I very much enjoy reading your posts, thank you. Being retired, my husband and I, unfortunately have too much time for doom-scrolling the news...argh. We wind down in the evening with a couple of murder mysteries and just before bedtime, instead of cat videos, we watch dog videos. So it just goes to show that some things on the internet are still a lot of fun and even very good therapy.
The US may be less Death Star and more Hindenburg Balloon, about to undergo self immolation (“oh the humanity!!”). The fractures are appearing in the domestic economy there that threaten to break the whole Enterprise apart (sorry for the Star Wars/Trek mixing, well not really).
Meanwhile on my side of Lake Erie I was screaming during the Address to the Joint Session last night. From the way the Mad King is talking it looks fairly possible that we do switch sides and back Russia. Too many of our politicians are just treating his ranting and raving as “business as usual” which is not helping.
Unless a rebellion kicked off here we’re stuck with the Mad King. We can’t overlook the assistance from foreign leaders like von Steuben, Pulaski, and Lafayette that helped bring the original revolution to a successful conclusion. As much as people outside the US want us to clean up our own mess alone it has to be remembered that there were multiple outside players back in the 18th century conflict.
"I may be guilty of wishful thinking, but I hope these small signs—along with Canada’s more public participation in critical meetings with European leaders—signal a significant shift in Canadian policy: one away from the U.S. and towards Europe and our other allies."
I hope you are right - my gut feeling is that you are. The other allies are a big question mark to me, but I'm trying to learn more, so thanks for your posts.
The 'Golden Dome' idea is a perversion of Buckminster Fuller's Dome over Manhattan, surely. Not that I expect Tangerine Nightmare to know who Bucky is.
Canada came out forcefully and with luck will make good use of the time before a bigger break comes. The public statements in Canada and UK will be mild and if these help keep US AWACS in the air supporting air defense in Ukraine it is worth it. The King will have a great part to play in this drama but not yet. I am hopeful!
I note the US has frozen intelligence sharing with Ukraine, but I hope the other Five Eyes (Canada, Australia, NZ and the UK), who all support Ukraine, will continue to assist Ukraine.
Also note Denmark has skipped Patriots and gone for French Samms and Norwegian missiles, so the US is being frozen out.
Canada should buy Mirages or Saab's instead if F-35s.
Ukraine should replace Starlink with the European alternative, whose name I forget.
Canada should sell it's oil and gas internationally and raise prices for the electricity it sells to the US to match Trump's tariffs, so New Yorkers feel the pain.
As the USA goes into a 'Trump Slump', Americans must understand who to blame - Trump and Republicans.
How do you think we can best demonstrate a ‘separation’ from the USA?
IMO, commit to a full Canadian military base in Latvia. Acquire the current incarnation of the Leopard tanks. Forward deploy F18s in Europe again. Add a squadron of gripen’s for domestic and patrol, saving the F35s for expeditionary uses. Buy the damn subs. CANZUK alliance now (aka 4-eyes economic and military alliance). Pay raises as needed, build the housing on bases we desperately need. More teeth, less tail as it’s been said before.
Lots of things out there that should be simple to execute, but time will tell…
You might remember a few years ago on Xitter I said something similar to this.
I’d alter it this way: keep the 35s in Canada for NORAD and procure Gripen E (without a US engine) and base a fighter wing in Europe to demonstrate our commitment to NATO and the EU.
That’s probably where I got the idea… it would show Europe we are serious about mutual defence. We should also seek to take advantage of Canada’s geography and host major training regimens for all MATO forces be it Air Force or Army training… we’ve got the airspace to do it right.
What do you think of cancelling the fighter jet deal for the F whatever’s and buying the Swedish jets instead? I am very concerned that the us would have the ability to dumb down our jets remotely if they don’t like what we’re doing. And it would send a good message
I brought this up in a previous post and at that time accepted trying to rejig the jet order now would be counterproductive. Now that it is clear our primary adversary is the US, I’m curious about the same thing. Does it make sense to order jets that can only be maintained with the assistance of the US?
Well, we’re stuck in NORAD whether we like it or not, so the F-35 is going to be aimed at that role. It has all the datalinks, etc. and it would directly affect US security to disrupt them. This is in addition to all the other points against cancellation that I’ve mentioned before.
