obama administration said Friday that Iran missed another opportunity to break the deadlock with the world community over its nuclear program during a surprise, high-profile UN dinner Thursday. more>>
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(6 May 2010) A Pakistani-American man was arrested for driving a failed car bomb into New York's Times Square last Saturday as investigators continued to pursue leads.
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(6 May 2010) The Pakistani terrorist group that has been linked to Faisal Shahzad, the man behind last weekend's attempted bombing in Times Square, was formed a decade ago to "liberate" Kashmir from India. But Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) has always had broader aspirations. According to its manifesto, its motto is "jihad against the infidels" and its targets are "the enemies of Islam." It has also declared war against the United States.
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(6 May 2010) The first person charged under Canada's anti-terrorism financing law is expected to plead guilty next week. Prapaharan Thambithurai's trial was supposed to begin in B.C. Supreme Court on Wednesday, but Crown prosecutor Martha Devlin said a plea bargain had been struck.
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(6 May 2010) The federal Cabinet has approved sanctions against Eritrea in response to the African nation's support for a Somali militant group that has been recruiting Canadian youths. more>>
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(6 May 2010) Islamist militants armed with guns, grenades and suicide car bombs targeted the U.S. consulate in Pakistan's northwestern capital and a political rally, killing 46 people on Monday.
The attacks in quick succession were among the deadliest so far this year in nuclear-armed Pakistan, where insecurity has raised concerns in the United States as Washington steps up the fight in Afghanistan and against al-Qaida. more>>
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(May 2010) Afghan President Hamid Karzai twice threatened to quit politics and join the Taliban if the West continued to pressure him to enact reforms, legislators said on 3 May 2010.
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(5 May 2010) A former top defence procurement official is calling on the Harper government to start moving on a project to buy new search-and-rescue planes before the lack of modern aircraft contributes to injuries or death in an emergency situation. more>>
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(4 May 2010) A Canadian soldier has been killed by an improvised explosive device as he returned to camp from a routine road-clearing operation in Panjway District southwest of Kandahar City. more>>
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(4 May 2010) 2010 marks the 65th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands. Nazi Germany’s invasion of the Netherlands in May 1940 marked the beginning of five years of terror for the Dutch. In this milestone year, Ambassador Geerts of the Netherlands laid a wreath at Beechwood National Cemetery on May 4, Dutch Remembrance Day. Together with the Dutch community of Ottawa he paid homage to Canadian veterans who fought for the freedom of his country. The people of the Netherlands remain grateful to Canada and to the Canadian veterans who fought so valiantly to free their country.
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(29 Apr 2010) Buried 2,000 words deep in a U.N. press release on the filling of "vacancies in subsidiary bodies," was the stark announcement that Iran, along with representatives from 10 other nations, was "elected by acclamation," meaning that no open vote was requested or required by any member states. Iran's "election" comes just a week after one of its senior clerics declared that women who wear revealing clothing are to blame for earthquakes. more>>
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(19 Apr 2010) After nine months in Afghanistan, police officers from Ottawa say they have a new appreciation for the concept of teamwork. Coakeley says police are not trusted in Kandahar, and that “to serve and protect” has a much different meaning. “I could write a doctoral thesis on what it’s like over there,” he said. “But you would have to put boots to the ground to understand. Afghanistan is a seriously broken country.” more>>
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(19 Apr 2010) A 1926 shipwreck is seen as the birth of the country's maritime fighting force is edging closer to formal recognition and protection as a national historic site – in the United States. CGS Canada, the armed vessel on which the nation's first naval recruits trained ahead of the official creation of Canada's navy in 1910, was later sold and renamed Queen of Nassau before sinking off the Florida Keys in 1926. more>>
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(16 Apr 2010) As it nears its goal of expanding the Forces, the Canadian military says it will cut back on its recruiting staff. Defence sources say the Canadian Forces recruiting group has been told to cut a total of $6 million by next year. That will result in the elimination of 60 to 70 recruiting staff across the country. more>>
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(14 Apr 2010) Chief of staff Guy Giorno, the top sidekick to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, delivered a charming imitation of an ostrich with head buried in sand, refusing to acknowledge he was even in a hot seat and declaring with repetitive gusto that an effective information-release process was in place.
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(13 Apr 2010) Anti-western outbursts by Afghan President Hamid Karzai have sent ripples of concern through the nations contributing thousands of troops and billions of dollars to the mission in this war-torn country. more>>
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(11 April 2010) Private Tyler William Todd, 26, was killed today in a powerful roadside bomb blast while on foot patrol in a volatile community southwest of Kandahar City. The attack happened early Sunday near the community of Belanday, about eight kilometres outside of the provincial capital. more>>
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(April 2010) As the shocking news of the deaths of Polish president Lech Kaczynski and at least 96 senior Polish government officials in a plane crash near Smolensk, Russia, on Saturday, spread through Ottawa's Polish community, talk eventually turned to the country's political future. more>>
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(10 APR 2010) Despite U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's urging for Canada to keep soldiers in Afghanistan past 2011, the military mission will end. "We will work within the parameters of the parliamentary motion, which states very clearly that the military mission will come to an end in 2011," says Peter MacKay. "We will then transition into some of the other important work that we're doing. That includes a focus on police training."
