Canada's military is compromising Canadian rhetoric on its 'great power' status and 'moral' ranking in the world. Canada's military is an embarrassing farce and should either be funded or simply shut down. Canadian rhetoric on its position internationally is not borne out by facts, nor by the reality that Canada is largely ignored internationally as nothing more than an irritating gadfly.

Some facts:
-Of the 55.000 men and women in the armed forces only 17.800 are combat troops. The rest are overhead. Of the 17.800 combat troops Canada has enough equipment, trained personnel and logistics to support 4.000 in the field. This means that Canada has very little effective projectionable force. Witness Canada’s sad contribution to the war on terror - a few hundred men in Kabul

Canada is a military laggard:
-1.1 % of Canada’s GDP is spent on the military, and Canada is 17 out of 19 NATO countries.
-Canada ranks 153rd in the world in military spending even though Canada has the 34th highest population

”For a G8 country, one of the most productive and prosperous in the world, with the world's longest coastline, second largest landmass, and interests that span the globe, such numbers are a scandal.” [Council for Canadian Security].

Recently about 6 reports from various bodies have explicitly stated that if funding is not doubled from $11 billion per annum the Canadian military will simply disappear by 2013. The current budget is apparently not even enough to replace old equipment, perform maintenance, pay proper pensions or adequately supply munitions, transport, and hardware for the troops. This is beyond reproach and morbid. It means that Canada has no credibility internationally.

In contrast the Aussies are spending U$40 billion over the coming 5 years on more military spend. They will be a balancing force with projection capability in East Asia and beyond. What does Canada contribute ? Basically nothing. No heavy aircraft, no airforce or navy [2 or 3 frigates only] to speak off, and an undermanned 18.000 person personnel combat base that is suffering from low morale and low grade equipment.

A decrepit military coupled with CIDA's $2.5 billion budget tied to the buying of Canadian goods, a gutted External Affairs office [30 % decline in budget since 1993], and no Federal vision, ensures that Canada is a just another annoying little country whose rhetoric is not matched by strength.

Welcome to Post modern failure.