However, as the situation develops, I’m starting to think that the purchase of a European aircraft for an additional fighter wing in or committed to Europe and NATO would be a major demonstration to our allies there.
Gripen E, as currently configured, has a US engine, by the way.
I really enjoy your posts. 🙏 Seeing Trudeau made me feel proud and hopeful. The US overtly helping Russia with troops and tech would be shocking and unbelievable, but hey lots have changed in several weeks.
Sigh. It sounds like it will be a tricky balance trying to muddle through over the next decade or so. I do like the idea of idea of buying a wing of Gripens. Also, of trying to put to productive use the likely idled industrial capacity of central Canada.
I’m not Air Force, but with our obvious splitting from US to Europe it would be interesting to explore F-35s for NORAD and maybe a Sqn or two of Gripens stationed in Europe. We are not much use to Europe unless we have some forces on the ground and air resources would seem to make the most sense.
Army wise, we now have Suffield available to offer Europe for combined arms and inter operability training. I don’t think we need land forces in Europe beyond strengthening the BG currently in Latvia. Europe may want more as soldiers on the ground send a message in a way aircraft do not. This would all be open to negotiation.
Naval ops for us could be focused on far north and coastal patrols with a ‘EurCan’ Sqn assisting Canada and Denmark in their sovereignty protection mission.
The world has changed and if we don’t want to be a vassal state of the US we must be prepared to step up as we once did. Shirking our commitments and responsibilities is hopefully no longer acceptable to Canadians.
Somewhere in these comments, I say much the same about aircraft. I’m warming to the idea.
As for Suffield, the UK still has a full battlegroup there for training. Keeping them there should be a primary objective of our international defence strategy.
If we want to move away from F35s, I'm all for it, but Gripen has Too much American content. Rafale it is... Maybe with a few ASMP nuclear tipped cruise missiles 😜
Amen. I think there is finally an understanding of what the stakes are. And that we probably have a window - both where we have a free hand to significantly diversify our trade and to focus our defence spending on protecting Canadian territory.
I’m curious about your thoughts about how our defence investments should be allocated. My first thought would be to invest in defence the way the US has in the past advocated for Taiwan. Concentrate less on big ticket items than going full “hedgehog” - making an occupation as painful and costly as possible, rather than trying to bar entry in the first place.
After JD and now Trump telling the Brits to not share intelligence with Ukraine, I hope everyone wakes up to what is happening. And very glad Canada is responding. Skyshield! And let’s import more eu goods please.
Perhaps Canada might consider a deterrence. A tripartite military alliance with the two nuclear powers of France and the UK. Forces to be strategically located for example in Iqaluit and Ottawa. Just a thought …
I have been saying for weeks that this is playing out like a scene from Star Wars when Senator Palpatine is given the title of Supreme Chancellor and swears that he will only take supreme power for the shortest amount of time. Only then we find out that he created the threat in the first place and never plans to give up power. Trump is planning to create civil unrest so he can declare martial law and prevent the mid-term election. He's just a hollyweird creation/bad actor who hasn't figured out the script was supposed to be fiction.
Canada and Europe must recognize not only that the USA is no longer a reliable ally or even neutral, but that it is the enemy. This means that Canada and Europe must do what they can to extricate themselves from intelligence and military entanglements with Americans ASAP. For Europe this means closing American bases and kicking the US military out because the enemy is among them and could easily turn on Europe in support of their new ally, Russia. None of this will be easy, especially for Canada with its NORAD entanglement.this is what happens when you trust the untrustworthy.
I very much enjoy reading your posts, thank you. Being retired, my husband and I, unfortunately have too much time for doom-scrolling the news...argh. We wind down in the evening with a couple of murder mysteries and just before bedtime, instead of cat videos, we watch dog videos. So it just goes to show that some things on the internet are still a lot of fun and even very good therapy.
Time to sharpen those elbows.
It has been heartening to see Canada join in with Europe so quickly and decisively.
The US may be less Death Star and more Hindenburg Balloon, about to undergo self immolation (“oh the humanity!!”). The fractures are appearing in the domestic economy there that threaten to break the whole Enterprise apart (sorry for the Star Wars/Trek mixing, well not really).