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(April 2010) Colonel Russell Williams, a high-ranking Canadian Air Force commander is charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of two women from eastern Ontario. Williams, commander of Canadian Forces Base Trenton, was arrested in Ottawa. Read an updated selection of related articles: more>>
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(April 2010) Canadian Navy takes the new Cyclone out for a spin in the Halifax area at the end of March.
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Here are a few events scheduled to commemorate the 100 year Anniversary of the Canadian Navy. more>>
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(4 Apr 2010) After an emotional Easter-weekend ceremony to honour nine Canadian soldiers who have died in recent years, parents of the fallen called for Canada's troops to remain in Afghanistan after 2011. more>>
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(30 March 2010) Ending a long day of speculations over the future of Canada’s involvement in Afghanistan, Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said the decision to end the military mission next year has been made "perfectly clear" to the United States. more>>
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(30 Mar 2010) "Colleagues, I rise to express the profound hope that the Parliament of Canada, most notably the House of Commons, will see its way clear to modify its resolution of March 13, 2008 and agree to the continued deployment of Canadian humanitarian and military forces in the ongoing engagement in Afghanistan. The Prime Minister is to be commended for staying fast and true to the resolution on end of Kandahar province combat of 2011. But that faithfulness does not negate the need for vision and renewed commitment now. Afghanistan is a critical theatre in an important war against terrorism which is and remains a scourge on humanity. Canadian troops have spent too much blood and grief and shown too much courage and progress to end the engagement before realistic stability goals are attained. A minority parliament does not justify a failure of will or avoidance of international responsibility. The nature and mix of our deployment there may change, that is for elected parliamentarians to decide – but Canada's commitment to fight the pathologies of terrorism in a part of the world where they are most intense must not."
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(30 Mar 2010) U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the U.S. would like Canadian troops to remain in Afghanistan past 2011 and suggested they could switch from a combat to a training role. more>>
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(29 March 2010) The United States has scrapped pretence and is publicly calling for Canadian troops to stay in Afghanistan past next year, sparking questions over what Canada’s role will be after the 2011 deadline for military withdrawal. Though it is no secret that the U.S. would like to see Canadian troops stay, Washington had previously papered over the differences by not specifically asking. Yesterday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton changed course, saying the U.S. believes it has made progress with a new strategy and hopes Canada will provide “visible” support. She said that Canadian troops might take on a non-combat role. more>>
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(25 March 2010) According to TIME Magazine, the F-35 Lightning II program "is in big trouble." Last week, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates told Congress that the F-35's "cost and schedule snafus were unacceptable." While the Pentagon is "not about to kill the program, the rush to push the plane down the assembly line and into the skies highlights the nation's continuing inability to pit its limited resources against real threats." Since 2001, the F-35's per-airplane cost has doubled "from $69 million to as much as $135 million — even as none of the 2,443 on-order planes have been delivered." more>>
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(19 March 2010) Eighty of the Canadian Forces' original fleet of 138 CF-18 Hornet jet fighter-bombers acquired in the 1980s remain flyable, and Canada and Japan "are the only G7 countries not to have designated successors to their primary fighters of the 1970s/1980s generation. The Harper government, Industry Canada and the Department of National Defence have maintained a stealthy uncommunicativeness about the selection process, let alone the choice of aircraft. Meanwhile, a long tarry by Ottawa could mean the last, tired Hornet will not be able to fly off into the sunset around 2020 as planned." more>>
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(Mar 2010) A National Maritime Information Centre is being established to counter the threat of a terrorist attack from the sea by better monitoring of the hundreds of thousands of small boats that sail off Britain’s coastline. more>>
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A major study by two of Canada's leading defence,
foreign affairs and security institutes (CDFAI & CDA) sets out 10 hard-hitting recommendations for significant reform of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). more>>
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The revival of the Canadian military as a fighting force (when required) has lifted Canada’s prestige on the world stage as nothing else could. As Canadians, it would be a pity if the government let this slip or erode on the excuse that whenever budget cuts have to be made, defence is the first victim. more>>
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Deadly bomb attacks in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar were a warning to NATO's top general that the Taliban are ready for a coming offensive in their heartland, the insurgents said Sunday [14 March 2010].
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One minister, not three, should oversee the billions of dollars worth of future equipment purchases for the Canadian Forces, a new report to the Harper government recommends. more>>
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The Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI), released its Report on Military Procurement which provides recommendations on potential improvements to Canada's military procurement process, based on industry consultations. more>>
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Washington – The US Army released an RFP for the Ground Combat Vehicle on Feb 25th, marking an official start for defense contractors to begin competing for the right to build the service's next combat vehicle. Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli said the new vehicle will not be simply a rehash of the cancelled Future Combat Systems, but a relevant combat vehicle based on Army experiences in combat. Chiarelli said the Army is hoping for "three solid proposals" on the RFP – those proposals must be in by April 26. The Army will then award technology development contracts to bidders in September. more>>
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Conflicting reports emerged Sunday about whether Adam Gadahn, a U.S.-born spokesman for al-Qaeda, has been arrested in Pakistan. A senior Pakistani government official told CNN that Gadahn was arrested Sunday in Karachi, but a U.S. intelligence official said there appears to be no validity to reports of Gadahn's arrest. Other U.S. officials also said they have no indication that Gadahn has been captured. more>>
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The arrest of American-born muslim extremist, Adam Gadahn, represents a major victory in the U.S.-led battle against al-Qaida and will be taken as a sign that Pakistan, criticized in the past for being an untrustworthy ally, is cooperating more fully with Washington. It follows the recent detentions of several Afghan Taliban commanders in Karachi, including the movement's No. 2 commander. more>>
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The Canadian military dodged a bullet in Thursday's federal budget, but will still see a total of $2.5 billion carved out of future defence spending after troops withdraw from Afghanistan next year. Funding will remain largely stable in the current year, but the Conservative government plans to take away $525 million in planned increases in 2012-13, $1 billion in 2013-14 and another $1 billion the following year. more>>
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Al-Qaida's American-born spokesman on Sunday called on Muslims serving in the U.S. armed forces to emulate the Army major charged with killing 13 people in Fort Hood. "You shouldn't make the mistake of thinking that military bases are the only high-value targets in America and the West. On the contrary, there are countless other strategic places, institutions and installations which, by striking, the Muslim can do major damage," he said. more>>
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General Petraeus, Commander of U.S. Central Command, addressed a packed house of members of the Conference of Defence Associations during its AGM in Ottawa. more>>
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U.S. Navy relieves Captain Holly Graf of her command of a $1-billion warship for "cruelty and maltreatment" of her 400-member crew. Capt. Graf "was the closest thing the U.S. Navy had to a female Captain Bligh."
