Looks Like a Rat, Smells Like a Rat...

A couple of days ago, the Globe and Mail pointed out how General Hillier is being muzzled. In that article was the following little gem (pointed out to me by a reader):

Mr. Dosanjh pointed out that, in his recent speeches, Gen. Hillier has said that tactical, short-haul aircraft to replace the military's ancient C-130 Hercules transports are his priority.

Mr. O'Connor, by contrast, has said frequently that strategic or long-haul lift must come first. The Tories have also promised three new icebreakers for the Arctic.

According to a source familiar with the situation, Gen. Hillier and Mr. O'Connor have discussed procurement, but nothing has been resolved.

Hmmm...why on earth would Canada want long range strategic lift capability? It doesn't do much good if you can't handle shorter range tactical lift as well, and we've always been able to rent that capability when needed. (It's not just the capital cost of the aircraft to consider, but in fact the ongoing "care-and-feeding" costs of maintenance, training etc.)

Then, in today's Globe and Mail, we get this little gem which fills in a few of the blanks:

"If they go with six [C-17s], that means they'll delay tactical lift," a source close to the Defence Department said. "Hillier will react to that." ...
Preliminary discussions have already taken place between Defence Department and U.S. military officials on whether Canada could get speedy access to some of the Boeing C-17s already on order to the U.S. military, sources say."We know that officials have spoken," a defence industry source said.

The U.S. government has made it known through its embassy in Ottawa that it would facilitate the purchase, the source said.

A similar arrangement was recently struck with Australia, which is buying four of the planes.

Take a close look at this - Washington, D.C. has "made it known". WTF? Washington is involved in Canada's military planning? (Somehow, the image of Stephen Harper being hand-puppet to GWB comes to mind way too fast).

Intriguingly, a similar deal was made for Australia...how interesting.

Remember, that not too long ago we were being told that the military wouldn't be taking on new assignments abroad.

This starts to smell - rotten - like a compost heap gone anaerobic.

Here we are with BushCo continuing to claim that "all options" are on the table - after denying repeatedly that he was considering bombing Iran with nuclear weapons. Which is it George - either all the cards are on the table, or they're not.

Then we have "our good friends" in Washington "helping" us get access to aircraft that Boeing is currently building for the US Military? Aircraft that are designed for strategic life more so than tactical life?

Add to this the "give the troops a rest" routine, and I smell Canada getting sucked into whatever the United States does with Iran. (Likely late this year, or early next year)