Great moments in national security punditry: "Red Dawn" Canada

Columnist Bernie Quigley makes a bold bid for the all-time silly pundit record — an almost insanely ambitious goal while Frank Gaffney still wields a keyboard — with “Russian troops above America’s border: Canada’s ‘Red Dawn’ moment?” (The Hill, 27 December 2011):

Until recently, threats to America via the splendid isolation of the Arctic seemed absurd. But now it is reported that Russia intends to send a combat brigade [um, somewhere].

The Arctic is transforming before our eyes, Heather A. Conley reports on Christmas in The Washington Post, and not just because the ice is melting. […]

It is increasingly the site of military posturing. “Russia has plans to establish a brigade that is specially equipped and prepared for military warfare in Arctic conditions,” Conley writes.

Does the presence of a Russian brigade present an existential threat to Canada; a “Red Dawn” moment?

The answer, according to Mr. Quigley, is yes. The possibility that Russia might equip one of its army brigades for “military warfare” in the Arctic does represent an existential threat, not only to Canada but also to the United States.

Any threat on Canada’s northern borders is as great a threat to America as it is to Canada. It is said that there is nothing between Minnesota and the Arctic Circle but a bunch of fences. I’ve been there. There are no fences. But now a Russian brigade is on the way.

Best wishes for a less crazy 2012.

Tags: Bernie Quigley, Canada-US relations, Defence policy, Red Dawn, Russia