The Americanization of the Canadian Military Two Visions

The Americanization of the Canadian Military

Two Visions

Post 9/11 Impacts n n “Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists. ” (Bush 2001) “Traditional U. S. allies will find that calls for military, diplomatic and other support from Washington will be regarded a test of their loyalty. ” (DND analysts 2001)

Fortress North America n n n Pressure from U. S. to increase military spending Buy U. S. -built military equipment Join U. S. -led missions

The Defence Lobby and Corporate Lobby alliance

Canadian decisions “Yes” to 2002 invasion of Afghanistan n “No” to 2003 invasion of Iraq n “No” to missile defence in 2005 n “Yes” to military spending increases and military transformation n

Military Spending 2005 -2006 n n n $14. 68 billion Only 7% below spending at end of the Cold War One of the highest in NATO in real dollars

NATO military spending 2004 (est. U. S. millions) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 United States France United Kingdom Germany Italy Russian Federation (not NATO) Spain Canada Turkey $462, 099 $51, 877 $48, 918 $37, 920 $30, 642 $16, 730 $12, 632 $11, 601 $10, 207

Military salaries have already been increased New recruit, 18 years $29, 000 yr old (or $2421 per Sales & Service $26, 500 per year National average of all FT workers $40, 000 per year month) 3 rd year in CF, 20 years old. $42, 600 yr (or $3, 556 per month)

Budget 2005 n n $12. 8 billion added over 5 years Increase of 34% Ralph Goodale: “Largest defence increase in 20 years. ” Conference of Defence Associations: “It’s staggering!”

New Spending in Budget 2005 (millions over 5 years)

Canada’s Military Spending 1980 -2010 $20 Billion Budget 2005 by 2009 -10 $14. 68 Billion 2005 -06 Highest since WWII

Transformation from UN peacekeeper to U. S. -led war-fighter n n n “Our job is to be able to kill people. ” “These are detestable murderers and scumbags. ” “…we're not going to let them rob from Canada. ” Lt. Gen. Rick Hiller Chief of Defence Staff

War-fighting with America

War-fighting with America n n n $150 million (U. S. ) on Joint Strike Fighter program $1 billion on submarines $2. 6 billion on CF -18 upgrades, incl. laser-guided bombs

War-fighting with America n n n 2, 000 troops being deployed to Afghanistan with U. S. & NATO “This is not a peacekeeping mission. ” Relieving 4, 000 U. S. troops for Iraq

Afghanistan n Canadian commandos are operating with U. S. forces under U. S. command n They have killed combatants and handed prisoners over to U. S. military for “interrogation. ”

A Secret Army? n JTF 2 Commandos n Arms purchases n Afghanistan combat operations n Missile defence

Election 2006

Harper’s Defence Platform n n Implement Liberal program and increases, plus an additional $5. 3 over 5 years Defence spending will reach $25 billion per year by 2010

Airborne Battalion SOMALIA

Strategic Transport $2 billion

Arctic Defence $3 -5 billion

Harper will reopen missile defence n n If requested, will reopen missile defence discussions with U. S. Will bring a deal to Parliament for a (non-binding) free vote.

Dangers of Afghanistan n n n Clear mission? Public support? Exit strategy? Canadian priority or US priority? Risk of casualties? Are we keeping the social contract with our troops?

Suicide Bombings: Deadly Trend in Afghanistan (G&M, Jan 2006)

Abandoning the U. N. For every $10. 00 spent on int’l missions how much was spent on UN-led missions? 1992 -93 2004 -05 $9. 27 ($473 of $510 million) $0. 31 ($34 million of $1. 1 billion)

Ranking of Military and Police Contributions to UN Operations Month of Report : 31 -Dec-05 1 ) Bangladesh 9529 16 ) Sri Lanka 1012 30 ) Benin 421 2 ) Pakistan 8999 17 ) Argentina 897 31 ) USA 387 3 ) India 7284 18 ) Namibia 890 32 ) Canada 387 4 ) Jordan 3703 19 ) Egypt 742 33 ) UK 379 5 ) Nepal 3466 20 ) Ukraine 720 34 ) Togo 328 6 ) Ethiopia 3410 21 ) Poland 705 35 ) Sweden 327 7 ) Ghana 2520 22 ) France 582 36 ) Germany 293 8 ) Uruguay 2428 23 ) Chile 570 37 ) Slovakia 292 9 ) Nigeria 2412 24 ) Tunisia 524 10 ) South Africa 2010 25 ) Niger 498 11 ) Senegal 1845 26 ) Philippines 483 12 ) Morocco 1706 27 ) Ireland 473 13 ) Kenya 1482 28 ) Zambia 451 14 ) Brazil 1270 29 ) Austria 424 15 ) China 1059 30 ) Benin 421

Make Poverty History? n Foreign aid n Military spending

Lost opportunities n One helicopter (28 bought for $178 million each) n 1500 homes

Lost opportunities n Two helicopters n Annual budget of Dalhousie University

Canadians must reclaim defence policy n n Freeze military spending Prevent integration with Pentagon Review defence policy & role in the world Include public participation

Steven Staples, Polaris Institute www. polarisinstitute. org n www. ceasefire. ca (sign up for our newsletters) n