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In this issue: The Made-In-Canada Peacekeeping Flap & The Rule Of Int'l. Law



As it proceeds with the review, the Conservative government will benefit from the most dramatic change in the international security environment of the century. To what extent and in what ways the Gulf War has changed things is still unclear. There is no denying however, that we have in the last decade of the twentieth century reached the watershed in international relations the world has strived for since the close of WW I — respect by the international community for the international rule of law.

It was Gorbachev who most lucidly in recent times advocated the "rule of law" in international relations. In a speech before the United Nations on December 7, 1988, the anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbour by the Japanese, and in announcing the withdrawal of the U.S.S.R. from Afghanistan the then chairman of the Soviets said as follows: "Gentlemen, the concept of comprehensive international security is based on the principles of the U.N. Charter and the assumption that international law is binding on all states... Our ideal is a world community of states with political systems and foreign policies based on law." He then announced dramatic reduction in his armed forces to give meaning to his words.

Coming from a Communist head of state that speech was revolutionary, and it left a number of skeptics. Since then, the Soviet leader has been true to his word. The latest proof was his support of the United Nations and the United States-led coalition in their efforts to prosecute the military enforcement of the U.N. resolutions against Iraq. That support included the use of force, when all other measures had failed, to secure respect of the rule of international law which Saddam Hussein had breached by his invasion of Kuwait.

The magic word here is "force". There has been a misunderstanding even by members of my own party (Liberal) of its use by the U.N.

Volume 5, Number 10 March 6, 1991


Comment:

WITH THE GULF AS PROLOGUE

War holds an irresistible fascination for us all. Television has added the magic of instant replay and the punditry of professional analysts. With an inexhaustible source of raw material for public debate, the ability of amateur strategists, skillful as Monday morning quarterbacks or Sunday morning Toe Blakes, to bring homespun perspectives to world scale conflicts knows no bounds.

The net beneficiary of this renewed public interest is National Defence. The Gulf War more than any other recent event has brought Canadians to look at themselves as international players. Preliminary readings would indicate that they didn't like what they saw. They observed a middling attempt by a patently unequipped Mulroney government to occupy centre stage in a world conflict without the wherewithal to be credible. As a result, Mulroney may be the only national leader on the victorious side whose public profile at home will not improve.

Canadians, even those who disagreed with our involvement in the Gulf, were shocked to see what was paraded out initially as being the best we could offer. The government's reaction was evident in last week's budget: the Minister of Finance was kind to defence. Not generous, but kind. We now must wait and see if this renewed interest will translate into a will to get on with the long awaited defence policy review.



That organization's founders, including Canada, recognized that in order to maintain international peace and security, the U.N. would have to provide for the ultimate sanction, the use of force, as it does under Chapter 7 of the Charter. What is more, section 43 of that chapter sets out that "all members of the United Nations... undertake to make available to the Security Council... armed forces..." for the purposes authorized by the Charter.

During the Cold War, the U.S.-led NATO and the U.S.S.R.-led Warsaw Pact, through their diplomatic heft and the inherent threat of their nuclear arsenals, circumscribed conflicts or encouraged belligerents to accept peacekeeping operations. With minimum involvement of the U.N., they were successful in preventing regional enmities from escalating to world conflagrations in which they would have been forced to participate. It is Canada's involvement during this period in "peacekeeping", where no use of force was contemplated, after the superpowers or their surrogates managed to quiet things down, which has led some elements of the Canadian community to wrongly conclude that the U.N. should not, indeed cannot use force.

The Cold War is no more, the principles upon which the U.N. was founded can now be given free rein, and the Security Council can function as it was meant to and as it has during the Gulf conflict. The decisive nature of the U.N. victory over Hussein with an estimated 3,000 to 1 casualty ratio has served notice to any other despot or misled regime that the U.N. will not tolerate activities that infringe the Charter provisions or recognized principles of international law. The quick reaction of the Americans and their leadership in securing United Nations sanctions and subsequent authorization for the use of force shows that the U.N. can be effective.

As a consequence, more attention will be paid to the U.N. by the international community and efforts will be made to reduce the U.N.'s dependence on one country as an international policeman, no matter how friendly or well intentioned that country may be. Canada should play a role in that process.

Our antecedents as a peacekeeper and an unwavering supporter of the United Nations give Canada the opportunity to develop a defence strategy that would place greater emphasis on ensuring international peace and stability without neglecting our national requirements. Given the huge Canadian land mass, the endless coastline and vast airspace, what we need to protect ourselves is probably quite close to what the United Nations would require in a large percentage of its identifiable missions.