Meanwhile on my side of Lake Erie I was screaming during the Address to the Joint Session last night. From the way the Mad King is talking it looks fairly possible that we do switch sides and back Russia. Too many of our politicians are just treating his ranting and raving as “business as usual” which is not helping.
Unless a rebellion kicked off here we’re stuck with the Mad King. We can’t overlook the assistance from foreign leaders like von Steuben, Pulaski, and Lafayette that helped bring the original revolution to a successful conclusion. As much as people outside the US want us to clean up our own mess alone it has to be remembered that there were multiple outside players back in the 18th century conflict.
https://youtu.be/_y4gV5Q3YVc
"I may be guilty of wishful thinking, but I hope these small signs—along with Canada’s more public participation in critical meetings with European leaders—signal a significant shift in Canadian policy: one away from the U.S. and towards Europe and our other allies."
I hope you are right - my gut feeling is that you are. The other allies are a big question mark to me, but I'm trying to learn more, so thanks for your posts.
The 'Golden Dome' idea is a perversion of Buckminster Fuller's Dome over Manhattan, surely. Not that I expect Tangerine Nightmare to know who Bucky is.
I appreciate your thoughts and didn’t find them disorganized at all. I wanted to include a photo of my cat under her golden dome for comic relief.
Canada came out forcefully and with luck will make good use of the time before a bigger break comes. The public statements in Canada and UK will be mild and if these help keep US AWACS in the air supporting air defense in Ukraine it is worth it. The King will have a great part to play in this drama but not yet. I am hopeful!
Trudeau did well.
I note the US has frozen intelligence sharing with Ukraine, but I hope the other Five Eyes (Canada, Australia, NZ and the UK), who all support Ukraine, will continue to assist Ukraine.
Also note Denmark has skipped Patriots and gone for French Samms and Norwegian missiles, so the US is being frozen out.
Canada should buy Mirages or Saab's instead if F-35s.
Ukraine should replace Starlink with the European alternative, whose name I forget.
Canada should sell it's oil and gas internationally and raise prices for the electricity it sells to the US to match Trump's tariffs, so New Yorkers feel the pain.
As the USA goes into a 'Trump Slump', Americans must understand who to blame - Trump and Republicans.
How do you think we can best demonstrate a ‘separation’ from the USA?
IMO, commit to a full Canadian military base in Latvia. Acquire the current incarnation of the Leopard tanks. Forward deploy F18s in Europe again. Add a squadron of gripen’s for domestic and patrol, saving the F35s for expeditionary uses. Buy the damn subs. CANZUK alliance now (aka 4-eyes economic and military alliance). Pay raises as needed, build the housing on bases we desperately need. More teeth, less tail as it’s been said before.
Lots of things out there that should be simple to execute, but time will tell…
You might remember a few years ago on Xitter I said something similar to this.
I’d alter it this way: keep the 35s in Canada for NORAD and procure Gripen E (without a US engine) and base a fighter wing in Europe to demonstrate our commitment to NATO and the EU.
That’s probably where I got the idea… it would show Europe we are serious about mutual defence. We should also seek to take advantage of Canada’s geography and host major training regimens for all MATO forces be it Air Force or Army training… we’ve got the airspace to do it right.
I want Denmark and Norway on Op NANOOK (northern exercise) this year. And no Americans.
NATO not MATO
What do you think of cancelling the fighter jet deal for the F whatever’s and buying the Swedish jets instead? I am very concerned that the us would have the ability to dumb down our jets remotely if they don’t like what we’re doing. And it would send a good message
I brought this up in a previous post and at that time accepted trying to rejig the jet order now would be counterproductive. Now that it is clear our primary adversary is the US, I’m curious about the same thing. Does it make sense to order jets that can only be maintained with the assistance of the US?
Well, we’re stuck in NORAD whether we like it or not, so the F-35 is going to be aimed at that role. It has all the datalinks, etc. and it would directly affect US security to disrupt them. This is in addition to all the other points against cancellation that I’ve mentioned before.
