Quote:
Originally Posted by Truenorth00
Yes. We would have been. Our guys wouldn't have been running around in Afghanistan in olive green fatigues in unarmored jeeps from the 70s. I'm fairly sure they could have foreseen the possibility of operations in a desert with land mines regardless of the theatre of operations. They could have foreseen that we'd need heavy lift helicopters and artillery in any conflict also. And a good chunk of all of that would have been useful to give to the Ukrainians even today.
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These were the international security concerns in the 1994 White Paper. No mention of international terrorism, no mention of the long term threat of Russia and China. They thought they were doing peacekeeping type missions, so I am not sure even with more money they would have prioritized armoured tactical vehicles, etc. for a counterinsurgency operation.
10. The world's population is growing rapidly, putting pressure on global political, financial and natural resources, as well as on the
environment. In addition, the past decade has seen exponential growth in the number of refugees and of people displaced within
their own countries. The breakdown of authority in certain states is yet another source of instability.
11. Increasingly, armed forces are being called upon to ensure safe environments for the protection of refugees, the delivery of
food and medical supplies, and the provision of essential services in countries where civil society has collapsed. And yet, the
international community cannot intervene every time these pressures reach the breaking point.
12. Among the most difficult and immediate challenges to international security are civil wars fuelled by ethnic, religious and
political extremism. The absence today of adversarial relations among the world's great powers suggests that, in the future,
regional conflicts are more likely to be contained. That being said, Canada cannot escape the consequences of these conflicts,
whether in the form of refugee flows, obstacles to trade, or damage to important principles.
13. The spread of advanced weapon technologies has emerged as another security challenge of the 1990s. The transfer of
weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile delivery capabilities to so-called "rogue" regimes is of particular concern.
14. Diminishing resources make it more difficult for advanced industrial states to cope with global security challenges.
15. The world is neither more peaceful nor more stable than in the past. Canada's defence policy must reflect the world as it is
rather than the world as we would like it to be.