Canada shrugs off U.S. warning

[Nono]

Quote by: Colleptic They came second in Ridings (...)

Did I say anything different? It was in Montreal, I believe, back in the 80s. (And how could the Rhinoceros Party hold its head up if it ever actually won anything?)

Do not forget, when needed Canada has always answered the call and has never failed an operation. By the end of WWI the Canadian Army was over 600,000 and one of the most powerful. It held that war at bay; do not forget the U.S. did not enter that war until the very end. (More than 60, 000 died in Europe).

This is a point I've made several times on this forum. Would, for example, the Brits have won the Battle of Britain -- which they damned near lost -- without the infusion of Canadian pilots? The problem is that Americans (with many honourable exceptions, as always) tend to learn their history from Hollywood.

My point is that Canadian military spending above and beyond what is needed for its treaty commitments and traditional UN peacekeeping work (something originated by a Canadian by the way) is superfluous with when you live cheek by jowl with the US and its bloated armed forces.

[Colleptic]

Na, I just thought I throw out a bit more info on the Rhinoceros Party, I should have stated it was for other people generally to stop the confusion.

It is kind of a Canadian pride thing, which is also counter productive in a way. We do not toot our own horn has much as we could, regarding the last 90 years of world history. We actually played a big Role in the Korean War; there 26,791 Canadians there. But, who other than a few educated history buffs know that?

"The Canadian government says it wasn't a war, it was a peacekeepers' mission," says Germaine. "Well, we weren't peacekeepers. When somebody stands there and shoots at us and we shoot back, I think that has to be a war. We didn't try to keep peace, we tried to make peace. To me, there's a huge difference."

PS: I agree with your main point.

[rmnunez]

we are one of the U.S.’s biggest trading partners

I think Canada is the US' most important trading partner, number 2 is China and Mexico has moved to third.

[samsara15]

We've never done well in wars against either Canada or Bermuda, as they love to point out to us. They have a plaque on the wall on a street in Quebec, honoring Benedict Arnold and his role in thwarting US designs in Canada. And there's a fort in Bermuda that once repelled one of our attacks in 1812 or somewhere back then. And Kingston, Ontario, once was where we lost another battle in 1812. Of course, that was a long time ago....

[SteveA]

This is totally off-topic (as usual ) but I visited Canada quite a while ago and found the people there to be some of the most friendly individuals I've ever met. In less than half a day there, two freely offered to let me stay at their home while I was there!!! (Literally this happened within maybe 6 hours of crossing the border).

Sadly though, probably half the news there was about the U.S.

That was almost 20 years ago, so I'm certain things have changed some but I'd still bet they get plenty of U.S. propaganda.

If many Canadians would like to reserve themselves as sovereign from more U.S. policies, I say "Kudos" to you guys and wish more strength to you.

[Chris]

Quote by: SteveA This is totally off-topic (as usual ) but I visited Canada quite a while ago and found the people there to be some of the most friendly individuals I've ever met. In less than half a day there, two freely offered to let me stay at their home while I was there!!! (Literally this happened within maybe 6 hours of crossing the border). Sadly though, probably half the news there was about the U.S. That was almost 20 years ago, so I'm certain things have changed some but I'd still bet they get plenty of U.S. propaganda. If many Canadians would like to reserve themselves as sovereign from more U.S. policies, I say "Kudos" to you guys and wish more strength to you.

Oh yeah! I stayed in many a hotel room up there. They hadd CNN piped in, as well as American tv shows etc.

But they didn't have Fox F'ing News :)

Maybe in Alberta they do but not where I was visiting

[Nono]

Quote by: Chris Maybe in Alberta they do ...

Yes, Alberta is the Texas of Canada: wall-to-wall rednecks (well, sort of). In fact there has occasionally been talk of Alberta joining the United States -- a Canadian nightmare.

The point is, it's nerve-racking being the resource-supplier-number-one for the insatiable behemoth next door, so Canadians are understandably always looking over their shoulders and a trifle obsessed. Who wouldn't be?

Both countries share an Anglo-dominated North American culture, and Canadians tend to see the US as a mirror image of themselves, only it's the fun-house mirror they're looking at and what they see is wild, woolly and outlandishly warped. :)

[RickSp]

These Molson-swigging, maple-mongering Zamboni drivers better watch themselves.

