The only reason for Canada to buy the F-35

From The Armed Forces Journal, April, 2011

The Pentagon’s top 25 most expensive weapons programs

1. F-35 fighter aircraft
2. Ballistic Missile Defense System
3. Virginia-class submarine
4. Arleigh Burke-class destroyer
5. C-17A transport aircraft
6. F-22 fighter aircraft
7. V-22 tilt-rotor aircraft
8. F/A-18E/F fighter aircraft
9. Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier
10. Trident II fleet ballistic missile
11. Joint Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle
12. P-8A maritime surveillance aircraft
13. Patriot/Medium Extended Air Defense System Combined Aggregate Program
14. CH-53K heavy-lift helicopter
15. Black Hawk UH-60M utility helicopter
16. Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile
17. Family of medium tactical vehicles
18. DDG 1000 Zumwalt-class destroyer
19. Joint Tactical Radio System, Ground Mobile Radio
20. E-2D early warning and control aircraft
21. San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock
22. Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle
23. Stryker armored vehicle
24. C-130J transport aircraft
25. Space Based Infrared System

Danger Man

Where is Patrick McGoohan when we need him?

Hell in Brussels, Part 3

From the war diary of Lieutenant General Charles Bouchard

March x, 20xx, 04:30 Awakened by batman with message from Ottawa, Toppest Secret. Decoded message reads "Speak to nobody."

March x, 20xx, 04:45 Asked batman for coffee, using crude sign language.

March x, 20xx, 06:00 Message from DND HQ, Ottawa: "You're in charge of Libya."

March x, 20xx, 06:15 Trappist monk-like silence inhibiting. Questions richochet around my brain: Is Libya part of NATO? Can't speak.

March x, 20xx, 08:00 Press conference. Difficult to conduct since ordered not to speak to reporters.

March x, 2011, 08:01 Message from Supreme Commander, NATOHQFLATULENCE: The United States is unavailable.

March x, 2011, 08:15 NATO strike fighters await assignments, except for the Germans, and also the French.

March x, 20xx, 08:30 Retire to bunker. Otherwise might influence Canadian general election.

April 1, 20xx 08:00 UN Security Council calls, put on hold.

The Fives Eyes' Daisy Chain is alive and well

Maya Evans takes on the secret world

The obvious legal answer to this legal attempt - made in secret - to limit a citizen's right to ask her own government for information, in this case Maya Evans, is that she and all British citizens are responsible for what their government does, as was held to be the standard at Nuremberg for German citizens. As Canadians found out at the Maher Arar and Air India Inquiries, if the scret services screw up, ordinary citizens offer the apologies and pay the bills. And that's why we need to know.

UNSCR 1386 (2001) "ALL NECESSARY MEASURES"

UNSCR 1386

"3. Authorizes the Member States participating in the International Security Assistance Force to take all necessary measures to fulfil its mandate;"

That doesn't include war crimes, right? "All necessary measures" doesn't justify what subsequently went on at Bagram, right? The UN Security Council can't authorize war crimes, right?

UNSCR 1973

"4. Authorizes Member States that have notified the Secretary-General, acting nationally or through regional organizations or arrangements, and acting in cooperation with the Secretary-General, to take all necessary measures,"

The Security Council Should Suck It Up

So the entire Libya mess should be dumped into the Security Council's lap, rather than left up to a Coalition of Crusaders. There was impressive unanimity for referring Ghadhafi to the International Criminal Court, and there are well described mechanisms in the UN Charter for the use of force as directed by the Security Council.

Somehow, Resolution 1973 has let the UNSC off the hook, appearing now as whining impotent critics of whatever is going on in Libya. Germany abstained from 1973, which is important, but if the Libyan government is going to slaughter its own citizens with Russian weapons, the Russians should be made to suffer appropriately while we watch this on CNN or AJE, and the Chinese should also suffer while dithering in their own twilight world of purulent investment in a totalitarian regime.

Dear Julie

Second Kick At The Can

Brian Gable, The Globe and Mail

I thought my first Access to Information Act request would be my last, but not so. I'm impressed - after the last 5 years - you're still standing. Please give my best wishes to Cathy. We're all fortunate that Canada's civil service employs people of your high calibre, and that you have not all quit or gone mad.