Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute commentator Jack Granatstein, normally quick to dismiss any Canadian who criticises the United States or its foreign policy as a knee-jerk “anti-American”, appears to have finally succumbed to that great Canadian reflex himself (J.L. Granatstein, “Our American friends are trouble,” Ottawa Citizen, 9 October 2011): The American people are […]
Tag Archives: United States
Ten years in Afghanistan
On Friday, the U.S. military intervention in Afghanistan marked its tenth anniversary (“Afghanistan war marks 10 years with little commemoration,” CNN, 7 October 2011). The conflict is already the longest war in U.S. history, having surpassed the duration of the Vietnam War in 2010. Canada’s participation in the war has not yet reached the ten-year […]
U.S. Air Force vows to protect the F-35 program from cuts
The U.S. Air Force is vowing to protect the costly F-35 fighter program, in spite of major budget pressures placed upon the Pentagon (“US Air Force vows to spare F-35 from budget cuts,” Agence France Presse, 19 September 2011). Air Force Secretary Michael Donley told the Air Force Association that loss of the program would […]
National Post: U.S. troubles darken cloud over F-35
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 […]
More concerns over F-35
There are increasing concerns about spiralling costs and prolonged delays for the F-35 (David Pugliese, Delivery of F-35s could be delayed beyond 2016, Ottawa Citizen, 28 May 2011). Pentagon officials have recently testified before Congress to address the questions surrounding the aircraft. Ashton Carter, the U.S. Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, told legislators that the […]
Budget crunch, Pentagon-style
Only in our neighbour to the south could you find the following two sentences side by side in a news article (Julian E. Barnes, “Gates Says Cuts Would Curb Military Capacity,” Wall Street Journal, 19 May 2011): “The defense budget, including the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, currently totals about $700 billion […]