In another thread a poster asked what Canada has done recently in the “war on terror”. So I decided to see what I could find - and found it interesting.
First one:
http://www.heritage.org/Research/NationalSecurity/bg1607.cfm
Highlights:
Canada
Financial contribution:
- Invested $7.7 billion to combat terrorism at home and abroad.
Military contribution:
- Sent 2,100 soldiers (1,100 land, 200 air, and 800 naval personnel) immediately; to date, 3,400 personnel have been deployed, including 1,000-man light infantry unit on seven days’ notice.
- Sent 61 liaison officers to Centcom.
Air support
–1 CC-150 Polaris long-range transport aircraft and 3 CC-130 Hercules transport aircraft conducted strategic and tactical airlifts, moving 10.4 million pounds of freight.
–Unspecified number of helicopters (930 missions flown, 2,900 hours logged).
Naval support
–Canadian Naval Forces conducting maritime interception operations, leadership interdiction operations, escort duties, and maritime surveillance in the Arabian Gulf.
–7 ships deployed (October 2001 to April 2002).
–Canadian Naval Task Group includes 2 frigates, 1 destroyer, 1 supply ship, 1 frigate integrated in the U.S. Carrier Battle Group.
–2 CP140 Aurora aircraft employed as part of the U.S. Carrier Task Force 57 (84 missions and 746 flight hours logged).
Ground support
–Unspecified number of Special Operations forces.
–Light Infantry Battle Group (828 personnel and 12 Coyote armored reconnaissance vehicles) deployed to Kandahar for combat and security operations.
Humanitarian assistance:
- $16 million.
- Long-range patrol detachment for humanitarian drops.
- 2 CC-130 Hercules transport aircraft.
National measures:
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Invested $289 million on immediate measures including enhanced policing, security, and intelligence.
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Redeployed over 2,000 federal police officers to national security duties.
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Invested $7.7 billion over the next five years to improve border security.
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Continued joint participation in North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and made unspecified number of CF-18 fighter jets available to patrol U.S.-Canadian airspace.
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Signed Joint Statement of Cooperation on Border Security and Regional Migration Issues with the United States (December 3, 2001).
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Integrated Canadian officials within the U.S. Foreign Terrorist Tracking Task Force.
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Developing common biometric identifiers for documents.
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Developing joint units to assess information on incoming passengers.
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Expanded Integrated Border Enforcement Teams.
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Enacted anti-terrorism legislation
–Anti-Terrorism Act Defined and designated terrorist groups and activities; tougher sentencing; made it easier to use electronic surveillance.
–Public Safety Act.
–Amendments to the Aeronautics Act to improve airport security.
Cut off terrorist funding.
–Froze $344,000 worth of funds associated with 100 individuals and groups designated by the United Nations.
–Invested $63 million to expand capacity to identify terrorist funding.
Miscellaneous contributions:
- Accepted 224 diverted planes carrying more than 33,000 passengers on September 11.
What I found interesting, is that from the list on the website I’d rank the top 3 contributers as being:
1)UK
2)Italy
3)Canada (Canada and Italy are a close 2nd and 3rd and after the Madrid bombing things may have changed)
Next link:
http://www.forces.gc.ca/site/newsroom/view_news_e.asp?id=490
Interesting reading on deployment information and specific missions completed.
Next:
http://www.canadianally.com/ca/terror/terror_military-en.asp
It’s short, worth the look. One highlight, 30 bronze stars and a unit citation awarded by the American government to Canadian forces.
Last:
http://usinfo.state.gov/is/Archive_Index/Coalition_Contributions_to_the_War_on_Terrorism.html
For those that don’t trust more than one source, US numbers that verify info on other links. One hightlight - increased troop deployment to 3400 (I believe this was due to the start of the Iraq war, Canada commited the troops it would have for Iraq to the region instead - Canada would not go in without the UN).
Summary:
I’ve said it before, but again - Canada needs to spend more on defense. However, we are one of your few allies that actually puts its money where its mouth is.
We did not join you in Iraq. But we have the 2nd or 3rd largest actual troop deployments of your allies in the region. Politics is all about talk, but action speaks for itself.