As a bonus, our U.N. involvement may serve to protect our arms-length relationship with the U.S. so essential to our credibility in international councils.

Jean-Jacques Blais, Ottawa


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PM SALUTES CF — CANADA TO PLAY "FULL PART" SECURING PEACE

"Like all Canadians, I am very relieved that the fighting has stopped and that victory has been secured in the Persian Gulf. Coalition objectives have been achieved. Kuwait is free.

"I want to thank sincerely the courageous men and women of the Canadian forces in the Gulf who have helped to make this victory possible. They have performed with a professionalism and a heroism that are in keeping with the best traditions of the Canadian forces. They have put their lives on the line in defence of their country's interests. I am sure that all Canadians join me in thanking them. There have been no Canadian casualties and all Canadian personnel will be returning to their loved ones as soon as circumstances permit.

"Canadians can be proud that our country stood with the thirty other countries of the coalition. This has been a victory for international law and for the United Nations. The principles of the U.N. Charter have been upheld. And the value of collective security has been proven.

"A number of important details remain to be worked out, particularly the exchange of prisoners of war and the release of any hostages that Iraq might still be holding. The U.N. Security Council will determine the disposition of the U.N. resolutions in the days ahead. Work now begins on the critical task of building a just and durable peace. The first steps are to provide for the continuing security of Kuwait and its neighbours, for the humanitarian needs of the victims of war, for the reconstruction of Kuwait and Iraq and for the restoration of the environment of the region.

"The opportunity must be seized to begin to address, as well, the larger lessons of the war. Canada has put forward a number of ideas for the postwar framework. The world community must work to bring an end to the arms race in the region. Weapons of mass destruction were not used during this war, but their use was repeatedly threatened. It is in everyone's interest that the proliferation of such weapons be stopped. In addition, it is in everyone's interest that the Arab-Israeli issue be resolved and the legitimate interests of the Palestinians be respected.

"It is clear that the diplomatic agenda is long and extremely important. Mr. Clark has written to U.N. Secretary General Perez de Cuellar to put the services of Canada at his disposal, especially in areas where Canada has acquired both experience and expertise. Mr. Clark will meet the Secretary General next week in New York. He also plans to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Baker soon and will make a visit to the region shortly. In the region he will call on the leadership of coalition countries and visit Kuwait. Ambassador Dickenson will return to the Canadian Embassy in Kuwait City tomorrow (Friday, March 1). Canada will play its full part in securing the peace just as we did in winning the war."

The Right Honourable Brian Mulroney, Ottawa, February 28

CF CUTS: 409 SQUADRON SHUTS DOWN AND CHINOOK GETS DUMPED

Base closures announced at the time of the April 1989 budget cuts and the recent drastic decline in Canadian defence spending are now sifting down through the ranks to have a direct impact on the people and units of the Canadian Forces.

The aging CC-115 Buffalo of 413 Transport and Rescue Squadron, CFB Summerside will be replaced by CC-130 Hercules when 413 Squadron moves to CFB Greenwood this summer.

Later this year, 429 Transport Squadron, CFB Winnipeg and its Hercules will move to CFB Trenton. As part of this change, the CT-142 Dash 8 will replace the Hercules as the air navigation training aircraft and will be operated by 402 Air Reserve Squadron and the CF Air Navigation School, CFB Winnipeg.

In 1992, 414 Electronic Warfare Squadron of CFB North Bay along with its Challenger and T-33s will be dispersed into two squadrons — 414 Squadron to be located at CFB Comox, B.C. and 434 Squadron at CFB Shearwater, N.S.

Because DND can no longer afford to operate them, the CH-147 Chinook will be retired, resulting in the disbandment of 447 Transport Helicopter Squadron at CFB Edmonton and the reorganization of 450 Transport Helicopter Squadron. CFB Ottawa's 450 Squadron will become a total force unit with Twin Hueys flying UTTH and SERT (Special Emergency Response Team) missions.

Canada's 409 Tactical Fighter Squadron — which recently served in the Persian Gulf region from a detachment based in Qatar — and a Fighter Wing Headquarters in Germany will be disbanded. The


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Feature: Peace-Enforcement / Peacekeeping


associated CF-18s and pilots will be reassigned to the remaining European-based squadrons to maintain Canada's NATO commitments while some support personnel will return to Canada.

