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From: robinson@ubc-cs.UUCP (Jim Robinson)
Newsgroups: can.politics
Subject: Re: the Pentagon / nuclear weapons
Message-ID: <922@ubc-cs.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 15-Jan-85 22:56:24 EST
Article-I.D.: ubc-cs.922
Posted: Tue Jan 15 22:56:24 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 16-Jan-85 02:42:52 EST
References: <334@utcs.UUCP>
Reply-To: robinson@ubc-cs.UUCP (Jim Robinson)
Organization: UBC Department of Computer Science, Vancouver, B.C., Canada
Lines: 35
Summary: 

In article <334@utcs.UUCP> pkern@utcs.UUCP writes:
>This also seemed to be another example of Canada being taken for
>granted as the Minister of Defense, Robert Coates, had not heard of this
>plan (or would not admit that he had).

That Canada should be taken for granted in this manner is  unfortunate
but not unexpected. For years this country has paid only token attention
to its armed forces, secure in the knowledge that no other country would
dare do battle with us because of the presence of our neighbour to the
South who carries a mighty big stick. This has resulted in a loss of 
Canada's sovereignty as one can hardly bite the hand that feeds, or
in this case protects, one. 

An argument can be made that we don't need a military. Fine. In that
case let's withdraw from NATO and NORAD, disband the armed forces, 
concentrate on the Coast Guard, and hope that nobody ever comes
looking for a fight. ( We could also forget about getting so much
as the time of day from the US, at least for the short term )

On the other hand, if we are going to have a military then it behoves
us to do it properly. If we had our own credible defence then it would be
much easier for us to protest those actions by the US which take us
for granted. We could rightly claim to be partners with the US working
towards a common goal and expect/demand to be treated as such, under
threat of going it alone if necessary. As it is now, we're just
kinda along for the ride.

My own opinion is that a sizable sovereign nation, such as Canada,  
should have a credible defence. Even the *neutral* Swiss who haven't
been at war for untold years have this. Looking back to WW2 it can be
noted that yesterday's enemy is today's friend. I don't think that it 
is too far fetched to think that today's friend may be tomorrow's
enemy.

                                               J.B. Robinson