Coming up in the next issue? "I can no longer sit back and allow communist infiltration, communist indoctrination, communist subversion, and the international communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids."
The mandate of the Conference of Defence Associations Institute is to “provide research support to the Conference of Defence Associations (CDA) and promote informed public debate on national security and defence issues.” And as a contribution to that informed public debate, the latest edition of its magazine On Track contains an article by retired Colonel Sean Henry warning of the “disinformation” threat to Canada:
[A poll conducted in 2009] by Ipsos Reid on behalf of the Department of National Defence indicated that a strong majority of Canadians still view their soldiers as peacekeepers. They would rather have them perform disaster assistance and international social work than engage in combat operations. This, notwithstanding the fact the Conservative government and the military leadership have done their best to reverse that outlook. These attempts have met with relatively little interest and still less acceptance. One may therefore ask: What is going on here? The short and simple answer is that the Canadian population has been swept by a tide of disinformation, starting in the 1970s and continuing to this day.
Pioneered by the Soviets, disinformation–”information which is intended to mislead”–has since been put to devastating use by non-governmental organizations courting public support for their causes:
Examples in Canada would include anti-Americanism, climate change, health care, bilingualism, gun control and animal welfare.
(Not to mention the fluoridation of water!) The public discourse has been sapped and impurified with dangerous nonsense.
Half-truths, rumours and bogus facts and arguments can now be placed directly into the main stream of public consciousness. Moreover, sites such as Wikipedia can be altered to favour the disinformation artist’s line, by removing and/or replacing material of rivals. Climate change advocates employ this technique extensively.
Even the Canadian government is part of the problem:
Since the early 1980s, government public information has been guided and vetted by a set of Privy Council Office and Treasury Board directives and similar regulations. They are focused on promoting causes such as gender equality, visible minorities, multiculturalism, social justice and peacekeeping. Either knowingly or unknowingly this policy reinforces some of the disinformation flowing from interest groups.
The solution, according to Henry, is for government to “lead the way to wean Canadians away from utopian notions and puncture the bubble of unreality that surrounds them.”
God willing, they will prevail, in peace and freedom from fear, and in true health–through the purity and essence of our natural fluids.
Why should people who aren’t crazy care about this kind of stuff? Well, for one thing, the Conference of Defence Associations operates on the taxpayer’s dime, receiving an annual grant of $100,000 plus other support (such as a $35,000-a-year intern), all paid for by the Department of National Defence. Obviously no shortage of cash over at DND.
Update:
Oh, dear. The gentle souls at The Torch, whose very hallmark is the unfailing respect with which they treat all those with whom they happen to find themselves in disagreement, are saddened and disappointed to have read the “cheap shot” above. Not that they can bring themselves to mount more than a half-hearted “curate’s egg” defence of the CDAI article in question: apparently, parts of it are not as “loony” as the whole is.
February 7th, 2010 at 8:47 pm
The Conference of Defence Associations Institute publication, “On Track” claims that it is “Independent and Informed.” The loony article in question about peacekeeping appeared in this magazine so you can scratch off the word “Informed” from the front cover of that magazine. What will the Conference of Defence Associations come up with next; that the “left” has been brainwashing the population through some kind of mind control experiment? That’s almost as good as Alain Pellerin’s claims that the news media is ignoring the good news from Afghanistan. I guess building a handful of schools after 10 years of being there and $18 billion ranks as good news.
Secondly, how can the CDA claim to be “independent” when it receives its funding from the Defence Department and is so closely aligned with the defence industry? It also has defence industry lobbyists on its board of directors. Lots of independence there!
If you believe this fairy tail of independence, you might as well claim that “Dinosaur Jack” Granatestein’s CDFAI is “independent”. It has also received funding from defence companies.
The Conference of Defence Associations, the Torch, along with Terry Glavin have continually promoted the Harper Afghanistan mission in a highly positive light. Glavin even went so far recently as claiming “we are winning” in Afghanistan. Guess he hasn’t read any news reports lately. Glavin is starting to sound a lot like Harper and Hillier. Maybe he’ll run as a Conservative in the next election?
February 6th, 2010 at 9:24 pm
A couple of points. The Defence Department funds the Conference of Defence Associations, providing it with $100,000 a year (at least) to lobby for increased military spending. That fact is rarely mentioned by the journalists who often quote retired Col. Alain Pellerin and other CDA types.
If this loony CDA “analysis”, complete with its conspiracy theories on peacekeeping, is any indication of the standard of the CDA’s work, then DND, and the taxpayers who provide the $100,000 in annual funding might want to ask for their money back!!
Secondly, Tony Prudori, who wrote the Torch post bemoaning that this Ceasefire post takes a “cheap shot” at the CDA, has to qualify for “hypocrite” of the year.
The main reason it seems for the Torch’s existence is to continually take “cheap shots” at journalists who dare to write anything that isn’t salivating all over the Canadian Forces and DND. The cheap shots are also hurled at politicians or defence analysts who are questioning in the slightest of the Canadian Forces/DND policy and/or spending. That’s why Damian Brooks and Mark Collins are so-loved by DND public affairs.
Prudori himself isn’t above taking similar cheap shots as well……….so Tony, save your self-righteous carping.
February 6th, 2010 at 2:40 am
This is a hilarious post. The CDA promoting “informed debate.”???? That’s a good one. They promote what DND tells them to promote as they are funded by DND. Love the conspiracy theories….what a bunch of loons.
As for the Torch. Well, they know what to print when DND’s public affairs branch tells them what to print. They see themselves as “defence experts”……but what a joke they are!!!