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(25 Jan 2010) Faced with delays and restrictions about what it can and cannot do with U.S. technology, Canada's navy has opted to modernize its frigates using as much non-American equipment as possible for key systems on the ships. more>>
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It’s time for Defence to more fully incorporate domestic disaster assistance tasks as part of its core business says a Special Report published by the Australia Policy Research Institute. more>>
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The Canadian army has produced an ethics guide to help equip soldiers to be "ethical warriors" who will instinctively do the right thing. more>>
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(March 2, 2010) "Eight years after he led the 101st Airborne into Afghanistan, Gen. David H. Petraeus sat down to discuss what has become the longest war in U.S. history — what went wrong, what's going right and when, if ever, the fighting might end."
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(February 27, 2010) "A coordinated attack early Friday, which killed at least 16 people and targeted a hotel and guesthouse in central Kabul, underscored the shifting tactics of Taliban insurgents and their keen understanding of geopolitical implications." more>>
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(26 February 2010) US Army Brigadier General Ben Hodges, who is currently serving in Kandahar, was interviewed on PBS NewsHour . BGen Hodges discusses the latest suicide attack in Kabul, the taking of the Taliban stronghold of Marjah, and the impact it will have on the overall war on terrorism in Afghanistan. more>>
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(24 Feb 2010) Unless Congress objects, the policy could go into effect by April. Submarines are the only class of ship that still bars female service members. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates notified Congress on Monday that the Navy intends to change its policy. Congress has 30 working days to object. more>>
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View video newscast more>>
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A NATO airstrike killed up to 27 Afghan civilians, including women and a child, sparking fresh anger from Kabul against U.S.-led forces pressing a major offensive to defeat the Taliban. Top U.S. commander Stanley McChrystal, who has made winning Afghan hearts and minds the focus of plans to end the increasingly costly war, was forced into another apology over civilian deaths after the third incident in a week. more>>
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The United States is looking for ways to sustain troop levels in Afghanistan if Dutch soldiers withdraw, including reaching out to non-NATO partners, a top U.S. defence official said Monday. more>>
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Canadians and Americans will always be allies. Tom Brokaw shows a brief video history leading up to the Olympics. more>>
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(21 FEB 2010) The likely exit of Dutch troops from Afghanistan leaves a key province in the heart of the nation vulnerable to Taliban infiltration - especially if militants are pushed out of their sanctuaries in the south. more>>
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(19 Feb 2010) Fifty-two days after his legs were blown off by a roadside bomb, Master Cpl. Mike Trauner was wheeled into rehab. The physiotherapist who assessed his condition advised the soldier that his ultimate goal might be to walk with two canes for 500 metres. But Trauner had something else in mind. more>>
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(19 Feb 2010) But a military that enjoyed a 57% surge in funding over five years is suddenly preparing to fight against restraint as the government's $56-billion deficit elimination project moves onto the Conservative agenda. more>>
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(18 Feb 2010) Royal Navy warships on standby to protect commercial shipping to the Falkland Islands. PM Gordon Brown said Britain would take a robust stand against Argentine encroachment on the resource rich South Atlantic territory. more>>
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(18 Feb 2010) Pakistani authorities, aided by U.S. intelligence, have apprehended more Afghan Taliban chiefs following the capture of the movement's No.2 figure — arrests that together represent the biggest blow to the insurgents since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001. more>>
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(18 Feb 2010) The last known First World War veteran who served Canada, John Babcock, has died at the age of 109, ending a link to the era when Canada came of age as a nation. more>>
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Military doctors say they will be able to treat Canadian soldiers who have been traumatized or wounded in the line of duty with a high-tech simulator that can recreate the experience that injured them. more>>
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(Feb 2010) The captains of the Sledge Hockey, Men's Hockey and Women's Hockey teams have sent a letter to the Canadian troops. Read it here: more>>
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(13 Feb 2010) A Canadian soldier has been killed in a training accident northeast of Kandahar city, Afghanistan. The death of Corporal Joshua Caleb Baker of Edmonton brings to 140 the number of Canadian soldiers, along with two civilians, who have been killed in Canada's eight-year mission in Afghanistan. more>>
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The Dutch government will look at options to extend its military presence in Afghanistan beyond 2010, the Defence Ministry said as NATO increases efforts to contain the Taliban insurgency. The Netherlands had initially decided to withdraw its 2,000 troops from Afghanistan before the end of 2010, but had left the door open in recent months to the possibility of a smaller-scale mission despite political division over the prospect. more>>
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(Feb 2010) I am loath to make comparisons between the Vietnam war and Afghanistan, yet, after some eight years, the similarities are more and more striking. It seems America has forgotten both the lessons of Vietnam and the Soviet experience in Afghanistan, and has fallen back on stupid and arrogant ideas that are simply a rehash of failed tactics and strategies of yesteryear.
