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From: henry@utzoo.UUCP (Henry Spencer)
Newsgroups: can.politics
Subject: Re: Canada's defence : Doesn't anyone care?
Message-ID: <5905@utzoo.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 23-Aug-85 15:46:51 EDT
Article-I.D.: utzoo.5905
Posted: Fri Aug 23 15:46:51 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 23-Aug-85 15:46:51 EDT
References: <1029@ubc-vision.UUCP>
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
Lines: 32

> In short, we should concentrate our efforts on monitoring capability.  Like
> it or not, we *do* rely on the Americans for our defence...

The problem here is that the Americans are increasingly unhappy about
defending people who won't make any effort to defend themselves.  This
doesn't mean they'll stop, since Canada is of some strategic importance
to them, but it does mean that they'll make decisions that affect us
without consulting us or considering our interests.  This seems undesirable.
(Case in point:  recent uproar about claimed American plans to base nuclear
weapons in Canada in the event of war.  If we don't like this, it behooves
us to retain some voice in such decisions.)

Long-term efforts to render military forces unnecessary are not inconsistent
with short-term realization that the ability to defend oneself by force is
a practical necessity right now.  *Defend*, please note.  There is NOTHING
morally reprehensible about defending oneself, although the necessity for
it is annoying and regrettable.  Threatening to murder your opponent if he
steps out of line is different; that is offence, even if it is billed as
"deterrence".  The two are morally and ethically very different.  A world
armed exclusively with defensive weaponry would be a considerably better
place to live than what we have now, and may be a more realistic hope than
a world without weapons.

What's defensive?  ICBMs are not.  Antitank missiles are (and are probably
a much better investment than tanks, by the way).  Long-range bombers are
not.  Air-defence interceptors are.  Many types of weapon are ambivalent,
capable of being used for either purpose; the intent matters.  Aircraft
carriers being used to hunt for submarines are probably defensive; aircraft
carriers being used to bomb land targets probably are not.
-- 
				Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
				{allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!henry