Toronto Star supports Conservatives' military procurement plans

The wonders at the Star's editorial page continue. First they bash Bob Rae for opposing our Afstan mission, now they fully support the government's massive (because the Liberals never bought what they promised in a timely fashion) military procurement plans. Plans that the Star's reporters (like those at the CBC) nonetheless insist on calling a spending "spree". Plus the Star seems to support buying firepower too!

For a decade, the Canadian Forces have been hobbled by a lack of air- and sealift, at a time when the United Nations and allies such as the United States have looked to us for speedy military assistance to deal with 9/11-style threats, natural disasters, failed states and threatened genocide.

So Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government has taken steps to beef up Canada's military presence by rolling out $17 billion in programs this week to improve its ability to get from here to there. The programs follow on similar, but much more limited, initiatives taken by the former Liberal government...

Lest anyone forget, Canada has been named as a target by Al Qaeda. At the UN, we have pushed the "responsibility to protect" civilians who face genocide. That requires more firepower than traditional low-risk peacekeeping. Even at that, we remain committed to peacekeeping in the Middle East and other places. For all this, we need more troops, more weapons, the means to get to hot spots and the ability to resupply our forces.

Yesterday's announcement of $8.3 billion to buy and maintain four Boeing C-17 Globemaster strategic lift cargo jets or ones like them to replace the Antonovs, plus 17 smaller tactical lift aircraft to replace our aging Hercules transports, caps a week of much-needed mobility fixes. The military will also get three new supply ships ($2.9 billion), 16 heavy Chinook-type helicopters ($4.7 billion), and 2,300 trucks ($1.2 billion). This equipment will begin to be deployed in the 2008-2012 period.

All this will "put spine back in the Canadian Forces' ability to help people," Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier says. It is an investment at a time when we have 2,300 troops in Afghanistan risking their lives defending democracy and thwarting terror, and when we face new challenges policing our three oceans and preserving stability elsewhere...

The idea being promoted by the new Conservative government is to better configure the Canadian Forces to project force, as well as humanitarian aid, far from our shores. And now that Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor has addressed the mobility issue, he is focusing on buying [amphibious] assault ships, Stryker mobile gun systems and attack helicopters [firepower: one can only hope the government listens to Mr O'Connor - MC]...

...the harsh reality is that Canada needs to spend billions if it is to play any continuing role in the world — in peacekeeping and peacemaking.

And no Dosanjh-style carping about what in some cases may amount to sole-sourcing!

The Star does however rather over-sell the JSS:

They will be able to carry combat troops and armour...

Yep. but not a lot.

Update: Then there is this silliness from the Vancouver Sun:

The need for the new hardware is clear. The government will be replacing assets that are worn out, obsolete or simply non-existent [thank goodness that is conceded - MC]...

But we have also seen how our needs change as the world changes around us and we adjust the way we want to respond.

Our combatant role in Afghanistan requires different tools than we needed in decades past for peacekeeping...

Nuts. CF equipment has always been bought in the context of potential combat. Semi-pointy-stuff for Afstan, LAV IIIs--including for "peacekeeping" in Kabul, was actually bought by the Liberals. CF-18s sure did a lot of peacekeeping in Kosovo and Serbia. Just like the PPCLI in Afstan in 2002. The "traditional peacekeeping" myth that will not die. In any case almost all Army equipment required is essentially the same.