1. PunBB
Latest Threads

Forum Statistics
  • Forum posts:91,344
  • Forum threads:17,032
  • Members:7,551
  • Latest member:admin

  The Americanization of Canada's Armed Forces?

Posted by: VioletlightHeron
07-15-2005, 08:31 PM
Forum: Non Tragically Hip Discussion
- Replies (19)

Saw this article on Canoe; for a change it seems Paul Martin made the right decision to appoint Hiller to the post. A very good first step towards changing the culture of Canada's defense structure.

'Murderous scumbag' shot par for course from new defence chief; no reprimand

By STEPHEN THORNE

OTTAWA (CP) - If Canadians were shocked that the head of their military called his enemy "detestable murderers and scumbags," they better get used to it. Gen. Rick Hillier has never minced words, nor is he likely to start any time soon.

His blunt assessment of terrorists in Afghanistan and elsewhere this week has the wholehearted backing of the prime minister.

"General Hillier is not only a top soldier, he is a soldier who has served in Afghanistan," Paul Martin said Friday in Nova Scotia.

"The point he is simply making is we are at war with terrorism and we're not going to let them win."

Defence Minister Bill Graham's office refused Friday to soften or explain the comments of its top soldier.

No "clarification" will be forthcoming, said spokesman Steven Jurgutis.

"I can certainly understand that there may be people who are concerned with the tone of his statements," said Jurgutis.

But he said Hillier "has certainly been a fairly straight-talking individual throughout his career.

"I wouldn't say this represents a change in attitude."

Defence analysts and soldiers alike lauded Hillier's appointment as chief of defence staff earlier this year as a fundamental shift in the Canadian military.

Known as a soldier's soldier, Hillier is the most operationally experienced commander to take the top post in many years, breaking the bureaucratic mould that seemed to dictate many appointments since the Cold War.

Born in the outport of Campbellton on Newfoundland's north coast, Hillier doesn't attempt to cover a Scottish-Irish lilt that turns "Afghanistan" into "haffghanistan" and "horse" into "orse."

One factor in Hillier's promotion was his fearlessness and penchant for calling things as he sees them.

The defence minister was looking for a new vision for the Canadian Forces and, in Hillier, he got it.

A defence policy statement released in April charted a whole new course for defence - much of it adhering to Hillier's direction.

His current list of requests for interviews is at about 50, so this week the general with the reddish-blond moustache held an informal, on-the-record media luncheon. Audiotapes were OK, cameras were banned.

Reporters familiar with Hillier's style barely flinched when he said all elements of the Canadian Forces need to be revamped, including the part where "you go out and bayonet somebody."

"We are not the Public Service of Canada," he declared. "We are not just another department. We are the Canadian Forces and our job is to be able to kill people."

The terrorist bombings in London underscore the need to take the fight to the enemy in failed states where they have room to thrive, said Hillier.

As a Western society that values rights and freedoms, Canada is already in conflict with "what people like Osama bin Laden, Mullah Omar and those others want."

"These are detestable murderers and scumbags," Hillier said. "They detest our freedoms, they detest our society, they detest our liberties."

It's time for Canada to take a stand, he said, just as it did 66 years ago when it joined the Second World War against the Nazis, whom he described as "those despicable, murderous bastards."

The Polaris Institute, a left-leaning think tank based in Ottawa, said Friday the defence minister needs to "clarify" Hillier's "very alarming" comments.

"His use of epithets such as 'scumbags' and 'killers' is reminiscent of language used by (U.S.) President (George W.) Bush and U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld," said project director Steven Staples.

Taken alongside recent defence policy changes and an increase in the defence budget, Staples said they "show an unmistakable trend toward the Americanization of the Canadian Forces."

Jurgutis noted that Canada was already listed as a terrorist target and he doubted Hillier's comments would change matters.

Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden declared Canada a "legitimate target" in March 2004.

Adrian Gordon, executive director of the Centre for Emergency Preparedness, gave a qualified endorsement of Hillier's blunt talk.

