pAt
03-04-2004, 10:08 AM
i think in the wake of the Haiti crisis our prime minister finally woke up and realized our military is stretched too thin and we need more people and such..read more..
OTTAWA (CP) - Defence officials were "scrambling" to meet government's changing demands until Prime Minister Paul Martin finally acknowledged Wednesday that Canada's military commitment to Haiti may be less than desired.
"We're stretched quite thin and so we're looking at our capacity to go there and we're looking at the length of time that we think it would take," Martin told a news conference in Peterborough, Ont. "We're not going to have the capacity that we would like, but we are going to be able to make an important contribution."
His comments came as gun battles raged in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince between rebels and militant loyalists in a slum stronghold of ousted president Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
U.S. marines fanned out in the capital - rifles at the ready - to help bring order.
A convoy of marines in Humvees and armoured vehicles rumbled out of the presidential National Palace as troops on foot moved onto surrounding streets.
Rebel leader Guy Philippe later promised his forces would disarm.
The toll from the violence - which started with a popular uprising and led Aristide to flee Sunday - rose to at least 130.
Early last week, Ottawa was looking to send less than a company of troops - fewer than 120 - to Haiti to assist in a large-scale evacuation of Canadian citizens if one was needed.
Initially, however, it sent five military planners to assess the situation and nine special forces troops to protect embassy staff.
Four Hercules transport aircraft were dispatched to the neighbouring Dominican Republic on the weekend, bringing the troop count to more than 100. By Wednesday afternoon, they had made 11 sorties into Haiti, evacuating 350 people, 235 of them Canadians.
On Monday, Martin committed a relatively sizable contingent of Canadian troops to a United Nations stabilization force. He suggested Tuesday their stint in the troubled Caribbean country could go longer than three months.
Canada also has a company of soldiers - about 120 - from the Gagetown, N.B.-based 2nd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, on eight hours' standby to depart Trenton, Ont., along with members of the Joint Operations Group from Kingston, Ont.
Defence officials were blindsided by Martin's recent public ****ouncement that Canada would commit up to 500 troops to Afghanistan when its current commitment ends in August, sources said.
"Those were options that the minister was carrying to Munich for the (NATO) ministerial meeting for discussions with allies and colleagues," said one source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
"I don't think it was meant to be made public at the time."
Those same officials have for a week been trying to find the resources to add yet another full-scale mission to their plate. "They are scrambling," the source said.
They were asked last week to come with a list of doable options for the government to consider and they were taken by surprise when Martin detailed his intentions earlier this week.
The chief of defence staff, Gen. Ray Henault, said last fall that the army needed an 18-month reprieve from major operational commitments after the current mission ends in Kabul. It's not going to happen.
"If it's just a company, they can live with that," said the source. "But things build up very quickly and if it becomes a battalion (650 or more troops) for more than three months, then they're back to square one."
Defence Minister David Pratt, speaking in Edmonton on a tour of defence bases, said Henault is to brief him on options for Haiti Thursday with a decision to come within a week.
He promised Canada would have a "meaningful contribution" carried out in concert with its allies but said it was too early to speculate on what kind of force that will be.
"Some of that will be defined over the next couple of days. This is still very early days," he said.
Martin said Canada's commitment will go beyond the military, and could include RCMP officers.
"What you've got to do is get a political agreement between the parties that will allow us to not just send troops to maintain peace, but to establish a good justice system, to set up a good police force," he said.
"Canada will be very, very much there when that happens. We did that the last time, and we pulled out too soon."
Conservative defence critic Jay Hill decried Martin's willingness to commit Canadian troops to yet another mission after spending 10 years as finance minister cutting their budget by $25 billion.
"We shouldn't be making foreign policy in front of a television camera," Hill said. "And that's what this prime minister is doing. I believe that a lot more thought needs to go into this; I think that there needs to be more consultation.
Another opposition critic said Canada's commitment to Haiti has been dwarfed by what other countries are offering.
"Paul Martin repeated numerous times . . . that Canada would assume its responsibilities by sending troops," said Bloc Quebecois MP Francine Lalonde.
"Meanwhile, France, the United States and Chile have sent troops but Canada continues to drag its heels. I'm asking the Canadian government to act without delay."
