These steps are part of a package of measures taken by the new Conservative administration the last five months that have tied Ottawa’s foreign policy closer to Washington’s, increased military cooperation between the two states, and are remaking the Canadian ruling class into a more reliable ally of the U.S. rulers in the U.S.-led “war on terror.”

Since taking office February 2, the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper severed ties and cut funding to the Hamas-led Palestinian National Authority, the first government in the world to do so. Ottawa also classified the Tamil Tigers—a group fighting for independence for the Tamil people of Sri Lanka—as a “terrorist” organization, which the previous Liberal administration had refused to do. On his first trip abroad, Harper traveled to Afghanistan in March to visit the 2,300 Canadian soldiers who are part of the NATO occupation force in that country. And at the end of June, Ottawa formalized military cooperation with Washington’s Northern Command, to help defend “North America from future terrorist and natural disasters,” said the July 3 issue of the U.S. Armed Forces Information Service.

Ottawa will spend US$15.3 billion to strengthen the military’s transportation capacities, the government announced at the end of June. Projected purchases include 2,300 medium-sized trucks to carry troops and supplies both in Canada and abroad.

The funds will also be used to procure 16 medium lift helicopters, 17 planes to transport troops, and four equipment cargo planes. Three new joint support ships will be ready beginning in 2012. The cargo planes will be able to transport troops and equipment anywhere in the world, something Canada’s military has not been capable of in recent years, Defense Minister Gordon O’Connor told the media.

The government’s first budget in May increased military spending by $5.4 billion to $18.4 billion over the next five years, up from a low of $8.4 billion in 1998 under the previous Liberal administration.

Ottawa has already announced plans to increase the strength of the military by 23,000 regular and reserve troops. Currently troop strength is at 60,000 regular and 20,000 reserve troops. At the present time 2,300 are stationed in the Kandahar region of Afghanistan as part of the U.S.-led “war on terrorism.” Another 400 military personnel are stationed abroad in 12 countries—including Haiti, Bahrain, Golan Heights, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Congo, and Sudan.

The transformation of Canada’s military also includes reliance on special forces such as the secret Joint Task Force Two (JTF2), comprised of about 350 volunteers from the three branches of the military. The JTF2, established in 1993, has been operating in Afghanistan, and, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, was “almost certainly” deployed in Quebec City in 2001 as backup during the massive “anti-globalization” protests at the hemispheric trade talks.

The military operation in Afghanistan, begun by the Liberal government, is Canada’s biggest and bloodiest combat operation since the 1950-53 Korean War. Canadian officers command the Multi National Brigade for Command South, part of the 9,700-strong NATO force projected to grow to 17,000 in southern Afghanistan.

The combat role of the Canadian military, including the taking of casualties, is central to its transformation into a battle-hardened flexible, mobile, fighting machine. Since Canada’s military mission in Afghanistan began soon after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon in the United States, 17 Canadian soldiers and one Canadian diplomat have been killed abroad. More than 60 have been injured. In May, on the initiative of the Harper government, Parliament voted to extend Ottawa’s military intervention in Afghanistan by two years to February 2009.

At the same time that the announcements on new military spending were being made, cooperation between the United States Army Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) and the Canadian military’s Canada Command was formalized with the June 28-29 visit of Lt.-Gen. Marc Dumais, the commander of Canada Command, to the USNORTHCOM headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

USNORTHCOM, which for the first time established a domestic military command structure in the United States, was set up four years ago. The Canada Command, initiated by the Liberal government, went into operation February 1 under the Conservative government with a similar mandate within Canada. “While we have responsibilities toward our own respective governments, there is a very strong need to work collaboratively, to be in a position to assist one another,” General Dumais said.

On May 12, the U.S. and Canadian governments agreed to renew their accord on the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and expand its role to include “maritime defense of the continent, involving offshore approaches and inland waterways,” as the May 22 issue of the U.S. Defense News reported. NORAD was formed in 1958 to monitor and organize operations over North American airspace.

At the conclusion of Harper’s July 5-6 visit to Washington for talks with the U.S. president, George Bush thanked Ottawa for its combat role in Afghanistan and closer ties with Washington, saying, “It just goes to show the important role Canada can play in foreign policy.”
 
 
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‘Renditions’ used widely in U.S.-led ‘war on terror’
Protesters in Pittsburgh condemn FBI raid of mosque  
 
 
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