Sunday, February 27, 2011

Libyan No Fly Zone

Ignatieff has been campaigning on scrapping Canada's plan to upgrade our outdated air force, and now he is demanding the enforcement of a no fly zone over the civil war erupting in Libya. Hypothetically speaking, if we sent our current fleet into Libyan airspace to assist in such a venture, what would be the danger to Canadian pilots? These are planes that fall out of the sky at airshows, let alone sending them into war zones. Does Gaddafi have radar and anti-aircraft weapons? In modern warfare, doesn't it make sense to have jets equipped with stealth technology to minimize the risk of harm to the valuable service members who fly them?

Iggy wants to enforce a no fly zone, but does not support equipping Canadians with the best ability to do. Classy.

11 comments:

  1. Either Iggy hasn't a clue about military matters, or he is captive of the pacifist wing of his party, which never favours military expenditures. In either case, his statements make absolutely no sense, Canada lacks capability to enforce a no fly zone. Unless that is, he expects the US to provide the muscle. I thought the Liberals were against American military excursions outside their territory. There is no consistency in these positions, and I think most Canadian voters can see that. He would be much better to simply shut up.

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  2. Iffy needs to shut up and let the boys wearing the long pants just do what they need to do.
    That goes for Jihadi Bob too.

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  3. Yup, just as soon as we take over Pakistan like Dion suggested and then take over Sudan and Congo like Martin wants. -all with paper airplanes and sharp sticks too. These guys are a real piece of work.

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  4. Just now RalpJust h Goodale is on CTV repeating the Liberal talking point of the weekend, that Canadas's responce to the crisis is hampered by not having a seat on the security council. He also mentions we didn't have enough diplomats in the region.
    Nothing like making cheap political hay out of an international crisis. To continue tomaking these points, Liberals must take Canadians for complete fools.

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  5. The mouth of Iffy - the gift that keeps on spouting nonsense. Do we see 19% popular Liberal support in 2012? He and Dion are the only opposition leaders who thought their job was to oppose everything and contribute nothing in Parliament.

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  6. Goodale 3 minute rant without a breath was typical. He uses every single opportunity to bring up 5-6 issues and suggest the government is to blame. He did the same thing in Haiti.
    The simple fact is the Liberals are going to be punished for the coup attempt in 2008. Changing leaders won't work anymore. The brand is badly damaged for faking left with a poor actor. Ignatieff does speak better English than Dion but Dion 'believed' in what he talked about. Ignatieff faking left rants are so poor executed that he could not get hired on a CBC program.

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  7. LOL!Very perceptive Iceman.Its that kind of perception that keeps me coming back to check out what youve got to say.

    Well done.

    Joshua

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  8. Leaving aside the condition of our aging fleet of F-18s, Just how would we support operations there, we have no bases in the area. We got out of the business of projecting power, when Trudeau decided we didn't need to be in the carrier business anymore.

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  9. Iceman, seriously.

    I am a Partisan the same as you. But honestly, CF-18's are incapable of enforcing a no-fly zone due to age? What jets do the USN fly? What jets to other NATO countries fly?

    I agree whole-heartedly that we need to replace them soon, but they are not junk. They are as good, only as good, as the crews that service and fly them. Same goes for the Sea Kings. That very same 'type' of helicopter is used all over the world in civilian colours and they have a very good safety record. Maybe we need to improve maintenance? Maybe we need more attention paid to improving the training of the crews who fix them?

    I say these things because I worked for 30 yrs in aircraft maintenance. I worked on aircraft that were 30+ yrs old as the NORM... not the exception. I've worked on aircraft over 60 yrs old more often than not. If the tight budgets of commercial aircraft owners can maintain 60 yr old aircraft then surely the Canadian Government can safely maintain our military aircraft properly until they are (hopefully soon) replaced.

    But the hyperbole of your comments are absurd.

    If there is anything lacking on the CF-18's, its up to date electronics and weapons. The aircraft and engines are not outdated.

    The U.S. Air Force is still flying B-52's for heaven's sake.. They were designed in the 50's.

    I'm all for modernization, but lets keep it real.

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  10. Arctic Front, my hyperbole knows no bounds. Don't confuse an opinion blogger with an actual journalist.

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  11. The CF-18's are in great shape, the Government spends the money necessary to maintain the aircraft and the electronics have been updated. The aircraft in the Canadian forces fly for many years because of successful maintenance done by Canadian airforce technicians...Look at the sea kings, still flying, which were built in the 50's.
    Yes an aircraft crashed during an airshow, but aircraft crash during airshows all the time, if you did your job and checked you would find out that CF-18 don't fall out of the sky at all. In fact it's been years since the last crash. And it wouldn't be a danger to our pilots since a no fly zon implicates destroying air defenses on the ground.
    You're welcome '' iceman '' stop being so dangerous ;)

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