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(Feb 2010) Canada's envoy to Afghanistan says Ottawa won't decide on security arrangements for Canadian diplomats, police mentors and aid workers in Kandahar until assessing the security situation after troops leave the war-torn province in 2011. Auditor General Sheila Fraser has serious concerns for the well-being of Canadians whose work was to continue after the troops departed. more>>
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(JAN 2010) 
A Canadian patrol is attacked using an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) while passing through the mock village of Ertebat Shar during Exercise MAPLE GUARDIAN (Ex MG), at the Fort Irwin National Training Center (NTC), California, USA. Approximately 3,700 soldiers are participating in the exercise, which includes supporting elements from 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group (2 CMBG), and other units across Canada. Ex MG is a major military training event designed to confirm the readiness of TF 1-10, which will be deploying to Afghanistan in the spring of 2010. Task Force 1-10 is comprised of the 1st Battalion, the Royal Canadian Regiment Battle Group (1 RCR BG), the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT), the Operational Mentor and Liaison Team (OMLT), and the National Support Element (NSE).
Photo: Sgt Lance Wade, 36 CBG Public Affairs more>>
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(25 January 2010) Crewmembers from Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship Athabaskan, arrive on the beach in Léogâne from aboard the USS Fort MacHenry, in support of OP HESTIA.
The Canadian Navy component of Operation HESTIA, Canadian Task Group 301.1, includes the destroyer HMCS Athabaskan, the frigate HMCS Halifax and a Sea King helicopter air detachment under the leadership of Task Group Commander, Captain (Navy) Art McDonald.
Operation HESTIA is the Canadian Forces participation in humanitarian operations conducted in response to the catastrophic earthquake that struck Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on 12 January 2010. Op HESTIA is part of a whole-of-government effort that also involves Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada and the Canadian International Development Agency. Canada has consistently demonstrated strong support for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations throughout the world and in this difficult time, the Government of Canada is committed to helping the people of Haiti.
Photo: Corporal Johanie Maheu, Formation Imaging Services
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(25 JAN 2010) Faced with delays and restrictions about what it can and cannot do with U.S. technology, Canada’s navy has opted to modernize its frigates using as much non-American equipment as possible for key systems on the ships. more>>
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Master Corporal Mike Racine, a medical technician from the Disaster Assistance Relief Team (DART) treats a Haitian man who was injured in the earthquake that hit Haiti. Image by Cpl Julie Bélisle, Canadian Forces, Combat Camera
Operation HESTIA is the Canadian Forces participation in humanitarian operations conducted in response to the catastrophic earthquake that struck Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on 12 January 2010. The Government of Canada is committed to helping the people of Haiti. Op HESTIA is part of a whole-of-government effort that also involves Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada and the Canadian International Development Agency.
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Your donation will be doubled – Every dollar donated by individual Canadians to UNICEF Canada for relief efforts in Haiti will be matched by CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency). more>>
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Canada will send another 1,000 troops to Haiti this week, bringing this country's military commitment in the shattered nation to about 2000, nearly the same number deployed to Afghanistan. The Canadian mission in Haiti is being led by Brigadier-General Guy Laroche, a former commander in Afghanistan, who arrived in Haiti on Saturday to begin a reconnaissance mission. more>>
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Canada plans to deploy 1,000 soldiers to Haiti to help in relief efforts, and two Canadian Forces ships are already rushing towards the quake-stricken country to deliver vital aid. Includes video interview with Minister MacKay. more>>
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Canadian Forces personnel load up HMCS Athabaskan with supplies prior to leaving for the country of Haiti that was devastated by an earthquake.
The 200-member Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) is deployed as part of Operation HESTIA, the Canadian Forces contribution to earthquake relief efforts in the Port-au-Prince region, where a 7.0 magnitude quake that struck Haiti on January 12th, 2010 did the most damage. more>>
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The U.N. says rescue workers and relief goods are pouring into Haiti from around the world, but aid workers are running into huge problems reaching people trapped under buildings or feeding hungry survivors. more>>
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(JAN 2010) UK Defence chiefs are preparing drastic cuts to the number of American stealth JSF aircraft planned for the RAF and the Royal Navy's proposed new carriers. The JSF, or F35 as it is now called, has been subject to costly delays and the estimated price has soared from £37m each four years ago to more than £62m today. more>>
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Martin Shadwick provides an overview of key priorities for upcoming military equipment procurements. more>>
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(Jan 2010) Britain's defense journalist Rupert Hamer has been killed in a roadside explosion. The 39-year-old is the first British journalist to die in the Afghanistan conflict. He was accompanying U.S. Marines patrolling near Nawa, southern Afghanistan. One of the Marines was also killed in the blast. more>>
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(Jan 2010) Major Elizabeth Erickson and Staff Sgt. Sarah Saelens rode for hours in heavily armored vehicles, driven slowly with frequent stops to inspect the road for buried bombs, to speak with a small group of Afghan women who want a school for their daughters and vocational training for themselves. more>>
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(Jan 2010) Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper reiterated on Thursday the official Ottawa line that the country's 2,500 military troops in Afghanistan will return home at the end of 2011.