Thanks to Canoe news (http://cnews.canoe.ca)
OTTAWA (CP) - Defence officials were "scrambling" to meet government's changing demands until Prime Minister Paul Martin finally acknowledged Wednesday that Canada's military commitment to Haiti may be less than desired.
"We're stretched quite thin and so we're looking at our capacity to go there and we're looking at the length of time that we think it would take," Martin told a news conference in Peterborough, Ont. "We're not going to have the capacity that we would like, but we are going to be able to make an important contribution."
His comments came as gun battles raged in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince between rebels and militant loyalists in a slum stronghold of ousted president Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
U.S. marines fanned out in the capital - rifles at the ready - to help bring order.
A convoy of marines in Humvees and armoured vehicles rumbled out of the presidential National Palace as troops on foot moved onto surrounding streets.
Rebel leader Guy Philippe later promised his forces would disarm.
The toll from the violence - which started with a popular uprising and led Aristide to flee Sunday - rose to at least 130.
Early last week, Ottawa was looking to send less than a company of troops - fewer than 120 - to Haiti to assist in a large-scale evacuation of Canadian citizens if one was needed.
Initially, however, it sent five military planners to assess the situation and nine special forces troops to protect embassy staff.
Four Hercules transport aircraft were dispatched to the neighbouring Dominican Republic on the weekend, bringing the troop count to more than 100. By Wednesday afternoon, they had made 11 sorties into Haiti, evacuating 350 people, 235 of them Canadians.
On Monday, Martin committed a relatively sizable contingent of Canadian troops to a United Nations stabilization force. He suggested Tuesday their stint in the troubled Caribbean country could go longer than three months.
Canada also has a company of soldiers - about 120 - from the Gagetown, N.B.-based 2nd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, on eight hours' standby to depart Trenton, Ont., along with members of the Joint Operations Group from Kingston, Ont.
Defence officials were blindsided by Martin's recent public ****ouncement that Canada would commit up to 500 troops to Afghanistan when its current commitment ends in August, sources said.
"Those were options that the minister was carrying to Munich for the (NATO) ministerial meeting for discussions with allies and colleagues," said one source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
"I don't think it was meant to be made public at the time."
Those same officials have for a week been trying to find the resources to add yet another full-scale mission to their plate. "They are scrambling," the source said.
They were asked last week to come with a list of doable options for the government to consider and they were taken by surprise when Martin detailed his intentions earlier this week.
The chief of defence staff, Gen. Ray Henault, said last fall that the army needed an 18-month reprieve from major operational commitments after the current mission ends in Kabul. It's not going to happen.
"If it's just a company, they can live with that," said the source. "But things build up very quickly and if it becomes a battalion (650 or more troops) for more than three months, then they're back to square one."
Defence Minister David Pratt, speaking in Edmonton on a tour of defence bases, said Henault is to brief him on options for Haiti Thursday with a decision to come within a week.
He promised Canada would have a "meaningful contribution" carried out in concert with its allies but said it was too early to speculate on what kind of force that will be.
"Some of that will be defined over the next couple of days. This is still very early days," he said.
Martin said Canada's commitment will go beyond the military, and could include RCMP officers.
"What you've got to do is get a political agreement between the parties that will allow us to not just send troops to maintain peace, but to establish a good justice system, to set up a good police force," he said.
"Canada will be very, very much there when that happens. We did that the last time, and we pulled out too soon."
Conservative defence critic Jay Hill decried Martin's willingness to commit Canadian troops to yet another mission after spending 10 years as finance minister cutting their budget by $25 billion.
"We shouldn't be making foreign policy in front of a television camera," Hill said. "And that's what this prime minister is doing. I believe that a lot more thought needs to go into this; I think that there needs to be more consultation.
Another opposition critic said Canada's commitment to Haiti has been dwarfed by what other countries are offering.
"Paul Martin repeated numerous times . . . that Canada would assume its responsibilities by sending troops," said Bloc Quebecois MP Francine Lalonde.
"Meanwhile, France, the United States and Chile have sent troops but Canada continues to drag its heels. I'm asking the Canadian government to act without delay."
Thanks to Canoe news (http://cnews.canoe.ca)