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MADem

(135,425 posts)
71. Oh, let's see....Iraq? Afghanistan? Canada even played the "Nudge, Wink" in Vietnam
Fri Aug 16, 2013, 09:39 PM
Aug 2013

Those that do not know their own history are condemned to be called out on the internet....

Iraq: http://www.globalresearch.ca/canada-s-secret-war-in-iraq/8110


Escorting the US Navy: Thirteen hundred Canadian troops aboard Canada’s multibillion dollar warships escorted the US fleet through the Persian Gulf, putting them safely in place to bomb Iraq.

Leading the coalition Navy: Canadian Rear Admiral Roger Girouard was in charge of the war coalition’s fleet.

Providing war planners: At least two dozen Canadian war planners working at US Central Command in Florida were transferred to the Persian Gulf in early 2003 to help oversee the war’s complicated logistics.

Commanding the war: In 2004, Canadian Brigadier General Walt Natynczyk commanded 10 brigades totalling 35,000 troops. He was Second-in-Command of the entire Iraq War for that year. When Governor General Clarkson gave Natynczyk the Meritorious Service Cross, her office extolled his “pivotal role in the development of numerous plans and operations [which] resulted in a tremendous contribution… to Operation Iraqi Freedom, and… brought great credit to the Canadian Forces and to Canada.”

Helping coordinate the war: Canadian military personnel working aboard American E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System warplanes helped direct the electronic war by providing surveillance, command, control and communications services to US war fighters.


Yep, Canada was one of the most valuable "coalition partners" in that effort--they weren't a "You Forgot Poland"--they were providing warfighting expertise and personnel to the effort. On the down-low, sorta-kinda...so I guess the Canadian Government was a bit shy about touting these details to the citizenry, since this is news to you, but you'll want to go back and ask them about that, I guess.

Afghanistan: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada's_role_in_the_Afghanistan_War

Canada's role in the Afghanistan War began in late 2001. Canada sent its first element of Canadian soldiers secretly in October 2001 from Joint Task Force 2,[1] and the first contingents of regular Canadian troops arrived in Afghanistan in January–February 2002. Canada took on a larger role starting in 2006 after the Canadian troops were redeployed to Kandahar province. There were 2,500 Canadian Forces (CF) personnel in Afghanistan in 2006, of which 1,200 comprised the combat battle group.[2] Roughly 950 are currently deployed in Afghanistan as part of International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). At the 2012 NATO Summit in Chicago, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that an undisclosed number of Canadian soldiers would remain in the country to help train and mentor the Afghan National Army until 2014 (though Canadian troops ended their combat role there in 2011).


Vietnam, and a little plausible deniability: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_and_the_Vietnam_War

In counter-current to the movement American draft-dodgers and deserters to Canada, about 30,000 Canadians volunteered to fight in southeast Asia.[36] Among the volunteers were fifty Mohawks from the Kahnawake reserve near Montreal.[37] One-hundred and ten (110) Canadians died in Vietnam, and seven remain listed as Missing in Action. Canadian Peter C. Lemon was awarded the U.S. Medal of Honor for his valour in the conflict. (This cross-border enlistment was not unprecedented: Both the First and the Second World War saw thousands of Americans join the Canadian Armed forces before the U.S officially declared war on Germany)[38]

In Windsor, Ontario, there is a privately funded monument to the Canadians killed in the Vietnam War.[39] In Melocheville, Quebec, there is a monument site funded by the Association Québécoise des Vétérans du Vietnam.[40] However, many Canadian veterans returned to a society that was strongly anti-war. Unlike the United States, there were no veterans organizations nor any help for them from the government, and many of them moved permanently to the United States. There has been ongoing pressure from Canadian Vietnam veterans to have their comrades' deaths formally acknowledged by the government, especially in times such as Remembrance Day...

Canada's official diplomatic position in relation to the Vietnam War was that of a non-belligerent, which imposed a ban on the export of war-related items to the combat areas.[citation needed] Nonetheless, Canadian industry was also a major supplier of equipment and supplies to the American forces, not sending these directly to South Vietnam but to the United States. Sold goods included relatively benign items like boots, but also aircraft, munitions, napalm and commercial defoliants, the use of which was fiercely opposed by anti-war protesters at the time. In accordance with the 1958 Defence Production Sharing Agreement, Canadian industry sold $2.47 billion in materiel to the United States between 1965 and 1973.[5] Many of the companies were owned by US parent firms, but all export sales over $100,000 US (and thus, the majority of contracts) were arranged through the Canadian Commercial Corporation, a crown corporation which acted as an intermediary between the U.S. Department of Defence and Canadian industry.[5] Furthermore, the Canadian and American Defense departments worked together to test chemical defoliants for use in Vietnam.[41] Canada also allowed their NATO ally to use Canadian facilities and bases for training exercises and weapons testing as per existing treaties.



So.....whatever. It may not be a full-blown glass house, but it's got more than its share of picture windows. And plenty of "secrecy" too.