The Made-In-Canada Peacekeeping Flap

PEACEKEEPING IS STILL CANADA'S FORTÉ

Peacekeeping is building international order. What we are doing in the Gulf is seeking to keep and build international order. And that is the most fundamental purpose of Canadian foreign policy. - The Right Honourable Joe Clark, November 9, 1990

Peacekeeping refers to the use of military personnel to monitor and supervise a cease-fire between belligerents.

- Report of the Special Committee of the Senate on National Defence, October 1989

Reflection on the Commons debates over the claimed loss of our world status as peacekeepers shows only one thing: many of our politicians are confused about what is peacekeeping and what it means to Canada's armed forces and to global security. What's worse, the enigma is spreading to the entire population in the wake of abundant, blustering-politician, T.V.-sound-bites.

Sadly, and perhaps due to the whopping failure of our venerable political system which in turn seems to compel its players to slam and smash their way across political ground instead of contributing to the formulation of sound public policy, too many of our politicians are overindulging in harmful rhetoric. Paradoxically, only Canadians claim that Canada has given away its remarkable tradition and future as the world's esteemed peacekeeper. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. That argument in the minds of those who understand Canada's peacekeeping forté has to assume that Canada has demonstrated during the Gulf War such tremendous military might as to become a significant threat to another nation — Iraq perhaps? Nonsense. Canada intimidates no nation.

Canadians are a peaceful people; Canada does not threaten nor intimidate any other nation on earth; and Canada has a well-led, highly professional, career-oriented, volunteer army — the best kind of army for peacekeeping roles. For as long as those three things are true, Canada is the number-one candidate to provide peacekeeping services, anywhere. History confirms that as fact.

The post-Gulf War period and the renewed debate on peacekeeping could provide the stage upon which a definitive new form for peace-enforcement, peacemaking, and peacekeeping could make its debut. For that reason it is absolutely crucial that the quality of the Canadian debate rise above the ignorance witnessed thus far and that politicians strive to help shape policy and programmes to enhance Canada's contribution to international order.

There is a light in the forest in the form of the continuing initiatives of our Secretary of State for External Affairs. It is hard to be sure what vision Joe Clark has in mind but his role in the recent crisis is beginning to take on towering proportions. Certainly the political imperative is strong, driven by an electorate with many wrong ideas about peacekeeping, but his efforts seem to have had vision and energy. Some of the best speeches made in the Commons of late were Clark's on the Gulf crisis, telling of the extensive activities of the Department of External Affairs and his own pursuits and accomplishments during the continuing Mideast catastrophe.

In the postwar period — whether or not Clark began with the nation's whimsical image of Canadian blue-bereted soldiers rushing off to patrol world hot spots and is trying to apply that fantasy as if peacekeeping is the primary (solitary?) function of DND — Clark has probably learned some hard realities in his exercise of corralling statesmen everywhere (particularly the Swedes and the Irish) who are willing to discuss a Persian Gulf peacekeeping role for Canada.

As Lester B. Pearson once proved, and Joe Clark surely knows full well — Clark was nicknamed "Rambo-Joe" last fall for declaring that Canada might have to go to war with coalition forces against Iraqi troops in Kuwait — Canada's strength certainly has nothing at all to do with passiveness and neutrality. Conversely, Canada's qualifications have everything to do with our strong participation in the various international alliances which served us well in Pearson's time and continue to serve us today. Dealing firmly with threats to the rule of international law and global security under the auspices of the U.N. — "peace-enforcement" per se — is fitting to Canada's past and bodes well for the future.

Canada does more than balance assertiveness with diplomacy in its U.N. dealings. Canadian qualities of fairness and skill also contribute to making us a valuable U.N. player. Those attributes however, must not be equated to acquiescence or neutrality.

It is worthwhile to note a seldom studied fact, one that our external affairs minister recently


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Peacekeeping: The Historical Context & Today's Criteria


pointed out during a fall 1990 address to the Canadian Centre for Arms Control and Disarmament, that the peacekeeping activities of the U.N. were not conceived in the original charters. "...Peacekeeping was not envisaged by the founders of the United Nations. It is not even mentioned in the U.N. Charter. Peacekeeping was an inspired innovation, which Canadians helped to construct. It was an innovation spawned not by a U.N. that had worked, but by a U.N. that had failed."

