[anatolfz]

True; and what we have is spoken for in Afghan and Straits of Hormuz; about 3,000 people. That includes 30 or so in Iraq, another 30 or so in 'undisclosed' places.
They are trained and will act effectively though. The problem is we WON'T send poorly trained and ill-equipped people. No F-18s since the avionics are not up to snuff and therefore of no use to the coalition. Etc. What we CAN do is clear up Afghan and mind the straits.

[hawkaw]

We are also at sea protecting American ships and helping supply the British.

We are also in the air directing bombing runs.

We are part of the coalition of the willing but we just never stated it publically for poltical reasons.

What our government has done for a political gain makes me furious especially when I see some of the comments on this board.

hawk

p.s. - For those who want to read some of the stories of Canada's quiet contribution to the war effort go to the Toronto Star at www.thestar.com and type the word "AWACS" into the 14 day search engine.

[blackdog]

I had some Canadian Helicopter wing hang out at my home for two days a while back. We have an airport, and really bad weather and low ceilings forced them to land while they were on their way to South Carolina for some joint training ops. We gave them a loaner car for some trips into town, shared a few beers, and made our phone and Airstream camper available to them.

They never complained, but the Hueys they were flying had no avionics other than a DG, wet compass, single com, VSI, airspeed indicator,and single VOR. THAT WAS IT! I know helcopters are scud runners by design, but that's ridiculous.