PM on the defensive

[_Ditch_]

Toronto Sun

CAMP JULIEN, Afghanistan -- Prime Minister Jean Chretien defended his track record on military spending yesterday, boasting the Canadian Forces have the best hardware in Kabul. And Chretien criticized the military for having a never-ending wish list and for continually demanding more money.

"But it‘s never enough," he said. "They all need more. And they all have plans for more."

Chretien said he‘s been convinced, after meeting with Canada‘s top soldier in Afghanistan, Maj -Gen. Andrew Leslie, that the military equipment at Camp Julien beats any hardware used by the other 30 nations participating in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Kabul.

"I asked them if they had problems with the equipment, but they said they are better equipped than any other country," the PM told reporters during a whistle stop in Kabul.

"We have the best equipment, we are better equipped than anybody else in the area."

Chretien‘s party made deep cuts in the military budget after being elected in ‘93, and cut the force size by 20%.

Among NATO countries, only the tiny country of Luxembourg spends less than Canada on its military.

Chretien said he was reassured by Leslie that Canadian soldiers have all the hardware they need to do their job in Kabul.

Chretien defended his government‘s treatment of the military, pointing out that in the past few years he has started boosting defence spending.

"We treat the military very well. They are very well equipped," he said.

Chretien also defended the 17-year-old Jeep-style Iltis, pointing out that other forces participating in ISAF also use light vehicles, and that the Canadian troops are doing most of their patrols on foot.

The Liberals‘ failure to replace the problem-plagued vehicle has caused an uproar, since two Canadian soldiers were killed Oct. 2 by anti-tank landmines while patrolling in them.

 

[Jarnhamar]

Though i‘m no friend of the iltis I can‘t imagine any light patrol vehicle that can stand up to one or 2 landmines.

 

[mattoigta]

"Chretien said he‘s been convinced, after meeting with Canada‘s top soldier in Afghanistan, Maj -Gen. Andrew Leslie, that the military equipment at Camp Julien beats any hardware used by the other 30 nations participating in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Kabul."

yeah they are well equipped because they took everything from the soldiers at home

this weekend was a 31 Brigade ex and there was barely any ammo because apparently everything is tied up in afghanistan -- all my unit got was 40 rounds of simunition

 

[gate_guard]

Agreed, we are short of equipment. Nothing new there. But, I wouldn‘t look to Afghanistan as the cause of your simunition deficiency. Maybe you don‘t mean to, but you seem to be insinuating that it‘s due to 3 RCR‘s deployment that you didn‘t have simunition rounds. Think about that for a second, operations and fake ammunition.

 

[mattoigta]

i was using that as an example of equipment shortages (and also im not saying we are short of ammo because it is all in afghanistan but that we cant afford much of it due to the COST of such overseas operations). However i was actually told that we didnt have BLANK ammunition due to operational commitments (mainly for all the workup training they do i‘m guessing and again cost of making/buying new blank rounds). I was also told (last year) that we are short of live rounds because the government is taking the lead out of them(?) and that they havent started making new lead-free rounds. is this true?

 

[Michael Dorosh]

Hmm, well here in 41 Bde we just had a good exercise with lots of blanks expended, and will be firing platoon heavy weapons on the range in coming weeks.

Maybe someone figures the Riley‘s aren‘t worth the ammunition? Hmm, better check and see how much ammo the Argylls are getting...

 

[mattoigta]

haha come to think of it the argylls got blanks but no simunition. i think we all just got ****ty amounts of different equipment.

anyway im kind of glad we didnt shoot blanks - by the time the argylls were done cleaning their weapons - we were up in the mess getting drunk

 

[Tyler]

Strange.

I‘m attach-posted to the Algonquin regiment and over a three week stretch we did two ex‘s with nothing but FIBUA/night-nav/and some assault boat stuff. It sure beats all of the training I got down south, where we would only do one attack and call it a day due to lack of ammo. We used the OPP kill house south of Sudbury and did nothing but FIBUA for 24 hours. I have the welts to prove it.

We had crates upon crates of sim-munition. But we usd it all.

Anyways, I hate how cretien says there is no problems with the military, yet it‘s falling apart around us. Stupid liberals. :akimbo:

 

[Marauder]

You wanna head the real punchline to the Chretien joke?

The retarded Canadian public re-elected the cocksucker TWICE!! BLWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

 

[Highland Lad]

Quick answer here:

Any reserve troopy can volunteer for most deployments - just about every CF deployment has at least a handful of "part-timers" going along. Combat arms have just as many reservists volunteering as those "other trades" (see events of the Medak Pocket for some fun info about what some Muhlitia guys had to go through).

If a reservist volunteers, they usually drop one rank at the gate, then go through pre-deployment training along with everyone else. (Why drop one rank? Mainly because, even though the skills taught are the same, the opportunities to practice those skills aren‘t there. On the plus side, you end up with quite a few Corporals who have received Section Commander training, and have a VERY valuable opportunity to get some real-world experience to relate that training to)

On the bright side, we do have the absolute best equipment out of a list of at least 30 nations! (Botswana, Mali, Cameroon, Senegal, Jamaica, suburban Cleveland, etc....).

 

[Michael Dorosh]

I doubt reserve Canadian Forces as a whole would be activated, however if your unit was activated would it have sufficent resources?

Sufficient resources to do what, exactly? The question is incomplete. To activate a war strength battalion from scratch? Why would they, that‘s not the point of the Reserves. The Reserves are a cadre to build around in time of war. By definition, then, a reserve unit does NOT have the resources to field a full strength battalion.

 

[Tyler]

I bet that the equipment the U.S. National Guard has both outnumbers and outmodes anything in the CF arsenal. Wish we had money......

I was asked by the Algonquins if I wanted a tour in September, but I‘m in school right now.