Raiding the Icebox

Behind Its Warm Front, the United States Made Cold Calculations to Subdue Canada Invading Canada won't be like invading Iraq: When we invade Canada, nobody will be able to grumble that we didn't have a plan. The United States government does have a plan to invade Canada. It's a 94-page document called "Joint Army and Navy Basic War Plan -- Red," with the word SECRET stamped on the cover. It's a bold plan, a bodacious plan, a step-by-step plan to invade, seize and annex our neighbor to the north. It goes like this: First, we send a joint Army-Navy overseas force to capture the port city of Halifax, cutting the Canadians off from their British allies. Then we seize Canadian power plants near Niagara Falls, so they freeze in the dark. Then the U.S. Army invades on three fronts -- marching from Vermont to take Montreal and Quebec, charging out of North Dakota to grab the railroad center at Winnipeg, and storming out of the Midwest to capture the strategic nickel mines of Ontario. Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy seizes the Great Lakes and blockades Canada's Atlantic and Pacific ports. At that point, it's only a matter of time before we bring these Molson-swigging, maple-mongering Zamboni drivers to their knees! Or, as the official planners wrote, stating their objective in bold capital letters: "ULTIMATELY TO GAIN COMPLETE CONTROL."

[Polish/English]

Quote by: |Chris| Thats a bit of crap. one single army unit was in for the fight of their lives back on 3 oct, 1993. on an original peace keeping mission. I don't know the whole details of 1812

Thats a piece of crap. The Americans lost, they thought they could just walk in and take an enemy officer, they had no back-up plan, they killed more unarmed civilians than militia and got pinned down by a few gunmen without air or armoured support, then the Pakistanis rescued the Americans. In the 1812 Americans tried to conquer Canada and the ill-disciplined Americans suffered disgraceful numbers of casualties.

[Polish/English]

Quote by: Colleptic Do not forget, when needed Canada has always answered the call and has never failed an operation. By the end of WWI the Canadian Army was over 600,000 and one of the most powerful. It held that war at bay; do not forget the U.S. did not enter that war until the very end. (More than 60, 000 died in Europe). Canadians were among the troops that endured the first major poison gas attacks; we took it and liked it! In the summer of 1918 the Canadians spearheaded the British drive that lead to the end of the war. ("August 8: Canadians and Australians ruptured the German line at the Battle of Amiens. The drive ended three months later when Canadians captured the Belgian city of Mons"). WWII has many more glorious achievements, but what my point is…is that when called upon we have never failed.

Read this and learn, the Canadians are good fighters (superior to American forces like everyone else).

[Nono]

Quote by: P/E The Pakistanis rescued the Americans.

Yes, it's amazing how we airbrush embarrassing episodes out of our memory. :)

In the 1812 Americans tried to conquer Canada and the ill-disciplined Americans suffered disgraceful numbers of casualties.

Yes, they invaded and were turned back. But don't overdo things, Pol. The US was a young country trying to shove "Manifest Destiny" down other people's throats. But no reason to make it into something more "disgraceful" than it was.
Otherwise we might have to inspect more closely the misdeeds of the Brits, eh? (The Poles we'll leave aside for the moment, but there's fertile ground there too. )

The Canadians are good fighters ...

As a Canadian I don't find that something to be particularly proud of.

... superior to American forces like everyone else.

There you go again, Pol. Try taking a couple of deep breaths.

[Polish/English]

Brits dont brag about and try to justify every war they've declared. The Americans still make up propoganda about fictional victories and to justify American conquest of the Native people.

[Chris]

Quote by: RickSp These Molson-swigging, maple-mongering Zamboni drivers better watch themselves. Raiding the Icebox

I hope that was a joke. (the molson zamboni ...etc)

[Chris]

Quote by: Polish/English Thats a piece of crap. The Americans lost, they thought they could just walk in and take an enemy officer, they had no back-up plan, they killed more unarmed civilians than militia and got pinned down by a few gunmen without air or armoured support, then the Pakistanis rescued the Americans. In the 1812 Americans tried to conquer Canada and the ill-disciplined Americans suffered disgraceful numbers of casualties.

OK thanks for telling me about 1812. But I was in the TF 160th. I met Michael Durant. It was a small unit being pinned down by an entire angry city. Led by a well equiped, well prepared and well informed militia. The UN (who were pakistani's -RE: the peace mission) )rescued the Americans. I am not saying that the particular mission was not botched by the US. I also don't say I agree with the way we went about it but they were trying to capture a warlord who was denying people international aid.