Posted on 03/25/2006 9:59:11 PM PST by Lorianne
While Canadians rejoiced at the news that two of their citizens were rescued from captivity in Iraq, some were surprised to learn Canadian special forces were involved in the mission and curious as to how many troops are on the ground. Prime Minister Stephen Harper told reporters Thursday that a handful of Canadian troops have been stationed in Iraq since the beginning of the U.S.-led invasion and occupation, which is still widely unpopular at home. But he insisted the special forces who helped rescue Canadians James Loney and Harmeet Singh Sooden, along with Briton Norman Kember, were in Iraq only temporarily with the express goal of obtaining the hostages' release. The former Liberal Party government declined in 2003 to join the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq unless it came under the U.N. umbrella, and many Canadians have been critical of U.S. methods in Washington's war on terror. Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay said about 20 Canadian troops and other personnel were in Iraq working quietly since shortly after the kidnappings of the Christian Peacemaker Teams workers on Nov. 26. "We were there with our very best," he told The Globe and Mail for Friday editions. "We had everyone fully engaged in this operation from day one." The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, intelligence officers and diplomats were also involved, he said. "Canada should not (be) and is not passive when it comes to its own citizens and the protection of their lives," MacKay said. It is believed that members of Canada's elite and secretive Joint Task Force 2 were also involved, but the government would neither confirm nor deny this. Harper did confirm Thursday, shortly after the men were rescued, that an unspecified number of Canadians have been embedded with coalition forces since the beginning of the war. "I'm not free to say anything more than that because this involves national security," he said. He denied Canadian troops were involved in the war, however, saying: "Any involvement that Canada has had on the ground in this particular matter was obviously targeted simply at the issue of Canadian hostages." Canadian Defense spokeswoman Lt. Morgan Bailey told The Associated Press on Friday that only a handful of Canadian troops were on the ground in Iraq. She said one soldier is serving with a U.N. assistance team helping to draft a new constitution and coordinate humanitarian operations; three other Canadian soldiers are on an exchange with British forces. "They do their normal job, only with the British unit," she said. "If their job is to be an engineer, they would do that job with the British." But she declined to say whether there were special forces in Iraq. "It's our policy not to speak about special operations abroad," she said. In March 2003, when Parliament was debating whether to send troops to Iraq - some Conservatives believed it was imperative to help the Bush administration remove Saddam Hussein from power - several MPs said special forces had secretly been on the ground in Afghanistan, though Prime Minister Jean Chretien's government denied it. Some Canadians were also surprised to learn that a dozen troops had been embedded with British and U.S. troops during the invasion of Iraq, in what are known as training exchanges. Eric Walton, foreign affairs critic for the Green Party of Canada, said he didn't think most Canadians would oppose Canadian Forces in Iraq to help their own. "My feeling is, you don't need permission for a rescue mission, if it's in and out," Walton said. "But the issue I have a problem with is the way the invasion occurred, against international law, and I think Canada should have taken a stand and pulled its troops out of those exchanges." John Pike, a defense analyst and director of GlobalSecurity.org, a military policy think tank in Alexandria, Va., asked: What's the big deal? "It would seem to me that the scandal would have been if they hadn't been there," Pike said. "The lives of Canadian nationals were at stake. If there had been no Canadians involved in this and it had come to grief, then the outrage would have been: `You allowed trigger-happy American cowboys to kill our people.'" He said it is common for countries to send their special forces quietly to train in live combat situations, as the experience is invaluable. "I certainly have the sense that there is a much larger special operations presence in Iraq than is widely understood," Pike said. "This type of combat experience is precious."
Sorry, I did not know it would post like that, I'll post with paragraphs.
TORONTO - While Canadians rejoiced at the news that two of their citizens were rescued from captivity in Iraq, some were surprised to learn Canadian special forces were involved in the mission and curious as to how many troops are on the ground.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper told reporters Thursday that a handful of Canadian troops have been stationed in Iraq since the beginning of the U.S.-led invasion and occupation, which is still widely unpopular at home.
But he insisted the special forces who helped rescue Canadians James Loney and Harmeet Singh Sooden, along with Briton Norman Kember, were in Iraq only temporarily with the express goal of obtaining the hostages' release.
The former Liberal Party government declined in 2003 to join the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq unless it came under the U.N. umbrella, and many Canadians have been critical of U.S. methods in Washington's war on terror.
Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay said about 20 Canadian troops and other personnel were in Iraq working quietly since shortly after the kidnappings of the Christian Peacemaker Teams workers on Nov. 26.
"We were there with our very best," he told The Globe and Mail for Friday editions. "We had everyone fully engaged in this operation from day one." The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, intelligence officers and diplomats were also involved, he said.
"Canada should not (be) and is not passive when it comes to its own citizens and the protection of their lives," MacKay said.