Although the world is a very different one from what it was when Prime Minister Pearson gave Canada its first vision of Canada's peacekeeping forté within the context of early-day U.N. peacekeeping initiatives, some things remain constant. The world today, and the recent Gulf War is not so different to yesteryear that we can say we are on completely new turf. Canada fought in Korea as a member of a U.N. force in 1950. For almost two years after the 1953 cease-fire, Canada kept three destroyers there and nearly a full brigade group for the purpose of enforcing the cease-fire. In 1960, Pearson sent troops to the People's Republic of the Congo to help fight what was literally a U.N. war. Since then, and in fact since 1948, Canada has participated in practically every peacekeeping activity of the U.N. as well as four other non-U.N. missions including the continuing Multinational Force and Observers in the Sinai (since 1961); the Observer Team in Nigeria (1968-1969); and two International Control Commissions for Indochina (from 1954 to 1973). Even today, there are more than 1,000 CF personnel engaged in peacekeeping activities around the globe.

An awakening to Canada's unequalled tradition of being both a peacekeeper and a peace-enforcer blows giant holes in the argument of those parliamentarians, Lloyd Axworthy included, who suggest that the present-day government has obviated future roles for Canada by having fought in the Gulf War of '91. It also belittles Canada's stand in favour of the right of international law and order; the right of nations to self-determination and freedom from aggression; and the abhorrence of despotic regimes which rule by terror and genocide.

Modern-day criteria for Canada's participation in peacekeeping missions was set out in the 1987 Challenge and Commitment white paper. Much of that defence policy paper's rebuilding programme has been killed since its publication, but inasmuch as there has been no superseding policy document approved by the federal government, the white paper represents official policy. The seven peacekeeping policy points buried in the '87 white paper's text embody the yardstick Canada uses to decide upon — and gauge the extent of — its participation in peacekeeping activities.

1) There needs to be a clear and enforceable mandate.

2) The principal antagonists must agree to a cease-fire and to Canada's participation in the operation.

3) The mission must be likely to serve the cause of peace and lead to a political settlement in the long term.

4) The size and international composition of the force should be appropriate to the mandate and must not damage Canada's relations with other states.

5) Canadian participation must not jeopardize other commitments.

6) There must be a single identifiable authority competent to support the operation and influence the disputants.

7) Canada must have the capacity to adequately and equitably fund and logistically support the participation.

The criteria for peacekeeping are normally far easier to establish than the test for deciding upon peace-enforcement undertakings. But last year when some thirty U.N. member nations voted with their voices and deeds, Canada's choice was easy. Clark more or less confirmed this on February 8 at a meeting of the Canadian Institute of International Affairs in Quebec City.

"With wisdom, but not without some reticence, the community of states resolved to resort wholly to the United Nations to face this threat to its collective security. This was a great victory for the U.N. system and for countries like Canada, which have based their diplomacy on the construction of a credible, effective multilateral system."

No matter what lobbying is cited as causatory, or how many `talking-head' pundits like former U.N. ambassador Stephen Lewis (via CBC's The Journal, March 1) say something else was really on the minds of U.N. delegates when they voted approval of Resolution 678, history will show unequivocally that the recent Gulf War was a U.N. action. The Gulf crisis has been a turning point for the heretofore snarled diplomacy of the U.N. which since its early days was a forum for constant face-offs between the veto-powered U.S. and U.S.S.R. In fact, on several past occasions, the U.S. administration in Washington was so furious with the U.N. that there have been numerous implied threats to give the organization's New York headquarters the boot.

The history-making (1990) union of nations which delivered to the world the Security Council's 12 Resolutions (660-662, 664-667, 669, 670, 674, 677, 678) dealing with the August 2, 1990


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International Order, The United Nations Finally Comes Alive


Iraqi invasion of neighbouring Kuwait was a stunning vindication for the purpose and spirit of the League's founders. Due exclusively to the first-time cooperation between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R., the United Nations, as an effective world security organization, stirred. It coughed. It sputtered. But it breathed and at last really came alive to the extent that the world is agog and statesmen everywhere can hardly contain their burbling about a "new world order". Said Clark on February 8, "Paradoxical as it may seem, this war expresses the firm desire of the international community to build a better world founded on justice and the peaceful resolution of conflicts. ...We have waited too long for this kind of attitude..."

It took a certain kind of ignorance for the government's opponents to anticipate that Canada would dump on its all-time favourite organization at a time like that. Canada's traditional support for the United Nations made the Mulroney Cabinet's decision to participate in peace-enforcement entirely predictable. The mid-January speech delivered by the Prime Minister in the Commons debates on a motion seeking parliamentary solidarity for the CF's action in the Gulf was choc-a-bloc with historical reference and confirmed the traditional line of decision-making his Cabinet was pursuing. Mulroney did nothing unorthodox, his decision came right out of the history books.