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(31 Dec 2009) "Today I stand with all Canadians as we mourn the loss of four brave and selfless Canadian soldiers, and one Canadian journalist, who died after the vehicle they were riding struck an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) while on patrol in an area south of Kandahar," Defence Minister MacKay said. Five others were wounded (four soldiers and another civilian). more>>
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(Dec 2009) Canada should launch a "peace mission" to Afghanistan aimed at ending the war there through diplomatic and political means, says a report issued by the Canadian Council of Churches, the country's largest ecumenical Christian association. more>>
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(Dec 2009) U.S. and Russian negotiators, meeting in Geneva, have been struggling to solve some remaining impediments to a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START). The big questions are, what type of a bridging arrangement will they agree on, and how long will it last. more>>
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It is with great sadness that I must advise our readers that Mr Ken Krukewich, FrontLine's Advisor for Space (and previously Modeling and Simulation Advisor), passed away suddenly in his home last week. Ken was a dear friend and great supporter of FrontLine. He will be greatly missed by his many friends in DND and the international space sector. The beautiful service ended with the musical theme of 2001: A Space Odyssey (which would have delighted him). Those wishing, may make a memorial donation to the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario. Donations, tributes and condolences may be made at http://www.tubmanfuneralhomes.com more>>
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(Dec 2009) Kandahar residents say the Taliban "own the night." Kandahar will be the center of the new U.S. strategy announced by President Obama, according to military and civilian officials interviewed in Kandahar and Kabul. The goal: protect the population better than they have been protected so far. At least 10,000 of the additional 30,000 troops Obama announced will be deployed in and around the city. Most will go to the city's outskirts to try to create what the new Canadian general in charge of Kandahar calls a "ring of stability" and a "true buffer zone" to keep militants out. more>>
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(Nov 2009) Canadian soldiers bound for Afghanistan next year will be the first to receive "psychological resilience" training in an effort to reduce the incidence of post-traumatic stress among combat troops. more>>
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(Nov 2009) In what appears to be his first step toward combating corruption since he was inaugurated as Afghan president for the second time, Hamid Karzai has asked two senior officials to be investigated for embezzlement and kickbacks. However, it's not clear whether corruption or politics was the reason why Karzai has singled them out. more>>
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American military officials reported that Iraqi security forces, working with U.S. advisors, arrested 21 terrorism suspects in various operations in recent days. The security team uncovered advanced bomb-making components such as mechanisms that affix magnetic bombs to vehicles, making them unable to be removed unless the bombs are detonated. more>>
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The Conference of Defence Associations Institute has released of its fourth annual Vimy Paper, "The Strategic Impact of Energy Dependency," edited by our Senior Defence Analyst Colonel (Ret'd) Brian MacDonald. more>>
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November 5–11 is Veterans’ Week. It is a time to recognize and remember the contribution of ordinary men and women who performed extraordinary deeds on behalf of their country and fellow Canadians. more>>
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(Nov 2009) Five British soldiers from Task Force Helmand have been shot dead by an Afghan police officer. more>>
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(4 Nov 2009) The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff expressed concern about governance in Afghanistan. "We are extremely concerned about the level of corruption and the legitimacy of this government," USN Adm Mullen said at the National Press Club today. more>>
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(October 2009) 
After defying the PMO and bureaucrats alike, Hillier’s autobiography, A Soldier First, "spits out the sock they tried to stuff into his mouth, rages against an unwieldy federal bureaucracy, reveals private showdowns with former defence minister Gordon O’Connor and twice dismisses Liberal MP Denis Coderre’s politics as 'dumber than dirt.' Ouch."
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(November) Teacher helps kids understand. more>>
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(October 2009) In the first study to look at sex-specific pain prevalence in Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom Veterans, researchers from the VA Connecticut Healthcare System and the Yale University School of Medicine found women Veterans had a lower prevalence of pain than male counterparts returning from the conflicts. more>>
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(13 Oct) Since 1775, the U.S. Navy has played a major role in every conflict that has defined the United States as a nation. more>>
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(6 Oct 2009) by David Pugliese – One issue related to the Afghan war and Canada’s allies that had disappeared from view was the alleged rape of young kids at the hands of the Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police (aka “Man-Love Thursdays”). DND will soon launch a Board of Inquiry into aspects of this issue (what Canadian troops and leaders knew and what they did about it). The National Investigation Service is also on the case. more>>
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(October 2009) In celebrating the Canadian Centennial of Flight, CBC Television and Radio-Canada have produced an aviation documentary, Canada Above And Beyond: 100 Years of Aviation. The production is a four-part documentary series that explores the revolutionary impact of aviation on this country and our great passion for flight. more>>
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(10 Oct 2009) Under a revised command structure that will go into effect next week, General Stanley McChrystal's top deputy, Lt.Gen David Rodriguez, will assume control of day-to-day tactical operations of ISAF. more>>
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(10 Oct 2009) As they review U.S. policy in Afghanistan for the second time this year, U.S. leaders face one nagging suspicion - it may not be possible to crush al-Qaeda, defeat the Taliban and stabilize Afghanistan at a reasonable cost in blood, treasure or time.
