Canadian "Gun Boats" are not equipped to Wage a War against a landlocked Country.
In Canada's biggest military deployment since the Korean War, six war ships have been sent to the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea. The Canadian gun boats will be deployed along with those of France, Germany and Australia.
According to Canada's Prime Minister Jean Chr�tien, these war ships will be supporting "the campaign against Osama bin Laden and the ruling Taliban militia".
Nobody seems to have noticed, however, that these Canadian "gun boats" are not equipped to wage a war against a landlocked country.
The HMCS Iroquois is a destroyer outfitted to wage war at sea against targets on the coast as well as against enemy vessels and aircraft. Hardly suitable for fighting against the "Taliban Navy" in landlocked Afghanistan.
Canada is also sending three Frigates equipped with surface-to-surface (anti-ship) and surface-to-air missiles. The frigates are also equipped with anti-aircraft and anti-ship guns and anti-submarine torpedoes as well as with Sea King helicopters "used in reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare".
Hidden Agenda
The nature of the military equipment contributed by Canada is not suited to waging a war "against international terrorism" in the highlands of Afghanistan. Without briefing Parliament or informing public opinion, the Canadian government of Prime Minister Jean Chretien has accepted to participate in a broader war in the Persian Gulf. Moreover, it also suggests that this broader war is already in the planning stage.
Canadian officials knew exactly what they were doing when they sent the Canadian Navy to the Gulf. The Canadian government's decision was, in this regard, fully consistent with the Bush Administration's stated intent to "broaden the war by targeting other countries that host terrorists, or terror groups."
Not a word was mentioned in the Canadian media. Nobody in Parliament seemed to have noticed that by sending Canadian war ships as part of the Anglo-American military operation, Canada had pari passu also accepted to embark upon a military operation in the Persian Gulf.
Copyright, Michel Chossudovsky, Centre for Research on Globalisation (CRG), November 2001. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to post this text on non-commercial community internet sites, provided the source and the URL are indicated, the essay remains intact and the copyright note is displayed. To publish this text in printed and/or other forms, including commercial Internet sites and excerpts, contact the Centre for Research on Globalisation (CRG) at [email protected].
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