It is believed that members of Canada's elite and secretive Joint Task Force 2 were also involved, but the government would neither confirm nor deny this.
Harper did confirm Thursday, shortly after the men were rescued, that an unspecified number of Canadians have been embedded with coalition forces since the beginning of the war.
"I'm not free to say anything more than that because this involves national security," he said. He denied Canadian troops were involved in the war, however, saying: "Any involvement that Canada has had on the ground in this particular matter was obviously targeted simply at the issue of Canadian hostages."
Canadian Defense spokeswoman Lt. Morgan Bailey told The Associated Press on Friday that only a handful of Canadian troops were on the ground in Iraq. She said one soldier is serving with a U.N. assistance team helping to draft a new constitution and coordinate humanitarian operations; three other Canadian soldiers are on an exchange with British forces.
"They do their normal job, only with the British unit," she said. "If their job is to be an engineer, they would do that job with the British."
But she declined to say whether there were special forces in Iraq.
"It's our policy not to speak about special operations abroad," she said.
In March 2003, when Parliament was debating whether to send troops to Iraq - some Conservatives believed it was imperative to help the Bush administration remove Saddam Hussein from power - several MPs said special forces had secretly been on the ground in Afghanistan, though Prime Minister Jean Chretien's government denied it.
Some Canadians were also surprised to learn that a dozen troops had been embedded with British and U.S. troops during the invasion of Iraq, in what are known as training exchanges.
Eric Walton, foreign affairs critic for the Green Party of Canada, said he didn't think most Canadians would oppose Canadian Forces in Iraq to help their own.
"My feeling is, you don't need permission for a rescue mission, if it's in and out," Walton said. "But the issue I have a problem with is the way the invasion occurred, against international law, and I think Canada should have taken a stand and pulled its troops out of those exchanges."
John Pike, a defense analyst and director of GlobalSecurity.org, a military policy think tank in Alexandria, Va., asked: What's the big deal?
"It would seem to me that the scandal would have been if they hadn't been there," Pike said. "The lives of Canadian nationals were at stake. If there had been no Canadians involved in this and it had come to grief, then the outrage would have been: `You allowed trigger-happy American cowboys to kill our people.'"
He said it is common for countries to send their special forces quietly to train in live combat situations, as the experience is invaluable.
"I certainly have the sense that there is a much larger special operations presence in Iraq than is widely understood," Pike said. "This type of combat experience is precious."
lol and i was just thinking how easy it was to read the first way! :)
ping
government declined in 2003 to join the U.S.-led invasion liberation of Iraq unless it came under the U.N. umbrella,
I was unaware of the UN thingy. So neither one of our wonderful "friends" that border our country offered any assistance. Well, the one in the south is illegally invading us and I suspect the one in the north aids and abets.....they did take in our draft dodgers afterall.
I should be a reporter. The media person should've asked this guy if he voted on the "international law". When were elections held? Who ran and won?
It would have been anyway. Sorry, but it's a fact. The international press sold its collective soul a very long time ago.
I would like to thank the Canadian soldiers for their service against terrorism. It must be difficult to be men of honor under a government without same.
Canada has a military? Who knew...
read later
is that 1 of 50,000? LOL
"Canada should not (be) and is not passive when it comes to its own citizens and the protection of their lives," MacKay said."
Canada will protect only it's own citizens, however, they don't mind when Americans risk their lives protecting their citizens.
Wonder why it is that the South Park movie, "Bigger, Longer and Uncut" comes to mind here? ;-)
i'm not sure I "get" the reference...
Canada only spending 1.1% of their GDP on their military is pretty sad. Even France spends 2.6%
What happened to the Canadian Mounties? I always liked the way they sing
Singapore Area:
total: 692.7 sq km
land: 682.7 sq km
water: 10 sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly more than 3.5 times the size of Washington, DC
Singapore Population:
4,425,720 (July 2005 est.)
They have more troops than Canada...
LOL!
You have to be a "South Park" fan to get it.
They had to include those Canadian SpecOp guys as translators. Our people probably don't speak Canadian.
You have to be a "South Park" fan to get it.
Blame Canada! Blame Canada! It's seems that everything's gone wrong since Canada came along! Blame Canada! Blame Canada! They're not even a real country anyway!
I never expected John Pike offered a comment on this article until I reached the portion.
That is getting pretty old, no?
Nice spin there.
I also would like to thank those Canadians involved with this effort. Men of honor in Canada's bilingual military are few, and men of honor in Canadian Politics? Non-existant over the last 30 years, until now maybe.
Past recommended Conversation:
Est-que tu veut que je tire en Francais ou en Anglais , Msr. Tango?
Depeche-toi! Une moment! Dites La, Fancais ou Anglais!
Arabien? Mais non, je parle seulment Anglais et Francais!!Je ne tire pas en Arabien!
Je coupe et cour maintenant! Au revoir!!!!
Vive Le Quebec Libre!!!!