"Part of me agrees with that, part of me says that's true," Gordon said in an interview from Burlington, Ont.

"But at the same time, if we're really going to deal with this problem and have a hope of putting an end to terrorism, then we have to work towards understanding the root causes, which go much deeper than current events in Iraq and Afghanistan."

Print this item

  Touring?

Posted by: chicagoblackhawks77
07-15-2005, 01:03 PM
Forum: Tragically Hip Discussion
- Replies (7)

Any news of upcomming shows lately? Besides the new foundland show?

Mick

Print this item

  photo at Dan Snyder Tourney

Posted by: hip
07-15-2005, 11:53 AM
Forum: Tragically Hip Discussion
- Replies (4)

Learn your members!

http://www.woolwichobserver.com/SnyderGo...%20Hip.htm

Print this item

  Sunnyvale Morality

Posted by: chicagoblackhawks77
07-15-2005, 11:48 AM
Forum: Non Tragically Hip Discussion
- Replies (2)

Seriously,

TPB's is a show that is fully of deep moral lessons. One must of course look past the fact that the boys: Sell dope, pirate rap tracks, open up rub and tugs in the park, etc. Regardless of all these things, it is a show that upholds a high moral standard. The way the boys treat bubbles, the way they cried when they let steve french into the wild, caring for mrs peterson, bubble's kitties, etc. This is a show that is very irregular in that respect. In so many other shows, we see self-centered characters, people with "ideal" body types, completely morally reprehensible.

Just my thoughts here.

Mick

Print this item

  Evelyn Waugh

Posted by: chicagoblackhawks77
07-15-2005, 11:42 AM
Forum: Non Tragically Hip Discussion
- Replies (8)

Anyone else a fan of his books? Have read a few: Vile Bodies, Decline and Fall, Handful of Dust, and just finished Brideshead. This dude can write. Seriously, he and MacClennan make Hemmingway and Fitzgerald look like pussies.

Print this item

  Salmon Splash Festival - Tomorrow

Posted by: Tthip
07-15-2005, 10:50 AM
Forum: Tragically Hip Discussion
- Replies (6)

Wow, this is the first show in almost 7 months.
Anybody going? (Not me unfortunately)
Kinda surprised there was not a secret show last night so the boys could warm up a little.

Any guess as to the setlist - new songs - use of cowbell - whatever?

(Can you tell I am bored waiting for my wife to get home so we can get on the road for the weekend.)

Print this item

  Hip Mentioned on Jambands.com

Posted by: NMAS
07-15-2005, 08:31 AM
Forum: Tragically Hip Discussion
- Replies (13)

Thought this was interesting even though they just give the name of the band
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.jambands.com/ShowReviews/content_2005_07_11.03.phtml">http://www.jambands.com/ShowReviews/con ... 1.03.phtml</a><!-- m -->

Print this item

  New iPod Flea

Posted by: beanmedic
07-14-2005, 08:44 PM
Forum: Non Tragically Hip Discussion
- Replies (3)

Click here for video demonstration

Print this item

  Paul and Gord Sinclair will be appearing at....

Posted by: clearlyentranced
07-14-2005, 06:13 PM
Forum: Tragically Hip Discussion
- Replies (1)

Dean Blundell’s Golf-A-Palooza 2005, Friday, September 2nd at Angus Glen Golf Club in Markham. All proceeds raised will go directly to Ronald McDonald’s House Charities. Phone the Glen and get your tickets!

Print this item

  MAv vs ddd444

Posted by: macyme
07-14-2005, 03:59 PM
Forum: Tragically Hip Discussion
- Replies (19)

can anyone confirm if these two people are the same people. We haven't heard from ddd444 in a while. We know MAv has explained who he is but all I remember hearing about ddd444 is that he worked for the hip. any news or confirmation, if they're not the same, MAv do you know ddd444.


Darnell

Print this item


  1. PunBB