The Gulf War gave today's Canadian a full view of the very same choices Canada has often faced in the past and a look at what we can expect for the future as part of an invigorated, perhaps finally alive U.N. — peacemaking or `peace-enforcement' and perhaps even peacemaking as an arbitrator (requiring diplomatic `troops' instead of CF troops, or both).

Does Canada, or any nation for that matter, exclude itself from the peacekeeping role by playing a part of the peace-enforcement thrust? According to criteria 2) of the '87 white paper, that will at times be true. Certainly the antagonist President Saddam Hussein of Iraq may be furious at each and every one of the thirty nations, including Canada, who forced him out of Kuwait. Criteria 2) would be failed if the opinion of Saddam Hussein is to be counted. Do Svend Robinson or John Brewin think foreign policy should be guided by what does or does not make odious despots like Saddam cross with us? In the interest of diplomacy, in Baghdad's case it may be a negotiating point. On the other hand, most of the world's statesmen agree that troops from neighbouring states should comprise the peacekeeping force in Kuwait. That would eliminate Canada in any case.

Sending and using force in the Gulf War may have removed Canada from a full-fledged peacekeeping role that is configured congruently with the nation's fanciful image of peacekeeping, but has a positive influence on Canada's foreign policy goals, and most importantly, on global security. Alliances, not pacifism or neutrality, strengthen Canada's voice at the international table.

Owing to a misinformation campaign (or was it really ignorance?) and to a misinformed public, the opposition parties confused the population and delivered the government a public-opinion dilemma that seemed at one point to almost spook the Cabinet. "Canada's peacekeeping reputation is ruined," the antagonists said. As the CBC picked up the "peacekeeping-will-die" banner, public opinion shifted. The government faltered. As diplomacy reached the brink of failure in the Mideast, the decision had to be taken whether to fight or hope that we would be asked at a later date to send blue-bereted troops to monitor a cease-fire. The choice came late, but was obviously correct and as said earlier, predetermined in the historical context.

Opposition politicians might argue against the decision, but no one can truthfully say that Canada has jeopardized future peacekeeping assignments. The opposite is true. Canada has strengthened its alliances and shown that Canadians care about international order and will act under the U.N.'s collective security umbrella in a manner appropriate to the circumstances.

"The world was challenged by Saddam Hussein's aggression and the world has been changed by our response to it," said Clark Friday when he spoke to a luncheon hosted by the Calgary Chamber of Commerce. "We must ensure that change remains positive. Securing respect for international law has been our immediate goal. Securing a lasting peace must be our long-term aim."

The decisions we face in future will be helped by the precedent set by the U.N. and Canada's decision to play a role in the Gulf War. Canada will continue to be the world's foremost (and perhaps most ambitious) candidate for peacekeeping initiatives. The real difficulty facing future governments is that unless we address our decaying armed forces' equipment inventory, particularly in the area of transport and communications gear for peacekeeping purposes; and naval and air transport, land-force armour, artillery, etcetera for peace-enforcement; Canada will have no choice but to stand on the sidelines in what will become an increasing number of occasions. That is the real threat to Canada's peacekeeping ambitions, not participation in the Gulf War.


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Peacekeeping: The Canadian Diplomatic Front


Micheal John O'Brien

JOE CLARK & DEA PLAY IMPORTANT ROLE IN KUWAIT/IRAQ CONFLICT

In the postwar period there are many roles and many questions that have to be decided and answered. Will there be democracy in Iraq and Kuwait? Who will rebuild Kuwait and Iraq? How will the international community deal with the horrifying environmental crisis caused by the deliberate torching by the Iraqis of hundreds of Kuwaiti oil wells pouring thousands of tons of pollutants into the environment? When will the coalition troops return home? When will peacekeeping forces replace coalition forces to guarantee the peace between the hot-blooded Kuwaitis and the hot-blooded Iraqis? Will the CF play a significant role? Will there be a Mideast peace conference to deal with the Palestinian homeland question?

For the current Gulf crisis, Canada's peacekeeping expertise at the diplomatic level has already been interposed by Canada's Secretary of State for External Affairs Joe Clark who has for months been shuttling between U.N. member-nations around the globe. He, along with Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, during the prelude to the war, contributed what now appears to have been levelheaded thinking and constructive council to U.S. President George Bush, U.K. Prime Minister John Major, France's François Mitterrand and others. In fact, in a little known incident last fall, during talks with George Bush at Kennebunkport, Maine, the Prime Minister played devil's advocate with George Bush, arguing hard for restraint when Bush was being pressured and was prone to initiate what Mulroney believed would have been a premature military strike. The PM was successful in negotiating moderation. Saddam's aggression surely was not to be addressed with a blind eye, but in Mulroney's view, it should not be met with blind fury either.