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(10 Oct 2009) The genius of democracy is the rotation of power, which forces the opposition to be serious - particularly about things like war, about which until Jan. 20 of this year Democrats were decidedly unserious. more>>
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(1 Oct 2009) 
Lieutenant-General André Deschamps succeeded LGen Angus Watt as the new Chief of the Air Staff. more>>
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(28 Sept 2009) Shortly after a Canadian military vehicle had been blasted by a bomb planted in the road, BGen Vance, Commander of Task Force Kandahar demanded a shura (meeting) with village elders. He wanted an explanation as to why villagers, who have benefited from Canadian aid and protection, didn't bother to warn them about the bomb. more>>
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The U.S. Pacific Fleet is deploying personnel and units to provide humanitarian aid in the wake of natural disasters that have stricken the Philippines, American Samoa and Indonesia.
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(Sept 2009) Numerous newspaper reports have surfaced over the last few years about the supposed "cultural" issue of Afghan Army and Afghan police officers raping young boys, while Canadian soldiers are allegedly instructed to turn a blind eye. more>>
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(Sept 2009) The Obama administration cancels the plan to station land-based anti-ballistic missile defense systems in Eastern Europe. Shock waves reverberate around the world. more>>
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(Sept 19, 2009) Secretary of Defense Robert Gates' OpEd to the New York Times explains his position on anti-missile defense in Eastern Europe. more>>
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(24 Sept 2009) The Honourable Tony Clement, Minister of Industry, announced a series of improvements to Canada’s IRB Policy. Read more on IRBs, including objectives, requirements, improvements, and impacts. more>>
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(24 Sept 2009) The Honourable Tony Clement, Minister of Industry, today announced that The Boeing Company has signed an agreement with L-3 Wescam Inc. to manufacture mechanical parts in support of Boeing CH-147 Chinook cargo helicopters, including 15 purchased by the Government of Canada for the Canadian Forces. more>>
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(Sept 2009) Under perfect running conditions, 11,000 civilians and military personnel from across the country ran, walked or wheeled side by side in the 2009 Canada Army Run. Check link for results: more>>
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(16 Sept 2009) The highest ranking woman in the Canadian military, BGen Hillary Jaeger will assume command of all of NATO's medical personnel in Afghanistan next month. Her focus will be on acute care of those injured in combat, as well as the public health aspect of the mission by dealing with infectious diseases.
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Departing from downtown Ottawa on September 20, the Canada Army Run is open to all and no qualifying time is required. Be part of one of the most exciting running events in Canada and take the opportunity to say “thanks” to the Canadian men and women who serve us in so many ways at home and abroad. more>>
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(Sept 2009)  Richard Fitoussi looks at the Afghanistan conflict since Canada joined the war in 2001. With no affiliation to the military or a journalistic outlet, Fitoussi examines the war from many aspects. He talks to the troops on the ground, officers in the military, scholars from different institutions, embedded journalists and the Afghan people. more>>
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(Sept 2009) Following the recent appointment of John Pranzatelli as Strategy and Business Operations Vice President, the Chairman of the Board, CEO and President of MBDA Incorporated, Jerry Agee, approved the appointment of Earle Rudolph as Vice President of Business Development. Previous positions include: QinetiQ Inc. VPBD; Alliant Tech Systems Group, VP; Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Corp BD Manager; and Senior Manager at Raytheon. more>>
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(July 2009) ASD Report: Strategic evaluation of industry and key players’ is a business report that provides a comprehensive view of the aerospace & defense industry and its top 10 companies. more>>
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The CDA Institute is pleased to announce that Warrant Officer William Kenneth MacDonald has been chosen as the recipient of the 2009 Vimy Award. more>>
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(30 September 20) Canada's Army Run is setting its sights on becoming a key North American destination Run. Military and civilians run together in half-marathon and 5K events to celebrate and recognize contributions of Canadian Forces at home and abroad. more>>
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(28 July 2009) Ottawa - The Conference of Defence Associations (CDA) welcomes the fresh federal approach to rationalizing ship procurement brought forward at a recently concluded Shipbuilding Forum. more>>
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(27 July 2009) A meeting between the government and Canadian marine industries began in Gatineau with the attendance of four of the key Ministers responsible for federal ship procurement. more>>
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(25 July 2009) Public Works and Government Services Canada is at the centre of yet another defence procurement scandal by ruling that Quebec-based Rheinmetall Canada's financial paperwork was not completed properly. Rather than requesting the additional information, Public Works chose to go back to the drawing board with a new RFP and a new deadline of August 27, 2009. Rheinmetall, the only company to bid on the program to boost army firepower, currently markets a high-speed grenade launcher that complies to all of the technical requirements from the Canadian Forces. Another firm, that originally did not have a product to meet Canadian specification, has suddenly shown interest in bidding. Could this be the reason Public Works has chosen to waste taxpayers money by not only starting the process all over again, but subsequently extending the deadline to allow another firm to hastily get a product ready? more>>
