Opinion-Canada's military: Invisible no more

I think people need to educate themselves more about our military. Admiration without reason is just hero worship; people should understand soldiers not worship them.

"...embraced the culture of the warrior"


I think the country is a long way from that.

Agreed. A surprsing piece from the Globe and Mail, and not all together accurate either. I do think we are slowly moving away from the peacekeeper myth.

Afghanistan for the army and fighting pirates for the navy are doing that and getting Canada a lot of political credit.

Agreed. A surprsing piece from the Globe and Mail, and not all together accurate either. I do think we are slowly moving away from the peacekeeper myth.

Afghanistan for the army and fighting pirates for the navy are doing that and getting Canada a lot of political credit.

Very un-Canadian of you to suggest peacekeeping wouldn't work for Somali pirates.

Canadian's have always respected there peace keepers a lot more than there combat military. Despite the growing support and interest in developing the combat side of the military. IMO it only has to do with the wide range of threats that generally can only be dealt by the military. Such as terrorism and biological terrorism.

People want to feel protected and there is no bigger protection than a military that can actually defend it's own land. Which the old CF could not do, probally even the current and updated one.

Once this whole terrorism thing blows over and immigrants stop bringing over there diseases. Perhaps everybody will calm down and probally will just go back not caring if the military gets any funding.

Attitude hasn't changed, only the situations have. Peace, no threats = nobody cares for the military. War, Threats = A need for a functional military that can defend it's citizens.

If Australia can afford a decent military that can well defend it's own territory and keep that funding going regularly. Canada should have no troubles what so ever doing the same or to a greater extent. Doesn't make sense how our government sucks so bad regarding the military.

Agreed. A surprsing piece from the Globe and Mail, and not all together accurate either. I do think we are slowly moving away from the peacekeeper myth.

Afghanistan for the army and fighting pirates for the navy are doing that and getting Canada a lot of political credit.

Very un-Canadian of you to suggest peacekeeping wouldn't work for Somali pirates.



Depends of how one defines 'peacekeeping'.



I think that would make pirates very peacable.

Care to explain this ridiculous statement. Maybe you should read a little bit about the how the "combat" soldiers were highly respected during WW1 and WW2.

Also, seeing how Canadian troops had not actively engaged in combat since Korea, with apologies to troops in the Balkans, nobody had seen Canadian troops fighting.

Lastly, you do realise that "peace keepers" and "combat soldiers" are the same people. Same training, same weapons, and same vehicles.

Please quit commenting on the military, your ignorance about the Canadian Forces is staggering.

Please quit commenting on the military, your ignorance about the Canadian Forces is staggering.

Great--does that mean I won't have to put up wiht your staggering ignorance on the climate change threads anymore. Or are we just goin gto admit that having staggering ignorance about a subject is no barrier to discussing our opinions at length on on-line political forums?

I definately agree about more education and more stories about our people in Afghanistan but the CBC seems to keep pushing it's own agenda. The Brits, US and Austrailians have great programs but ours always seem to focus on the casualties instead of the successes.

I'm glad to see the "peacekeeping" myth dead. It was just another fuzzy thinking illusion that Trudeau brought in.

Care to explain this ridiculous statement. Maybe you should read a little bit about the how the "combat" soldiers were highly respected during WW1 and WW2.

Also, seeing how Canadian troops had not actively engaged in combat since Korea, with apologies to troops in the Balkans, nobody had seen Canadian troops fighting.

Lastly, you do realise that "peace keepers" and "combat soldiers" are the same people. Same training, same weapons, and same vehicles.

Please quit commenting on the military, your ignorance about the Canadian Forces is staggering.

I see that as a matter of perspective and I agree with him. When the military can be termed as 'peacekeepers' even the leftist-pacifists in the USA like the military. But when the very same forces are termed "warriors" then the leftist-pacifists suddenly hate them.

Please quit commenting on the military, your ignorance about the Canadian Forces is staggering.

Great--does that mean I won't have to put up wiht your staggering ignorance on the climate change threads anymore. Or are we just goin gto admit that having staggering ignorance about a subject is no barrier to discussing our opinions at length on on-line political forums?

If I offered up anything that was staggering ignorance I would agree with you, but since I don't, your comment is moot.

This is what I was going to say as long as it is sexy and vote getting the today goverment will fund, when that runs out you get cut. It is a joke the way the military of this country and its proud heritage have been allowed by both governments to slide to the point it could not defend this nation on its own . From the largest navy during the war just behind Britain to what .

He is wrong on several counts, but I would definitely agree with this comment.



As long as the Soviet Bear was looking over our shoulders, Canadians supported spending gobs of money on defence (look at how much we spent in the 50s and 60s), but once the USSR collapsed, most Canadians wanted a peace dividend. That's why our troops came home from Germany and the CF took a back seat to things like jobs and national unity. It was a mistake, but one most Canadians are to blame for. After all, we voted in the governments that followed that path.

Having said all that, peacetime defence spending now is far higher (as a percentage of governemtn expenditures, not total dollars) than it ever was prior to the Cold War. If our governments were as lazy as those of the past, our navy would have 2 or 3 ships and everything else would be from a generation or two ago.

Lets also not forget either that the people clamouring for disarmament/demobilization after both World Wars were the soldiers themselves (as evidenced by several riots and near mutinities). After fighting the good fight, Canadians just wanted to go home.

This doesn't make sense. Our peacetime defence spending is higher now then prior to the cold war?? We are currently at war right? You also just said that the spending was much higher during the 50s and 60s which was mostly peacetime spending right?

Do you mean we were spending more on defence throughout the 80s and 90s compared to the 30s?