Shortly before U.N. Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar met with Saddam Hussein in Baghdad the weekend following the January 9 Baker/Aziz 6-hour conference, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney wrote to Perez de Cuellar offering Canada's version of a peace proposal: complete Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait, a process for settling outstanding differences peacefully between Iraq and Kuwait, a guarantee of all borders from attack, and an undertaking to look at other problems which plague the Middle East. The proposal Perez de Cuellar made to Saddam was not much different.

The substance of Mulroney's `peace initiative' did not just come from Ottawa. Clark had already toured the Gulf region meeting with Presidents Ozal and Mubarak and with King Hussein (a good friend of Clark's), and Prime Minister Shamir. In each case, Clark sought their views and brought their messages back to Ottawa.

One of the more novel ideas emerging from Clark's diplomatic tours is what some European countries are advancing as the Mediterranean version of the 32-member Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE). Referring to his European counterparts, Clark recently stated that, "They may propose the creation of a CSCM, a conference on Security and Cooperation in the Mediterranean, which would also include the Persian Gulf Region..." He believes that this is an ambitious project but says his government is "carefully monitoring its development".

While Canada was contributing to the peace-enforcement activities of the U.N. coalition in the Persian Gulf region, Clark's diplomatic efforts on the peacekeeping front have led to expectations that Canada's participation in U.N. peackeeping activities will reach at least the level of providing advice, coordination, logistics and other support for a U.N. force comprised of troops from Arab nations of the region. They will preside over the cease-fire and guarantee the borders of Kuwait. Defence Minister Bill McKnight has implied as much in statements made to the media and to the recently televised meetings of the combined defence and external affairs parliamentary committees. Statements made by Clark on Monday from New York after visiting with U.N. Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar suggest that perhaps Canada's role has already been given its broad definition. Refinement is expected in the coming days or weeks.

"Canada and other members of the coalition must put as much energy into promoting peace and security in the Gulf region as we have into liberating Kuwait," noted Clark after his meeting with Perez de Cuellar on Monday.

From New York, Clark flew to Washington DC for talks with U.S. Secretary of State James Baker and then embarked on a tour of officialdom in the Persian Gulf region. He was to meet today


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with the Emir of Kuwait who is still at his place of exile, Taif, Saudi Arabia. Tomorrow the former Prime Minister will visit Jordan; Israel on Friday; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday; Kuwait on Sunday; and Damascus, Syria next Monday.

CANADIAN NAVAL FORCES `ATTACKED' KUWAIT IN MARINE `ASSAULT'

The exploits of Canadian CF-18 fighter pilots may not be the only under-reported story of the Gulf War. In the closing days of the conflict, Canadian warships were closer to the action than originally thought. In his first press conference since the cease-fire, Vice-Admiral Robert George, commander of Maritime Command revealed that Canadian naval forces took part in an active feint of a supposed seaborne assault on Kuwait City. As allied armoured and infantry units thrust deep into eastern Iraq, a diversionary amphibious force concentrated Iraqi attention offshore. This ruse, which had the enemy looking in the wrong directions, was according to the Admiral "part of our contribution to the final victory". If so, that would have placed Canadian ships within the close-range line of enemy fire, 300 kilometers away from their original patrol zone in the southern Persian Gulf. Tight and in some cases excessive media restrictions throughout the war have left folks on the Canadian home front wondering what, if anything, their military was doing. The pilots have raised objections that their part in attacking enemy ground forces received little attention.

Indeed, the Admiral's comments received even less notice as most of the world heaved a collective sigh of relief over the defeat of Iraq. With the allies performing mopping up operations, Ottawa announced that the Canadian naval task group could return home earlier than expected. HMCS Athabaskan is scheduled to return on time at the end of April. If everything goes well at the peace talks, George hopes that HMCS Terra Nova will follow "just a few hours behind". Both ships have been on station in the Gulf since last October. They were supported by HMCS Protecteur, an AOR-class fleet replenishment ship which underwent a crew rotation in January (see The Wednesday Report, January 9, page 5, "Maritime Command Juggles For Persian Gulf Crew Rotation").

