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| Canada Serving The US Empire Cause In Afghanistan |
The Canadian Military Considered
The Canadian military has probably, across its entire history, most typically been either an outright or quasi "colonial" armed force, than anything fully serving the real, predominant or exclusive "national interest" of Canada. Which is my own, but I think an essentially correct statement. Certainly it was my experience in the Canadian military, not a particularly "in depth" or certainly "glorious" one I'll grant, across a "fair" length of time as first a kid of under 14 yrs in Sea Cadets, in the reserve Regina Rifle Regiment, and finally in the full time then Royal Canadian Navy.
I "served" across two quite distinct periods in time, in the history of the Canadian Forces, both with their particular and unique features no doubt, but both at the same essentially the same in their character. For the greater period of my service, the Canadian Military was steeped in British Military traditions, of heirarchy, dress and "ethos". Indeed it was the tail end period of the British Empire itself, with loyalty to the Queen, Great Britian, and the British Empire still a dominant cultural feature of the entire country, and reflected in the Canadian military as well, of course. And this military fought the wars of Mother England in both the 20th Centuries World Wars, save near the post WWII end of The British Empire, when Britain was basically left alone to fight for and lose its African, Asian and Middle East colonies. After which the British Empire sun that it was said in the day would never set, did in fact.
During which latter period, the Canadian "quasi colonial" military, reflecting the similar character of the State, was already beginning to "transition" in dress, cultural style and ethos... and loyalty, moving away from the British Motherland, except in the most formal terms, to closer association and wannabe your puppy dog behaviour with the new rising empire of the postwar II age, The US Empire. (Though the brief tenure period of Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau did manifest a brief and relatively shallow display of a never fully tolerated, let alone realized "independent" spirit and national and foreign policy display... for which time and content there is still a certain Canadian populace "nostalgia".)
But by and large still, this country was exhibiting again, that ruling class behaviour stamped upon it across near all of our history from earliest colonial times with Britain, with the noted brief lived exceptions of course, of wanting to be a part of, serve and hold the coat of The Winner at World Domination. With which second place and living vicariously through a "real winner", we were "quite" content. It was there, in our insecurity of place, was our greatest perceived safety and road to economic prosperity... serving another. (Which essential character of our history both civil and military, while essentially true, through the postwar prosperity period that was what I call the Social Democratic State of Capitalism, or the Welfare State, we did somewhat shy in our relative material comfort, from fully serving the New US Empire. While we did fight their "anti-communist" cause in Korea for example, we later served only as their bum-boy "diplomatic" enabler in Vietnam, and throughout their anti-communist subjugation period in Latin America. Though of late, in The Gulf area of Iraq and Iran, and Afghanistan, under both the post-Trudeau Liberals and current Conservative/Fascists, we are back to a more activist role in serving the domination ambitions of the US Empire.)
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| And Paying The Price |
And with this quasi-colonial essential history, mindset, and face to the world character of the country, whether others saw it or not, and I think they did, or were just too polite to say so to our face, our military likewise was shaped in large part to serve others primarily... first Britain, and of more recent history, this US Empire. Over the cold war period especially, with our attention directed north towards the Russians, ignoring the quiet takeover of our economy and the growing internal political influence that was in reality coming from the south, our military was increasing involved with and over time effectively being "integrated" into US military command and other structures. Not unlike current Egypt. (Through the DEW line, or Distant Early Warning system in our north, which was to warn of an impending polar attack from the then Soviet Union, that never came of course, later through NORAD, the US dominated Fortress North America military command structure. And over time through joint air, land and sea ventures and exercising,, the scuttling of our own strategic independant military equipment procurement and supply capacity , especially in air defence, which was the Avro Arrow fighter jet, and onward, downward into the ranks and upwards through the officer corp, US perceptions of threats and priorities, our equipment needs and what OUR priorities should be, has seen, I suggest, our entire military culture become effectively Americanized hand in hand with the rest of our State. Which is not to say it is total or complete yet, just pretty much so, the latter through NAFTA and other so-called "continentalist" commitments.)
Of late, because of threats to our land and offshore rights and claims in the North, coming some from the Russians and Europe, but especially the US claim that our previously uncontested sovereignty over the Northwest Passage was now "intenational waters", to which they have a right of uncontested use, we have engaged in some modest northern military exercises to bolster our historic, if not acutally enforced claim. As part of which our State and military sought to organize the Inuit to watch these waters for us. (Seriously.) Despite this need to have a serious military presence and capacity in our own North however, contested mostly by our hereto "friends", we are strategically and tacticly hampered, in fact, militarily enforcement-wise, by our material and cultural integration into serving the military and Empire ambitions and foreign wars of the US. Which we continue to do without much serious or evident questioning.
We are still largely a quasi-colonial country, is my analysis conclusion, with a like military capacity that reflects that... pracrically set up, with the culture and military training and other more material capacity to serve a more dominant Imperial power... currently the US Empire. (And which persists despite all the accumulating body of global evidence, and the evidence from within its own borders, that this Empire is already beyond its "Best Before" date... only dangerous, as much to itself as anyone, in its final thrashing death throes.)
NEXT: Whither Canada. What kind of a military do we need, now already, and in the future?
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| Exercise Trident Fury 2007 See this link re details this Trident Fury Naval Exercise; |
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