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(25 July 2009) To complement the existing 60mm mortars, CASW must be capable of both direct fire and high-angle indirect fire. The latter skews the project towards systems with more complex sights. more>>
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(25 July 2009) The first attempt at an NPP (Notice of Proposed Procurement) was cancelled on 07 Nov 2008. The NPP has since been reissued. Click here for commentary by the Canadian American Strategic Review. more>>
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(23 July 2009) LGen Andrew Leslie, Chief of the Land Staff, said a recently announced $5.2-billion government investment in armoured vehicles and a heavy push in officer training means "there is no need for an operational pause if things unfold the way I certainly hope they do." more>>
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On June 4, 2009 SSG 1st Class John C. Beale was KIA in Afghanistan. His death didn't make headlines and outside of his hometown, wasn't much noted. His body was escorted home on June 11, 2009 to Falcon Field in Peachtree City, Georgia, just south of Atlanta. The Henry County Police Department escorted the procession to the funeral home in McDonough, Georgia. A simple notice in local papers indicated the road route to be taken and the approximate time. This was filmed by a State Trooper during the procession. That simple notice in local papers was the extent of the announcement. This video is about 12 minutes long, and while it is not professionally done, if you look closely you can see the faces of the American People. more>>
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(9 July 2009) The federal government announced plans to procure the next generation of land combat vehicles, renewing a core capability of the Canadian Forces and providing our uniformed men and women with the equipment required to do their jobs safely and effectively. more>>
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(6 July 2009) The United States and Russia today agreed to resume bilateral military cooperation, which has been on hold since the conflict between Russia and Georgia erupted in August 2008. more>>
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(Tuesday, July 2) TONIGHT - British Foreign Secretary David Miliband discusses the war in Afghanistan in an interview with Gwen Ifill on The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer
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(29 June 2009) A crisis in Honduras threatened to spill across the region hours after President Manuel Zelaya was thrown out by the army and exiled to Costa Rica. His leftist ally in Venezuela, President Hugo Chavez, threatens military intervention. more>>
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(28 June 2009) NATO and Russia on Saturday agreed to resume military cooperation nearly a year after a crisis in their relations following the Georgia war. more>>
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(24 June 2009) Decorated Vietnam War Veteran Garry Lee Price died of the cancer he had been battling for more than a year. VA doctors confirmed the connection between his illness and his exposure to Agent Orange while serving in Vietnam. Last week, after a year of stalling, the VA denied his disability benefits claim. more>>
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(23 June 2009) Riders from Sacramento area Veterans motorcycle clubs will visit dying Army Veteran Garry Lee Price tomorrow in a spontaneous outpouring of support and brotherhood. more>>
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(22 June 2009) Vice-Admiral Dean McFadden assumed command of the Canadian Navy this morning at a formal ceremony held in Ottawa at the Cartier Square Drill Hall more>>
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(12 June 2009) Ottawa – A ceremony was held to mark the end of 48 years of patient care at the National Defence Medical Centre. Military patients in the area will now receive medical and dental care at the Monfort Hospital. more>>
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(June 2009) New Bill enables Veterans Affairs Canada to extend benefits to low-income Allied Veterans of the Second World War and the Korean War. Family members may also receive benefits. more>>
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(June 2009) Garry Lee Price is dying of cancer in a hospice in Sacramento while the Veterans Administration stalls on his service-related disability claim. Instead of expediting his claim, his terminal status has given them extra reason to stall. more>>
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(June 2009) FrontLine previously ran a story on an American soldier on exchange in Canada. Now deployed in Afganistan, LTC Eric Robinson sends us a few pictures. more>>
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In a U.S. Navy-led humanitarian and civil assistance mission, CFHS members gain valuable experience in dealing with medical realities in under-served areas of the world and responding to a wide range of medical needs. more>>
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(June 2009) President and Executive Director of Frontline Defense Systems and the Armed Forces Foundation, Patricia Driscoll recently announced that proceeds of a new book “Hidden Battles on Unseen Fronts: Stories of American Service Members with Traumatic Brain Injury and PTSD" would be donated to the AFF. more>>
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(June 2009) On June 6, The Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of National Defence and Minister for the Atlantic Gateway, will attend a parade, commemorative ceremony, and community picnic on the grounds of the Camp Hill Veterans Memorial Building to mark this significant anniversary.