HMCS Huron, Athabaskan's DDH-280 class sister ship left Halifax February 24 (see February 27, page 9, "HMCS Huron Departed Sunday For The Persian Gulf") and will continue on its way to the Gulf. Huron and Protecteur are expected to remain in the region to help with postwar operations, likely to be determined within the next few weeks. At the same time, Defence Minister Bill McKnight announced that the west coast-based HMCS Restigouche and Provider will not sail for the Gulf as first planned. Initially, CATG 302.3, the Canadian naval task group was in the Gulf enforcing United Nations Resolutions 661 and 665 which imposed a maritime embargo against Iraq following its August 2, 1990 invasion of Kuwait. As well, the Canadian commander of the task group, Captain (N) Duncan Miller was placed in charge of a multinational combat and logistics force charged to protect naval supply lines (see January 23, page 6, "Canadian Ships Move South In Persian Gulf"). George credited his ships with 20 percent of all maritime interdictions carried out since the Canadian ships arrived in the Gulf.

In announcing the homecomings, the Admiral praised the men and women who served with the Canadian military and their families who gave the sailors and airmen "their unflagging support". Upon return, Athabaskan is expected to head to the MIL-Davie yards in Lauzon, Quebec to be next in line for the Tribal-class Update and Modernization Programme (TRUMP). Sister destroyer Algonquin (283) is in Halifax receiving the finishing touches of its TRUMP refit from MIL subsidiary M&M Manufacturing Ltd. (Dartmouth). With Huron in the Gulf and HMCS Iroquois (280) still in Quebec, the Canadian east coast shall continue to have no destroyer coverage, moreover, no capable command ship. No final decision has been made as to the disposition of the modern weapons and sensors fitted to HMCS Restigouche and Terra Nova. The two Improved Restigouche-class frigates, with over thirty years of service each in the Canadian navy, are slated to be paid off over the next two years. Saint John Shipbuilding Limited of New Brunswick, which provided the systems for retrograding from its own Canadian Patrol Frigate (CPF) programme, says that the weapons can be returned and refurbished for eventual use on the CPFs.

Patrick McManus, Halifax

EMB-120 BRASILIAS HAVE FLOWN ONE MILLION HOURS


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The fleet of 213 EMB-120 Brasilia airliners — built by Embraer of Brazil — recently achieved the milestone of one million flight hours during which an estimated twenty million passengers were carried. Brasilias fly for 19 regional airlines in 11 countries worldwide and are the fastest and lightest turboprop transports in the market today.

REFORM PARTY DEFENCE POLICY IS LIKE OTHER PARTIES'. MUDDLED

The Reform Party of Canada, the Alberta-based movement which has become a lightning rod of political discontent across the country over the last two years, has entered one area of the political arena held by the three major parties — ambiguity over its stand on national defence. At a gathering for the party's expansion committee in Halifax, N.S. last week, Reform Vice-President Gordon Shaw, a former Imperial Oil executive from Calgary was asked how the party planned to cut the deficit and debt within three years while maintaining its stated commitment to NATO and NORAD and concomitant purchase of armaments for those objectives. One audience member said Canada faced no threat of attack because of its proximity to the United States. "So why should we spend all that money on defence?" he wondered. Shaw conceded that our Big Brother to the south does protect us, but felt that Canada should at least "have a token military force". That's a curious position, given the Reform Party's stated policy of doing nothing which would "in any way impair Canada's national sovereignty".

INDUSTRY SEMINAR ON MARKETING & PROPOSAL PREPARATION

H. Silver & Associates Inc. (HSA) of Torrance, California is sponsoring a two-day seminar which focuses on "Technical Marketing and Proposal Preparation". This year's seminar — the seventh to be presented by the company — has been revised and updated to deal with the changed conditions faced today by marketing and proposal professionals in the defence, aerospace, high technology, computer, telecommunications and construction industries. The programme includes a combination of high-tech video lectures — featuring Hyman Silver, president of HSA — and live interactive sessions. Interested individuals or groups may attend the seminar in Orlando, Florida, April 15-16; Boston, Massachusetts, April 18-19; and Washington DC, April 22-23. For information and registration contact HSA at (213) 534-3922.

McDONNELL DOUGLAS/BELL HELICOPTER BID U.S. ARMY LH PROJECT

"Triple redundancy" is how the team of McDonnell Douglas and Bell Helicopter Textron (SuperTeam) enthusiastically describe their NOTAR helicopter bid for the U.S. Army's Light Helicopter (LH) competition. The second-generation technology of the twin-fan no-tail-rotor (NOTAR) aircraft has been proven in some 4,100 hours of testing and is generally considered to be an acceptable concept, after the many decades the industry has attempted to address the anti-torque control problem with non-conventional solutions. Tail rotors have made helicopters, insofar as their safety record is concerned, relatively dangerous machines whilst on the ground. The tail rotor is also extremely vulnerable to small arms fire in a close combat zone as was learned during the 1961-1973 Viet Nam War.

