|
Contributor: Deidden
Date: 2003-03-29 00:50:04
Actually I believe we have approximately 60 000 soldiers (about 20 000 reserves).
However, it should be kept in mind that soldiers participating in operations are paid substantially more - in other words, the more soldiers participating in operations, the greater the strain on the defence budget.
Apparently, there is a significant lack in soldiers with specialised skills (i.e. medics, engineers, etc.), as well as officers. Hence, the increased incentives for new recruits at universities.
http://www.dnd.ca/
For more info regarding the Canadian Forces.
Personally, I find both NATO and the UN inadequate. Both must be reevaluated in light of the post Cold War and post 9/11 climate.
Lastly, I fail to see a connection between Bush and the 'friendly-fire' incident in Afghanistan.
However, we can criticize the president for sending the troops into the region in the first place, which draws us back to ideology: why did we commence military operations within the country in the first place?
Perhaps the defacing of ancient buddha statues in the region vexed Bush, a known art and archaeology enthusiast, beyond grief. Perhaps the human-rights violations (esp. against women) in the region was too terrible to tolerate. Perhaps the ruling Taliban gave the Al-Qaeda too much of a cover. Perhaps it eased fears over terrorists attacks. Perhaps it had a vital oil pipeline of great interest to a number of countries. Perhaps the U.S. (and some coalition members) just felt like bombing the hell out of a bunch of guys with Kalashnikovs.
Whatever the reason... it may be fleeting as we watch Afghanistan fall back into its dreadful war-torn state...
[p.s. I highly suspect that it is not oil interest, but archaeological interest that has provoked George W. Bush to war in Afghanistan and Iraq. Both countries are rich in archaeological data, including some of the world's first civilisations. Also, interestingly enough, both countries had little or no archaeological activity within recent decades. Seeing how many archaeologists are reaching the point of retirement, and many of them specialise in Near East and South West Asian civilisations, I suspect that archaeologists within the U.S. and U.K. used powerful lobbying groups such as the AAA (http://www.aaanet.org/) to pursuade both Bush and Blair to wage war. Sinister!]
Reply to this message
|