However, as the situation develops, I’m starting to think that the purchase of a European aircraft for an additional fighter wing in or committed to Europe and NATO would be a major demonstration to our allies there.
Gripen E, as currently configured, has a US engine, by the way.
I really enjoy your posts. 🙏 Seeing Trudeau made me feel proud and hopeful. The US overtly helping Russia with troops and tech would be shocking and unbelievable, but hey lots have changed in several weeks.
Sigh. It sounds like it will be a tricky balance trying to muddle through over the next decade or so. I do like the idea of idea of buying a wing of Gripens. Also, of trying to put to productive use the likely idled industrial capacity of central Canada.
I’m not Air Force, but with our obvious splitting from US to Europe it would be interesting to explore F-35s for NORAD and maybe a Sqn or two of Gripens stationed in Europe. We are not much use to Europe unless we have some forces on the ground and air resources would seem to make the most sense.
Army wise, we now have Suffield available to offer Europe for combined arms and inter operability training. I don’t think we need land forces in Europe beyond strengthening the BG currently in Latvia. Europe may want more as soldiers on the ground send a message in a way aircraft do not. This would all be open to negotiation.
Naval ops for us could be focused on far north and coastal patrols with a ‘EurCan’ Sqn assisting Canada and Denmark in their sovereignty protection mission.
The world has changed and if we don’t want to be a vassal state of the US we must be prepared to step up as we once did. Shirking our commitments and responsibilities is hopefully no longer acceptable to Canadians.
Somewhere in these comments, I say much the same about aircraft. I’m warming to the idea.
As for Suffield, the UK still has a full battlegroup there for training. Keeping them there should be a primary objective of our international defence strategy.
I read that the Brits had given notice that they were leaving. From last December:
https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/british-departure-means-uncertain-future-for-albertas-massive-suffield-military-base
Wow. Shows how much I know. BATUS closed in December. They’d hemmed and hawed for years and finally did it.
Full disclosure: I was very intimately involved with BATUS just over a decade ago, so thought I was on top of things. Guess not.
If we want to move away from F35s, I'm all for it, but Gripen has Too much American content. Rafale it is... Maybe with a few ASMP nuclear tipped cruise missiles 😜
Amen. I think there is finally an understanding of what the stakes are. And that we probably have a window - both where we have a free hand to significantly diversify our trade and to focus our defence spending on protecting Canadian territory.
I’m curious about your thoughts about how our defence investments should be allocated. My first thought would be to invest in defence the way the US has in the past advocated for Taiwan. Concentrate less on big ticket items than going full “hedgehog” - making an occupation as painful and costly as possible, rather than trying to bar entry in the first place.
You might be interested in my piece here. It could probably be modified slightly in light of recent events, but it generally holds up:
https://blackcloudsix.substack.com/p/disentangling-from-america?r=4bboz2
Thanks, I’ll check it out.
After JD and now Trump telling the Brits to not share intelligence with Ukraine, I hope everyone wakes up to what is happening. And very glad Canada is responding. Skyshield! And let’s import more eu goods please.
Always enjoy these musings.
Perhaps Canada might consider a deterrence. A tripartite military alliance with the two nuclear powers of France and the UK. Forces to be strategically located for example in Iqaluit and Ottawa. Just a thought …
I have been saying for weeks that this is playing out like a scene from Star Wars when Senator Palpatine is given the title of Supreme Chancellor and swears that he will only take supreme power for the shortest amount of time. Only then we find out that he created the threat in the first place and never plans to give up power. Trump is planning to create civil unrest so he can declare martial law and prevent the mid-term election. He's just a hollyweird creation/bad actor who hasn't figured out the script was supposed to be fiction.
Sucks that Trudeau is on the way out. This could have been his finest hour that would have made up for all his screwups.
Canada and Europe must recognize not only that the USA is no longer a reliable ally or even neutral, but that it is the enemy. This means that Canada and Europe must do what they can to extricate themselves from intelligence and military entanglements with Americans ASAP. For Europe this means closing American bases and kicking the US military out because the enemy is among them and could easily turn on Europe in support of their new ally, Russia. None of this will be easy, especially for Canada with its NORAD entanglement.this is what happens when you trust the untrustworthy.