Hillier's right, we're targets

Toronto Sun ^ | 2005-07-17 | Moira MacDonald

[Clive]

"The London attack actually tells us once more: We can't let up. These are detestable murderers and scumbags.

"They detest our freedoms, they detest our society, they detest our liberties."

Were these the words of U.S. President George W. Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, or Australian PM John Howard? Or one of their top ministers or generals?

No, migawd, these were the blunt, straight-ahead words of a Canadian. And not just any Canadian. They were the publicly stated words this past week of Gen. Rick Hillier, chief of the defence staff for the Canadian Forces.

In other words, he's this country's top soldier. He has boldly taken the initiative of rebuilding Canada's badly neglected armed forces and once more making them competent and respected throughout the world.

Not only that, but Gen. Hillier said Canada is sending 2,000 troops, led by its elite JTF2 commando force, into the southern mountains of Afghanistan. They will be on the hunt for Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida terrorists, plus what's left of the fanatical Taliban regime that Canada helped overthrow four years ago.

No more doing garrison duty in Kabul.

The general noted it's a more dangerous assignment -- but very necessary if freedom and democracy are to be gained for the Afghan people.

"We're not going to let those radical murderers and killers rob from others and certainly we're not going to let them rob from Canada," declared Hillier.

In other words, despite the dithering weakness of Canada's Liberal PMs Jean Chretien and Paul Martin in the past, Hillier has sounded the first bugle call that things really are going to change. Canada is joining the Americans, Brits, Aussies and other nations in a far more active fighting role to root out these terrorists.

And since Thursday, the usually wimpish Martin has said nothing to counter the fighting words of his top soldier.

The truth is that the terrorist bombing attacks by al-Qaida-directed British Muslims has scared Martin. With at least 55 killed and more than 700 wounded in London, even Canada's Liberal PM is now convinced we are a target.

He now must believe that bin Laden meant it since the horrific attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 when he said not once -- but twice -- that Canada was on his hit list. With London bombed -- and by terrorists with connections to Pakistan and Jamaica -- Canada has no right to remain smug and doing little.

Britain was too tolerant of terrorist-sympathizing Muslims-and look what finally happened. Canada can't afford to wait for the same inevitable fate.

We either go on the offensive -- as Gen. Hillier has announced -- or wait with trembling knees, hoping that bad old Osama and his fanatical pals will spare us.

For years, starting with leftist Grit PM Pierre Trudeau, Liberal regimes have allowed Canada's armed forces to become obsolete while they also chopped their manpower.

The Conservative government of Brian Mulroney tried to upgrade the forces. But one of the first things Chretien did on getting elected in 1993 was to cancel a contract to replace the dangerously obsolete, 40-year-old Sea King helicopters.

Since his recent appointment as chief of staff, the tough, blunt-spoken Hillier has sounded the alarm -- demanding more funds and modern equipment for the forces, along with streamlining them to fight anywhere.

And to win this tough battle against terrorism, Canada must have a tough, well-trained and well-equipped armed force. Terrorists like bin Laden only respect real strength -- and have no mercy for the weak.

As Tony Blair said yesterday: "The greatest danger is that we fail to face up to the nature of the threat that we're dealing with. And what we are confronting here is an evil ideology ... it is a battle of ideas, of hearts and of minds, both within Islam and outside it."

And since Canada has made itself into a multicultural society loaded with immigrants and refugees from all over the world, we also must face up to that same threat. Our own CSIS federal intelligence agency has warned that we have at least 50 terrorist cells in Canada, including al-Qaida.

So, it's complete bunk to say London-type attacks can't happen here. We already have all the ingredients -- the threats and terrorist cells -- that existed in Britain. Our only hope is to launch all-out action both at home and abroad. Just ask Gen. Hillier.

[Clive]

-

[goldstategop]

Will the Liberals modernize Canada's aging military? An upgrade isn't exactly going to cost peanuts.

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)

[Izzy Dunne]

[Bin Laden] said not once -- but twice -- that Canada was on his hit list.
Canada has no right to remain smug and doing little.

There it is, for anyone who will see.
Staying out of a terrorist's way is not enough. It never is. Too bad the MoveOn crowd can't see it.

Here's hoping this Canadian sentiment survives the first embassy bombing...

[Cannoneer No. 4]

The Canadians I see here compare favorably with the other Coalition forces. I'm glad they have come back.

Seems to me not enough people know about Operation Athena.

[Jimmy Valentine's brother]

Some of our friends from the great white North get it. May God protect them on their missions.

[patj]

Isn't the Toronto Sun a liberal paper? How did this get printed? One article does not make a trend, but it does offer hope that Canada finally gets it that militaries are expensive, until you need them. Go Harper.

[youngtory]

The media will agree with him because he was appointed by a liberal, what do you think the response will be if it was by a guy appointed by the conservatives. He would get insults and criticism from the media and be called un-Canadian.

[Clive]

The Toronto Sun is the flagship paper for the Sun Media chain, a chain with a conservative perspective.

You are thinking of the Toronto Star, which I consider to be a Liberal Party house organ/

Clive

[Clive]

Hillier has been pushing for upgrades toward a more effective and robust military and it looks like he is the sort that will push hard. When he took over he was presented with a plan that fit the definition of a "horse designed by a committee". He summarily scrapped it almost before the ink was dry and told his people go go back to the drafting boards and come back with something real.