Apart from twin-fan redundancy benefits, the machine offers a distinct space advantage in that there is ample room in the tail boom for the carriage of the Mission Equipment Package (MEP). And triple systems redundancy, according to the SuperTeam's director of product definition, gives Army aircrews greater ability to survive in the battlefield. The team claims that its LH design provides significant handling, safety, survivability and maintainability advantages not available with protected anti-torque systems.

BRITISH AEROSPACE ATP TOURS ASIA-PACIFIC REGION


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March 6, 1991

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The BAe Advanced Turboprop (ATP) demonstrator has embarked on an eight week, 32,000 mile sales promotional tour of the Asia-Pacific region. Countries to be visited during the tour include Australia, New Zealand and Japan. Among the highlights of the tour will be a three-week trial operation of the ATP this month on the route network of New Zealand's Mount Cook Airline.

CAE ELECTRONICS TO HOST CANADAIR RJ TRAINING CENTRE

CAE's facilities at Dorval Airport in Montreal, Quebec will be the site of a fully equipped flight and maintenance training centre for the new Canadair Regional Jet (RJ) airliner. The 15,000 square foot centre — to be jointly established by The Canadair Group of Bombardier Inc. and CAE Electronics Ltd. — will contain a Phase III-capable CAE full flight simulator, a Level VI CAE flight training device and two types of computer-based training systems including a computer-based training (CBT) programme for flight training purposes and a computer-assisted training (CAT) system for maintenance training. Customer training sessions at the facility for maintenance personnel are scheduled to commence in October and for flight crews in February 1992. First deliveries of the RJ are expected to begin in the summer of 1992.

U.S. NAVY SOON TO DEPLOY CANADAIR CL-227 UAV SYSTEM

The Canadair CL-227 Sentinel unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system is another step closer to deployment aboard the U.S. Navy frigate U.S.S. Doyle mid-year, following a series of successful flight operations at the Yuma Proving Grounds in Arizona. The exercises were conducted to incorporate and test technical improvements to the CL-227 UAV system and to expand the UAV's flight performance envelope.

PEOPLE: LYLE BRYSON NOW PRESIDENT OF AMEC

Following a 23-year career with The Boeing Company, Lyle Bryson has been appointed President and CEO of Advanced Materials Engineering Centre (AMEC) located in Halifax, N.S. Bryson's previously held positions at Boeing include Vice President and General Manager, Winnipeg Division and most recently Vice President, Government Relations in Ottawa. AMEC was created in 1987 to assist Canadian industry in the development and commercialization of structures, systems and components using advanced materials.

PEOPLE: JOHN GIRAUDY VP SALES FOR CANADAIR'S RJ

Canadair has announced the appointment of John E. Giraudy to the Canadair RJ Division. Formerly employed by Andrew Canada Inc. as business development manager, government products, Giraudy will become the division's vice-president, sales effective March 11.

CALENDAR

March 19 — The March luncheon meeting of the Canadian Defence Preparedness Association (CDPA) will be held in the Royal Canadian Air Force Officers' Mess, 158 Gloucester Street, Ottawa at noon. Mr. John Cruickshank, associate editor of The Globe & Mail will address attendees on the subject "The Need for a Strong Military Base — Even in Peace Time". A fee of $15.00 is payable at the door. Nonmembers should contact the CDPA office at (613) 235-5337 if they wish to attend.

April 9-10 — The Subcontractors IV (SUBCON IV) Exhibition — a special purpose trade show organized by External Affairs and International Trade Canada — will be held at the Montreal Convention Centre. The exhibition offers a unique opportunity for Canadian subcontractors to display their products to carefully chosen U.S. and Canadian primes and first-tier subcontractors in the aerospace, electronics and defence industries. To be considered for an invitation to SUBCON IV, those who wish to participate should contact Rose Bechamp, Project Coordinator, International Defence Programmes, Aerospace and Marine Division (TDA), External Affairs and International Trade Canada, 125 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0G2, (613) 992-0746.

May 6-7 — The 38th Annual General Meeting of the Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute

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The Wednesday Report - Copyright 1991


March 6, 1991

  • Publisher and Editor In Chief: Micheal J. O'Brien

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