Les soldats d'Amerique sont garbages.
(Sarcasm)
I thought this polidiot Harper was supposed to be a breath of fresh air for Canookistan ?
Sounds like a scared puppy pissing under the porch vs anthing close to a leader.
Why should they spend their own money on security? They know dam_ straight the USA will defend them if the need arises.
Agree, only wish a couple more would have gone. kerry and klintoon come to mind.
Did you know there were hundreds of Canadians that came south and enlistd or got drafted and served in the American Army during Vietnam.
No, I did not know that. Wow! Thanks for the info. Enjoyed your reminiscing about MSgt. Ledbetter.
Please understand, we - the USA, are repeatedly bashed by the world, including many of our own "leaders" and it gets very old. It is your past polidiots that have us upset.
One of the very best pieces I read after 9-11 was from a Canadian journalist. It was amazing.
I love your homepage! I will have to go back to visit when I have more time.
About a year ago I was visiting acquaintances and a 90 year old questioned why Canada was not assisting with the war on terror. I assured him that they were and that there were troops in theater.
I had limited research abilities at the time, but I did find a few numbers to back my claim. I called him to report my findings. Many people think that Canada has a much larger population than it does based on land mass, which of course is ridiculous.
Thanks for the reply. While the libs were in power, Canada, as a whole, was dumped on continuously. Now that the Conservatives are in power, things are much better. I guess my initial response was a bit of a knee-jerk reaction. : )
Thank goodness some are around and up to snuff with the help of in theater traing from US forces. These Canadian Soldiers ARE Canada's men of honor.They are too few.
The last of Canadas experienced true soldiers left as Paul Hellyer , then Canada's Liberal Minister of Defense, successfully weakened the Canadian Military by amalgamating the branches of Navy, Air and Army. Most of those with actual experience in war left the CAF then in the 60's.
Shortly after that the Scottish traditioned regiments were drummed down into reserve units except for one. The Princess Patricia Light Infantry, now in Kandahar. Imposed bilingualism was the final nail in the coffin for these experienced Canadian military traditions.Only those who were bilingual could be promoted or be officers.
Here are some of the last real Canadian Soldiers of the 1960's, marching down Queen Street in Fredericton where I had spent so much time as a boy. I was there that day:
After the weakening of the Canadian military by the liberals , Pierre Trudeau's new Canadian Culture began to welcome America's draft dodgers, not understnding that this was a further blow to Canada's military culture. Thousands of Canadian men of honor went south and enlisted, fighting in the Vietnam war. ...a secret the liberal governments of Canada do not want anyone to know. Many of them were sons of the men you see marching in this picture above. I rememeber 2 thousand men of the Blackwatch regiment on parade during Remembrance days of the early sixties, all kilted carrying FN assault rifles.
So those of us who misrate the Canadian forces in America, please do so because there is truth to it, but with an understanding of how the citizens of Canada have suffered by the actions of their successive liberal governments, especially those Canadians who have honor, for we are not yet gone altogether.
Also let Americans understand that the liberal Dims of the USA would do the same to the US forces as was done in Canada. Resist them and fight them now and in the future!
Thank you America!
For those who wish to know more visit:
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/scotreg/mcculloch/story1.htm
AND
Initially, Camp Gagetown was the home base for many army regiments, including the Black Watch and the Royal Canadian Regiment, however defence cutbacks in the 1960s saw a gradual reduction. On February 1, 1968, the Canadian Army, the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Royal Canadian Navy, were merged to form the Canadian Armed Forces. Following this unification, Camp Gagetown was renamed Canadian Forces Base Gagetown (CFB Gagetown).
In the post-unification armed forces, CFB Gagetown functioned as the primary combat training centre for Force Mobile Command (renamed Land Force Command in the 1990s). In the late 1980s, CFB Gagetown began to simultaneously refer to itself as Combat Training Centre Gagetown (CTC Gagetown) and many also still refer to it as Camp Gagetown.
Increased defence spending in the 1980s saw numerous new training facilities built and ranges modernized, and this continued into the 1990s as the Canadian Forces closed obsolete bases. CFB Gagetown continues to function as the army's primary training facility, although due to risk of forest fires in recent years, live-fire training has been pushed primarily to the fall-winter-spring seasons.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CFB_Gagetown
Completely understandable. I get pretty defensive about my country and my President, too. FRiends? ;*)
When the four boys see an R-rated movie featuring Canadians Terrance & Phillip, they are pronounced "corrupted", and their parents pressure the United States to wage war against Canada.
Active troops per thousand citizens:
Singapore: 16.40
United States: 4.76
If the number of troops are a valid predictor of military might and
capability the French army would have crushed the Germans in 1940
and Iraq's army would have easily defeated the American led
force of 150,000 troops in 2003.
If you think that Singapore could match us, you're even dumber
than your posts (or as dumb as a post)...
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