Clearly liberals are promoting durg addiction again

[Happy Monkey]

Canada would not be able to defend itself militarily against the US no matter what percentage of its GDP it spent.

And, as an aside, the US wouldn't be able to defend itself morally for such an action, though I'm not particularly sanguine about the deterrant value of that fact if things continue down the current path.

[lookout123]

[quote=Happy Monkey]Canada would not be able to defend itself militarily against the US no matter what percentage of its GDP it spent.
QUOTE]

nothing like the good old days when they whipped us twice... 'cuz we couldn't get the individual state's militias to support eachother.

[Silent]

You get your information form the media outlets?
Gosh, well, excuse me. We all know that the media would never focus on what makes a good story rather then looking at the whole picture.

The Canadian military under funded? Yup. Chronically. Has been for years. It does not have the resources required to maintain the infrastructure network built up during the cold war. Therefore aircraft and ships are mothballed. Presently there is a restructuring going on to realign funding from its historic path, towards Canadas' primary global responsibility right now, which is peace keeping.
And we are the most respected peace keeping force out there.
But really, the only problem with the Canadian military is funding. During the annual Reforger exerciese in Europe in the 80's and early 90's, the Canadian army consistantly scored better rankings then the any American ground force. The main complaint lodged against the Canadians were their lack of transportation and communications equipment. Pure money issues.
However, if your definition of suckage is bench marked by the amount of equipment bought and number of bodies in uniform? Guilty. We suck. But, before you make that call, you may want to ask a few members of your own military who were in Afganistan about the suckage of the Canadian snipers they served with.
http://www.stormpages.com/swellal/sof.html

As for the state Canadian medical care, we have problems. It would be foolish to deny that. There has been a drain on nurses and doctors for years to the states because of the higher pay. For certain medical procedures there are long waits because there are so few specialist available to perform the procedures. And not every hospital can afford the latest and greatest equipment.
That being said, I am from a small town. One real hospital (and a couple of clinics) serves about 250 000 people. The longest I have ever waited to see a doctor? 2 hours. How long did I have to wait when I dislocated my shoulder or blew a disc in my back? Less the 5 minutes. How much did it cost me? Nadda.
You can always find horror stories. No system is perfect. But how many Canadians stay away from hospitals until it's desparate because they can't afford it? None. How many Canadians had their lives ruined because of medical bills? Zip. Compare that to 1 million Americans last year.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...-2005Feb8.html

Given my druthers, I know where I'd rather be sick.

[Beestie]

Originally Posted by Silent

But, before you make that call, you may want to ask a few members of your own military who were in Afganistan about the suckage of the Canadian snipers they served with.

I will readily clarify that I never intended "suck" to in any way question the skill or bravery demonstrated by any soldier in the Canadian military. My comments were directed at the state of the Canadian miliary machine collectively. I apologize for any offence you might have taken from that.

[Silent]

Apology accepted.
And I'm sorry if I sort of went off here. I readily admit to be sensitive to criticism about the Canadian military. I was intensely proud when I served and still am of the men and women who do such an amazing job with so little in the way of support from our federal government.
If you want to get into the different training philosophies employed by the Canadian and American militaries, and why the Canadian way is far superior just let me know. ;-)

[lumberjim]

well.....I think Canada sucks. And I base that soley on my vague emotional response to things I've heard about them and a few Canuks I've met and disliked.

I think the mom from 'That Seventies Show' said it best when she said, "Well, honey, they're Canadian. They don't really matter"

[lookout123]

well, i don't trust 'em, i tell ya. you can't trust anybody who can't talk without having their head split in two, i tell ya.

now shut up and kick the baby.

[LabRat]

leave it to beaver...

[Silent]

Don't kick the baby.

[lookout123]

Ike - do your impressionof David Carruso's career!

[Silent]

*nose-dives from a rooftop into a snowdrift and disappears*

[Silent]

Canada has a long tradition of stripping its military to the bare bones between conflicts. However, we usually keep a nucleus of highly trained pros and a system of calling up large numbers of militia (your reserves) in time of conflict and using that highly trained core of pros to instruct the militia.
You need a small group of highly motivated pros? Can do.
Need to defend yourself from a large aggressive neighbor? Ummm, give us 6-12 months. :-)

[Brown Thrasher]

Originally Posted by Silent

Canada has a long tradition of stripping its military to the bare bones between conflicts. However, we usually keep a nucleus of highly trained pros and a system of calling up large numbers of militia (your reserves) in time of conflict and using that highly trained core of pros to instruct the militia.
You need a small group of highly motivated pros? Can do.
Need to defend yourself from a large aggressive neighbor? Ummm, give us 6-12 months. :-)

While in the U.S. military years ago, I had the chance to visit a base in Germany occupied mostly by Canadians. Very efficient soilders from what I could see. The only problem was at night in the bars. The French Canadians and American speaking Canadians appeared to love to brawl. The only problem was it was between each other. However, really no difference than say the U.S. rangers and the Marines. During that period they seem to do the same.
I guess it was that Psychoactive addictive drug alcohol causing the violence.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Need to defend yourself from a large aggressive neighbor? Ummm, give us 6-12 months. :-)

6 to 12 months might have worked in 1940 but today wars can be lost in days sometimes hours. Especially when the citizens are unarmed.

[tw]

Need to defend yourself from a large aggressive neighbor? Ummm, give us 6-12 months. :-)

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

6 to 12 months might have worked in 1940 but today wars can be lost in days sometimes hours. Especially when the citizens are unarmed.

Large aggressive neighbors don't just get that way overnight. Generally they are ten+ years in the making. Diplomacy, spies, political boasting, and propaganda will long since identify threats. It is why 6 to 12 months would be more than enough time for Canada to prepare.

In the meantime we have this other lesson from history. A nation that operates militaries far larger and in excess of all other nations eventually gets a hard-on. And then wants to stick his dic everywhere it does not belong. The great threat to world security is the nation that sees enemies everywhere even where they don't exist - Iraq, Iran, and N Korea.

How big is our hard-on. We are now approaching (and probably exceeding once you add all the money not authorized) cold war military spending. Why? Where are all these threats - except where we make enemies by leaving our military where it was not wanted.

We now have a nation full of hard-ons. Oh. They are called war-mongers. People who want to save the world from itself. We call it being a world policeman. The world calls it vigilantism.