Friday, April 6, 2007

Modern Canada has no right to celebrate Vimy Ridge

The hypocrisy of a country that does not have a military is galling.

by StFerdIII

Canada does not have the right to celebrate Vimy Ridge Easter weekend 1917. In fact Vimy Ridge and other military victories are anathema to what, apparently, the socialist state of Canada stands for. According to the media, the chattering nomenclatura, and the educational systems, the reigning ethos of Canadian society is post-modern multi-‘cult’-ism. Nothing matters, all ideas and cultures are the same, and military strength and defense are to be eschewed for genuflecting at the UN and allow minority cultures to dictate our foreign and domestic policy. In short we should hate our own history. Why then do these hypocrites celebrate Vimy?

What right does a country have to celebrate the victory at Vimy Ridge when it has 19.000 fighting men – about ¼ of the size of the tax office? The current military budget of $15 billion is the same as the combined budgets of the tax office [$4 billion] and Indian ‘Affairs’ [$11 billion]. The tax office has 60.000 odd personnel meaning that each worker gets paid on average $60.000. Not bad. There are less than 2 million ‘Indians’ in Canada meaning that each one receives almost $50.000 per head. Not bad.

Yet what is more important to civilization? Guilt money given to chiefs to mismanage their ‘bands’ and pay themselves enormous tax free salaries? Tax office staff dreaming up ever more complicated and arcane rules to take people’s money? Or a vibrant military to defend our nation state and support important alliances and obligations?

The military has 55.000 men in total with only 19.000 combat capable. The overhead to fighting ration is almost 2:1 meaning that the fighting part of the Canadian army is too small by a factor of 4. If you have a small force of 19.000 you can only launch a maximum of 5.000 personnel overseas for various assignments. Even this number mandates that you project your military as cheaply as possible.

The $15 billion military budget only comes out to $272.000 per person. This seems high but it isn’t. Equipment, munitions, arms, training, camps, pensions, hospitals, planes, tanks, ships, aircraft, fuel costs, uniforms and sundry other items make this amount almost trivial. The US military spends about $450 billion to support 1 million troops. This is about 2 times the Canadian level and even this is too low. Yes that is right the Americans don’t spend enough on the military. The Americans need to double their military spend and double the number of combat troops available for overseas duty. They have the same problems as the Canadians, and need to redress them very quickly.

Canada, is a country of 30 million people, with a GDP of U$1.2 Trillion and the military spend should be a minimum of 2.5% of GDP or about $30 billion. To have hard power and consequence in world affairs Canada needs to double its military spend overnight just to support its current paltry military projection capability and have enough equipment to properly transport and support its troops.

To be a truly effective projectionable force, the Canadians would have to triple military spend to make up for years of de-funding and neglect. Once the military budget gets to $50 billion then the Canadians would be able to triple the number of frontline troops and provide adequate equipment and training. A $50 billion military budget would support a total of about 110.000 troops which is what a country like Canada should already have.

Sadly the current ethos in left-wing Canada is one of anti-reality. All cultures are great. White history is racist and imperialist. Islam is a religion. Wars are stupid. If only women ran the world all would be good. If you want military strength this means that you are a fascist-American-Jew loving-illegal immigrant hating-capitalist pig. Such are the deep thinking responses to current world affairs propagated by Marxists and moral relativists.

The importance of the Canadian victory at Vimy Ridge 90 years ago cannot be under-estimated. One of the most important battles of the Great War was won in less than one day by well-trained, and extremely disciplined Canadian troops. The Canadian divisions under Sir Arthur Currie were ready for the battle; extensively trained behind their own lines; provided with robust and detailed intelligence; and they used modern methods including platoon level decision making and coordination, as well as deep tunneling to set off explosions near the German lines, to ensure that the bloody French defeats in which 150.000 French died trying to take Vimy, did not occur again. It was perhaps, as many historians have commented, the ‘first modern battle’.

Ironically at Vimy Ridge Canada had gathered over 40.000 fighting men to assault German lines. Today it’s fighting army numbers less than 20.000. In one day Canada lost 3.500 young men in taking an important hill in German lines. Yet today 40 odd die in Afghanistan during 5 years of fighting and most Canadians in recent polls say they want to end Canada’s military role overseas.

Victory at Vimy created a country. A nation from sea to sea fought and died in northern France to stop German militarism from dominating Europe and eradicating liberty. For honor, for country, for King and Queen and in support of alliances, obligations and freedom, did young Canadian men go to far off places and die in their thousands. Such sentiments are almost extinct in today’s narcissistic society.

Canada sent 11 % of its total population overseas to Europe during World War One. Only New Zealand sent more. The Canadians lost 40.000 dead and 60.000 injured, or fully 10% of the entire force. The Germans suffered 6 million casualties [50% of their total force]; the French 5.6 million [80% of their total force]; the British 3 million [30 % of their total force]. Like so much in the 20th century the horrors of this war shaped so much else to follow. The French for example lost 560.000 at the 2nd battle of Verdun. This failed battle has informed French attitudes and conviction towards war and the military ever since.

The Canadians of 1917 are different than the spoilt multi-cult low-culture Canadians of today. Misinformed through historical revisionism; anti-military; anti-American; anti-Semitic; even anti-British empire, the Canadian of today has little claim on the glory of Vimy Ridge. The men at Vimy knew who they were, why they fought, and why war was sometimes an ugly horrific necessity.

The same cannot be said of a country that disingenuously shrouds itself in the military uniform of bygone heroes to pump up its ‘national pride’ whilst it simultaneously eradicates its own history, culture and military power.

It is sheer galling hypocrisy.