A National Post editorial from the ninth of August raises concerns about Canada’s purchase of the F-35 amid the budgetary crisis playing out in the United States (“Editorial: U.S. Troubles darken cloud over F-35,” National Post, 9 August 2011). Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.), a former naval aviator well known as a defence hawk (and former […]
Archive | August, 2011
Third time's a charm? F-35 fleet grounded again
The U.S. Air Force grounded its fleet of Lockheed Martin-built F-35 Joint Strike Fighters earlier this month — for the 3rd time in less than year. In October 2010 the company grounded the fleet of 20 F-35s purchased by the US military after discovering a software glitch during simulation tests. The glitch could cause the fuel […]
Canada reverses position on Arms Trade Treaty
The Conservative government has repositioned itself as a less-than-useful partner in the lead-up to negotiations on the United Nations’ Arms Trade Treaty, reports Kenneth Epps, senior program officer at Project Ploughshares (Kenneth Epps, “Hunting down an Arms Trade Treaty,” Embassy Magazine, 3 August 2011). Epps points to the influence of the domestic gun lobby as […]
Hiroshima day, 2011
Today, August 6th, is the 66th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, the first time a nuclear weapon was used against human beings. The second, and so far last, use of nuclear weapons against people was the atomic bombing of Nagasaki three days later on August 9th, 1945. The nuclear […]
Afghan interpreters allowed into Canada "disappointed"
The government has proclaimed its intent to help Afghan interpreters who worked with the Canadian Forces to come to Canada, but many of those who have already arrived feel “abandoned” and “disappointed”. Reporting for Ipolitics.ca, Murray Brewster and Steve Rennie have found discontent among former interpreters (Murray Brewster and Steve Rennie, Afghan interpreters fear Taliban […]