We are in good shape as to our frigates and destroyers. They have been upgraded and the US navy seems content with their performance as part of US carrier escort groups and interdiction patrols in the Gulf.

HMCS Protecteur and HMCS Provider will have to be replaced with multi-purpose vessels.

The submarines have been roundly denigrated by many commentators and we did have a problem with the last one of the four acquired from the Brits but I am not as down on these vessels as most seem to be. The class is quiet compared to a nuke steamer and is quite suitable for coastal work and if the service goes ahead with its intent to replace the power plant with Air Independent Propulsion (non-air-breathing power plant) they should do quite well in the Arctic and have increased stealth.

The CF18s are going to have to be replaced.

The infantry's firearms are in good shape, The iltis vehicles are being replaced with G wagons which are what the US Marines are going with as well. The Hummers are to big for the kind of mobile light infantry such as the Canadian infantry and the US Marines. The Iltis vehicles that are being replaced in Afghanistan will simply be left there to be put to what ever use to the Afghans may want as they are not worth the expense of shipping them back to Canada.

The Lord Strathcona Horse is mounted on Coyote recce vehicals with state-of-the-art electronics and visuals.

The problem will always be the reluctance of a Liberal government to divert money from social engineering toward the military.

[Clive]

It is interesting that while Maude Barlow of the Council of Canadians and Stephen Staples of the Polaris Institute were somewhat opposed, Jack Layton the leader of the NDP approved of what Hillier had to say.

[timsbella]

If Canada should have received one message LOUD and CLEAR it was that harbouring terrorists is like having a pit bull as a pet. They are bred for destruction and ultimately will turn on those that feed them.

A matter of time. I worry for my children. When will these fools wake up?

[patj]

Thanks for the correction. You are right, I was thinking of the Star.

[timsbella]

We scream and kick about the US the way adolescents scream and kick about their parents, but ultimately we run to the US when we need support.

Thank G-d for good neighbours. Sorry that so many in our MSM and gov't can't see a good thing. We are spoilt for goodwill despite our behaviour.

[fanfan]

PING

Please let me know if you want on or off the Canada/Adscam ping list

[backhoe]

Steyn gets it:

 Plame Security Breach: It Just Ain't So, Joe (Democrats Inhabit Planet Zongo Alert) -- What we have here is, in effect, the old standby plot of lame Hollywood conspiracy thrillers: rogue elements within the CIA attempting to destabilize the elected government. If the left's view of the world is now so insanely upside-down that that's the side they want to be on, good for them.

 Here's the thing: They're still pulling body parts from London's Tube tunnels. Too far away for you? No local angle? OK, how about this? Magdy el-Nashar-- the head honcho in the local terrorist cell, the one who fires up the suicide bombers.

 So this time round he blew up London rather than Washington. Next time, who knows?

 Kamel Bourgass and Magdy el-Nashar are real people, not phantoms conjured by those lyin' sonsofbitches Bush and Cheney. And to those who say, "but that's why Iraq is a distraction from the war on terror," sorry, it doesn't work like that. It's not either/or; it's a string of connections: unlimited Saudi money, Westernized Islamist fanatics, supportive terrorist states, proliferating nuclear technology. One day it all comes together and there goes the neighborhood.

 The British suicide bombers and the Iranian nuke demands are genuine crises. The Valerie Plame game is a pseudo-crisis.

 Plame Security Breach: It Just Ain't So, Joe (Democrats Inhabit Planet Zongo Alert) -- What we have here is, in effect, the old standby plot of lame Hollywood conspiracy thrillers: rogue elements within the CIA attempting to destabilize the elected government. If the left's view of the world is now so insanely upside-down that that's the side they want to be on, good for them.

 Here's the thing: They're still pulling body parts from London's Tube tunnels. Too far away for you? No local angle? OK, how about this? Magdy el-Nashar-- the head honcho in the local terrorist cell, the one who fires up the suicide bombers.

 So this time round he blew up London rather than Washington. Next time, who knows?

 Kamel Bourgass and Magdy el-Nashar are real people, not phantoms conjured by those lyin' sonsofbitches Bush and Cheney. And to those who say, "but that's why Iraq is a distraction from the war on terror," sorry, it doesn't work like that. It's not either/or; it's a string of connections: unlimited Saudi money, Westernized Islamist fanatics, supportive terrorist states, proliferating nuclear technology. One day it all comes together and there goes the neighborhood.

 The British suicide bombers and the Iranian nuke demands are genuine crises. The Valerie Plame game is a pseudo-crisis.

[Heartofsong83]

The Polaris Institute and the Council of Canadians only share the radical views that their supporters have. Most of them are in Quebec and the downtown areas of large cities.

[Levante]

Hi Clive:

Have you seen this? Canadian American Strategic Review (CASR) has a suggestion for Canada to purchase IL-76 strategic transports from the Ukraine:

http://www.sfu.ca/casr/mp-airlift-il76-2.htm

Interesting!

Regards,
Levante

[motorola7]

Maybe Hillier is still smarting over the reports last month from Nova Scotia that a homosexual couple (soldiers) were married on a military base BY a military chaplain.

This insanity is the result of our corrupt "government for life" Liberal Party. No fault of Hillier, who must submit to his political masters. But he probably feels the need to come out with all barrels, maybe to buck up morale a bit. I predict he will be told discreetly to 'pipe down' lest he offend someone, and that he wont last long in his post.