I posted a Happy Independence Day Thread here last week malaise Aug 2013 #1
I missed that thread and reply. NYC_SKP Aug 2013 #2
Truthfully we are all ashamed about that malaise Aug 2013 #47
In Russia it is illegal to even talk about gay rights. nt Deep13 Aug 2013 #4
The worst of "our" assholes can't jail and fine people for the "crime" of being gay. MADem Aug 2013 #3
or just talking about gay rights. nt Deep13 Aug 2013 #5
Yep....no saying "My nephew married his partner" in the wrong crowd over there! nt MADem Aug 2013 #7
+1 obnoxiousdrunk Aug 2013 #6
Actually, people DO get jailed here for being gay. riqster Aug 2013 #8
They're gonna be rich, too, seeing how Louisiana denied 'em their constitutional rights. nt MADem Aug 2013 #14
Not many people get rich by suing the government riqster Aug 2013 #18
Yep, it will take years and years in America for LGBT to achieve 100% equality. America RKP5637 Aug 2013 #34
The right lawyer could get them a sweet payday. MADem Aug 2013 #45
Since you posted that Americans can't be arrested for being gay, riqster Aug 2013 #50
You're the one with the "errors" of fact, sorry to tell you. MADem Aug 2013 #56
Baton Rouge is one town among others. riqster Aug 2013 #59
Helloooooo? "Lawrence v. Texas" applies from sea to shining sea. MADem Aug 2013 #60
What is clear to me is that you are approaching this from a theoretical point of view riqster Aug 2013 #62
Now you're playing the "I have the moral high ground" finger wagging scold. MADem Aug 2013 #64
I made a point, and you disagreed in turn. riqster Aug 2013 #65
I didn't "argue against that point" -- see post 11 (which I wrote WAY before your post 65) MADem Aug 2013 #72
A friend of two mostly ex-DUers is rotting in prison KamaAina Aug 2013 #57
Not in the last ten years, anyway. Wilms Aug 2013 #9
Of course we're not saints from back in the day...but the big difference between us and them is that MADem Aug 2013 #11
I see how well the USA is "learning from their mistakes" ConcernedCanuk Aug 2013 #26
Everything sucks. America bad, Canada good. Whatever. MADem Aug 2013 #48
Trying to remember when us Canucks last invaded a defenseless country . . . ConcernedCanuk Aug 2013 #70
Oh, let's see....Iraq? Afghanistan? Canada even played the "Nudge, Wink" in Vietnam MADem Aug 2013 #71
You don't get it do you? - USA INITIATED those wars/invasions. ConcernedCanuk Aug 2013 #73
No--YOU don't get it, plainly. MADem Aug 2013 #74
OK. We get a gold star... Wilms Aug 2013 #29
Way to miss the point, but you're determined to be negative, so ... whatever. nt MADem Aug 2013 #44
In KS, for one example, it is still a criminal act to be gay. They kept it on the books. As you RKP5637 Aug 2013 #35
There are laws on the books in Georgia that say you have to eat fried chicken with your hand. MADem Aug 2013 #58
Yes, fortunately they are superseded! I wonder what is going to happen now DOMA was RKP5637 Aug 2013 #61
I have a feeling that deny benefits business ain't gonna last. MADem Aug 2013 #63
Unless mockmonkey Aug 2013 #20
They'll pay for that mistake. nt MADem Aug 2013 #51
What YOU should remember is that the corner has been turned here, in the right direction. stevenleser Aug 2013 #10
The battle here is far from won. riqster Aug 2013 #12
Problem is nobody thinks we are perfect. great white snark Aug 2013 #22
Fair enough. riqster Aug 2013 #24
I haven't seen any such thing. MNBrewer Aug 2013 #39
Yes, but degree of suckage and trajectory matter. Compare where we are now to where we were stevenleser Aug 2013 #66
No argument to any of that. riqster Aug 2013 #67
By the OP's logic, the US was wrong to boycott apartheid South Africa because some Bluenorthwest Aug 2013 #13
That is not what I said. riqster Aug 2013 #15
No, your use of the word 'bashing' to characterize criticism of these Russian laws Bluenorthwest Aug 2013 #28
To the extent that you "extrapolated", I feel comfortable in my response to you. riqster Aug 2013 #31
Well said. n/t pampango Aug 2013 #78
By the way, you did not answer my question and you took a personal jab at me Bluenorthwest Aug 2013 #32
I didn't answer your question because it was based on a bogus extrapolation. riqster Aug 2013 #36
Whatever Bluenorthwest Aug 2013 #42
Here is the blog post in its entirety: riqster Aug 2013 #16
+1! ConcernedCanuk Aug 2013 #75
It's not "Bashing" to tell the truth n/t n2doc Aug 2013 #17
Actually, I rather like bashing with the truth. riqster Aug 2013 #21
I just equate "Bashing" as meaning "Unfair attack" n2doc Aug 2013 #25
No worries. I could have chosen a better word. riqster Aug 2013 #30
Bashing is a very loaded word, particularly in this context. Bluenorthwest Aug 2013 #38
If Russia had put Tien1985 Aug 2013 #19
To me, discrimination is discrimination. Always wrong. riqster Aug 2013 #23
^ this truebrit71 Aug 2013 #27
I appreciate that you Tien1985 Aug 2013 #33
Agreed completely. riqster Aug 2013 #37
I don't think that illustrating the degrees of difference between the two nations, in this context a LanternWaste Aug 2013 #40
Calling out the deltas is not the same as acting like we are done with the fight here. nt riqster Aug 2013 #41
I condemn Bigotry and homophobia anywhere LostOne4Ever Aug 2013 #43
+1,000,000 nt riqster Aug 2013 #46
When you put the force of the leftynyc Aug 2013 #49
Agreed. In Russia and in America. riqster Aug 2013 #52
I heard on the radio the other day... clarice Aug 2013 #53
That is a thing of beauty! nt riqster Aug 2013 #54
I laughed my ass off in the car when I heard that.... clarice Aug 2013 #55
Almost all countries in Africa and the Middle East have harsher anti-gay laws than Russia. former9thward Aug 2013 #68
Very true. riqster Aug 2013 #69
Homophobes in the US are being marginalized. ZombieHorde Aug 2013 #76
They are being marginalized, and that is good. riqster Aug 2013 #77
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