Archive | November, 2010

North Korea fires at South Korean island

North and South Korea exchanged artillery fire on Tuesday. The exchange was begun by North Korea, which fired at a South Korean island near their western border. South Korea returned the fire, and South Korean officials are accusing North Korea of violating the 1953 armistice that ended the Korean War.  The North Korean attack left […]

NATO approves "new" Strategic Concept

NATO leaders approved a new Strategic Concept document at their Lisbon summit meeting on Friday. The document lays out NATO’s vision of its role in the world, the Alliance’s goals, and how Alliance members intend to pursue those goals. Among other elements, it also spells out the fundamental tenets of NATO’s nuclear weapons policy. On […]

Conservatives kill climate change bill

The story that the Roman Emperor Caligula wanted to appoint his horse to the Senate is apocryphal, but it is a sad fact that Canada’s own quasi-Emperor has appointed 36 unelected horses (or posterior portions thereof) to the Canadian Senate in just the past four years. And on Tuesday the Prime Minister’s stable of equine […]

Steven Staples on Canada's extended Afghanistan mission

Here are some links to media reports that include comments by Steven Staples on the decision to extend Canada’s mission in Afghanistan: Barbara Yaffe, “Harper gambles on grudging support for ‘non-combat’ role,” Vancouver Sun, 17 November 2010 CTVNews, “Cannon says ‘risk factor’ remains for troops,” CTVNews, 16 November 2010 Bryn Weese, “Training mission receives mixed […]

Government confirms Afghanistan extension

The Harper government has confirmed that it is extending Canada’s military mission in Afghanistan until 2014 (Jane Taber, “Conservatives bump Afghan withdrawal date back three years,” Globe and Mail, 16 November 2010). Approximately 950 Canadian soldiers, to be based mostly in the Kabul area, will be assigned to training Afghan forces under the new plan: […]