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(April 2009) Canadian Forces soldiers, sailors, airmen and airwomen, and members of the Canadian Rangers successfully completed their missions last week and returned to the Command Post at Eureka, Ellesmere Island, signalling the end of Operation Nunalivut 2009 more>>
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(April 2009) On April 23, 2009, Major Michelle Mendes, based in Ottawa, Ontario was found dead in an accommodation room, at the Kandahar Airfield. An investigation is ongoing to establish the circumstances of this incident. more>>
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(April 2009) Defence Minister Peter MacKay says Ottawa will not accept a helicopter contracted for the military unless it meets specifications set out by the Defence Department. more>>
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(APRIL 2009) There are good reasons why the phrase 'naval insurgency' sounds like 'fried ice cream'. Oceans don't have civilian populations and terrain cover, the two key enablers of insurgency on land. In addition, sailors do everything inside their protective platforms, which in turn are always moving, so the soft or fixed targets just don't exist. Perhaps, however, this is thinking too literally. more>>
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(APRIL 2009) Rheinmetall Defence was chosen to equip the Canadian Navy’s Halifax-class frigates with the MASS (Multi Ammunition Softkill System) naval countermeasures system, under Canada’s FELEX frigate modernization programme more>>
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The Highway of Heroes. All of Canada mourns the loss of each life given in service to this country. Ordinary citizens show this by going to the highway or lining a bridge, waving a flag, and saluting our fallen soldiers as they pass in solemn procession towards their final resting place. Click here for a tribute video: more>>
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(March 2009) Margaret Warner interviews President Karzai (transcript) for the Newshour. more>>
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(18 MAR 2009) Defence Minister Peter MacKay was at 12 Wing Shearwater on Tuesday to announce some old spending and new spending, and to hint at more spending to come. more>>
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(18 MAR 2009) Managing Canada's relationship with the United States is the most important aspect of Canadian foreign policy. Derek Burney argues that now is the time for the Canadian government to boldly pursue a strategy firmly based in Canadian interests. more>>
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(18 MAR 2009) Canadians like to believe that our troops are doing a first-rate job in “Canadahar.” Do the Americans agree with our rosy assessment? (by Jack Granatstein) more>>
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(13 MAR 2009) The Pentagon intends to spend $400 million to develop a giant dirigible that will float 65,000 feet above the Earth for 10 years, providing unblinking and intricate radar surveillance of vehicles, planes and people below. A contractor has not yet been chosen to build the prototype – earlier work was done by Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin more>>
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(26 FEB 2009) If the assertion that the incoming Obama administration will prioritise people over technology is correct, the US Navy will take second billing to the starring army role. Obama's campaign website explicitly mentions the navy as culpable for a broad failure in the acquisition process after several new ship designs suffered serious cost and schedule over-runs. more>>
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(10 FEB 2009) “Canada has lost one of its truest friends in Remembrance, with the passing of Mr. Georges Devloo, a resident of Vimy, France," said The Honourable Greg Thompson, Minister of Veterans Affairs. "He will be greatly missed." more>>
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(OCT 2008) FrontLine magazines will again be attending the Homeland Defense Symposium in Colorado Springs. Video of the 2008 event can be seen at this link: more>>
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(31 JAN 2009) It has begun. Canada, Denmark, Norway and Russia are among the countries competing for a piece of the Arctic. Watch entire documentary video on-line. more>>
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(31 JAN 2009) The growing worldwide interest in exploring the Arctic will lessen Canada's influence over what happens there, says a northern historian and sovereignty expert. more>>
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(18 FEB 2009) Register today for a 90 minute, timely & interactive webinar on February 18, 2009. Defense spending priorities and the outlook for procurement programs and research & development in the next budget year.
Speakers include: Trent Franks, Member House Arms Services Committee; Mackenzie Eaglen, Sr. Policy Analyst with Douglas & Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies; Dr. Daniel Goure, Vice President, The Lexington Institute.
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(12 DEC 2008) The federal cabinet will be asked early in the new year to give its blessing to spend $3 billion to replace Canada's geriatric fleet of search-and-rescue planes more>>
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(5 DEC 2008) Warrant Officer Robert John Wilson, Private Demetrios Diplaros, and Corporal Mark Robert McLaren were killed as a result of an improvised explosive device attack on their armoured vehicle during a joint patrol with Afghan National Army soldiers in the Arghandab District. The incident occurred approximately 15 kilometres west of Kandahar City at about 9:00 a.m. Kandahar time on December 5, 2008. more>>
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(24 NOV 2008) by Dave Pugliese
The Defence Department’s procurement system is operating just fine and it’s the news media who are to blame for the perception there are problems, says Dan Ross, the department’s assistant deputy minister of materiel. This claim met with skepticism by some who attended the conference. “They used to blame industry and consultants for the problems,” said one aerospace executive. “Now he’s blaming journalists. Next it will be the politicians. They’re looking to blame everyone but themselves.” more>>
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(2008) by Louise Mercier
The government must consider the fine line between operational requirements and the need to re-invest in the economic future of Canada. more>>
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(2008) by Senator Colin Kenny
Some think accrual accounting will make it easier to buy badly needed military equipment and amortize it over time. I will applaud if it does. more>>
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(2008) by LGen (ret) Ken Pennie
The key question is how much will DND be able to truly align itself to the Canada First strategy? more>>
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(2008) by Robert Day
Too many interlopers have inserted themselves into the defence procurement process. Decision-making protocols must be streamlined. more>>
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(2008) by Claude Bachand
The lines of responsibility are not clear and there is a lack of stakeholder involvement in defence procurement. more>>
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(2008) by Bernie Grover
The bad news is that the procurements are being conducted within a defence industry policy vacuum. more>>
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(2008) by Alan Williams
A number of myths continue to pervade defence procurement today. more>>
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(2008) Reduce the Impediments
One’s responsibility on the job should be reflected by one’s “authority” to make the corresponding decision. more>>
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(2008) by Chris MacLean
Nine stages to achieve final Treasury Board approval to proceed? Give me a break. more>>
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(2008) Six Sigma methodology can provide tools to establish real change and efficiencies. more>>
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(2008) by Louise Mercier
A whole of government approach is a critical step in ensuring the transparency of large capital procurements. more>>
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(2008) The view that the current system of defence procurement is broken and beyond repair is held by many in DND and industry. more>>
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(2008) by Janet Thorsteinson
Defence and security industries have serious concerns with regard to the government’s current approach to risk management. more>>
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(2008) by Vince DeRose, John M. Green
The obligation to treat bidders fairly and equally includes the duty to avoid conflicts of interest. more>>
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(2007) by John Read
Banking IRBs (Industrial and Regional Benefits). more>>
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